Eutrophication in the Gulf of Maine: P Data and Tools

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Eutrophication in the Gulf of Maine: Data and Tools

Christine Tilburg, EcoSystem Indicator Partnership, Program Manager James Latimer, EPA Susan Russell -Robinson, USGS Kathryn Parlee, Environment Canada

NEIWPCC May 2011 Communicating Science Presentation Outline

• Introduction to ESIP process • Eutrophication Data • Indicator Reporting Tool What is ESIP?

• EcoSystem Indicator Partnership

• Part of the Gulf of Maine Council

• The ESIP team includes a Steering Committee and 1 Program Manager

Source: The Onion Why the Gulf of Maine?

From CNN front webpage, May 5: • “Oil sinks below $100”

• “Who’s Number 1 on MLB Power Rankings?”

However, using ecosystem indicators is really getting off the ground now. What goes in…. what came out

23 Priority Indicators For the Gulf of Maine The Real Heart of ESIP

Acadia University Lobster Institute Nova Scotia Environment Bigelow Laboratory Maine Aquaculture Association Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership Maine Department of Environmental Protection Piscataqua Region Est. Partnership Bigelow Laboratory Maine Department of Marine Resources Saint Mary’s University Boston University Maine Geologic Survey Salem Sound Coast Watch Bowdoin College Maine Sea Grant Saquish Scientific Buzzards Bay Marine Lab Maine State Planning Office St. Andrews Biological Station Canadian Assoc. of Municipal Administrators Marine Environmental Research Institute Town of Bar Harbor Casco Bay Estuary Partnership Massachusetts Audubon Town Planning Harpswell Maine CEF Consultants Massachusetts Bay National Estuaries Program Town of Newbury Planning Board Census of Marine Life Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Trent University Clean Annapolis River Project Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game University of Georgia Coastal Enterprises Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Maine COMPASS Massachusetts Water Authority University of New Brunswick Dalhousie University MER Assessment Corporation University of New England Darling Marine Center MIT Sea Grant Universityyp of New Hampshire Environment Canada NOAA University of Rhode Island Environmental Protection Agency (US) NB Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture University of Southern Maine Fish and Wildlife Service (US) & Fisheries Urban and Regional Plan.Consultants Fisheries and Oceans Canada NB Department of Environment US Geological Survey Fishermen and Scientists Research Society The Nature Conservancy Wells National Est. Research Reserve Friends of Casco Bay New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Georges River Tidewater Assoc. Normandeau Associates Gulf of Maine Research Institute Selected Indicators AQUATIC HABITATS CONTAMINANTS Extent of Eelgrass Shellfish sanitation data Extent of Salt Marsh Blue mussel tissue data LtiftidlbiLocation of tidal barriers SdiSedimen ttiddtt triad data

AQUACULTURE CLIMATE CHANGE A/SitfArea/Sites for aquacult ure Sea llhlevel change Economic value of aquaculture Precipitation trends Air temperature trends COASTAL DEVELOPMENT Population density EUTROPHICATION Employment density Nitrogen loading PiPoint sources Disso lve d Oxygen Impervious surface Turbidity Chlorophyll a Selected Indicators AQUATIC HABITATS CONTAMINANTS Extent of Eelgrass Shellfish sanitation data Extent of Salt Marsh Blue mussel tissue data LtiftidlbiLocation of tidal barriers SdiSedimen ttiddtt triad data

Massachusetts (6): Duxbury Bay, Plymouth Harbor, Boston Harbor, Salem Sound, Gloucester Harbor, Plum Island Sound

New Hampshire (2): Hampton Harbor, Great Bay

Maine (16): Wells, Saco Bay, Casco Bay, Kennebec River Estuary, Sheepscot Bay, Damariscotta River Estuary, Muscongus Bay, Penobscot Bay, Blue Hill Bay, FhFrenchmans Bay, Gouldsboro Bay, Narraguagus Bay, Pleasant Bay, Englishmans Bay, Machias Bay, Cobscook Bay

New Brunswick (3): Saint John River, Musquash Estuary, Passamaquoddy Bay

Nova Scotia (3): Minas Bas in / Chignecto Bay, Annapolis Basin Four selected indicators

Nutrient loading Disso lve d Oxygen Water Clarity Chlorophyll a Nitrogen Loading – SPARROW results Phosphorus Loading – SPARROW results For dissolved oxygen

• Who’ s collecting dissolved oxygen data in the Gulf of Maine? • Who’ s collecting dissolved oxygen data in the Gulf of Maine using continuous sondes?

9 available locations GB – depth < 10 m

• SF – depth < 10 m CML – depth < 10 m

• OR – depth < 10 m

• LR – dth10depth < 10 m

• SQ – depth < 10 m

• Bowdoin D02 – depth 20 meters (total depth = 28 meters) • Bowdoin D02 - depth 10 meters (total depth = 28 meters)

• UNH Buoy – 1 m

• NERACOOS Buoy A1 – depth 50 meters(ldh6(total depth = 65 meters ) Dissolved Oxygen

No data 2000-2001, 2007-2008

No data 2000-2001

No data 1997-2001

No data 1997-2003

No data 2008 Eutrophication – Coming Soon

• Water clarity (turbidity and secchi depth for 21 of the 30 embayments of interest) • Focus box on Aquatic Habitats fact sheet this summer on eelgrass and eutrophication

Photo by: Courtnay Janiak Indicator Reporting Tool www2.gulfofmaine.org/esip/reporting Indicator Reporting Tool www2.gulfofmaine.org/esip/reporting Indicator Reporting Tool www2.gulfofmaine.org/esip/reporting Questions?

Information available in several formats:

• Fact sheets: general, aquaculture, climate change

•ESIP webpage: www2.gulfofmaine.org/esip

•Powerpppoint presentations as “user’s guides” for the two webtools that ESIP has available. Contact Information

Christine Tilburg [email protected] www2lffi2.gulfofmaine.org /i/esip

Photo credit: Nancy Griffin