Sanctuary Advisory Council to Meet in Marathon

April 05, 2010

Media Contact:

Karrie Carnes
305-809-4700 x236

 

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Sanctuary Advisory Council

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) will meet April 20, 2010, at the Marathon Garden Club, 5270 Overseas Highway, Marathon beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend; there will be opportunities for public comment at 10:05 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.

At 12:45 p.m. Jeff Radonski of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement will present upon the role of the Office of Law Enforcement in protecting the Nation’s marine resources. The presentation will provide information on a broad range of investigative work and explain how cases flow through the civil administrative and criminal justice systems.

Alex Score of EcoAdapt will provide the presentation “Climate Change Action Plan for the Florida Reef Tract 2010-2015” at 2:45 p.m. The action plan, developed as a collaboration of the Florida Reef Resilience Program, recognizes the need to reduce local impacts and offers a framework of actions to address the complex factors associated with climate change.
 
At 1:30 p.m. Anne McCarthy of CSA International, Inc. will give a presentation on the recovery of seagrass beds which have been used as donor sites for seagrass restoration projects. Seagrass cores removed from donor sites show no significant impact one year later.

SAC members Bruce Frerer and Dave Vaughan will provide an overview of reef related projects funded through the Protect Our Reefs specialty license plate program at 2:00 p.m. At 3:30 p.m., The Nature Conservancy’s James Byrne will share results of coral monitoring efforts following January’s cold snap which impacted some near shore coral patch reefs.

The SAC was established to provide the sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Florida advice on implementation of the sanctuary’s final management plan. SAC members also serve as liaisons to the community regarding sanctuary issues. SAC members relay the community’s interests, concerns, and management needs to the sanctuary.

The sanctuary was established in 1990 in recognition of the special resources found in and around the waters of the Florida Keys. NOAA and the State of Florida jointly developed a comprehensive plan to protect and manage sanctuary resources. For more information, visit the Sanctuary’s web site at http://floridakeys.noaa.gov. A current list of SAC members may be found at http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/sac/members.html.