5/9/12

A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

 In 2009 an ambitious group of graduate students led the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) to the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon. During the voyage the researchers, who concentrated their studies a thousand miles west of California, documented an alarming amount of human-generated trash, mostly broken down bits of plastic the size of a fingernail floating across thousands of miles of open ocean.

At the time the researchers didn’t have a clear idea of how such trash might be impacting the ocean environment, but a new study published in the May 9 online issue of the journal Biology Letters reveals that plastic debris in the area popularly known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” has increased by 100 times over in the past 40 years, leading to changes in the natural habitat of animals such as the marine insect Halobates sericeus. These “sea skaters” or “water striders”-relatives of pond water skaters-inhabit water surfaces and lay their eggs on flotsam (floating objects). Naturally existing surfaces for their eggs include, for example: seashells, seabird feathers, tar lumps and pumice. In the new study researchers found that sea skaters have exploited the influx of plastic garbage as new surfaces for their eggs. This has led to a rise in the insect’s egg densities in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

Such an increase, documented for the first time in a marine invertebrate (animal without a backbone) in the open ocean, may have consequences for animals across the marine food web, such as crabs that prey on sea skaters and their eggs.

“This paper shows a dramatic increase in plastic over a relatively short time period and the effect it’s having on a common North Pacific Gyre invertebrate,” said Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein, lead author of the study and chief scientist of SEAPLEX, a UC Ship Funds-supported voyage. “We’re seeing changes in this marine insect that can be directly attributed to the plastic.”

The new study follows a report published last year by Scripps researchers in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series showing that nine percent of the fish collected during SEAPLEX contained plastic waste in their stomachs. That study estimated that fish in the intermediate ocean depths of the North Pacific Ocean ingest plastic at a rate of roughly 12,000 to 24,000 tons per year.

The Goldstein et al. study compared changes in small plastic abundance between 1972-1987 and 1999-2010 by using historical samples from the Scripps Pelagic Invertebrate Collection and data from SEAPLEX, a NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer cruise in 2010, information from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation as well as various published papers.

In April, researchers with the Instituto Oceanográfico in Brazil published a report that eggs of Halobates micans, another species of sea skater, were found on many plastic bits in the South Atlantic off Brazil.

“Plastic only became widespread in late ’40s and early ’50s, but now everyone uses it and over a 40-year range we’ve seen a dramatic increase in ocean plastic,” said Goldstein. “Historically we have not been very good at stopping plastic from getting into the ocean so hopefully in the future we can do better.”

Coauthors of the study include Marci Rosenberg, a student at UCLA, and Scripps Research Biologist Emeritus Lanna Cheng.

Read More

Humboldt Bay Symposium addresses culture, history, science

4/27/12

The California Coastal Commission's executive director spoke about the past and future of the state's most powerful coastal development regulatory agency Thursday at the Humboldt Bay Symposium in Eureka.

Charles Lester, appointed executive director by the commission in September, talked to nearly 160 environmentalists, government officials and professionals at the symposium about being the “big, bad” agency that oversees California's coastal developments.

The rest of the day's activities included presentations on the bay's cultural significance and history, rising sea levels, climate change and managing matter dredged from the bay. The symposium continues today with presentations on fisheries, aquaculture, recreation and the bay's economy.

Lester's presentation looked ahead to protecting the coast for the next 40 years in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Coastal Initiative, the proposition that established the commission. He emphasized the importance of local government's management of local coastal developments.

”Local governments are essential to how we enact the Coastal Act,” Lester said, adding that he wanted to dispel the myth that the Coastal Commission is a “big, bad” organization that “always says no.”

According to Lester, the commission has approved nearly 20,000 permits since the 1980s, voting down only 85 permits.

Over the years, Lester said, the commission has improved public access and recreation opportunities, increased trails, protected watersheds and maintained urban and rural boundaries. California has 76 local governments in the coastal zone. Sixty of those governments now have or have started local coastal programs, or LCPs.

Jen Kalt, policy director for Humboldt Baykeeper, a nonprofit environmental group, asked Lester if the commission would consider setting a deadline for the renewal of local coastal permits. Many developers go through the process at the local level and essentially have to redo their plans when they reach the coastal commission because the local coastal plan is out of date, she said.

Lester said mandating updates is not something the commission plans to implement currently but that the matter has been discussed from time to time. A provision in the Coastal Act indicates that LCPs should be reviewed every year, but updating the plans is not mandatory.

Lester said this is compounded by the shrinking resources of local governments and the commission. Commission staff has been reduced by 36 percent since the 1980s, he said, with widespread furloughs and cuts to both local governments and the commission.

Another symposium attendee asked Lester about streamlining the permit process when it comes to environmental cleanup. Wiyot Tribe Environmental Director Stephen Kullmann cited the Indian Island cleanup as an example, indicating that it had been hindered by a lack of funding and a stringent permit process.

Lester said the commission should always aim to streamline the permitting process, but he suggested that those applying for permits meet with staff early on to ensure a smooth process down the road.

”It's difficult to do that sometimes,” he acknowledged.

Looking to the future, Lester said the commission needs to focus on several concerns, including population growth and rising sea levels.

According to Lester, California's population will rise from the nearly 38 million recorded in the 2011 U.S. Census to 60 million by 2050. He said the pressures for more development are unavoidable, and the conflict will be further complicated by understanding how to protect public infrastructure, such as coastal highways, as well as resources.

”I don't think for a second that those urban-rural boundaries are going to stay fixed unless we continue to address them,” he said.

To see how the coastline has changed over the years, view recent and historic aerial photographs of the California coastline at www.californiacoastline.org. For more information on the symposium, visit www.humboldtbay.org/harbordistrict/symposium/2012/.

Read Original Article

April/May 2012

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District is exploring ways to expand the oyster industry while protecting the environment. Last August, the District was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Headwaters Fund, which—if successful—could allow expansion of oyster farming into pre-approved areas of the bay.

The project will examine ways to grow oysters without impacting eelgrass beds and other species in the bay mudflats. The District will also—if oyster growers and resource agencies can figure out how —work to put permits in place that will allow new or existing companies to expand into specific areas.

Seeing an economic opportunity that is not reliant on outside investors, the District decided to explore the possibility of a master permitting process that would address environmental impacts on a more holistic level. It would also reduce the burden on reviewing agencies while reducing costs of individual permits.

Five shellfish companies currently operate on 325 acres of tidelands in Humboldt Bay, employing 56 full-time workers, with total annual sales of $6 million. Oyster growers estimate that 1.2 jobs can be created for every six acres put into production.

Read More