ESIP overview | Vision statement and core principles | Primary Indicators | Data | Events and documents
The Ecosystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) is a committee of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. ESIP is developing indicators for the Gulf of Maine and integrating regional data for a new Web-based reporting system for marine ecosystem monitoring. Activities of ESIP initially center on convening regional practitioners in six indicator areas: coastal development, contaminants and pathogens, eutrophication, aquatic habitat, fisheries and aquaculture, and climate change.
ESIP Journal Entry, March/April 2009
Thierry Chopin and his team received the prestigious Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
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Beyond the monetary value of the award ($200,000 plus the hiring of 2 industrial research and development fellows for two years for a total value of $360,000), what is most important to Thierry Chopin is the recognition that the concept promoted by his interdisciplinary team over the last 7 years is becoming more and more accepted and their tireless work is finally bearing its fruit.
Aquaculture already produces more than 40 % of the seafood consumed worldwide. To continue to supply the demand, aquaculture needs to continue to grow, but it must develop innovative, responsible, sustainable and profitable practices that will optimize its efficiency, diversify its products and help reduce the impacts of its activities. One such practice is IMTA, which combines the cultivation of fed species (fish) with that of species extracting dissolved inorganic nutrients (seaweeds) and that of species extracting the particulate organic matter (shellfish) for a balanced approach to ecosystem management.
With IMTA, part of the food and energy considered to be waste and lost in fish monoculture are reused and converted for the growth of other crops of commercial value, while allowing biomitigation to take place and substantial savings to be made on feed. That way all the components of the aquaculture system have a role in the processes and recycling services of the ecosystem. Product diversification brings economic stability and reduces risks. Environmental and economic advantages of IMTA should also contribute to an improved societal acceptance of the aquaculture industry.
"We are extremely delighted to have received this award, which clearly demonstrates that R&D in aquaculture is very competitive and can be celebrated. We are participating in the evolution of the Blue Revolution by making it greener!" says Thierry Chopin, with a big smile.
More information can be obtained at: http://www.unbsj.ca/sase/biology/chopinlab/
- Summary Notes of ESIP meeting in Boston (DOC, 84 KB)
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The Gulf of Maine regional indicators and reporting initiative is guided by the following objectives:
- Provide baseline data and information, using historical data where available, about ecosystem conditions against which future changes can be compared;
- Develop ecosystem indicators for assessing the state of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy that have a scientific grounding and that are relevant to management issues of concern in the region;
- Provide consistent, scientifically-sound, credible information that can be used to strengthen environmental policy and guide management decisions with environmental and social implications;
- Utilize a collaborative, interactive process that involves a variety of partners and data sources; and
- Ensure that information reaches decision-makers within the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy region in a manner that is useful to them.
Although decision-makers receive information from multiple sources, the Gulf of Maine indicators and reporting program will uniquely convey linkages between science, management, and ecosystem goals at a regional scale and elucidate connections between ecosystem conditions and human needs. This initiative will begin with modest short-term goals and gradually extend the scope of its effort to expand 1) the depth and breadth of management-relevant issues that are covered, 2) the level of integration across specific management issues, 3) the spatial scale of focus, and 4) the audience that is reached through products of this program. It will rely heavily on partnerships with existing government agencies, environmental organizations, community groups, business and trade groups, academic institutions, and other programs operating within the region and at national and international scales.
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Interactive map of monitoring sites
The long-term goal of ESIP is to provide Web-based access to synthesized monitoring data collected in the Gulf of Maine and its watershed. Numerous government agencies and non-government organizations conduct monitoring programs in the region. The purpose of the ESIP Monitoring Map is to provide information regarding where monitoring programs exist in the Gulf of Maine. Although data can be accessed by following data links back to the parent organization, the purpose of this map is not to provide data. Instead, this map provides a means of assessing the type of monitoring data that is available in the Gulf of Maine. Data from these programs will be made available in the ESIP Indicator Map, under development now.
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Questions about how to use the ESIP Monitoring Map? Download the revised ESIP Monitoring Map User Guide 2 (PDF, 1.3 MB).
To add your program to the ESIP Monitoring Map, please contact ESIP Program Manager Christine Tilburg.
Data displayed on the ESIP Monitoring Map can be downloaded in database files or accessed via Web Mapping Services (WMS). Click here for more information.
Funding to develop the pilot version of the ESIP Monitoring Map was provided by the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET).
Gary Matlock
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Susan Russell-Robinson
United States Geological Survey
Jason Naug
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Charles Strobel
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Kathryn Parlee
Environment Canada
Coastal Development Subcommittee
Fisheries and Aquaculture Subcommittee
Christine Tilburg
ESIP Program Manager
Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
ESIP overview | Vision statement and core principles | Primary Indicators | Data | Events and documents