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Artificial reefs breathe new life for Tamil Nadu's fishing communities

Mahima Jain

February 11, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Poompuhar, Tamil Nadu

After climate change led to a declining fish catch, fishermen in Tamil Nadu experimented with artificial reefs to boost biodiversity that would provide fishermen with a better catch. Artificial reefs can serve many purposes, but it must identify the needs of the community before it can be successfully implemented. Only a year later nearly 60 concrete structures have been built around the city and fishermen report bigger catches.

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Making a home for fish in the desert takes a little help – and a lot of PVC

Dylan Simard

January 31, 2020 |

Planet Forward |

Multi-Media |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Rio Verde, Arizona

Volunteers in Arizona are building plastic cube structures to create a fish habitat in some of the state’s lakes. Since many of the lakes are in the desert, the shoreline is often not very hospitable for fish. These “fish cities,” made out of PVC pipe, plastic tubes, and glue, create an ecosystem in the lake. The Arizona Game & Fish Department dropped 500 cubes in Bartlett Lake and received positive feedback from anglers. They would like to implement the cubes in other lakes, but the project has been suspended because of limited funds.

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Mending Coastal Marshes

Kerry Rose Graning

January 20, 2020 |

Hakai Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisiana

Martin Ecosystems uses recycled plastic bottles to manufacture artificial islands and shorelines, allowing native vegetation to grow and preventing land erosion, which has restored Louisiana’s wetlands and barrier islands. Plastic mats are layered, injected with Coast Guard approved foam for buoyancy, and planted with native vegetation. Once anchored in rows of up to 20 or more, they act as breakwaters reducing wave height by up to 80% and minimizing erosion. The mats also provide cover for nesting birds and a complex ecosystem for aquatic life. They have withstood years of hurricanes and tropical storms.

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How to Exorcise the Ghosts of Crab Traps Past

Dani Leviss

January 09, 2020 |

Hakai Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

Low cost sonar helps teams of crabbers in the Great Bay Estuary locate abandoned traps, which they use hook lines to remove to protect wildlife and damage to fishing boats. Funded by three grants, teams have retrieved around 2,200 traps and crabbers are compensated for their efforts. The initiative is modeled after one in the Chesapeake Bay, where 34,408 ghost pots were removed over six years. Similar efforts have been implemented around the world, including the Ghost Trap Rodeo in Tampa Bay, which is styled like a fishing tournament but competitors collect abandoned traps instead of catching fish.

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Climate Change Was Killing Northwest Oysters. Growers and Scientists Fought Back

Levi Pulkkinen

December 13, 2019 |

Bitterroot |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oregon

The world's oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is a positive thing in the face of climate change for those living on land, but can harm the animals that rely on certain acidification levels of ocean waters. When it became apparent off the coasts of Oregon and Washington that oysters and other sea life with a shell or a skeleton were suffering the ramifications, researchers created a sensor that could detect acidification levels that could warn oyster growers of potentially harmful areas.

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Regenerating New York Harbor, One Billion Oysters at a Time

Jake Price

December 13, 2019 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The ambitious Billion Oyster project has several objectives: Get the youth involved in climate change action, revive the oyster population, and make New York’s shoreline less susceptible to flooding.

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Safer at sea: The unexpected benefit of traceability for small-scale fishers

Laura Villadiego

November 12, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Philippines, General Santos City

Efforts to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also make fishermen safer at sea. Vessel Monitoring Mechanisms (VMM) and electronic catch documentation (eCDT) track the origin of fish headed to market, part of an international effort to ensure sustainable and equitable practices. Data transmission also makes fishermen safer, relaying their locations from hundreds of miles out at sea. In the Philippines, a partnership between Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise (FAME) and USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership helps cover subscription fees for FAME radio transmitter service.

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Drone Swarms and Gene-Altered Corals Fight Climate Change

Tom Gibson Vicky Feng Leila Hussain

October 29, 2019 |

Bloomberg |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Replanting and replenishing damaged ecosystems is crucial to mitigating further adverse effects of climate change. From the forests of the American Pacific Northwest, to the coral reefs around the globe, startups and scientists are working to increase the resilience of natural systems. DroneSeed, in Seattle, WA, leverages drone technology to increase reforestation efforts. Meanwhile, biologists in Thailand are working to cultivate hardy corals.

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A Vision For Floating Buildings, Minus the Libertarian Politics

Lindsey J. Smith

October 16, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A floating prototype in the San Francisco bay - envisioned by researchers at California College of Art - is testing the sustainability and possibilities of the creation of floating buildings. The structure, which has successfully integrated with barnacles and other marine life, is one in a number of visions of floating communities that respond to the rapidly appearing effects of climate change on coastal communities.

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Coral gardeners bring back Jamaica's reefs, piece by piece

Christina Larson

September 17, 2019 |

Associated Press |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Jamaica, Ochos Rios

In Jamaica, locally-led coral nurseries are working to restore the coral reef that have been lost to natural and manmade disasters. These organizations have small coral gardens where they can grow free of danger and when they’re big enough, are transported to a reef. With coral and fish being so codependent in the underwater ecosystem, the regrowth of coral has meant an increase of fish and fishing for the country, which many people rely on for their livelihood.

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