Pacific Region

Alaska Sea Grant
Stakeholders Talk Energy and Fishing in North Aleutian Basin

• The federal government plans to lease part of the southeast Bering Sea and part of Bristol Bay for offshore oil and gas exploration in the year 2011.
• Sea Grant partnered with Norway’s Bodø University to gather interested stakeholders to discuss energy development in the region.
• At stake for the region's fishermen are the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, and the lucrative pollock, cod, halibut and crab fisheries in the Bering Sea, worth more than $2 billion each year.
• If developed, North Aleutian Basin oil and gas could be worth $3 to $6 billion per year for the next 25 to 40 years, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service.
• At the meeting, Alaska Natives, environmentalists, community leaders, federal agency officials and energy representatives began framing the agenda for a larger March 2008 public meeting aimed at creating meaningful dialogue between the region's fisheries and energy developers.
• Bodø held a similar meeting earlier this year between fisheries stakeholders and energy firms developing oil and gas off the coast of central Norway. The North Aleutian Basin Energy and Fisheries Workshop is a public meeting scheduled for March 18-19, 2008, in Anchorage, Alaska.

University of Southern California Sea Grant
Sea Grant Port Specialist Works to Facilitate Port-Community Relations for One of the Largest Seaports in the World

• The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have the third largest volume of imports and exports in the world; moreover, cargo loads are anticipated to triple by the year 2020.
• The impact of this growth on air quality, water quality, the land transportation system and the area’s population is an ever-present concern for the communities surrounding the ports.
• Relations between the Port and its neighboring community are important for the Board of Harbor Commissioners.
• Sea Grant’s Marine Transportation/Seaport Specialist in his role as a neutral third party, was in a unique position to research and analyze the relationship between the Port and its Port Community Advisory Committee and to assist in the community relations process.
• The report generated by Sea Grant was broadly accepted and is being used by the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles to formulate their specific recommendations to the Harbor Commission.

California Sea Grant
Sea Grant Beach Grooming Study Results in Reduced Beach Raking and Ecological Impacts

• A Sea Grant researcher studied the role of beach wrack (the kelp heaps that are removed during grooming) on invertebrate communities and bird foraging, discovering that beach grooming (raking) has considerable repercussions on the natural ecology of sandy beaches.
• Raking significantly reduces the species richness, abundance and biomass of invertebrates on which many shorebirds feed, including the federally protected Western snowy plover.
• Based on this research, beach management permits are now issued with the understanding that raking can be modified to reduce ecological impacts, and the City of Oceanside has changed how it adds sand to beaches to reduce impacts on beach ecology.

Hawai'i Sea Grant
Sea Grant Informs New Greenhouse Gas Law

• Scientifically based sea level rise animation by Hawaii Sea Grant Center for Smart Building and Community Design Director, Professor Stephen Meder, was presented to legislators and others at a Hawaii Energy Policy Forum meeting in June of 2006.
• These fact-based future scenarios indicate dire circumstances for Hawaii are likely and support the argument for greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
• These activities contributed to the introduction of Bill 226 which was later signed into law as Hawaii’s Global Warming Solutions Act. This act sets a clear regulatory limit on the amount of global warming pollution that Hawaii can emit.

Oregon Sea Grant
Sea Grant Discovers Schools and Aquariums are Source of Aquatic Invaders

• Teachers sometimes order animals such as the rusty crayfish from biological supply houses, use the animals in their classrooms, and then humanely “release” them in their local streams.
• Sea Grant moved quickly with partners to create “do not release” brochures and posters.
• This has resulted in many university and agency programs adopting the use of this material, including Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Illinois, Florida, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the States of California and Washington.
• As a result of this outreach effort, many students and teachers have recognized the invasive in their classroom and taken action by stopping the planned release; one teacher used the situation as a learning opportunity.
• The Sea Grant publications have also been adopted and reprinted for distribution in Scotland, Canada, and New Zealand where they are addressing the issue as well.

Washington Sea Grant
Sea Grant Supports New Technologies to Strengthen Homeland and Food Security

• Continued Sea Grant support has led to the development of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor system, capable of detecting toxin concentrations at 2.8 parts per trillion. (To put this in perspective, one part per trillion is the equivalent of one inch in 16 million miles).
• The SPR biosensor can detect chemical remnants of pesticides, identify toxic metabolites responsible for shellfish poisoning or warn of the presence of land mines or chemical weapons.
• Clearly, the technology has a wide range of potential applications.
• Its application for national and homeland security has attracted the interest of the U.S. Department of Defense, which recently awarded contracts for further development of the SPR biosensor for international and domestic use.