HAVELOCK, N.C. – At a summit this week on coastal resilience, some scientists point to underwater seagrasses as an important tool for protecting shorelines from hurricanes and other extreme weather events.
Underwater seagrasses may be difficult to spot, but the North Carolina coast is home to hundreds of thousands of acres of lush water-dwelling vegetation. Retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine scientist Jud Kenworthy says seagrass meadows have strong roots that hold sediment in place and help coastal systems withstand high winds and forceful waves.
"As an alternative, a natural alternative to shoreline protection, seagrasses are sort of the first line of defense before we get to the shore," says Kenworthy.
Last year, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order calling for the state to take steps to prepare for increased flooding, extreme weather and rising sea levels in the face of a changing climate. Kenworthy says conserving seagrasses could be one of the most effective ways to keep North Carolina's shorelines intact.
Tancred Miller, manager of Coastal and Ocean Policy for the North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, says the state has been working on innovative ways to help coastal communities adapt to natural hazards and long-term shifts in shoreline ecosystems.
"We also with climate change have habitat transition,” says Miller. “So, things are going from forest to wetland, from wetland to open water. We have habitat changes, so we need to think about all these things – not just at the individual property level, but also at the community level, the county level and ultimately, the entire coast."
Next year, the state will update its Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, which includes seagrasses as one key habitat to conserve.
People living in coastal areas may not realize that seagrasses anchor a healthy ecosystem. Bill Crowell, the director of the state's Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, describes it as an indicator of healthy water and thriving marine life.
"So the thing that you can do to help keep it there is one, don't disturb it, don't run your boat props through it,” says Crowell. “But the number one thing I think people can do is make sure that the water quality off the land is good – reducing storm water, reducing pollutants coming into the water."
Seagrass meadows are found in nearly every coastal state, but have been disappearing for decades. Studies have found that farm run-off, sewage and other pollutants are harming them.
Crowell points out it can take months or years for seagrasses to recover from damage – and once they are gone, it's difficult to grow them back.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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Lawmakers and scientists in Massachusetts are working to bolster the state's growing "blue economy."
Several pieces of legislation aim to create a "blue workforce pipeline" in marine biotechnology, commercial fishing and more.
Wally Fulweiler, professor of earth, environment and biology at Boston University, said a healthy ocean makes for healthier coastal communities and "blue jobs," such as oyster reef restoration will stick around as long as coastal ecosystems are cared for.
"Humans are part of the system, and I think we have to figure out a way that we can all kind of work within that system," Fulweiler urged. "I think oyster aquaculture is one way forward there."
Fulweiler pointed out oysters improve water quality, provide food and support livelihoods. Currently valued at more than $8 billion, the state's blue economy grew nearly 40% over the past decade.
Lawmakers hope to create more pathways for students interested in ocean-related careers, including more educational grants to remove some of the financial and technical barriers to accessing the ocean sciences. Fulweiler stressed tackling the challenge of climate change and its effects on our oceans will take an all-hands-on-deck approach.
"If we can lower that entry point -- basically not use technology as a gatekeeper -- I think we might get a better understanding of how ecosystems work," Fulweiler contended. "We may be able to get more voices and ideas to the table."
Fulweiler added new voices could help ensure emerging technologies, including offshore wind energy and large-scale fishing, can minimize any ecological harm.
This story was produced with original reporting from Ethan Brown for The Sweaty Penguin.
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A new analysis by Oceana found crews in the California set gillnet fishery have severely underreported the number of seals and sea lions caught and killed or injured over the past 20 years.
Researchers estimate fishing crews are reporting marine mammal bycatch just 6% of the time.
Caitlynn Birch, Pacific marine scientist for Oceana, said it proves the need for government observers onboard the boats.
"It's well known by fishery managers that self-reporting is unreliable," Birch asserted. "However, there's no enforcement. If there's no third-party, federal fishery observer out there, they're not going to say that they killed a sea lion?"
The National Marine Fisheries Service stopped posting observers on fishing boats around 2017. The Marine Resource Committee of the California Fish and Game Commission meets Nov. 16 to consider a suite of measures to protect wildlife, including a new observer program.
The Commission and the Department of Fish and Wildlife are working to update management of the set gillnet fishery, improve data collection and reduce bycatch.
Birch argued fishery managers need observers on the vessels or electronic monitoring in order to accurately quantify the fisheries' impacts on wildlife.
"If we don't have correct data we're flying blind," Birch contended. "In terms of trying to manage a fishery that has high rates of bycatch and interacts with protected species."
Log books from 2005 and 2012 showed fishing crews self-reported an average of 12 incidents per year where set gillnets caught a California sea lion or harbor seal. Federal officials estimated the real number is 212 per year, based on fishery data acquired on trips where an observer was on board.
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With news of more large-scale fish dumps in coastal Louisiana waters in recent weeks, advocates are calling for more regulations on the menhaden industry.
Three large commercial fishing nets were dumped in waters off Cameron Parish in separate incidents between Sept. 11 and 14, resulting in an estimated 850,000 dead menhaden, also known as pogies, along with other species of bycatch. This comes one year after a similar incident when a pogie boat cut loose a net containing nearly 1 million fish and set it adrift in the same waters.
David Cresson, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana, said with locals again seeing large amounts of dead fish washed up on area beaches, the scale and effects of industrial harvest demand more regulation.
"They set these nets 10 or 12,000 times a year," Cresson explained. "They catch a billion pounds of pogies, tens of millions of pounds of bycatch. So, what we saw from September 11th to September 15, was just a tiny glimpse of what's really going on all year long."
Two foreign owned commercial operators, Daybrook Fisheries and Omega Protein, are responsible for the dumps, which state officials cited for failing to report the incident within the permitted time. Neither company responded to a request for comment.
Menhaden are small baitfish harvested for use in a number of products, but in the wild are the basic forage fish for many species. Larger fish following menhaden to feed are often caught in purse seine nets as bycatch. Cresson noted other finfish affected include Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Croakers and Jack Crevalle, but he added it does not stop there.
"It is a long list of species, not just fish by the way, marine mammals, birds, and plenty of other fish and wildlife are impacted by this style of harvest," Cresson outlined. "It's a very industrialized style of harvest that's not allowed anywhere else in the Gulf of Mexico as close to the shores as we allow it in Louisiana."
A quarter-mile buffer zone went into effect across the Louisiana coast this year, but it is the narrowest buffer among the nearby Gulf states. Advocates originally argued for a 1-mile buffer zone citing the need to protect habitat and spawning areas as pogie boats disturb the seafloor when fishing in shallow waters.
Chris Macaluso, director of the Center for Marine Fisheries at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said the 1-mile buffer zone makes sense.
"It's not just some random effort to penalize a company," Macaluso pointed out. "It's an effort to protect shallow water habitat and minimize the impact of dragging those nets along the bottom, of the boats going into those shallow waters, and also to protect the fish that are in that close-in range."
He stressed a scientifically-based catch limit is also needed to help ensure the long-term viability of the Louisiana fishery.
Disclosure: The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Environment, and Public Lands/Wilderness. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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