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This year's annual meeting of the West Coast Ecosystem-based Management Network drew experts from around the region. First the founding member projects provided an overview and update of their projects:
Humboldt Bay Initiative
Susan Schlosser, CA Sea Grant Becky Price-Hall, City of Trinidad
Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT)
Leesa Cobb, POORT Exec. Director
Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project
Bryan Largay, TWP Director
San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA)
Dean Wendt, Ph.D., Melissa Locke, SLOSEA Policy & Communications Mgr.
Ventura River Ecosystem Project
Paul Jenkin, Surfrider Foundation – Ventura Chapter
The network then heard from several other projects that are applying 'ecosystem-based management' approaches to their local initiatives:
Hood Canal Coordinating Council
Scott Brewer, HCCC Exec. Director Jacques White, Ph.D., Long Live the Kings
Washington State Outer Coast Marine Resource Committees
Pete Stauffer, Surfrider Foundation
Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission
Lia Protopapadakis, SMBRC Tom Ford, SMBRC
San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group
Pete Halmay, Working Group President Kristen Goodrich, Tijuana River NERR
Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO)
Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies ACCESS Project
Meredith Elliot, PRBO Dan Robinette, PRBO
Information about national-level and West Coast regional developments was presented. Topics included the new National Ocean Council, planning for a West Coast Regional Planning Body and Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, and the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health (WCGA), with a focus on linking these activities to local-level efforts. Detailed discussion also centered on the activities of the new WCGA Sea Grant Fellows, and opportunities for overlap with Network and partner efforts.The afternoon fieldtrip to the marshlands of Humboldt Bay provided an opportunity to learn about the City of Arcata's unique wetlands wastewater treatment system.
