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With partners, protect, conserve, and restore aquatic resources including habitats throughout
the Southeast, for the continuing benefit, use, and enjoyment of the American people. |
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Join Us at the Next SARP Steering Committee Meeting
May 19-20
The spring SARP Steering Committee meeting will be held at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, TX.
The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is about 75 miles east of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and about 30 miles from the Tyler, Texas Airport. Travel funds will be available for state agency and Commission and Council reps.
We will meet all day on May 19th and adjourn at 2:00 on the 20th.
Rooms are available at the Holiday Inn Express in Athens for $89 / night - this special rate is available until April 20th. Call 903-675-2500 for reservations.
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Welcome to the second edition of the SARP newsletter. We hope you find the information useful and relevant to your conservation efforts. Partnerships and collaborative efforts such as the National Fish Habitat Action Plan are becoming more important as many of our partners face budget cuts that reduce their ability to address urgent conservation issues. At SARP, we work hard to provide a good return on our partners investments of time, talent, and the other resources that make the partnership work. We also search for ways to bring more resources and funding to the region for aquatic habitat conservation. This newsletter highlights a few of those efforts. Let us know of other topics you would like to see in the future. We welcome your feedback and participation.
Scott Robinson
SARP Coordinator
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Request for Proposals: SARP-NOAA Community based Habitat Restoration Program RFP will be issued April 20th, pre-proposals are due May 18th.
 The Community-based Habitat Restoration Program seeks proposals for restoration in our coastal watersheds, concentrated in the states of AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TX and VA.
Proposals should address restoration needs that fit the Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan and must demonstrate that habitat restoration will result in a benefit to NOAA trust resources:
- Commercial and recreational fishery resources (marine fish and shellfish and their habitats).
- Anadromous species (fish, such as sturgeon, which spawn in freshwater then migrate to the sea).
- Endangered and threatened marine species and their habitats.
- Marine mammals, turtles, and their habitats.
- Marshes, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and other coastal habitats.
- Resources associated with National Marine Sanctuaries and National Estuarine Research Reserves.
For more information or to be placed on the notification list for the RFP, contact Marilyn O'Leary at moleary@mbolcomm.com . | |
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Project Profile: Oyster Restoration with Artificial Cultch
 Location : McIntosh County, GA
Watershed: Altahama
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Coastal Conservation Association, Appling County Future Farmers of America, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Restoration of oysters and oyster reefs along southeastern coasts is important for economic and ecological reasons. Oysters enhance water quality. Their reefs buffer wave action adjacent to marshes, and they are harvested and marketed by commercial fishermen. Unfortunately, oyster reef restoration has been hampered in the region by the limited availability of oyster shells. In addition, vertical relief is necessary for successful reef formation to avoid sedimentation from soft and churning bottoms.
The strategy:
- To construct two types of artificial cultch: Bundles of oak limbs wrapped with agricultural fencing and cement-coated spat sticks. Both allow for vertical placement to encourage reef formation.
- Stake artificial cultch down in parallel rows, and place oyster shell bags on a firm substrate along an eroding vegetative edge adjacent to the boat ramp.
- Utilize volunteers to involve community in restoration effort. (pictured above: left, coastline before; right, volunteers installing the artificial cultch.)
Several areas were chosen near Sapelo Island in the Altamaha River Estuary for the restoration project. The goal is to stabilize the shoreline with materials suitable for larval oyster settlement. The area between the new oyster reefs and the existing marsh grass will fill with sediment and eventually, with marsh grass. Monitoring has been conducted since the project's inception in 2008. A second site will be similarly treated in spring 2009.
For more information contact: Gabe Gaddis, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
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Update from the National Fish Habitat Board
by Tom Busiahn
The National Fish Habitat Board met in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on March 4th and 5th. The Board approved a "Data Sharing Policy" to address the growing interest in obtaining data from the National Fish Habitat Assessment group at Michigan State University. The policy sets priorities for data requests, establishes a process for requesting data, and provides guidance on use and restrictions on data layers.
The Board welcomed three new members representing the regional associations of fish and wildlife agencies. They replaced retiring members of the Board. The new members are Mike Stone of Wyoming, representing the Western region, Doug Austen of Pennsylvania, representing the Northeast region, and John Frampton of South Carolina, representing the Southeastern region.
The Board's science liaison, Janet Cushing, will move from USGS to a new position at the Corp of Engineers beginning next week.
In other action, the Board approved the applications of three Candidate Fish Habitat Partnerships: Desert FHP, Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership, and Hawaii FHP. They are now fully-recognized Fish Habitat Partnerships, bringing the total number of FHPs to 9.
The Board endorsed a slate of 51 projects for funding by the Fish and Wildlife Service. These projects address priorities of the 6 (previously) recognized FHPs.
The Board approved the list of "10 Waters to Watch" and National Fish Habitat Awards, to be announced at National Casting Call on April 27 in Washington DC.
The Board considered a draft "branding" document for NFHAP, and provided feedback for some needed changes. It will be considered again at a future meeting.
The Board also engaged in some forward-looking brainstorming, which resulted in some specific follow-up actions. Stay tuned for more information on that.
For questions or for more information, contact Tom Busiahn, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
SARP Fish Habitat Projects Approved for Funding
SARP submitted eight projects for US Fish and Wildlife Service funding through the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. The projects were reviewed and approved by the National Fish Habitat Board at its recent meeting. The projects were:
Riparian and Stream Habitat Restoration for 14 species in the Middle Fork Saline River, Arkansas
Mackey's Creek Gulf Strain Walleye Habitat Restoration, Mississippi
Oyster Reef Restoration in South Carolina
Lower Bourbeuse Aquatic Conservation Area Landowner Partnership in Missouri
Native Aquatic Plant Restoration in the Santee-Cooper system, South Carolina
Artificial Estuarine Habitat Development for Recreational Sportfish Species, South Carolina
Large Woody Debris Habitat Improvement in tributaries to North Sylamore Creek, Arkansas
Tampa Bay Sea Grass Transplanting, Florida
The projects represent some of the incredible diversity of aquatic habitats and species in the southeast. Thanks to our many partners for their efforts to conserve and restore these habitats.
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Summary of Mid-year SIFN State Team Workshop
The Southern Instream Flow Network (SIFN) met via Web Ex on February 10, 2009. Below is a brief summary of that meeting.
Scott Robinson, the SARP Coordinator, introduced two new SIFN steering committee members: Eric Nagid of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, representing the Instream Flow Council, and Mark Smith, Eastern Regional Director of Freshwater Programs for The Nature Conservancy.
SIFN made substantial progress in 2008, the first year of the network. Year 1 was dedicated to identifying the status of instream flow protection in each state's water management process, to sharing existing policies and to developing a network of teams to improve instream flow protection in each state. In Year 2, the emphasis is on education and instream flow science and policy resources.
SIFN now has a resource center on the web at the USGS-NBII Southeast Collaboration and Partnership Community portal, which Mary Davis reviewed and demonstrated. The portal will continue to provide SIFN resources in addition to the SIFN information that will appear on the new SARP web site, scheduled to launch in the spring. Both the portal and the new web site will help SIFN members share information, documents, ideas, and tools.
SIFN representatives provided updates on instream flow activities and issues for their respective states. While activities vary from state to state and range from research to legislation, nearly all states in the region are making progress towards establishing and improving instream flow policies or regulations.
The messaging project also has begun. SIFN members were surveyed in December 2008 to provide ideas for educational and outreach messages regarding instream and environmental flows. A draft document is being distributed by email and posted on the NBII site for comment and input from SIFN members. The messages will be used around the region to educate the public about the ecological, cultural, and economic importance of instream flows. |
COMING SOON! New SARP Website
A new, improved interactive website for SARP will be launched in May 2009. The new web address will be www.southeastaquatics.org Get news, project updates and learn about habitat conservation and restoration issues and activities in the region. Send news, project descriptions, or other information you would like to see on the website to scott.robinson@dnr.state.ga.us
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