{"id":5741,"date":"2016-03-01T12:50:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=5741"},"modified":"2024-08-15T16:13:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T20:13:04","slug":"considering-coastal-questions-sea-grant-research-tackles-important-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/considering-coastal-questions-sea-grant-research-tackles-important-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"CONSIDERING COASTAL QUESTIONS: Sea Grant Research Tackles Important Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Researchers starting new two-year North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a> projects are tackling topics across a wide spectrum: algal blooms, storm surge, environmental education, southern flounder stocks, coastal communities, public health, and aquaculture for finfish and shellfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are pleased to fund research on such an array of important coastal issues,\u201d notes Executive Director Susan White<\/a>. \u201cThe projects not only reflect our program\u2019s current strengths, but they also offer promise for our future work with coastal communities and other partners across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n White cites the timeliness of the new research, just as the National Sea Grant College Program<\/a> is taking a full year to celebrate its 50 years of coastal work. \u201cThis July, we also will mark the 40th anniversary of North Carolina earning full Sea Grant College Program status with complete research, extension, communications and education elements,\u201d White adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new core projects include researchers at varied universities, including East Carolina University<\/a>, North Carolina State University<\/a>, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<\/a>, UNC Wilmington<\/a> and Duke University<\/a>. Some projects also include community partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany take multidisciplinary approaches and\/or include researchers from more than one university,\u201d says Deputy Director John Fear<\/a>. \u201cOverall, North Carolina Sea Grant\u2019s portfolio reflects a keen understanding that the \u2018grand challenges\u2019 we face have multiple interrelated factors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal funding comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> through National Sea Grant, along with state funding through the University of North Carolina system<\/a>. Each core research project also includes matching funds from the respective university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following descriptions of the new projects, which will run through early 2018, note the lead investigator, as well as other participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russell Borski of NC State, with Jeff Buckel, Harry Daniels, John Godwin and James Rice, all of NC State<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research team seeks to identify sex ratio variations in juvenile flounder in relation to habitat variables found in coastal North Carolina nursery areas. This includes looking at changes in the ratio of males and females from first spring to first fall, and then the following spring. In the laboratory, the team also will test whether temperature variations in the nursery habitats could skew the ratios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results could fit into management decisions for this commercial fishery, in which female flounder grow larger than males. The data also could improve models of spawning stock biomass, an important management factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.C. \u201cCasey\u201d Dietrich of NC State, with Rick Luettich of UNC-Chapel Hill and Margery Overton of NC State<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beach erosion during storm events can devastate the natural environment and coastal communities. This research team seeks to improve simulations of coastal flooding in regions where the beach erosion is highly dynamic. Such simulations are used in North Carolina and elsewhere for designing buildings, establishing flood insurance rates, and supporting real-time decisions during storm events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research will review effects of hurricanes Isabel and Irene on oceanfront and soundside shorelines for Hatteras Island, as well as how storm-induced flooding pushed inland. New predictions will be strengthened as the data are coupled with a beach-erosion model. The team will share results with local- and state-level partners to show connections not only throughout the island system but also related impacts on mainland communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel Fodrie of UNC-Chapel Hill, with James Morley and Abigail Poray, also of UNC-Chapel Hill, and Katherine McGlade of Hatteras<\/p>\n\n\n\n These researchers will evaluate the effects of oyster aquaculture on habitats with submerged aquatic vegetation, known as SAV or seagrass. The team will look at two types of gear: floating bags and bottom-rack cages. The study will identify changes not only in SAV density but also in fish and shellfish communities at each research site, as well as in control sites with SAV but no cultivation gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shellfish aquaculture industry suggests that its growth has been hindered by current North Carolina fisheries policies that prevent new oyster leases in areas with existing or historic SAV presence. The project builds upon earlier Sea Grant-funded work looking at relationships between oyster aquaculture and SAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EXISTING AND EMERGING TOPICS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFishery Management Implications of Environmentally Determined Sex and Biased Juvenile Sex Ratios in Southern Flounder <\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Interactions between Waves, Flooding and Beach Morphology During Storm Events<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Effects of Oyster Grow-Out Cages on the Condition and Ecosystem Services of Seagrass Communities<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
“Next Generation” Coastal Communities: Leveraging Social Capital to Build Local Leadership Capacity<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n