Author Archives: Rick Cooper

Oregon Sea Grant wins four awards in international competition

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hermes-logo6Oregon Sea Grant has won four awards – two Platinums, a Gold, and an Honorable Mention – in the international Hermes Creative Awards 2009 competition.

On the Lookout for Aquatic Invaders won a Platinum in the Design/Publication Overall category; Boats of the Oregon Coast was awarded Platinum for Publications/Handbook; Oregon Sea Grant Program Report 2007 earned a Gold for Video/Internal Communication; and Oregon Sea Grant Publications & Videos 2008 received an Honorable Mention in Publications/Catalog.

The Hermes Creative Awards, named for the ancient Greek messenger, is “an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media.” It is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. This year’s competition attracted some 3,700 entries from around the world.

Congratulations to everyone involved in writing, editing, designing, illustrating, and laying out these four outstanding Oregon Sea Grant products!

New Oregon Sea Grant publication explores offshore aquaculture

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Offshore Aquaculture book cover

Offshore aquaculture — the cultivation of fish and shellfish in the open ocean — has been practiced successfully for years in coastal waters around the world. However, offshore aquaculture is sparse in the United States and nonexistent in the Pacific Northwest, and the resulting seafood trade deficit is costing us billions of dollars per year.

So says a new publication from Oregon Sea Grant, Offshore Aquaculture in the Pacific Northwest, edited by Oregon State University fisheries professor Chris Langdon.

“The United States is far from sufficient in meeting its demands for seafood,” Langdon says. “Forty-five percent of our wild fish stocks are overfished, and we import about 80 percent of our seafood from other countries, at an annual cost of $13 billion. Clearly there is a need to develop additional sources of seafood.”

Offshore aquaculture may eventually prove to be one of those sources.

With support from NOAA and other federal and state agencies, Langdon says, offshore aquaculture projects have been established in a few regions of the United States. However, no such projects have been established in the Pacific Northwest.

Thus, last fall Langdon invited representatives of state and federal agencies, the media, research institutions, and coastal and fishing communities to Newport, Oregon, to evaluate the potential of offshore aquaculture in this region. Offshore Aquaculture in the Pacific Northwest presents the results of that forum, including recommendations for next steps in the discussion.

Copies of the 24-page publication may be downloaded at no charge from http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/onlinepubs.html#w08001, or purchased for $3.50 each plus shipping from Sea Grant Communications, 541-737-4849.

In addition, individual papers and presentations from Langdon’s offshore aquaculture forum are available as PDF documents and streaming video at http://oregonstate.edu/conferences/aquaculture2008.

Oregon Sea Grant’s Julie Howard publishes article about hypoxia

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“In 2006, Oregon and Washington experienced the worst hypoxic event on record as near-shore oxygen levels dropped in some places to zero…”

So writes Julie Howard, Oregon Sea Grant program assistant, in the March/April 2009 edition of Oregon Coast magazine. Her article, “An Ocean without Oxygen,” goes on to describe some of the possible causes of hypoxia, the devastating effects, and how researchers and fishermen are collaborating to address the issue.

For more information about the hypoxia phenomenon, visit the Web site of the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO).

Oregon Sea Grant researcher Jae Park wins award for “most cited” publication

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The Japanese Society of Fisheries Sciences (JSFS) has awarded Oregon Sea Grant researcher Jae Park and his co-authors an Award of Excellence for their paper, “New approaches for the effective recovery of fish proteins and their physicochemical characteristics” (Y. S. Kim, J. W. Park, and Y. J. Choi, Fisheries Science 69(6), 1231-1239, 2003). The paper won the award for being JSFS’s “most cited” scientific paper over the past five years.

Park plans to travel to Japan to accept the award, which will be announced at the opening ceremony of the JSFS annual meeting at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (Shinagawa Campus), on March 29, 2009.

Along with diplomas of merit, Park and his co-authors will share a prize of 20,000 yen.

For more information about Jae Park and his work with the OSU Seafood Laboratory, visit his Web page.

Marine educator Bill Hanshumaker featured on BeachConnection.net

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A day at the beach in Oregon can be a bit mind-bending. The Sci-Fi Channel could find lots to be inspired by here. The ocean and the shoreline environment are some of the most dynamic places on Earth, where things constantly change, sometimes in truly freaky ways.

Bill Hanshumaker, Public Marine Education Specialist with the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, is among the coastal experts featured in a BeachConnections.net article on strange things that can be found on Oregon’s beaches …

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New publication examines the costs associated with invasive species

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Economics of Invasive SpeciesA new publication from Oregon Sea Grant, The Economics of Invasive Species, examines the costs associated with invasive species and shows how economics can help us understand the invasive species problem and the costs and benefits of different control measures. This publication is intended for members of the public, government agencies, industry, and nongovernmental organizations who are interested in enhancing their education about or increasing their involvement in preventing, eradicating, and controlling invasive species.

For more information about invasive species in general and this publication in particular, visit http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/themes/invasives/index.html

New Guide Can Answer Question: “Is That a Trawler or a Troller?”

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Boats of the Oregon Coast

Visitors to the Oregon coast may find a new publication from Oregon Sea Grant useful when strolling the docks or watching commercial fishers at work.

Boats of the Oregon Coast, a pocket-size field guide, depicts and describes 18 different fishing and service vessels seen along the Oregon coast. The booklet’s drawings, concise descriptions and size make it ideal for port and marina tours from Astoria to Brookings.

Also included in the 52-page booklet is a short history of Oregon fisheries, illustrated with historic photos and accompanied by a timeline of important dates in the development of Oregon’s commercial fishing industry.

Copies may be purchased for $4.95 each plus $1 shipping and handling from Sea Grant Communications, 541-737-4849, or from our e-commerce store on the Web. It is also available in several bookstores and gift shops along the coast.

Boats of the Oregon Coast was illustrated by Stefania Padalino and written by Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension faculty Pat Corcoran, Ginny Goblirsch, Paul Heikkila, Kaety Hildenbrand, Steve Theberge, Michael Thompson and Jim Waldvogel.

New Oregon Sea Grant publication explores low impact development

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Many Oregon communities are facing rapid population growth and increases in housing and industrial construction, without a matching increase in the resources necessary to manage such growth and make wise land use decisions. One result may be added stress from increased stormwater runoff on already overtaxed water management systems.

To help communities address such issues, Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University (OSU) has published Barriers and Opportunities for Low Impact Development: Case Studies from Three Oregon Communities.

More information: http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/communications/releases.html#lowimpact

Looking for a few good… graphic designers!

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Are you a graphic designer, or do you know someone who is?

If so, you or your friend might want to consider applying for a new position that’s just opened up at Oregon Sea Grant: “Information Design Coordinator.” It’s a half-time, 12-month fixed-term position with a full-time salary range of $35,000 to $39,000 a year (which translates to $17,500–$19,500 for half-time).

Benefits include:
• Full health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family
• Life insurance
• Retirement (prorated for half time)
• Vacation (7.5 hours per month after 6 months)
• Sick leave (4 hours per month)
• Staff fee privileges–you or a family member can take up to 12 credit hours per term at 25% of the current tuition at any of the seven Oregon University System campuses
• An opportunity to work with terrific people doing wonderful things (educating the public about wise use of marine resources)

Responsibilities of the position include
• Designing, producing, and publishing educational materials in print and digital formats
• Reviewing and proofreading educational materials produced by others
• Teaching and advising OSU faculty and staff in design skills
• Providing leadership in implementing new design tools and technologies

Required qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Three years of graphic arts production experience, two of which included providing direct technical consultation to customers and coordinating graphics design projects through to completion
• Experience in color separation, technical illustration, desktop publishing, and information design

Preferred qualifications:
• Master’s degree
• More than three years of the required experience
• Advanced training and experience in information design
• Demonstrable commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity

To review the job posting and apply, go to http://jobs.oregonstate.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=51411

The closing date is June 20, 2007.

OSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, and has a policy of being responsive to dual-career needs.