Underneath the Municipal Wharf II in Monterey Bay, hundreds of abalone—large sea snails— grow in suspended cages in an open water farm. The abalone, cultivated by the Monterey Abalone Company, are fed local, hand-harvested giant kelp once a week, until they grow big enough to be sold to restaurants and local seafood connoisseurs.
Climate change is projected to increase the risk of drought, heat extremes, and wildfires in California through 2100. But at the same time, sea-level rise and changing precipitation patterns could increase the risk of floods and landslides, according to the Fourth California Climate Change Assessment.
Water quality conditions in some parts of Morro Bay may be the key factor preventing eelgrass recovery after a recent decline, according to a new study published in the journal Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science.
At its October 25, 2018 meeting, the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) unanimously approved 24 research projects totaling $6 million in funding through the Proposition 84 Competitive Grants Program. The projects support state priorities focused on stewardship and management of California’s ocean and coastal resources in the areas of: ocean acidification and hypoxia; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture; sea-level rise adaptation and coastal resilience; coastal sediment management; marine pollution; and marine renewable energy.
When the carbon dioxide from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, dissolves into ocean water, it raises the acidity of the water. Also, as global temperatures rise, the oxygen available in the water decreases. These changes act like alarm bells that tell marine life to evacuate to a safe space. Researchers are studying whether that safe space could be the climate refugia created by kelp forests. There, life could escape the potentially harmful waters that surround them.
The Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP) is an experimental program that investigates the use of cultured fish to enhance wild populations. It was created by a California statute in 1982, is managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and is paid for by ocean enhancement stamps on state fishing licenses and the Federal Sportfishing Restoration Act.
Amid the difficult days of the coronavirus pandemic, as Fort Bragg’s tourism-centric economy took a sudden hit, a group of locals came up with an idea for a brighter future. This small town of 7,000 sits along Northern California’s rugged coastline, a location that has yielded a long and intimate relationship with the ocean. That relationship, locals realized, could be the key to the city’s future, too: Smart investments might bring sustainable, ocean-focused industries to town.
In 2019, Erin Satterthwaite attended a planning meeting for the then-upcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Looking around the room, Satterthwaite noticed how rare she was as a young professional — one of a handful out of hundreds of attendees. It was, Satterthwaite felt, unfortunate. “We're talking about a decade of ocean science. It seems that younger professionals are needed to make this a sustainable process,” she remembers thinking.
California Sea Grant is excited to welcome Dr. Simona Augyte as the new Aquaculture Extension Specialist. In this new role, based in the Biology Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Augyte will build an extension program focused on Southern California aquaculture. Combining applied research and community outreach, the program seeks to develop aquaculture through workforce development training.