Florida marine biotechnology: research, development and training capabilities to advance science and commerce

The level of activity and interest in “marine biotechnology” among Florida university faculty and allied laboratory scientists is reported in this document. The information will be used to (1) promote networking and collaboration in research and education, (2) inform industry of possible academic partners, (3) identify contacts interested in potential new sources of funding, and (4) assist development of funding for a statewide marine biotechnology research, training and development program. This document is the first of its kind. Institutions of higher learning were given the opportunity to contribute both an overview of campus capabilities and individual faculty Expressions of Scientific Interest. They are listed in the table of contents. (104pp.

PICES Press, Vol. 15, No. 2, July 2007

Contents [Individual sections are downloadable from the official URL link listed below]: PICES Science in 2007 (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 2007 Wooster Award (pdf, 0.1 Mb) FUTURE - A milestone reached but our task is not done (pdf, < 0.1 Mb) International symposium on "Reproductive and Recruitment Processes of Exploited Marine Fish Stocks" (pdf, 0.1 Mb) Recent results of the micronekton sampling inter-calibration experiment (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 2007 PICES workshop on "Measuring and monitoring primary productivity in the North Pacific" (pdf, 0.1 Mb) 2007 Harmful Algal Bloom Section annual workshop events (pdf, 0.1 Mb) A global approach for recovery and sustainability of marine resources in Large Marine Ecosystems (pdf, 0.3 Mb) Highlights of the PICES Sixteenth Annual Meeting (pdf, 0.4 Mb) Ocean acidification of the North Pacific Ocean (pdf, 0.3 Mb) Workshop on NE Pacific Coastal Ecosystems (2008 Call for Salmon Survival Forecasts) (pdf, 0.1 Mb) The state of the western North Pacific in the first half of 2007 (pdf, 0.4 Mb) PICES Calendar (pdf, 0.4 Mb) The Bering Sea: Current status and recent events (pdf, 0.3 Mb) PICES Interns (pdf, 0.3 Mb) Recent trends in waters of the subarctic NE Pacific (pdf, 0.3 Mb) Election results at PICES (pdf, 0.2 Mb) A new PICES award for monitoring and data management activities (pdf, < 0.1 Mb

Coastal Lagoons and Climate Change: Ecological and Social Ramifications in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ecosystems

Lagoons are highly productive coastal features that provide a range of natural services that society values. Their setting within the coastal landscape leaves them especially vulnerable to profound physical, ecological, and associated societal disturbance from global climate change. Expected shifts in physical and ecological characteristics range from changes in flushing regime, freshwater inputs, and water chemistry to complete inundation and loss and the concomitant loss of natural and human communities. Therefore, managing coastal lagoons in the context of global climate change is critical. Although management approaches will vary depending on local conditions and cultural norms, all management scenarios will need to be nimble and to make full use of the spectrum of values through which society views these unique ecosystems. We propose that this spectrum includes pragmatic, scholarly, aesthetic, and tacit categories of value. Pragmatic values such as fishery or tourism revenue are most easily quantified and are therefore more likely to be considered in management strategies. In contrast, tacit values such as a sense of place are more difficult to quantify and therefore more likely to be left out of explicit management justifications. However, tacit values are the most influential to stakeholder involvement because they both derive from and shape individual experiences and beliefs. Tacit values underpin all categories of social values that we describe and can be expected to have a strong influence over human behavior. The articulation and inclusion of the full spectrum of values, especially tacit values, will facilitate and support nimble adaptive management of coastal lagoon ecosystems in the context of global climate change

Biology and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs

We dedicate this book to Drs. Carl N. Shuster, Jr. and Koichi Sekiguchi for their life-long contributions to the biology and conservation of the magnificent horseshoe crab

The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance

Animal migrations are as familiar as geese in the sky on a fall afternoon and as mysterious as the peregrinations of sea turtles across thousands of miles of open ocean. This article discusses the distinguishing attributes of animal migrations, why they are important to biodiversity conservation, and the legal challenges posed by migration conservation. In particular, the article focuses on those aspects of migration conservation that existing law, dominated by imperiled species protection, fails to address. It consequently suggests law reforms that would better conserve animal migrations. A step toward serious legal efforts to protect the process and function of migration would represent significant broadening of the current framework for biodiversity protection policy. This article begins by describing animal migrations and explaining the common threats that raise conservation concerns. Any successful strategy for protecting migration will need to address habitat destruction, human-created obstacles, overexploitation (i.e., hunting and fishing), and climate change. The article examines the four key legal elements of a conservation strategy. The first is the establishment of differential thresholds of action responsive to different abundance goals for a migration. Second is transboundary coordination, which may involve international or interstate agreements, depending on the scale of the migration. Third is the protection of migration connectivity. Effective connectivity requires designation of corridors. Within the corridors, legal activity should concentrate on acquisition of habitat as well as activity-based regulation of habitat-disturbing practices. Fourth is controlling commercial and recreational harvests of migrating animals or the species on which the migrations rely. Finally, the article presents a theoretical model that tailors a place-based legal response to both migratory population abundance and the ecological importance of habitat. Application of the model would result in variable levels of legal protection to minimize unnecessary costs and optimize the benefit of conservation efforts. Existing attempts to conserve migrations using variable levels of protection compose a mixed record from which we extract lessons

The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance

Animal migrations are as familiar as geese in the sky on a fall afternoon and as mysterious as the peregrinations of sea turtles across thousands of miles of open ocean. This article discusses the distinguishing attributes of animal migrations, why they are important to biodiversity conservation, and the legal challenges posed by migration conservation. In particular, the article focuses on those aspects of migration conservation that existing law, dominated by imperiled species protection, fails to address. It consequently suggests law reforms that would better conserve animal migrations. A step toward serious legal efforts to protect the process and function of migration would represent significant broadening of the current framework for biodiversity protection policy. This article begins by describing animal migrations and explaining the common threats that raise conservation concerns. Any successful strategy for protecting migration will need to address habitat destruction, human-created obstacles, overexploitation (i.e., hunting and fishing), and climate change. The article examines the four key legal elements of a conservation strategy. The first is the establishment of differential thresholds of action responsive to different abundance goals for a migration. Second is transboundary coordination, which may involve international or interstate agreements, depending on the scale of the migration. Third is the protection of migration connectivity. Effective connectivity requires designation of corridors. Within the corridors, legal activity should concentrate on acquisition of habitat as well as activity-based regulation of habitat-disturbing practices. Fourth is controlling commercial and recreational harvests of migrating animals or the species on which the migrations rely. Finally, the article presents a theoretical model that tailors a place-based legal response to both migratory population abundance and the ecological importance of habitat. Application of the model would result in variable levels of legal protection to minimize unnecessary costs and optimize the benefit of conservation efforts. Existing attempts to conserve migrations using variable levels of protection compose a mixed record from which we extract lessons