Archive for 'US Projects' Category

False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team Reaches Unanimous Consensus on a Draft Take Reduction Plan

The False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team – a diverse group that includes the Hawai‘i longline fishing community, conservation organizations, researchers and government agencies – reached a unanimous consensus agreement on a Draft Take Reduction Plan to reduce false killer whale bycatch in the Hawai‘i-based longline fleet.
The consensus Draft Plan, formally submitted on Monday, July 19, [...]

NMFS Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel (May 2010)

CONCUR facilitated the May 2010 meeting of the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel, an advisory group convened twice yearly by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The three-day meeting, held in Silver Spring, Maryland, brought together nearly 40 commercial and recreational fishermen and industry representatives, environmentalists, academics, state officials and others. The primary purposes of [...]

Nevada System of Higher Education Climate Change Education Conference, May 24–25, 2010

Building on CONCUR’s work in November 2008, CONCUR Associate Rebecca Tuden and Affiliate Peter Bluhon facilitated the Nevada System of Higher Education Climate Change Education Conference 2010 on May 24–25, 2010. The conference was organized and implemented as the second year strategic activity under the Education Component goals funded by a National Science Foundation [...]

Ocean Climate Summit - June 3, 2010

The CONCUR team of Scott McCreary, John Gamman and Rebecca Tuden facilitated a NOAA Ocean Climate Summit at the California Academy of Sciences on June 3, 2010. The summit was convened to begin building an action plan and network of colleagues based on the recently released Ocean Climate Initiative report:
“The Ocean Climate Initiative, spearheaded [...]

False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team (2009-Present)

In Fall 2009, CONCUR was asked to help the NOAA/NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) prepare for and convene the pre-meeting of the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team meeting held November 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii. CONCUR’s work on this effort focused on several key tasks: (1) providing strategic planning advice to PIRO; [...]

Abalone Advisory Group Project Update (Fall 2007-Spring 2010)

CONCUR partnered with the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) staff to support the work of the San Miguel Island Abalone Fishery Advisory Group (AAG) – a broad-based stakeholder group convened to develop management alternatives for a potential red abalone fishery at San Miguel Island. The Advisory Group, comprising commercial fishing, recreational diving, marine [...]

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan Final Rule Amendment published

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has published a final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (weblink). The final rule, whose measures become effective in March 2010, addresses the increased incidental mortality and serious injury of the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy stock of harbor porpoises in gillnet fisheries [...]

Peer-Reviewed Article on Marine Protected Areas Published in “Ocean & Coastal Management” Journal

CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary co-authored an article with Marine Life Protection Act Initiative colleagues entitled “Science-based and stakeholder-driven marine protected area network planning: A successful case study from north central California“, published in the current issue of Ocean & Coastal Management [53 (2010) 52-68]. Former CONCUR intern Kathryn Hoffman was a key co-author.
In [...]

Wingspread Foundation Water Funders Forum

CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary and Associate Rebecca Tuden teamed with conveners from The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread to facilitate a three-day workshop among 27 leading grant-making organizations involved in national and regional water resource efforts. The meeting was convened from January 13 – 15, 2010 at The Johnson Foundation in Racine, Wisconsin.   Participants in the [...]

Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) – BRTF Unanimously Adopts South Coast Region MPA Proposal

On November 12, 2009, the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) unanimously (5 – 0) adopted a preferred marine protected area (MPA) proposal for the south coast study region, which includes 27 state marine reserves (SMRs), 1 state marine park (SMP) and 16 state marine conservation areas (SMCAs); this recommended proposal is referred to as [...]