The 5th Annual NOAA/NGI Gulf Hypoxia Research Coordination Workshop

Hypoxia and Mississippi River diversions are closely linked by overlap in ecosystem model domains, affected species and habitats, and by the intersection of mitigation efforts in influencing water quality (e.g. salinity and nutrient properties). The purpose of this workshop is to advance fisheries ecosystem management in the northern Gulf to inform efforts to assess and predict the potential ecological and socioeconomic effects of diversions and hypoxia.

Hosted by Northern Gulf Institute with support from:

• NOAA National Ocean Service
• NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
• NOAA Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaboration Team
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Program
• Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition
• Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)

Goals

• Provide a forum for strengthening communication and coordination between physical, biological, and socioeconomic modelers of Gulf of Mexico hypoxia and Mississippi River diversions, and the users and stakeholders (e.g. Hypoxia Task Force, fisheries managers)
• Validate and refine key fisheries management and habitat conservation needs associated with ecosystem (including socioeconomic) effects of hypoxia and large-scale river diversions in the Gulf of Mexico
• Assess adaptive management needs for advancing ecosystem modeling of hypoxia and diversion effects on habitats and living resources in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Presentations

• Hypoxia, ecosystems, and strategies for integration
  Paul Sandifer - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Habitat conservation and fisheries
  Buck Sutter - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Science on the causes of Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
  Nancy Rabalais - Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
• Gulf hypoxia and Mississippi River nutrient management
  Alan Lewitus - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Overview of existing and planned Mississippi River diversions
  Wes LeBlanc - Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
• Mississippi River diversion science
  Robert Twilley - Louisiana State University
• Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
  Jeff Rester - Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission
• NMFS Southeast Region's perspective on diversions
  Rick Hartman - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Environmental compliance
  Steve Giordano - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Mississippi Hydro and Delta Management
  Barb Kleiss - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Ecosystem Research Strategy
  Marie Bundy - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Gulf Integrated Ecosystem Assessment
  Chris Kelble - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Ecosystem restoration and fisheries management
  Howard Townsend - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Hypoxia effects on fish populations: model predictions under fixed vs. dynamic oxygen environments
  Sean Creekmore - Louisiana State University
• Gulf Atlantis model
  Cam Ainsworth - University of South Florida
• Spatial effects of hypoxia on fish and fisheries
  Kevin Purcell - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Economic effects of hypoxia on fisheries
  Marty Smith - Duke
• Using ecosystem models to simulate effects of environmental factors on fish and fisheries
  Kim de Mutsert - George Mason University
• Adaptation of the CASM to Evaluate Food Web Dynamics and Species Responses in Barataria Basin
  Shaye Sable - Dynamic Solution LLC
• TroSim: Trophic Simulation Model for Mississippi Sound, Barataria Bay or anywhere else…
  Scott Milroy - University of Southern Mississippi
• Freshwater diversions, oyster reef restoration and fisheries sustainability on the primary public seed grounds of Louisiana
  Tom Soniat - University of New Oreleans
• Integrating socioeconomics into ecological modeling platforms
  Howard Townsend - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  David Chagaris - Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Conceptualizing the economic effects of large scale diversions on fishing firms
  Rex Caffey - Louisiana State University
• Modeling effects of diversions on fish and general best practices for modeling fish responses to restoration
  Kenny Rose - Louisiana State University
• Linking ecosystem research, services, and management
  LaToya Myles - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

View Agenda