Managers Focus Group Summary Report

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Background

On November 29-30, 2004 the Coastal States Organization organized a focus group in Jacksonville, Florida to facilitate the identification of coastal management user needs for the evolving coastal ocean observing system in the southeast. The event was supported by the National Ocean Service and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA).

Fifteen state managers from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida participated as well as ten resource people from federal agencies and the region’s Sea Grant institutions. These managers had expertise in water quality, marine resources, land use, environmental protection, shoreline hazards and emergency response interests.

Recurring Themes

Throughout the focus group discussion a number of recurring themes were raised including:

• Ocean observing data needs to be readily accessible and interactive to promote varying levels of use.
• These data offer baseline measurements applicable to state ecosystem characterization efforts as well as underpinning coastal management decision-making.
• Coastal managers needs for these data span the continuum of raw data (e.g., support existing and enable new modeling) to highly synthesized products (e.g., maps, forecasts, web site tools that allow compilation and analysis, etc.).
• Ocean observing technologies and related efforts need to be in sufficient densities to provide data that enables responses to pressing management issues in the region’s estuaries and near- shore areas.
• A southeast observing system needs to be based on a sustainable funding stream.
• There needs to be an ongoing process to identify and effectively pursue the cost-sharing of data acquisition efforts.
• The region needs to develop ongoing mechanisms that integrate traditional environmental monitoring data and programs with the evolving coastal ocean observing system.
• Demonstration projects are needed soon to show results and create some momentum. These should be explicitly designed and funded in a manner that allows the techniques/processes to be applied elsewhere in the southeast.

Products of the Focus Group

The focus group enabled participants to gain a better understanding about ocean observing and to learn about efforts to create a regional association. Other results included:

1. a statement of coastal management user needs (see table below);
2. guiding principles for coastal manager participation in the regional observing effort; and December 2004 Page 1 Southeast Coastal Managers Focus Group DRAFT
3. recommended projects derived from ocean observing data that would be useful in the next 12-18 months from SECOORA.

In addition to these products the focus group built on a review of coastal managers users needs from elsewhere in the country. These can be found at the Coastal States Organization web site www.coastalstates.org.

Recommended Projects

1. Compilation of the state of the knowledge – There is an overwhelming sense that a vast amount of useful data and information exists but is not readily accessible. As the region gears up a southeast coastal ocean observing system it is timely to organize this material. Elements of a strategy to address this matter include:
   • Form a work group that develops a clear statement of the end-product, criteria for determining what is considered, how it will be used and by whom, a timeline, a budget and project partners.
   • Determine information priorities by issue and conduct an assessment by building on current inventories.
   • Maintain a dynamic web site that contains information on past and current monitoring programs (e.g., government, NGO, academia, business, etc.), data sets, and models. Segment the entries in meaningful ways and allow quick assess by issue (e.g., hazards, water quality, etc.) and geography (e.g., clickable maps).
2. Demonstration Projects – Participants thought it was important to pursue several high leverage, quick turnaround projects that demonstrated the utility of ocean observing to the coastal management community. For example, we might create a “product” from the national backbone that addresses a priority coastal management need in a specific geographic area (e.g., a coastal embayment) such as integrating a local monitoring database with complimentary observing measurements. Entities that can assist in devising the project and funding it include the CSO Science to Management Committee, NOS/NCCOS, CSC, CICEET and the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation. With a specific idea we can then work with our funding partners (e.g., CSC, NCCOS, CICEET, etc.) in designing a RFP to produce the product.

Other Recommended Actions

1. Gap analysis – Based on a state of the knowledge assessment identify key information gaps and develop strategies to address them.
2. Sustain regional interaction – The Coastal management, Research Reserves, Sea Grant, and National Estuary Program managers should gather in March, 2005. CSO can work with the SE managers and NOS to arrange a time and place for the managers to talk and devise common strategies
3. Enhance relationships between the management and observing communities – SECOORA and CSO should develop some materials that identify inidividuals in these communities and then actively encourage their interaction/networking.
4. Strengthen managers' understanding about the interaction of near-shore and off-shore processes – As SE coastal managers tend to focus on intertidal and near-shore environments it is timely to prepare a 2-page fact sheet that describes the effects and interaction of the coastal ocean on the nearshore environment. This would be a key tool to help managers understand possible applications of coastal ocean observing data to nearshore issues
5. Communicate coastal managers' needs – The results of this focus group (e.g. materials, amended narrative of coastal managers' needs, etc.) should be provided to those organizing SECOORA and to coastal managers around the county. Use the CSO website as one distribution mechanism.
6. Expand outreach to other SE coastal managers – The materials from this focus group should be provided to other coastal managers in the southeast and their input solicited on what they believe are priority management issues that coastal ocean observing can respond to. Request that they use agency strategic and/or operational plans as a basis for documenting agency priorities.
7. Describe preliminary cost/benefit for managers – Assess current cost-benefit information including ongoing efforts to help make the case to the coastal management community.
8. Participate in SECOORA – Organize SE coastal managers to identify ways to effectively participate in SECOORA (perhaps by observing issue or by geography). Initial actions required include defining the expectations for coastal manager representatives, soliciting SE managers to determine those willing to participate in SECOORA, their reporting mechanisms to their colleagues, and methods to collect and pay SECOORA dues.
9. Bring results to the Coastal States Organization March meeting – The results of this focus group should be formally presented to the full CSO membership in March 2005 and a request that the “guiding principles” be used in other regions to facilitate a consistent “management community response” to the formation of regional associations.

Southeast Coastal Manager Participation in SECOORA

Guiding Principles

This document identifies the core requirements of southeast coastal managers for a regional ocean observing system and provides the context for their participation in its activities.

1. Coastal and ocean observing need to be set in a southeast context
   • Formally integrate coastal managers at the highest levels of decision-making in regional ocean observing as well as in advisory capacities
   • Assist managers integrate ongoing environmental monitoring (e.g. water quality, fishery trawls, river & watershed monitoring, etc.) and traditional knowledge with ocean observing data in ways that produce value-added products [1]
   • Augment existing data sets/information on biological resources and chemical conditions in ways that facilitate work on timely and important regional issues
   • Target products at specific places and needs
2. Support capacity building of coastal managers
   • A regional system needs to dedicate resources to help mangers use ocean observing data and information (e.g. professional development and training to use raw data, help others in accessing and using these materials — teaching them how to fish)
   • Assist managers create and disseminate information derived from ocean observing data
3. Require service to users
   • Support targeted projects needed by coastal managers & that they contribute to (e.g. sustain effective partnerships, area-wide characterizations with multiple applications, etc.)
   • Prepare materials useful to policy-makers (e.g. local officials, members of cabinet, legislators, etc.)

1. For example, the southeast region might create an ocean information system that ensures the transfer of data, products and information. It might present a current inventory of coastal and ocean information that is available and that could be used in regional characterizations. Clear objectives, sustained funding and ownership in the system by the intended users are all pre-requisites for the system.