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Ocean Trust Workshop Highlights Need for Competent Science in Sustainability Programs Ocean Trust launched its Science & Sustainability Workshop series last fall bringing top fishery research scientists from different parts of the world together with representatives from key seafood industry sectors. The aim was to bring science back into the discussion on seafood sustainability. Representatives from the foodservice, retail, distributor, producer sectors engaged in direct dialog with scientists from the FAO, US, Mexico, Canada, Norway, Spain/ISSF, Russia, New Zealand, and CCAMLR who each gave presentations on status and management of stocks in their respective regions and key issues like:
The next Science & Sustainability Workshop will be held in the fall of 2011 and bring scientists from other regions not covered in 2010 and provide a focus on overfishing and ecosystem management. Each year, the regions will rotate so that regional updates are provided on alternative years. Some conclusions & testimonials from 2010: “There has been a decoupling between sustainability proxies and scientific reasoning, but there is a significant opportunity to slow down (the) rhetoric and increase the focus on fundamental, management-related, scientific missions.” Brian Rothschild, UMassDartmouth/SMAST. “Thank you for a fantastic and insightful meeting, the collaboration and information helped give me confidence in our position as a premier seafood restaurant.” John Cooper, Bonefish Grill. Full report available to members, join Ocean Trust today! Ocean Trust Receives Multiple Conservation Awards Ocean Trust’s leadership in coastal restoration was recognized during two separate award ceremonies. In June, Ocean Trust received top conservation awards from the US Fish & Wildlife Service and Coastal America for its leadership in building one of the largest public/private restoration partnerships and its role in restoring the Bahia Grande shallow water coastal estuary to provide nursery habitat for a variety of fish, shellfish and migratory waterfowl. The EPA Gulf of Mexico Program also awarded the seventy- nine partners associated with the Bahia Grande Restoration Project a Gulf Guardian Award for 2007 at the November 14 Gulf of Mexico Program awards ceremony. Thor Lassen, president of Ocean Trust accepted the award on behalf of the Bahia Grande partnership. This was the third award given to the Bahia Grande project where Ocean Trust has played a key role in its management, and the fifth national conservation award for Thor Lassen and Ocean Trust. Read more about each conservation award:
Bonefish Grill Supporting Series of Ocean Trust Restoration Projects Bonefish Grill's NOTES FROM THE ROAD is highlighting Ocean Trust Projects which Bonefish Grill is supporting with funds raised from the sale its newly introduced Ocean Trust Martini in its restaurants. Each project brings together a partnership between local conservation and seafood industry participants to enhance coastal resourses throughout the US and Mexico. Initial projects include: Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Restoration - Bonefish Grill joined Ocean Trust's long-term efforts with the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Restoration in Tepehuajes , Mexico to help restore the population of one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. Ocean Trust and supporters from the seafood industry constructed and continues to maintain the only privately owned facility that has become the second-largest sea turtle camp in the Gulf of Mexico region, where daily patrols monitor nesting activity, relocate turtle eggs within protected corals for incubation and release over hatchlings back into the wild. Florida FISH Mangrove Reserve Restoration - On the west coast of Florida, near the commercial fishing Village of Cortez Ocean Trust and Bonefish Grill joined the local fishing community to begin the restoration of one of the last remaining stands of mangrove habitat important as a breeding area and juvenile nursery for coastal fisheries. The project area site was purchased by fishing community and set aside as a protected area now known as the FISH Reserve, and is becoming a thriving habitat for plants and aquatic life alike, and a source of survival for one of the last coastal fishing villages in the state. Southern New England Winter Flounder Restoration - Bonefish Grill also joined Ocean Trust in a unique project to help the local East Hampton fishing community restore the stock of winter flounder off its coast. By hatching, tagging, releasing and monitoring 10,000 juvenile flounder into a sheltered shallow water estuary near East Hampton, Ocean Trust and the East Hampton Township are testing a restocking program to reestablish a thriving population that will lead to greater success for the local flounder fishermen after their original fishery collapsed. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Restoration - The Chesapeake Bay is home to a wide variety of shellfish including the blue crab which has become a culinary favorite all through the East Coast. Facing a decline in the blue crab stock and fishery reductions to protect spawning populations, local fishermen have joined together with educators and scientists to promote and protect a sustainable fishery in the bay. With initial support from Bonefish Grill, Ocean Trust has started working cooperatively with the Maryland Watermen's Association Crab Restoration Around the Bay program to raise awareness and funds needed to restore the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population through hatchery and restocking programs. Bahia Grande Restoration - In Texas , Bahia Grande was once a flourishing and major wetland estuary supporting a rich population of fish, wildlife and migratory waterfowl, but for the past 70 years it has been a dry barren landscape cut off from the Gulf of Mexico . Working with federal, state and local organizations, Ocean Trust has built a national public and private partnership in what is now one of the largest estuary restoration projects in the United States . The Bahia Grande partnership and Ocean Trust have generated seven national awards for its conservation work re-constructing channels to reconnect Bahia Grande to the Gulf of Mexico and re-planting native vegetation to restore over 10,000 acres of habitat as an important coastal estuary. Support from Bonefish Grill is helping continue the efforts at this critical site. Ocean Trust Co-Sponsors International Forum on Sea Bass Forum Focuses on Enforcement and Monitoring of Sea Bass Fishery Links:
Ocean Trust & Ocean Garden Conservation Agreement - In June, Ocean Garden Products and Ocean Trust met with several environmental groups to discuss the vaquita marina and shrimp fishing in the Upper Gulf of California (GOC) and worked out an agreement to protect the vaquita marina while promoting the sustainability of the fisheries and fishing communities in the GOC by eliminating the bycatch of vaquita marina, stopping illegal fishing, and improving the efficiency of shrimp fisheries so that bycatch is reduced while supporting fishermen and local communities Conclusion - The Mexican Sea of Cortez shrimp fishery is among the most sustainable trawl shrimp fisheries incorporating advanced management tools such as satellite vessel monitoring systems, observers and light weight nets along with turtle and bycatch reduction devises, closed areas and seasons. Perhaps even more significant is that when confronted with environmental issues, Ocean Garden Products and the fishing groups in the Upper GOC worked with Ocean Trust to fact find the issues and identify positive areas of cooperation to enhance sustainability of their fishery and the ecosystem in the Sea of Cortez.
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research | education | restoration | turtles
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