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June GOMC meeting to feature NGO "mini-fair"

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia ---- The Gulf of Maine Council's summer meeting will feature a "mini-fair" where nongovernmental organizations can exhibit information on their work in the Gulf. The meeting is to take place here June 8-11 at the Rodd Grand Hotel.

As part of an effort to build its relationships and foster communication with nongovernmental organizations, First Nations, and the private sector, the Council also anticipates hosting a June 10 forum tentatively titled, "Public Communications."

Forum participants will discuss ways to develop mutual understanding among the Council and the other diverse organizations working in the Gulf, and to encourage collaboration to preserve the region's marine and coastal resources. Discussion topics will include current communication practices and suggestions for change.

Among the speakers the Council plans to invite are representatives of the NGO community, First Nations, and industry.

Also at the June meeting, the Council plans to announce the recipient of the first annual Art Longard Award, given to an outstanding volunteer in the Gulf of Maine. The award honors Art Longard, a founding and long-time member of the Gulf of Maine program and its working group who died in December 1997 after a long battle with cancer. Longard placed high value on the role of volunteers in Gulf stewardship.

At its winter meeting in Halifax in November, the Council hosted an informational forum on Canada's moratorium on petroleum exploration and drilling on the Canadian portion of Georges Bank. The moratorium expires on January 1, 2000 (see story on page 3), and provincial and federal governments must decide before then whether to extend it.

In November the Council also established an Aquaculture/Environment Committee to address regional aquaculture issues including environmental monitoring, disease regulations, site assessment, and research.

Workshop wrangles with electronic communication

Boston, Massachusetts ---- Those working to enhance electronic communication among people interested in the Gulf of Maine environment say their goal is to create a regional electronic information exchange system that diverse groups and individuals can easily use.

Participants in a November 4-6 workshop, Out of the Fog: Furthering the Establishment of an Electronic Environmental Exchange for the Gulf of Maine, remarked that considerable information on the Gulf of Maine exists on the Internet, but people cannot always find it and its quality varies.

The workshop was organized jointly by the Gulf of Maine Council and the Boston-based New England Aquarium. About 55 participants ----- including representatives of commercial fisheries, watershed management, and science and education ----- discussed ways to develop a more unified network for electronic exchange of information and data about the Gulf. They examined regional information and data exchange networks from other areas of the country and developed an action plan for establishing one for the Gulf of Maine.

"There have been lots of independent efforts that have gone on among scientists, between scientists and managers, and there have been others that have involved fishermen, government agencies, and the NGO [nongovernmental organization] community. Somehow we have all of these independent activities but we have not been very successful in bringing [information about] them together in any kind of a coherent manner," said New England Aquarium President Jerry Schubel.

Respondents to a pre-workshop survey said they want contact information for those working on or involved with Gulf issues and that they would also like a specific Gulf of Maine search engine.

The workshop also explored funding issues. The cost of developing, staffing, and maintaining an easy-to-use system that provides access to quality data can be prohibitive. But Woods Hole researcher Bruce Tripp noted that while people may be hesitant to pay a fee for a service providing access to such information, they should realize that they often pay for information in other ways, such as taking the time to search for it at the library, through a series of phone calls, or piecemeal on the web.

In addition to intensive discussions, workshop participants also familiarized themselves with Internet search tools and existing information systems in hands-on computer sessions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The workshop was organized and facilitated by the New England Aquarium's Conservation Department with funding from the Cabot Family Charitable Trust and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Other sponsors include the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Collaboration of Community Foundations for the Gulf of Maine, the Gulf of Maine Council, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine State Planning Office, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, MIT Sea Grant, and the Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine.

For more information on ongoing efforts to develop a Gulf of Maine regional electronic information exchange system, contact Patrice Farrey at the New England Aquarium via E-mail at pfarrey@aol.com or call (617) 573-0748; or contact Paul Boudreau, Canadian Co-Chair of the Gulf of Maine Council Information Management Committee via E-mail at boudreaup@mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca or call (902) 426-7464.