Summary of a break-out session at the September 7, 2019 meeting “Water Quality, Stewardship, and the health of Frenchman Bay” organized by Frenchman Bay Partners and held at Schoodic Institute.
After participants heard about current water quality programs and heard perspectives from harvesters that work in Frenchman Bay, participants were split into groups to further discuss an issue of their choice. Topics discussed in these groups were cruise ships, upper bay issues, nutrient levels, harmful algal blooms and invasive species. These discussions are based on personal experiences and concerns of participants, and not ideas wholly endorsed by all participants.
- The Cruise Ship group discussed how to create citizen science opportunities for more consistent cruise ship effluent monitoring. This group questioned how the tides impact the flow of cruise ship effluents and how effective cruise ships engine exhaust scrubbers are (an issue of air pollution, not water pollution).
- The Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) and Invasive Species Group discussed creating a monitoring program to assess water quality even when areas are closed. This group also discussed how to manage invasive species such as the green crab, by developing a cookbook to encourage green crab harvesting.
- The Upper Bay Issues group discussed potential sources of run-off such as logging, pesticides, and blueberry fields. They also discussed citizen science programs such as MDIBL’s Community Lab and possible ways to increase funding opportunities for the upper bay.
- The Nutrient Group discussed which nutrients may stay in the bay based on oceanographic factors such as tides and currents. This group also discussed possible nutrient inputs from septic tanks, animal feces, out-house use and seasonal nutrient increases during the summer.
The raw notes from the meeting taken from the large poster sheets of paper, including some creative spelling of various individual’s names, can be seen here.
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