Solution specific articles for Marine, Ocean, Coastal, Science & Information.

Lynker Collaborates with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group and local fishers to assess bottomfish in Hawaii

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Lynker and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group (PIFG), a Hawaii-based research cooperative, have been out on the water this fall, sampling in 75 fishing locations to determine abundance and health of Hawaii’s “Deep 7” bottomfish, including opakapaka (pink snapper), onaga (longtail snapper), ehu (squirrelfish snapper), kalekale (Von Siebold’s snapper), gindai (Brigham’s snapper), lehi (silverjaw snapper), and hapuʻupuʻu (Seale’s grouper).
These fish species are jointly managed by state and federal authorities, and our work, funded by NOAA Fisheries, will help scientists, policy-makers, and the local community better ensure the sustainability of these important stocks (currently not overfished) now and into the future.
The research fishing portion of the survey is now 44% complete, with overall survey completion at 66%.
A huge shout-out to the local fishing captains and observers, who spend days on the water, often in less than ideal conditions, collecting the samples around the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island, in making this survey a success.

Lynker Honors Employees with Service Awards at NOAA’s Science on a Sphere

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Lynker celebrates with employees by giving service awards and hosting a luncheon at NOAA’s Science on a Sphere. Thank you to all the employees who attended the event!

Lynker Supports PRiMO Conference in American Samoa to Help Protect Pacific Islands From Natural Hazards

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Lynker staff flew to American Samoa last week to support the PRiMO (Pacific Risk Management ‘Ohana) Conference and bring together community leaders to protect Pacific Island communities from natural hazards.

For more information check out the official conference page on NOAA’s website

Lynker Participates in International Coastal Cleanup

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Lynker is proud to have participated in the InternationalCoastalCleanup last week as part of our work with NOAA Digital Coast, and NOAA Marine Debris. You never know what you’ll find creeping into the marsh as marine debris.

 

Lynker in Niagara Falls Supporting NOAA Digital Coast

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Lynker was recently in Niagara Falls, supporting NOAA Digital Coast and meeting with our Great Lakes partners.

 

Scavenger Hunt in Rota and Saipan to Gain LIDAR Data

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Lynker employees Jamie Carter and Ross Winans recently surveyed sites in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) supporting @NOAA Digital Coast’s LIDAR validation work. In addition, they were able to acquire NGS-compliant data at several of the benchmarks that NGS needs for the Mariana Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 (MATRF2022) – all while lugging around over 350 pounds of equipment!

They travelled to Rota, Saipan, and Tinian, hiking approximately 25 sites per island. Our work is part of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management’s Digital Coast and critically useful for restoring infrastructure and mitigating hazards.

Lidar data is commonly used and accessed for the rest of the U.S., but none existed for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI). Local managers can now use this data to create inundation and storm surge models, shoreline maps, tsunami models and zones, and habitat maps. Additionally, this data will be used to create emergency response plans and assist many coastal resource managers, scientists, and emergency response personnel with disaster preparedness. 

Local and federal agencies had a large stake in this project, while community involvement and support was crucial throughout. NOAA, FEMA, and USDA are all heavily invested in LIDAR data, and this project enhanced their collaboration on data collection and processing. Additionally, we worked with NGS to perform quality assurance on all of the data and be compliant with their standards.

Trekking through these islands was like a large scavenger hunt to find each site, especially the ones with challenging access points and location descriptions – find the corner of the fence post (that no longer exists) and your mark to find the site will be there (but may be buried).

 

Lynker Team Helps Ocean Planners With Easy to Read Reports

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Get an easy-to-read report to learn what’s happening in your area of the ocean! A new tool from @MarineCadastre, OceanReports, includes descriptive infographics and supporting data for use in offshore planning, permitting, environmental review, and more. Lynker team members provided support throughout the creation and release of the tool. See it here: https://marinecadastre.gov/oceanreports/@-10737743.881037742,4753280.983019757/4 

Lynker Helps Ensure Online Training Reaches Record Number of Registrants

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Lynker is actively engaged in bringing @NOAA Digital Coast’s Using Flood Exposure Maps webinar to a record number of participants. (Click here for more information: https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/flood-exposure.html)

This training connects communities with an expert to hear their experience with engaging stakeholders in discussions about hazards and risks. 

The rising costs and dangers associated with coastal flooding are motivating communities to assess the people, places, and resources at risk. NOAA Digital Coast’s Using Flood Exposure Maps webinar connects communities with experts who have used maps to engage stakeholders in discussions about local hazards and risk. At the end of the training, participants are able to recognize challenges and techniques for using these maps to facilitate productive conversations about resilience. 

The July webinar offering received a record number of registrants – 349! In comparison, over the last two years and eight webinars there have been 411 registrants total. Lynker staff worked to spread the word utilizing a variety of forms of outreach. Regional staff distributed a flyer over email, while information went out in a monthly newsletter to almost 2,500 people. 

 

Lynker Featured in NOAA Ocean Podcast on Conserving the Unique Coral Reef Ecosystems in American Samoa

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Lynker’s Hideyo Hattori, who serves as site liaison for the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation and Coastal Zone Management programs in American Samoa, recently gave a talk on the Fa’a Samoa (“The Samoan Way”) and the amazing diversity and ecological richness of this remote archipelago.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/dec18/nop21-american-samoa.html

Lynker proudly serves as the lifecycle vendor for the NOAA Office of Coastal Management – the parent organization to the Coral Reef Conservation and Coastal Zone Management programs – and the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, one of 14 federally designated underwater areas protected by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Of all the areas in the National Marine Sanctuary System, the American Samoa sanctuary is the most remote, is the only true tropical reef, and is thought to support the greatest diversity of marine life.

Lynker Promotes Fishing for Energy and Association of Pacific Ports Partnership

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Lynker scientist and ESA specialist Sarah Pautzke presented on Fishing for Energy at the Association of Pacific Ports (APP) annual conference held in Portland, OR in July 2019. Fishing for Energy is a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF.org) initiative designed to help repurpose marine debris collected voluntarily by commercial and recreational fishermen into useful, sustainable, clean energy. Fishermen deposit debris in special bins at ports, which local companies collect and process into products and/or fuel.

Ms. Pautzke described the issue with fishermen catching derelict fishing gear on the high seas, keeping it aboard while they fish to reduce the probability of it entangling their gear again or their propellers, then throwing it back over before returning to port because the ports charge disposal fees. The Hawaii Longline Fleet at Pier 38 in Honolulu worked with NOAA, Schnitzer Steel, and the Covanta waste-to-energy plant to provide a waste bin at the pier for returning fishermen. Lynker is partnering with NOAA PIRO to pursue a grant to establish the bins in San Francisco and Long Beach. Sarah made the pitch to the Port of Long Beach along with the other ports to see if other ports are interested in participating in the effort.

She also presented Lynker’s expertise to the port audience so they better understand how Lynker can fit in to their work – from biological assessments for proposed work, to grant drafting and management, to staffing.  APP members were interested in our company because we’re a new type of company to them and we’re very interested in partnering, as are they (as opposed to just selling something to them). They welcomed Lynker to their organization and asked us to return in the future.  Here’s to building new partnerships throughout the Pacific!