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NOAA News

NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program (COP) News is compiled by David Hilmer, David.Hilmer@noaa.gov. For more information on Coastal Ocean Program, contact Dr. David Johnson, Director, Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (which runs the Coastal Ocean Program) at 1305 East-West Highway, #8307, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3233 or call 301-713-3338.

Gulf of Maine Scientists and Managers Develop Framework for Fisheries and Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting at CSCOR Meeting
The Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) held a two-day workshop from June 17-18 in Portland, Maine, to facilitate the transition of model-based research products into the hands of managers and stakeholders for environmental decision-making. Researchers in applied modeling activities and representatives of various public agencies met to discuss the current and future capabilities of biophysical models developed as part of the ongoing Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) and Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) regional research efforts.

The workshop focused on the informational and decision-making needs of coastal resource managers, and future areas to concentrate resources and research activities. This was the first of a series of workshops building toward an "operational modeling framework" in the Gulf of Maine region that would enable pro-active forecasting to be implemented to safe-guard coastal living resources, local economies, and the public health. Results from the workshop will be published within the next several months.

CSCOR Supports Northern GOMEX Fine-Scale Study
Drs. Larry Crowder and Kevin Craig of Duke University, supported by funding from the CSCOR Northern Gulf of Mexico program, conducted a fine-scale survey of bottom water oxygen along with fish and shrimp distributions over a 6,000 km2 sampling region off the coast of Louisiana in July 2002. The sampling revealed detailed structure of the hypoxic zone, with the edges of the zone being complex and reticulated both on the seaward and shoreward sides. In addition, an area of oxygenated water was found within the hypoxic zone corresponding to a shallow, wind-mixed shoal. The edges of the hypoxic zone, as well as oxygenated interior regions, appear to be used by a variety of species.

More than 150 species were collected during the survey. In general, species diversity and biomass were substantially lower within the hypoxic region. Atlantic croaker and brown shrimp were focused on in the study, and were collected both inshore and offshore of the hypoxic zone across a range of oxygen conditions, but rarely within it. Shrimp and croaker samples are currently being analyzed for variation in diet, growth, and condition in inshore vs. offshore habitats, and across the range of oxygen conditions available.

These results complement those of larger scale mapping efforts supported by CSCOR designed to determine the spatial extent of the entire hypoxic region that occurs seasonally over the Louisiana continental shelf. This summer, the hypoxic region was the largest ever recorded and extended well into Texas waters.

Improved Water Quality Monitoring Links Coral Reef Health to Urban Run-off
The CSCOR-sponsored Hawaiian Coral Reef Initiative's (HCRI) Urban Runoff and Coastal Water Quality Project has helped scientists and managers understand how coastal runoff impacts coral reef ecosystems by providing the first continuous record of coastal water quality in Hawaii. In the past, water quality evaluations were based on water samples that exemplified snap shots in time of a changing environment. Managers often missed fine-scale changes where the potential consequences were difficult to detect until the effects were revealed in massive form such as an algal bloom. By developing a continuous monitoring effort, this program will provide coastal managers the ability to predict and respond to small changes in water quality before large-scale problems occur.

A second goal of this project is to evaluate the relevance of standard water quality parameters in monitoring coral reef ecosystem health. Preliminary tests indicate that a new device-a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer-can detect and track nutrient perturbations associated with storm runoff events. Findings indicate that streams in developed watersheds have much higher levels of dissolved inorganic nutrients than streams in pristine systems, but organic nutrients are only slightly elevated. More results are expected in later this year.

CSCOR sponsors the Hawaii State Division of Aquatic Resources and the University of Hawaii to cooperatively manage the HCRI program, which supports monitoring and research activities that build capacity in managing Hawaii's coral reef ecosystems.