Work Group Members
Co-leaders:
    Peter Taylor, Waterview Consulting
    Sarah Carr, EBM Tools Network
    Dan Dorfman, Intelligent Marine Planning
    Verna DeLauer, COMPASS
    Lynn Rutter, COMPASS / RARGOM

Participants:
    Ru Morrison, UNH
    Andy Cooper, St. Andrews Biological Station
    Kathy Mills, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
    Erika Washburn, UNH
    Kathryn Ford, MA Division of Marine Fisheries

A need for a regional toolkit
During a COMPASS-sponsored ecosystem-based management meeting in March, 2007, participants concurred there was a need to both make existing EBM tools more accessible and to continue responding to coastal managers evolving needs. But rather than reinvent the wheel, participants wanted to support the work of existing tools initiatives. Further, there was concurrence that complimentary work in other areas of the world could be transferred to the Gulf of Maine. Examples of these tools include but are not limited to web-based visualization and decision-support tools, data integration techniques, case studies and models. In sum, there was a call for the development and dissemination of an EBM toolkit.

Participants indicated that a host of EBM tools were available (and evolving) yet they were difficult to locate and apply. There was a sense that managers would make more scientifically-informed policy decisions if these tools were more readily accessible. In addition, through sustained communication between scientists and managers, the needed EBM resources would be better articulated.

Work Group Meeting Goals:

1. To discuss the development of an Ecosystem-based Management toolkit to meet the needs of practitioners in the Gulf of Maine.
2. To advise a potential grant proposal for a regionally-based toolkit

EBM Practitioner’s Needs Assessment
Waterview Consulting, the EBM Tools Network and COMPASS conducted a needs assessment to determine what tools practitioners currently use to make ecosystem-based decisions and/or what tools might be helpful for good decision-making. Fifty-five people participated in the survey. Over half identified themselves as working in government at the local, state, provincial, or federal level. There was nearly equal representation from the five jurisdictions within the Gulf of Maine – Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Nova Scotia, and Maine.

To summarize, practitioners in the Gulf of Maine region are grappling with the fundamental, big-picture issues regarding implementation of EBM. They have a strong need for information about the ecosystem and specific methods for taking an EBM approach. A regional toolkit can help by providing region-specific EBM methods and pre-calibrated, ready-to-use tools for the region in a medium that is most conducive to practitioners’ abilities and needs. For more information, see Gulf of Maine EBM Toolkit Survey Report.

Current EBM tools knowledge
Work group members presented information about a few tools initiatives. These included:    

The EBM Tools Network is a consortium of government, academic, private, and non-profit organizations working to advance the awareness, development and effective use of tools and methodologies which support Ecosystem-Based Management for oceans and coasts. The Network provides for the rapid exchange of information, technologies, and expertise in support of emerging approaches to EBM.  The Network is developing a Tools Training Program which is focused on increasing awareness for EBM Tools and supporting their effective application.  Download presentation about EBM Tools Network (PDF, 2.6 MB)

TNC EBM Initiative
The aim of this toolkit is to guide managers and practitioners in the use of common tools for regional planning and to illustrate through case studies approaches methods to advance ecosystem-based management by jointly addressing multiple objectives in conservation, fisheries and coastal hazards.

MIMES – Multi-integrated Model of Ecosystem Services
MIMES is a multi-scale, integrated suite of models that assesses the true value of ecosystem services in a sophisticated and transferable system. The development of a MIMES sub-model will allow ecosystem managers to quickly understand the dynamics of ecosystem services, how their services are linked to human welfare, and how their function and value might change under various management scenarios.

Practitioners’ Needs
In order to identify specific management questions and practitioner needs that should be priorities for a Gulf of Maine EBM Toolkit, work group members first discussed their interest in and experience with tools. These ranged from needing a better understanding of which tools exist and how existing tools would be applied to management decisions to finding gaps in practitioners’ understanding of EBM and creating tools that teach.

Members then reviewed the practitioners’ needs assessment summary to determine how to address practitioner needs by providing information, adapting existing tools, and/or creating new tools. They discussed the range of possible tools and the resources needed to create/adapt tools that make EBM more tangible.

Possible Toolkit Vision
Based on both the regional needs assessment and the meeting discussions, the following conceptual toolkit was envisioned.

Learning Network Toolkit – A network of interdisciplinary practitioners who through in-person meetings and online resources come to a deeper understanding of EBM principles and how to apply those principles in their daily work.

Themes: The learning network is made up of teams of peer-to-peer groups that are pre-determined to have a mix of interests. Each group has a theme related to EBM. For instance, some possible themes include:

1. Ecosystem interconnections – land/sea interface
2. Social engagement and the human dimensions of EBM
3. Valuation of ecosystem services

    
Goals of peer-to-peer groups

• To better understand the connections they should be thinking about within each theme
• To determine which type(s) of tools can assist them in making these connections relevant in practice

Product: The EBM Tools Network, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment and COMPASS will seek funding to develop a regional toolkit that is created based on the results of the peer-to-peer groups. The Moore Foundation and CICEET are two possible options.

Next Steps:
December: Conference call among co-leaders to discuss the development of a proposal and possible funding sources. Work group members who missed the toolkit meeting and others who are interested can join the call.

January: Start writing a proposal – determine next steps based on proposal deadline and possible grant schedule