Bounty offered for returned crab tags

Posted on August 10, 2010 by kightp

NEWPORT – Oregon Sea Grant is asking crab fishermen to keep a watchful eye out for Dungeness crabs with tags on their legs – and to forward any tags they’ve collected to the program by Sept. 1.

The Oregon State University-based program, along with the Oregon Wave Energy Trust and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, have been conducting a study on the movement of Dungeness crabs along the Oregon Coast. Scientists tagged 3,000 legal sized male crabs in October and November of 2009. Tags were placed on the back right legs of legal sized male Dungeness crabs.

Dungeness crab fishermen from both the commercial and recreational fleets have been returning tags since December. More than 800 tags have already been returned, and the researchers are hoping to wrap up the study. Rewards of $20 for each tag will be given for all tags returned before September 1st, 2010. The project will also hold a drawing in early September for $1,000.

“If you have a tag, please return it as soon as possible to claim your reward,” said Kaety Hildenbrand, Oregon Sea Grant Extension agent in Newport, who is helping coordinate the tag collection.

To return a tag:

Remove the tag from the crab and write down:

Location, depth and date the crab was found
Tag number
Your name, address, phone number
Your signature

Mail this information and the tag to:

Oregon Dungeness Crab Study
29 SE 2nd Street
Newport, OR 97365

Sea Grant director to take part in “rapid response” study of Gulf fish ecology

Posted on June 9, 2010 by kightp

Stephen Brandt

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An Oregon State University researcher who leads the Oregon Sea Grant program will take part in a rapid response team studying how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is affecting fish and other marine life in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Science Foundation has announced that the team, including OSU’s Stephen Brandt, will receive $200,000 to support a week-long research cruise this September to collect data about the conditions of fish in the northern Gulf. The new information will be compared with baseline data the team has recorded in multiple cruises of the same region dating back to 2003.Funds come from the NSF’s RAPID program, which supports quick-response research into the effects of natural and man-made disasters and other urgent situations.

Brandt, the director of the Oregon Sea Grant program at OSU, is an oceanographer and freshwater scientist with a long history of studying fish ecology around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and the Adriatic Sea. Before coming to OSU in 2009, he was director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Michigan.

He is part of a research team that has conducted seven research cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico since 2003, collecting detailed data about temperature, salinity, oxygen, phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish, and analyzing the effects of human activity on marine fish ecology. The result is what Brandt calls “an extremely valuable data set” to compare the possible effects of the BP oil spill on the pelagic ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The team also plans to make its historical data available to other Gulf researchers via the NSF’s Biological and Chemical Oceanography Database.

“We’re proposing to conduct the new cruise in September because that’s the same time of year when we conducted our previous studies,” Brandt said. “That will allow us to compare the new data with comparable periods from past years, which should give us a good picture of how the spill is affecting the marine environment.”

Newport celebrates NOAA fleet move

Posted on June 3, 2010 by kightp

NEWPORT – The impending arrival of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific research fleet is being celebrated in Newport this week with ceremony, festivities – and visits from a pair of the vessels that will eventually be berthed here.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Congressman Kurt Schrader were among the officials expected on hand to break ground for the new facility, dubbed “Marine Operations Center – Pacific” – or NOAA MOC-P, in government parlance.

The ceremony was also expected to mark the end of a bureaucratic battle with the state of Washington, which has raised numerous objections to NOAA’s decision, announced last year, to move its operations center from Seattle to the central Oregon coast. Governor Kulongoski and others said they expected to get the final word that the agency had affirmed its decision just before this morning’s groundbreaking.

The $35 million, five-acre facility is scheduled to open in June 2011, with a staff of 175, including 110 officers. It will be home port to four ships and host visiting ships, as well. It will mean hundreds of family-wage jobs for the Newport area, and it’s expected to pump $19 million a year into a local economy hit hard by fishing cutbacks and the global economic slump.

The Port of Newport was able to make the winning bid largely because the state had offered $19.5 million in Oregon Lottery funds to the project, allowing the port to offer a 20-year lease for only $2.4 million.

This weekend’s celebration includes a family-style “welcome” picnic from 1-4 pm Sunday under a a tent at the construction site, just west of Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center. The event, open to the public will include live music and refreshments, and a chance for local residents to meet some of the team charged with getting the new operations center up and running.

In addition, if weather permits, two of the NOAA research vessels that will be relocating to Newport are expected to visit this weekend. the R/V Miller Freeman is expected to arrive Saturday afternoon, followed on Sunday by the R/V Bell M. Shimada, with an honorary Coast Guard escort and vessels from the Newport commercial fishing fleet on hand to welcome the ships and their crews.

(Photo of R/V Miller Freeman courtesy of striatic)

What’s going on with the brown pelicans?

Posted on April 23, 2010 by kightp

Have you noticed more pelicans in Oregon during the past couple of winters? Join wildlife biologist Deborah Jacques at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center on Saturday, May 8, to learn more about what’s been happening with this intriguing species.

Jacques, who specializes in studies of brown pelicans and other coastal waterbirds, will review the general non-breeding ecology of the California brown pelican, summarize seasonal distribution and abundance patterns in the Pacific Northwest, and then discuss the unusual events of the last two winters, which saw large numbers of pelicans staying north late into the season and experiencing unusual mortality all along the west coast.

The public lecture starts at 1:30 p.m. Admission to the HMSC Visitor Center is by suggested donation.

Squid invasion: threat or opportunity?

Posted on April 12, 2010 by kightp

Growing numbers of Humboldt squid appearing off the Oregon coast have some scientists and fishermen concerned about the impact on salmon smolts and other native species – but others wonder if the squid might become a new commercial catch.

In some fishing spots off Newport, fishermen report that their boats have been completely surrounded by the animals.

Oregon Sea Grant researcher Selena Heppell is among the scientists trying to get a better picture of how many squid have migrated to Oregon waters – and what the voracious carnivores are eating.

NOAA confirms plans to move research fleet to Newport

Posted on March 24, 2010 by kightp

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday affirmed its intention to move its its fleet of Pacific research vessels from Washington state to Newport, on the central Oregon Coast.

The General Accounting Office had asked the agency to review the planned move, first announced seven months ago, after officials in Washington State objected.

NOAA issued its finding Tuesday morning, saying none of the three competing Washington sites — Bellingham, Port Angeles or Lake Union — offers a practicable alternative to Newport. Among other things, the report addressed a major objection – that the Newport site is located a flood plain – by noting measures that will be taken to mitigate flood risk; it also notes that the Washington contenders are also situated in flood plains. The analysis gave all three Washington locations lower technical ratings – and higher estimated costs – than the Port of Newport site.

The report report has a 30-day public comment period, and Washington’s Sen. Maria Cantwell vowed to continue fighting the relocation. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, however, called the report definitive.

Oregon Sea Grant delivers federal dollars for ocean research, outreach efforts

Posted on January 29, 2010 by kightp

An ambitious plan to research, understand and inform the public about marine issues ranging from climate change to invasive species will receive nearly $14 million in federal and state dollars via Oregon Sea Grant over the next four years.

“We’re proud to be able to continue supporting an integrated program of coastal science serving Oregon,” said Stephen Brandt, director of the Oregon Sea Grant Program headquartered at Oregon State University. “The research projects, in particular, address some of the critical issues facing Oregon and the coast, and reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting research that addresses current issues of human health and safey, social progress, economic vitality and ecosystem sustainability.”

Oregon Sea Grant recently received the first of four $2.3 million biennial grant installments from its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Half of that money will go to support the 10 research proposals – among 60 submitted – that made it through Sea Grant’s rigorous, competitive grant program for 2010-2012. The federal dollars are expected to leverage at least $1.2 million a year in state matching funds.

Video: Great White Shark Necropsy

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Stevon Roberts

A new video is available documenting part of the public dissection of a 12-foot great white shark that was featured in an earlier blog post. The shark died after becoming entangled in the ropes of a crab pot, but the shark’s death may mean educational benefits to scientists.

William Hanshumaker, a marine science educator at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, explains: “There are researchers from throughout the country who are interested in what we’re doing here and have requested sample materials…. This is also an opportunity for the public to observe first-hand this unique creature and how scientists conduct research and share information.”

The 2-minute video is a time-lapse sequence showing the fin removal portion of the necropsy.

New publication reveals perceptions and opinions of climate change

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Rick Cooper

A new publication from Oregon Sea Grant, An Analysis of a Survey of Oregon Coast Decision Makers Regarding Climate Change, reveals that

• most people are concerned about climate change and how it may affect the Oregon coast
• the most frequently cited risks associated with effects of climate change on the Oregon coast involved physical processes such as sea-level rise and erosion
• few are ready now to respond to climate change
• people would be willing to take action in work if there were compelling information, new funding, and a sense of local urgency
• coastal professionals have needs for assistance regarding climate change, particularly credible, relevant information to provide the public
• coastal professionals have low amounts of information on climate change topics they consider important for the performance of their work

You can order this 20-page publication (color cover, B&W insides) for $3.50 plus shipping and handling by calling 541-737-4849 or e-mailing sea.grant.communications@oregonstate.edu. You may also download it from http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/onlinepubs.html#socialsci

Breaking Waves

Oregon Sea Grant: Coastal science serving Oregon

Category Archives: research