Gulf of Maine Times

Council’s goals: restoration, research management, mapping and stewardship

By Ethan Nedeau

Fifteen years. Whew! What began as an ambitious dream—to get two countries, three states, and two provinces to work collaboratively to manage the region’s marine resources—has evolved into a model international partnership for environmental conservation. Now in its fifteenth year, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment continues to promote ecologically sustainable development, ecosystem-based planning and management, environmental protection through precaution, and public information and participation.

The 2001-2006 Action Plan is guiding the Council’s current activities. To mark the midway point and measure progress toward its goals, the Council recently produced an Action Plan Mid-Term Review. The Action Plan outlined 51 critical actions for two goals: protect and restore coastal and marine habitats, and protect human health and ecosystem integrity from toxic contaminants in the marine environment. The Action Plan also contained several sustainable maritime activities. The Action Plan complements many local and regional projects and promotes new initiatives that support habitat protection and improve marine health.

So far, the Council has made significant progress on 27 actions and will be maintaining its momentum in these areas. At the same time, the Council will accelerate efforts on 12 actions related to the following four objectives:

Improve Management

In 2004, the Council commenced a Web-based survey to determine important research and education tools for the region’s resource managers. The Council is advancing these findings to the region’s government research programs. The Council will support a regional climate change network to assist with adaptation strategies, research, and information exchange.

Expedite Marine Mapping

In 2004, the Council and its partners produced Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative: A Framework for Ocean Management. The document de-scribes strategy to map the sea floor of the Gulf of Maine from the intertidal zone to the upper continental slope to help with ecosystem-based resource management. The Council will implement this strategy by assisting with clearinghouse activities for ocean mapping data, articulating user needs, and promoting the development of emerging marine mapping technologies.

Expand Habitat Restoration

The Council and its restoration partners provide funding and technical assistance to government, non-government organizations, and businesses to increase the pace of habitat restoration in the Gulf of Maine, including the Bay of Fundy. Since 2001, the GOMC/NOAA Habitat Restoration Partnership has funded 33 projects for a total of $766,035 that attracted nearly $3.6 million from other sources. The partnership aims to expand resources for planning and implementing restoration projects and for post-restoration monitoring. As part of this effort, the Council recently produced the Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy, which does the following:

• States the purpose and scope of regional habitat restoration in the Gulf of Maine
• Identifies habitat types, impacts and restoration needs
• Provides recommendations for enhancing habitat restoration

Implementation of the strategy will increase community interest in natural resources and restoration efforts, improve the effectiveness of resource utilization, enhance local restoration projects, generate more funding, increase the capacity of restoration practitioners and focus limited resources to priority needs.

Improve Stewardship and Education

The Council continues its commitment to data and information exchange. In 2003, the Council redesigned its Web site to serve as an information clearinghouse on resource management activities in the Gulf of Maine and its watershed. Some features include Knowledgebase pages for priority issues, an enhanced People Finder, the Gulf of Maine Times, and general information such as grant opportunities and annual awards nominations, information about the Council’s action plan, committee business, and special projects. In addition, the Council has developed a Web-based Non-Government Organi-zation Directory, a powerful tool to disseminate information and promote networking among the over 600 organizations in the directory. The Council is promoting the use of the directory and improving its ability to meet user needs. Finally, the Council is committed to expanding its 2004 pilot environmental indicator series and “State of the Gulf” effort to new issues. The initial report focused on fisheries and aquaculture, contaminants, and coastal development.

The Council's Science Translation Project is in its third year. Originally designed to accelerate the transfer of scientific information to coastal decision-makers, the science translators have also become involved in communication, editing, design and production of Council documents. The project produces Science Insights articles for the Gulf of Maine Times, fact sheets, workshop reports, strategies, knowledgebase summaries on priority topics, web-based content and other publications. Upcoming projects include the Marine Habitat Primer that provides an overview of Gulf of Maine's coastal and offshore habitats, a booklet and database on the science of riparian buffers, a Web portal for habitat restoration and a variety of projects associated with State of the Gulf reporting.

Along with the new initiatives, the Council’s core projects remain strong. For example, Gulfwatch—the Council’s coastal monitoring program—continues to assess the status and trends of chemical contaminants in blue mussels in the Gulf of Maine, and the data are being made available in a Web-based interactive mapping tool. The Council's Contaminants Monitoring Committee, with assistance from the Science Trans-lation Project, produced a four-page fact sheet about the Gulfwatch program in 2003 to communicate its progress to the region's scientists and managers. The Gulf of Maine Times continues to educate about social, environmental and scientific issues that affect the Gulf of Maine.

Through its Gulf of Maine Visionary and Art Longard volunteer awards, the Council recognizes the people and communities that inspire change. These people share the Council's mission “to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine and to allow for sustainable resource use by existing and future generations.” The Council was formed by people with this type of creativity, innovation, persistence and passion and its core strength remains the region's citizens and communities.