Who’s Embarking on a New Era in Ocean Stewardship?

Fishermen, scientists, business owners, farmers & more are charting a new course for the ocean—one of collaboration & holistic approaches, as seen in Ocean Frontiers. Now, we are able to offer you a more in depth look at what these ocean champions are doing—learn more about their work, watch new video clips and see how to get involved!  Each story now has its own webpage.

Click on the titles below to go to that specific story’s page—with more videos, articles and links! 

whales and ships

Saving Whales at Stellwagen Bank

Learn more about collaborating to save whales and ocean economies. Meet the project partners, and check out the cool work on endangered right whales.

 

An Ocean Blueprint for Florida Keys

See how ocean planning is being done right by a diverse group of ocean stakeholders. Hear from Keys fishermen about how ocean planning benefits their businesses.

 

Iowa Farmers & Gulf of Mexico

Connect with people across the Mississippi River Basin who are both changing their agricultural practices and implementing innovative conservation measures.

 

Port Orford Fishermen Protect Ocean & Way of Life

Learn from these visionary fishermen and their partners about how to create and promote a community stewardship area for a healthy near shore ecosystem that will support their town’s economy.

Kudos to Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes and Leesa Cobb of the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team for the this excellent op-ed they wrote on the National Ocean Policy and its value to Oregon’s coastal communities

Thanks for all you do!
The Ocean Frontiers Team

Ocean Frontiers: Iowa Farmers & Gulf of Mexico

What does Iowa have to do with the Gulf of Mexico or the ocean anyway?

Well, about 200 million gallons every minute. Iowa is one of thirty-one states whose waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico, via the Mississippi River. These waters carry rain and soil, as well as the many effluents of humanity, from chemical plants in Baton Rouge, to fertilized lawns in suburban Memphis, to pig farms and cornfields in the Upper Midwest. Once these nutrients reach the Gulf, they create immense blooms of algae, whose decaying masses deplete the ocean water of oxygen—every year creating a dead zone the size of Massachusetts—a Hypoxic Zone that suffocates nearly everything in its path.

And after decades of such burden, the once fertile Gulf has begun to falter, its wetlands vanishing by the minute, its waters rendered dead from too many contaminants flowing from upstream. Realizing that one state alone cannot solve all of the Gulfs’ problems, the Governors of the five Gulf States formed the Gulf of Mexico Alliance – a partnership that now extends into the Mississippi River basin.

A cadre of Iowa farmers are now changing their agricultural practices to reduce their impact on the Gulf of Mexico. Their efforts include reducing the amount of fertilizer they use, constructing wetlands to filter water before it heads downstream, and planting strips of native tallgrass prairie to prevent runoff. Iowa’s goal is to reduce their nitrogen runoff by 45%.

Fewer tons of fertilizer, more acres of wetlands and prairies– all are lightening Iowa’s agricultural burden on the Gulf of Mexico without burdening the returns of Iowa’s farmers.

Learn More from People in Ocean Frontiers