Smart Growth for Maine Fisheries Communities

in the Face of Climate Change

GrowSmart Maine Summit 2014 Heather Deese, VP Strategic Development; Island Institute; hdeese@islandinstitute.org

The Island Institute works to sustain Maine’s island and remote coastal communities, and exchanges ideas and experiences to further the sustainability of communities here and elsewhere.

Program Areas

Community Development

Economic Development

Marine Programs

Education Programs

Community Energy

Media

Indopacific (Palau)

Gulf of Maine

Caribbean

Credit – Bob Steneck, University of Maine

… BUT while diversity is low, BIOMASS was high

Monhegan ca 1880

Muscongus Bay ca 1980

Credit – Bob Steneck, University of Maine

• Insert - Graph showing change in population numbers of lobster and groundfish over time

• Insert – graph showing trends in water temperature

Fish and lobster populations are shifting in response to fishing pressure and

changing environmental conditions (warming water). Maine’s lobster fishery is

benefiting now, while the fishery south of Cape Cod has disappeared.

2013 Commercial Maine Landings By Live Pounds Total: 302,607,782

2013 Commercial Maine Landings By Ex-vessel Value $531,224,216

$367 M 4,200 active licenses

700 active licenses

1,700 active licenses

600 active licenses

<50 active licenses

Brickman, et al. 2013 – State of Scotian Shelf report, DFO

Data : http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/ocean/database/data_query.html

Deese, et al. in prep

River Water entering the Ocean – more and different timing

“4 of the 8 wettest years of the last century occurred between 2005 and 2010.” Balch et al, 2012

Image credit: Julia Maine; Susie Arnold

“Cobia is a fish they catch in Florida with rod and reel, I heard of one caught up here about 20 years ago, but we never saw them until now, now guys catching several per week”

- Groundfish fishermen from Rhode Island talking about species shifts

The ‘typical’

“Fishery pretty much shuts down in the fall after the first storm when snow sticks on the beach”

– Climate Roundtable participant on when lobster season wraps up in the fall

The ‘new normal’?

“The shed was earlier this year than any year in my lifetime”

– Climate of Change 2013 workshop participant describing 2012 season

Supporting Sustainable Fisheries Businesses and Diversification

Aquaculture in Shared Waters

Maine launches initiative to combat ocean acidification; Pingree seeks similar federal effort Posted By Bill Trotter On June 26, 2014 (2:48 pm) In Business, Hancock, News, Politics, State

• Maine finding its place in global effort to combat acidification, a top threat to fisheries Posted By Mario Moretto On September 5, 2014 (4:08 pm) In News, Outdoors, Politics, State

• AUGUSTA, Maine — A group of lawmakers, fishermen, scientists and state officials are embarking on a gargantuan task: Develop a plan for Maine — a state of fewer than 2 million people — to address the global crisis of ocean acidification.

Maine OA Commission Report to be delivered to legislature December 2014

Other Policy Efforts:

• Alaska (Sept. 2013)- Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers were instrumental in convincing Governor Parnell to allocate funds for the installation of a high-resolution carbonate chemistry monitoring system at the Alutiiq Pride hatchery in Seward, Alaska, which produces blue and red king crabs, oysters, razor clams and other animals

• Oregon and California (Summer 2013)- established the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel to develop strategic recommendations for research, monitoring, and mitigation

• Washington State- Blue Ribbon Panel on OA sunsetted in Nov. 2012 -The Washington Marine Resources Advisory Council (MRAC), enabled by the 2013 Legislature, is charged with advancing the implementation of the BRP’s recommendations -Under the direction of the WA State Legislature and Governor Inslee, the WA OA Center was established at UW in July 2013, a recommendation of the BRP, and received $1.8 million in state funding for the first two years

For more details on these efforts see the March 2014 OA Report put out by Global Ocean Health

• Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy (October 2013)- governors of CA, OR, WA, and BC Premier pledged to align policies on emissions and costs of carbon pollution, including support for research on OA and action to combat it

• Maryland legislature passed a bill requiring the Maryland DoE to evaluate probable effects of OA and make recommendations in a report in 2015

Community Energy Efficiency &

Renewable Energy Weatherization Weeks (2012 2014) 280 Homes & community buildings $1.9 M savings

Networking, leadership & technical support CIERA Samso trip Community Energy Action Teams (U.S. EPA $100,000 grant) Islanded grid network (with AK; U.S. DoE $450,000 grant)

Offshore Wind Energy Information Exchange to inform coastal stakeholders about costs and benefits of offshore wind energy development Targeted support for impacted communities (Fisheries groups, Monhegan)

K-12 education • A cutting-edge interactive online platform for

coastal communities to explore weather, climate, storms, geomorphology, oceanography, and more

• 5 communities & schools in Maine

• 1 community & 2 schools in Alaska

• Researchers, fishermen, students, teachers, parents

• Daily weather collection

• Short-term participant-driven investigations

Smart Growth for Maine Fisheries Communities

in the Face of Climate Change

GrowSmart Maine Summit 2014 Heather Deese, VP Strategic Development; Island Institute; hdeese@islandinstitute.org