Archive for the 'Ocean' Category
Elected and municipal officials along with other community, nonprofit and business leaders from the Charleston region will discuss issues involving shoreline change management at the Charleston Community Leaders’ Forum on Shoreline Change July 13 at the Charleston County Public Services Building, DHEC reported.
Topics will include implications of chronic erosion, gradual sea level rise, increased shoreline development and comprehensive beachfront management planning. A public comment period began 5:30 p.m. yesterday.
Organized by DHEC in 2007, the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee is an advisory committee of a broad cross-section of stakeholders including scientists, coastal managers, municipal officials, developers, conservationists and legal professionals. The committee’s purpose is to organize existing shoreline research, identify research priority needs and consider policy-related issues concerning management of South Carolina’s estuarine and beachfront shorelines. A report of the committee’s findings is planned for late 2009.
In what may very well be a case of water pollution and/or ocean acidification, South Carolina’s supply of healthy oysters have been depleting for the last 20 years.
DHEC has already closed about 1/3 of the state’s 3,000 acres of oyster beds to harvesting because of pollution.
On top of that, commercial fishermen take about 100,000 bushels a year, SCDNR biologist and SCORE manager, Nancy Hadley said. SCDNR usually replants about 1/2 that much, using revenues from saltwater fishing licenses and volunteer help through SCORE (the South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Program), but it’s necessary to do this and more to help oysters thrive in nature.
May 20, 2009
NOAA: World’s large marine ecosystems are heating up
From a new United Nations report, which contains key contributions from NOAA, we learn that 61 of the world’s 64 large marine ecosystems — large coastal ocean waters adjacent to continents — show a significant increase in sea surface temperatures in the last 25 years, contributing to decreasing fisheries catches in some areas and increasing catches in others.
There is plenty of information on the NOAA site for those interested, but what I found particularly interesting with respect to our own Large Marine Ecosystem – LME#6 covers the SouthEast – are two points:
- NC’s Albemarle-Pamlico Sound is one of the largest and most productive aquatic systems in NA.
- The SE US Continental Shelf is one of a few LME’s that have experienced long-term cooling since 1957.
May 14, 2009
Spring time means it’s manatee season off SC’s coast
SCDNR is reminding boaters to avoid collision with various forms of marine life; specifically: 
to be on the lookout for endangered animals, especially now that the first manatees of the season have been spotted along the S.C. coastline.
Like every other spring, manatees begin their slow migration up the S.C. coast since water temperatures rise into the upper 60s. This time frame may be shifted a little going forward due to global warming’s effect on ocean temperatures, so be aware of updates to this affect.
SCDNR has several tidbits of information about manatees on their website, and if you do happen to spot one, they encourage you to file a report on their Manatees in South Carolina web page.
