NROC News – June 2013

NROC News – monthly news and updates from NROC, its member agencies and partners.

NROC would like you to know –

• The Spring NROC Meeting was held on May 30th in Portsmouth, NH, during which Council members and partners provided updates, a discussion was held about State responses and activities in the wake of Super Storm Sandy, and the USACE provided a briefing on their Sandy Comprehensive Study. NROC will continue to foster collaboration between its members as work on the Comprehensive Study moves forward.
• NROC continues to support public meetings around New England where the Regional Planning Body is soliciting feedback on its draft goals and NROC’s ongoing map products. There are six public meetings yet to occur. Please see website for opportunities to join us, submit online or mail in comments: https://nrocsiteprod.wpengine.com/regional-planning-body/public-meetings/
• NROC submitted two proposals for funding through NOAA’s Regional Ocean Partnership Program FY2013 Funding Competition, and has recently learned that we have been recommended for funding and are currently in negotiations on both proposals. Funds would support the continuation and advancement of NROC management, organizational, and communication functions, as well as the implementation of activities specified in the current NROC Work Plans in the areas of coastal hazards resilience, ocean and coastal ecosystem health, and ocean planning. More project details will be made available when awards are finalized.

NROC Partners would like you to know –

• World Oceans Day Celebration: Save the date- June 8, 2013 (10am-Noon) for a World Oceans Day celebration at the Seacoast Science Center, co-hosted with NERACOOS.  Local and regional experts will gather to share how ocean acidification affects us in our everyday lives. Come join us at this family-friendly event to learn what it means to you and our oceans. Kids, ages 5 and up will be supervised in the Sugden House doing fun, hands-on activities while parents relax and engage with scientists and fishermen. Bring a picnic and celebrate World Ocean’s Day with us by the seaside! Via Ru Morrison (NERACOOS).
• The FISHR Initiative – Fishermen’s Inventory of Submerged Heritage Resources: Fishermen have important knowledge about what lies on the seafloor, since no one spends more time at sea trawling the bottom than fishermen.  Fishermen often find interesting relics of the past, such as artifacts from passing vessels or shipwrecks, evidence of ancient human habitation and animal and plant remains from the times of lower sea levels.  Until now, they have not had a place to share or preserve this information, or had access to scientists who can examine and identify their finds.  FISHR (Fishermen’s Inventory of Submerged Heritage Resources) is a new, unfunded, volunteer-based initiative developed by researchers at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography (URI-GSO) who are studying the history of human activity in areas that are now underwater.  The principal goal of FISHR is to develop an inventory and GIS database of submerged finds made by fishermen.  Having a place to report findings will increase our understanding of past human activities.  FISHR will also allow people to share and learn about the resources they have found.  Information that the URI-GSO researchers seek includes: 1) a description and/or picture of the find; 2) location (lat/long) of the find; 3) conditions at the find’s location (e.g., water depth, bottom type, etc.); and 4) when and how the find was made.  The URI-GSO researchers do not need the name or any personal information about the person or vessel associated with the find, or the actual find, itself.  Fishermen interested in having their find entered into the FISHR database, or with any questions about the initiative or their find can contact either David Robinson or Monique LaFrance by phone (401-874-6182) or email (dsrobinson@mail.uri.edu or mlafrance@my.uri.edu). 
• Coastal Management Fellowships: Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts have each had projects selected and been matched with Coastal Management Fellows for 2013-2015. Fellows placed at the Maine Coastal Program, the New Hampshire Coastal Program, and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management will work on the following projects, respectively: formalizing and implementing the Maine Coast Mapping Initiative – a partnership to characterize Maine’s nearshore habitats through bathymetric mapping and modeling; establishing a GIS-based decision-support framework to improve spatial planning for New Hampshire’s estuaries and applying the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to inform priority restoration and management issues in the Great Bay Estuary; and addressing competing marine resource use issues and promoting beach and dune nourishment in Massachusetts as a viable and cost-effective climate change adaptation tool for shore protection. The fellowships begins in August, and additional project details can be found at http://www.csc.noaa.gov/cms/fellows/stateprojects.html.