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| SARP Newsletter |
Summer 2009 |
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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Announcing the New SARP Web site!
After a lot of hard work, the new SARP web site (southeastaquatics.net) is ready for viewing. This new and enhanced site features news and project updates from throughout the SARP region.
"With this new site we hope to be able to better communicate with our partners and get valuable and timely information out about the work going on in the Southeast," SARP Coordinator Scott Robinson said. Information is referenced by state, project and focus area, partners have a special log-in feature and there is also a form for submitting grant proposals online.
The new web site will have information added regularly and we welcome comments and suggestions as to how to make it even better and more useful. Questions and comments may be sent to Scott at Scott.Robinson@dnr.state.ga.us. |
Mark Your Calendars
AFS Annual Meeting: Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 in Nashville, TN at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center
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Project Profile:
 Location: Nags Head, NC (Dare County)
Watershed: Roanoke River
Partners: North Carolina Coastal Federation, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership
Jockey's Ridge State Park is the location of the largest sand dune system on the east coast and part of the Roanoke River Watershed, which flows from Virginia through North Carolina to the sea. Its estuarine shoreline had never been stabilized prior to making the area into a state park, however, the estuarine shoreline had been damaged by vehicle and foot traffic, and acres of salt marsh had disappeared. Approximately 1 acre of salt marsh, adjacent oyster reefs, and about 150 feet of riparian shoreline buffers are targeted for restoration. The area will be an oyster research sanctuary.
The strategy:
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Build an oyster sill adjacent to planned marsh restoration area to dissipate wave energy.
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Plant Spartina alterniflora seedlings to restore marsh. Protect upper reaches of planting area
with sand fencing.
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Incorporate the project into the park's interpretive programming and involve school
groups and other volunteers to ensure community "ownership."
Most of the plantings will occur during summer of 2009. Monitoring began with project, and will
continue after planting is completed. To date, 315 volunteers have participated.
For more information contact: Todd Miller, North Carolina Coastal Federation, toddm@nccoast.org. |
 139th Meeting of the American Fisheries Society to be held in Nashville
From August 30 - September 3, 2009, the American Fisheries Soicety will meet at the Renaissance Hotel and Nashville Convention Center. This is the first time in a number of years that AFS has held their meeting in the Southeast, and the first time it will be held in Nashville, TN. The week-long convention will focus on a theme: "Diversity, the foundation of fisheries and the American Fisheries Society; are we gaining ground?"
Currently the program consists of presentations over 15 concurrent session and more than 130 poster presentations. Several social events and continuing education workshops are also available to attendees. For more information about this event, visit the AFS Annual Meeting website at www.fisheries.org/afs09. |
SARP Steering Committee Meeting
The SARP steering committee met this spring in Texas at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, TX. The meeting began with a welcome and opening remarks from Linda Kelsey, SARP Co-chair; Phil Durocher, director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Division; and Alan Forshage, director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.
The meeting then continued with updates on various projects and initiatives, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Native Bass Initiative, the National Fish Habitat Board, SARP Habitat Assessments, and the Southeast Watershed Forum's Community Growth Training for Habitat Protection. Marilyn O'Leary provided the attendees with an update on the new web site, highlighting it's new features and outreach potentials.
Marilyn, Scott Robinson, and Mary Davis of The Nature Conservancy, presented a series of SARP project updates: the Southeastern Instream Flow Network, the NOAA CRP project, and the multi-state grant to implement the Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan. The meeting concluded with a presentation by Steve Filipek with Arkansas Game & Fish, regarding a project to stop the infestation of the Northern snakehead - an invasive fish that threatens the health of native species.
Thanks again to the staff of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for their hospitality!
The next meeting of the SARP steering committee will be during the annual SEAFWA conference in Atlanta, GA November 1 - 4. There will be a fish habitat technical session on November 2 and the SARP steering committee will meet on November 3. Visit www.seafwa2009.org for conference details and online registration. 
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National Fish Habitat Conservation Act Introduced in Congress Partner Toolkit available to help gain support for the Act
 The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act has been introduced in Congress. Now is the time to let your representatives know that you support the act. Your friends with the National Fish Habitat Plan have developed a toolkit to assist you and make sure that the Act gains support in Congress. The toolkit contains a four-page outreach piece, a summary of the Act, talking points, and a modifiable letter to send to your representatives. The toolkit may be downloaded from the National Fish Habitat Plan web site by clicking here. |
SARP Project Updates
NOAA CRP: The NOAA-SARP Community-based Restoration Partnership is currently reviewing 15 proposals to fund habitat projects in the Southeast Region, furthering the goal of the Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan (SAHP). Nongovernmental organizations, municipalities, universities, schools, state and tribal groups in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia are eligible. Three projects funded previously by this partnership are described on the new SARP web site at http://southeastaquatics.net/programs/noaa-coastal-restoration-program-noaa-crp.
The Southeastern Instream Flow Network: A series of workshops using WebEx technology have been conducted by the Southeastern Instream Flow Network (SIFN). In June, Mary Davis of TNC and Chris Konrad of USGS conducted a session on Instream Flow Status and Assessment, describing a new set of hydrologic tools to generate daily flows at USGS gages under different instream flow criteria and allocation pressures. In July, Marilyn Barrette-O'Leary of SARP and Christine Griffiths of TNC conducted a session on Instream Flow Messaging, demonstrating usage of a messaging tool. On August 27, SIFN will conduct a session on Instream Flow Research:Defining What We Know and Identifying Information Gaps. For more information, contact Mary Davis. mdavis@tnc.org. | |
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