Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant aids farmers and restores habitat in response to COVID-19 pandemic
Relevance:
COVID-19 restrictions decimated the aquaculture industry due to lack of demand. Oyster farmers were unable to sell their product to the the premium half shell market because it had largely ceased to exist and oysters continue to grow—reaching non-market size. This resulted in farmers seeking alternative venues to sell their oysters so that they could obtain any value for the products they raised. Meanwhile, restoration of Mississippi’s and Alabama’s natural oyster habitat had beome a major priority due to habitat losses from recent stressors.
Response:
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium developed a program that would purchase oversized oysters for restoration purposes. The Sea Grant program worked with resource agencies in both states to identify oyster reefs for planting farmed oysters and recruited farmers to provide oysters and deploy them on pre-determined restoration sites. MASGC also coordinated logistics and recruited additional partners to support the effort.
Results:
During the reporting period a total of 7 farmers received payments for 70,000 oysters that otherwise would have had no value. Using values from the oyster gardening program, which plants smaller size oysters, planting 70,000 oysters in coastal Alabama and Mississippi represents an economic valuation of $75,000 in addition to the $19,600 farmers received for their oysters and deployment costs.
Recap:
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant created a program that restored critical oyster habitat while compensating oyster farmers for product that had grown out of markettable size due to the COVID pandemic, which resulted in a win-win for the environment and industry. (2020)
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative advances dialogue around sea-level rise resilience
Relevance:
Sea-level rise (SLR) is a ubiquitous stressor and negatively impacts nearly all aspects of coastal ecosystems and communities. To adequately adapt to these changes, it is vital that coastal stewards of the built and natural environments have the tools, products and services needed to understand and address changing conditions as accurately as possible. These resources come in a variety of formats and levels of accessibility, making it difficult for coastal stewards to find and utilize them.
Response:
A partnership spanning local, state, regional and federal agencies, organizations, non-profits and researchers worked together to support the transition and translation of SLR information into coastal decision-making. The Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative, a Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported program, conducted trainings, developed extension and outreach products, conducted research projects and successfully obtained funding to fill SLR needs and gaps.
Results:
The cooperative increased accurate consideration of SLR among Gulf municipal, state and federal entities for planning, restoration and infrastructure investments. An illustrative example is when the Jackson County Utility Authority used the cooperative-developed risk-tolerance approach to determine if they should plan for 6 feet of SLR in an upcoming critical infrastructure project. They would have considered much less SLR without this approach, which was built on the years of work from the cooperative.
Recap:
The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium-supported Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative’s development of research synthesis and skills building around communicating the complex science of sea-level rise, along with relationship building, advanced the way sea-level rise is considered and addressed. (2020)
Santa Rosa County, Florida, gains capacity for more effective community engagement
Relevance:
Engaging with stakeholders about the increasing risks to their communities is vital to developing an informed citizenry and resilient society. However, this kind of communication and engagement is a significant challenge for many resilience practitioners and can result in confusion or, at its worse, mistrust. As a public-facing and public-serving government entity, Santa Rosa County is especially aware of the importance of the quality of its engagement and sought to improve its capacity.
Response:
Sentinel Site Cooperative, Santa Rosa County brought together a team of internal staff and external organizations whose work overlaps in the community resilience sector. Facilitators from the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension’s CIVIC program trained the practitioners on deliberative engagement, using an advanced two-part training and resources to enable effective communication and engagement on resilience issues.
Results:
Santa Rosa County and its local partner organizations now feel that they have the capacity to better engage with their communities. This was put into practice when, after taking the training, the team led a virtual community engagement meeting and dialogue in Santa Rosa County. The county was able to use their CIVIC training to effectively introduce a new flood vulnerability assessment tool to their residents and successfully navigate concerns, questions and feedback.
Recap:
Site Cooperative, Santa Rosa County, Florida, and partners hosted a Community Voices Informed Choices training that enabled practitioners to better perform community open dialogue events and interact more effectively with their citizenry. (2020)
SETs & Stuff virtual meeting increased understanding of how to use R software to analyze and visualize sediment elevation table data
Relevance:
Sediment elevation tables (SETs) are vital tools for measuring marsh surface change relative to local sea-level rise, but the data from SETs can be difficult to analyze and to communicate to wide audiences. A partner at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve developed code for RStudio that allows SET data users to easily analyze and visualize their data. Stakeholders in the region requested training on how to use this code for their own datasets.
Response:
The Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative, supported by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, planned a virtual workshop and coordinated with the Grand Bay NERR to deliver training on utilizing RStudio to stakeholders interested in using the data from SETs. The workshop represented one of the first in the region that adapted technical training to a virtual format. Ten participants from academic, non-profit, federal and state organizations spanning the East and Gulf coasts attended.
Results:
Six months after the completion of the workshop, 50% (n= 8) of respondents to a follow-up survey indicated that they have used the training to improve analysis of their datasets and felt that this training improved their ability to visualize and understand their SET data. A post-workshop survey distributed immediately following the training demonstrated that 100% of workshop participants considered the training a good use of their time and indicated that their knowledge was increased.
Recap:
Participants of Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative’s virtual workshop on how to use RStudio to analyze data for changes in marsh surface relative to local sea-level rise and how to visualize the change graphically to increase their ability to communicate observed changes used the training to improve their ability to analyze and visualize data. (2020)
State agency personnel retain certifications due to Sea Grant regional science outreach team’s rapid response, support
Relevance:
Sea Grant team members reached out to audiences during COVID-19 restrictions to see if anyone needed assistance. Florida emergency responders asked for advice on how to run a training online that would normally be held in person. The training was mandatory for state agents who may come into contact with hazardous material and needed to take place on its original date for agents to legally continue to respond to events requiring contact with hazardous substances.
Response:
Sea Grant team members, who have experience live-streaming seminars, offered to host and facilitate the training rather than simply share guidance or best practices. Team members worked with the course trainers to develop a shortened agenda tailored to online learning and scheduled practice sessions to make trainers comfortable with the web-sharing platform. One team member served as event host, while another ran the web controls and edited videos of the presentation to share afterward.
Results:
Sea Grant team members, who have experience live-streaming seminars, offered to host and facilitate the training rather than simply share guidance or best practices. Team members worked with the course trainers to develop a shortened agenda tailored to online learning and scheduled practice sessions to make trainers comfortable with the web-sharing platform. One team member served as event host, while another ran the web controls and edited videos of the presentation to share afterward.
Recap:
The Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team worked with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to provide online training during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing 24 emergency responders to update mandatory certifications and continue to work in cases involving hazardous materials or animals. (2020)
Volunteer oyster gardeners produce 80,824 oysters for restoration in Mississippi and Alabama
Relevance:
Oyster reefs have decreased in Mississippi and Alabama as a result of a variety of stressors. Oysters and oyster reefs provide many benefits to the local ecosystem including habitat for over 300 species of animals, filtration of the water and reducing coastal erosion.
Response:
In Mississippi and Alabama, MASGC staff conducted in-person and virtual oyster gardening volunteer trainings and worked with interested volunteers to grow oysters that were used to re-seed historically viable reef sites and supplement existing restorative projects.
Results:
In 2020, 301 volunteers at 133 sites produced 80,824 oysters with a restorative potential of 4.03 acres and an economic value of $88,257.
Recap:
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC) specialists worked with volunteers in Mississippi and Alabama to produce 80,824 oysters for restoration projects. (2020)
