MBNMS RAP Meeting Summary September 8th, 2006

Research Activity Panel: Meeting Summary
Chris Harrold, Monterey Bay Aquarium, RAP Chair

MBNMS RAP Meeting Summary, September 8, 2006

Host: California Coastal Commission

Location: 725 Front Street, Suite 300, Santa Cruz

Date: Friday, September 8, 2006; 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

In Attendance:

* Sanctuary Advisory Council Member: Research (Primary)
† Sanctuary Advisory Council Member: Research (Alternate)

CONSENT ITEMS

Introductions/modifications to the agenda (Chris Harrold)

PRESENTATIONS

Research Vessel Fulmar (Andrew DeVogelaere)

Andrew DeVogelaere provided the RAP with equipment specifications and capabilities for the new Sanctuary vessel, R/V Fulmar. Priority projects will be Sanctuary management plan mandates without taking grant money away from other existing projects or contract work. Current projects include mapping in state reserves, supporting Sue Sogard's rockfish research, maintaining PISCO/Sanctuary ocean observation buoys, and camera sled operations in offshore sites to scout potential federal MPAs. An official request for proposal will be posted by the end of the year to determine projects for 2007.

Safe Seas 2006 - Research Needs (Andrew DeVogelaere)

Andrew DeVogelaere summarized the NOAA Safe Seas 2006 oil spill drill as a good exercise for all agencies to work together under an incident command center. Habitat sensitivity maps and OSPR contingency plans were put into practice. Toby Garfield, SFSU, will present at a future meeting on the real-time data generated by the drill and future research needs. The RAP discussed institutions, tools, and datasets that could be made available in the future, including CIMT, BeachCOMBERS, PISCO.

Andrew posed the question: if there is a big oil spill, who has a long-term monitoring program that could help assess the damage? The RAP discussion included the following:

• Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve: 20 monitoring programs
• Monterey Bay Aquarium and UC Davis: long-term health data for sea otters
• Point Lobos and Ano Nuevo docents: qualitative survey data
• BeachCOMBERS monthly bird and mammal survey database

What would scientists like to be notified about in case of a big oil spill, such as getting boats moved out of a harbor before oiled in, or remove monitoring buoys before getting oiled?

• A list of oceanographic institutions and directors who can quickly disseminate information is needed; a Notice to Mariners on VHF will reach research vessels.
• Gary Griggs maintains the Monterey Bay area marine research directors list.
• Researchers may need more time to decide how to remove equipment or to keep it in place for oil spill projection/monitoring purposes.
• CalCOFI: physical oceanographers email contact list

Ellen Faurot-Daniels is chairing a group to determine scuttle areas for oiling ships (place of refuge) and a risk assessment for a statewide dispersal plan. A central coast drill will be conducted in October for the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) biologist training and is part of a statewide project using all six state area groups. These trainings have been have been a coordinated effort between the Coast Guard and OSPR since 1992.

UPDATES / DISCUSSION ITEMS

RAP Membership Update (Chris Harrold)

Nominees and acceptance for all of the open membership slots except for the Deep-Sea Ecology category have been received. Curt Storlazzi will be the volunteer from RAP for nominating committee. Chris requested that the new disciplines be updated on the RAP web page, and the role call for the RAP agenda include alternate or primary designations for members.

Sanctuary Currents Planning Update (Chris Harrold)

Sanctuary awards and volunteer recognition dinner will be held at the Marriot, March 2nd, 2007. The Symposium will be March 3rd, at CSUMB. A subcommittee will work to identify individuals to invite to speak at the Symposium. Ocean Observing Systems has been chosen as the theme. What do we talk about to keep the theme interesting to a broad audience? Suggestions included: Regime shifts/ocean variability; needs of fishermen and mariners such as tides, currents, etc.; ocean education tools, global warming tools. There is also a desire to find sponsorships, the symposium costs about $12,000 and AMBAG covers most of the cost. Ellen Faurot-Daniels offered that the Coastal Conservancy is looking to fund other activities and this may be a good fit.

MB-CORC Update (Chris Harrold)

MB Crescent Ocean Research Consortium got together 24 institutional members in 1998: mission is to provide framework for collaboration of education and research, which kicked off programs such as SIMoN and CeNCOOS. At the June 2006 MB-CORC meeting some key areas of interest were identified:

• Replacement of NSF ship Pt. Sur (MB-CORC can lobby for that position)
• Remote sensing conference
• Monitoring of MPAs
• Center for Ocean Solutions (Stanford, ocean policy link)

MLPA: Commissionís Preferred Plan (John Pearse/Mark Carr)

John Pearse and Mark Carr took turns explaining the MLPA process to select the Fish and Game Commission's preferred plan. Previous meetings of the Commission are taped and available on the MLPA website. In August the Commission reviewed and commented on the initial preferred package, which was followed by a marathon public input session that led to the final package. Mark reviewed the different reserve designations by color and their locations. The lessons learned study on the MLPA process will feed into the Southern CA process. California and World Ocean Conference will have a few talks on lessons learned. The baseline monitoring and evaluating panel is continuing to develop a plan.

John Pearse followed up on the MLPA update with how to streamline these regulations for scientific collecting permits. Suggestions by the RAP were to follow streamlined permitting processes that have been developed in ESNRR and other land management agencies. A tracking method for collection permits in an accessible database for all groups will make the process more transparent and assist in enforcement issues.

SUGGESTED FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

• Ocean tracking network, CoML
• Marine mapping initiative, Steve Lonhart