BALTIMORE – Climate change already has had an impact on wildlife and communities along the Chesapeake Bay and on the East Coast, according to a new report, and it will only get worse unless there are cuts in carbon emissions. The National Wildlife Federation research called Changing Tides looks at wildlife and recreation economies on the eastern seaboard.
Jana Davis, executive director of Chesapeake Bay Trust, said sea levels have risen about a foot in the last one hundred years, and they're expected to rise at a rate twice as fast in the next few decades.
"When you think about low-lying areas like Baltimore, Annapolis, Virginia Beach, other areas, that's a huge threat to infrastructure as well as ecosystems," she explained. "A lot of wetlands are vulnerable to sea-level rise and are threatened, their very existence."
Davis said Maryland has been very proactive to curb climate change, but she said it's a global issue. She said if every government were to put laws into place like Maryland has to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, then the world would be on the way to solving the problem.
Davis said we need to plan ahead for a rise in sea levels of another foot by 2050. That means development projects will have to take into account potential flooding problems. She said we also need to prepare for more severe weather and the impacts that will have.
"With climate change scenarios, we're going to have even more storm water, more pollution going into the bay," she said. "So we're going to have to design storm water facilities to handle bigger rainfall events. There's going to be more episodes of heavy rain but also more periods of drought probably in our area that's going to affect agriculture."
Davis said a lot of hard work put into restoring the bay's oyster beds could be reversed as climate change makes the oceans more acidic, which oysters may not be able to handle.
On a federal level, Davis said whoever the next president is will have to deal with the issue of rising seas.
"Moving key pieces of infrastructure, sewer lines for example, that are low lying, increased sea levels at ports, handling bridges," she added. "Are they going to be high enough? So I think any government and any administration as it comes in is going to have to deal with many of these aspects."
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A new bill aims to reduce the number of sea lions, sharks, rays, skates and giant sea bass dying off the coast of Southern California in huge set gillnets the size of 20 football fields, weighted to the sea floor.
Right now, set gillnets are banned in most state waters and Assembly Bill 2220 would extend the ban to a 3-mile radius around the Channel Islands.
Caitlynn Birch, Pacific marine scientist for Oceana, said the bill also stops crews profiting from certain species accidentally caught in the nets.
"It will remove the exemption that allows set gill net fisheries to incidentally catch and sell great white sharks and giant sea bass, which are both protected species and not allowed to take commercially or recreationally for any other fisheries in California," Birch pointed out.
Opponents cited concerns about the effect on fishing crews' bottom line. About 30 fishermen still have active set gillnet permits in Southern California. The state has stopped issuing new permits and the bill would make existing permits nontransferable.
The bill would also give the California Department of Fish and Wildlife the authority to require independent monitors on fishing boats but would not make them mandatory. Right now it is up to fishing crews to self-report when they accidentally catch a protected species.
"Having the authority to place third-party observers on vessels would allow for the collection of unbiased data on specifically bycatch, which is being thrown overboard at sea and isn't otherwise able to be tracked," Birch explained.
Supporters contended more selective hook and line fishing methods have significantly less bycatch and typically yield higher prices for fish considered better quality seafood.
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Good news for fishing crews and marine conservationists: Large fishing grounds are reopening, while other areas receive new protections.
Some 4,500 miles of ocean fishing grounds off Southern California are now open to recreational and commercial fishing for bottom-dwelling species, and 428 miles of coral and sponge habitat are closed.
Geoff Shester, California campaign director and senior scientist for the nonprofit Oceana, said his organization has spent years mapping the seafloor, discovering colorful coral beds he said are "right out of a Dr. Seuss book."
"These areas have some of the richest gardens of underwater deep-sea corals and sponges anywhere," Shester reported. "We wanted to make sure that these areas had special protection, so that no bottom-contact fishing can damage some of these really sensitive 'redwoods of the deep sea.'"
The fishing grounds in question had been closed for 20 years to protect a species known as the cowcod rockfish, which has recovered from previous overfishing. The entire area is still closed to bottom trawling but the hook-and-line method and groundfish bottom longlines and traps are now permitted.
The areas now reopening include prime fishing grounds off San Diego. The eight areas to be newly protected are near the Channel Islands and far offshore seamounts, 100 miles from the coast.
Shester pointed out Oceana collaborated with commercial fishing groups and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine the areas most worthy of extra protection.
"They went into place without opposition, because it was done in a thoughtful way where there were compromises made and we brought data and science forward," Shester recounted. "It's an example of how fishing and conservation groups can work together to support the shared goals of healthy fishing, as well as protecting seafloor habitats."
Deep-sea corals and sponges are a crucial part of the marine ecosystem, sheltering many species from predators and serving as feeding areas and nurseries. They are among the most long-lived creatures in the ocean.
Disclosure: Oceana contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Environment, and Oceans. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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Bull Kelp in South and Central Puget Sound has declined more than 90% over the last 150 years - and eelgrass meadows severely declined as well, according to a new report just delivered to lawmakers.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources' new plan aims to reverse the losses.
The DNR's Co-lead on the Kelp and Eelgrass Health and Conservation Plan Cynthia Harbison said the goal is to conserve and recover at least 10,000 acres of kelp and eelgrass habitat by 2040.
"So, we're at the beginning of this process," said Harbison. "In the next few years, we are going to be working to gather local knowledge and identify specific conservation and recovery sites."
Three general areas will host pilot projects: Grays Harbor, South Puget Sound, and the eastern strait of Juan de Fuca.
The DNR will convene public stakeholder meetings early next year - go to their website to sign up to be notified by email for details.
Harbison said eelgrass and kelp are crucial habitat for many species, especially juvenile salmon and Dungeness crab, and can help in the fight against climate change.
"Eelgrass is really good at storing carbon," said Harbison, "and it can also provide some physical shoreline stabilization with the sediment and also ways reduction when there's big storm events coming in. Kelp can also do that as well."
Eelgrass and kelp are under stress from rising water temperatures due to climate change, as well as invasive species, water pollution and shoreline development.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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