Poster Session: Enhancing Stewardship and Sustainability

Commercial fishing pressure on popular harvestable species has driven extensive management efforts on finfish and shellfish resources in the northern Gulf of Mexico. While enhanced harvest restrictions have supported the stability of wild populations of popular seafood species, the demand for these protein sources has continued to increase in local markets. To meet this demand and encourage the involvement of local commercial fisheries practitioners, a collaborative effort is underway to implement a sustainable and low-impact form of aquaculture in the northern Gulf. This system will utilize natural trophic interactions to limit aquaculture-related nutrient output by co-stocking a primary producer, a primary consumer, and a finfish species. The northern Gulf IMTA system will grow out three native Gulf species from local stocks that are in high demand in local seafood markets: a macroalga (Graceful Red Weed, Gracillaria sp.), a bivalve (Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica), and a finfish (Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus). Nutrient levels in IMTA effluent will be monitored with regular water quality sampling, while ecosystem processes will be assessed using seasonal benthic sampling and trawling in the area surrounding the IMTA system, with comparisons made to baseline data and nearby uninfluenced sites. Participants from local commercial fishing and marine resource farming communities will be recruited and compensated to learn the IMTA system by assisting with seed and fry purchasing, daily operations, and eventually selling the product at market. The IMTA system is a potential low-impact alternative income source for commercial harvesters and farmers in northern Gulf communities, connecting sustainably harvested local species with local markets.

Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR) is collaborating closely with the underserved community of Moss Point, MS, and a technical team to design and plan for the implementation of community "stormwater" parks to reduce flooding and nonpoint source pollution. This project explicitly engages an underserved community that experiences disproportionate flooding impacts. In the small city of Moss Point, MS, minorities make up 78.1% of the total population, median household income is $42,173, and 29.93% of residents live in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016-2020). Phase 1 collaboration with a diversity of local city officials, civic leaders, and other local residents and landowners through the community design approach has broadened participation. Project objectives include: 1) determine the feasibility and flood reduction impact of stormwater parks; create a maintenance plan for the stormwater parks; create stormwater park designs prioritizing diversity, inclusion, and community engagement; seek funding for the implementation phase; and promote activities to create a "shovel-ready" project. The stormwater park sites include the Khayat Park Reforestation Site, the St. Joseph's Church Habitat Restoration Site, and the Rose Drive Connection Site. Preliminary HEC-RAS 2D modeling results indicate that the habitat restoration projects would reduce floodwaters between 1-2 inches in local residential neighborhoods and up to 3-4 inches in the vicinity of the restoration project during the more frequent storms (1-year, 24-hour rainfall events). The projects would increase public access to the natural history of Moss Point, as well as enhance and restore ecosystem services that support vulnerable populations in coastal communities, including coastal flood protection, coastal erosion reduction, and improved water quality and management. The team is also investigating opportunities to restore hydrologic connections and enhance limited forested riparian corridors and emergent wetlands in the East Prong of Bayou Casotte in Moss Point, Mississippi.   

Scientific research often has a way of not reaching the general public in a comprehensive or cohesive manner. To bridge that gap of knowledge between scientists and non-scientists, identification guides must be made in such a manner so as to be accessible to the public, while still retaining the depth and accuracy of original scientific research. The purpose of this work is to provide non-scientific, Open Water divers with an identification guide to octocoral taxonomy in Florida in order to give them a better understanding of the underwater world around them. This sea fan identification guide will be accessible to non-scientists by interspersing scientific jargon, using reduced vocabulary, and by utilizing engaging images for in and out of the water. Using this guide as a gateway into the language of science, hopefully non-scientific divers will better appreciate the diversity of aquatic life and thus be more likely to participate in conservation efforts.

Coastal Mississippi and Alabama have an abundance of diverse and productive ecosystems that are often underutilized in the tourism industry. Nature-based tourism (NBT) businesses provide critical opportunities to spread awareness and stewardship-based education about coastal ecosystems. Enhancement of the local nature-based tourism environmental workforce could diversify offerings of current nature-based tourism providers while also developing the future of the industry as it grows. This Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant program will help recognize NBT gems across the Mississippi and Alabama coasts while also promoting the conservation of natural areas for wildlife and the clientele who enjoy them. Through this program, NBT businesses will become a part of "Coastal Gems", an environmentally enhanced NBT workforce to diversify and provide value-added content during NBT activities. For this project 1) wildlife and environmental education and products will be provided as value-added components of the nature-based tourism industry, 2) the framework for a nature-based tourism industry internship program will be developed, and 3) expand nature-based tourism initiatives across the Mississippi and Alabama region.

Recognizing that today's students will face complex environmental challenges, the project seeks to better understand how hands-on, vessel-based learning can shape their attitudes toward science and environmental responsibility. This project aims to explore how vessel-based education influences students' attitudes toward environmental stewardship and their retention of key concepts related to environmentally responsible behavior.
To achieve this, the study employed an instrument grounded in the Children's Environmental Perceptions Survey and the Ocean Literacy Principles. The data collected from students were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to compare changes in attitudes and knowledge retention between those participating in vessel-based education and those receiving land-based instruction. The vessel-based education group showed a slightly higher increase in scores from pretest to posttest (M = .1964, SD = 7.35) compared to the land-based group (M = .1771, SD = 9.06).
The findings suggest a potential positive shift in attitudes toward environmental education in students who experienced vessel-based learning. These results, though preliminary, indicate that vessel-based education may foster a more engaged and environmentally responsible mindset, underscoring the importance of continued research in this area. Future studies could build on these findings to further explore the educational benefits of immersive, hands-on experiences in promoting environmental stewardship among young learners.

Coastal Mississippi communities depend on healthy natural resources to provide essential ecosystem functions and services that support community resilience. While many local youths are interested in the environment, careers in STEM fields such as habitat restoration and green infrastructure require a broad and technical skill set that is rarely introduced in high school. This gap in skills training creates a barrier to entering STEM fields and limits the local STEM workforce's capacity. To address this, the GRITS (Green and Resilient Infrastructure Technical Skills) program was established. GRITS offers a comprehensive curriculum for STEM workforce development aimed at high school students in coastal Mississippi. This weeklong summer program provides hands-on training in six key STEM skill areas vital to careers in coastal habitat restoration and green infrastructure, including watercraft operation, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operation and safety, GPS mapping, basic electrical system soldering, nursery methods and planting techniques for coastal vegetation, and data analysis, interpretation, and project design. Upon completing the program, students will have acquired valuable STEM skills, enhancing their employability or prospects for further education. The development and continuation of GRITS will help build a locally trained environmental workforce, paving the way for students to enter various coastal STEM careers. Now entering its third year, GRITS has already seen two successful summers of programming.

The Ocean Literacy (OL) initiative was developed to highlight the importance of the ocean in people's lives. The resulting Ocean Literacy Principles have influenced textbooks and formal education curricula, impacted themes and messaging in informal education settings and helped to shape exhibit designs in aquariums and other free choice learning spaces. The OL model's success has led to the development of topical literacies (e.g. climate, energy, earth science) as well as regional literacies (e.g. Great Lakes, Mediterranean). 



The 5 US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are home to more than 20% of the total US population and are experiencing the highest growth rate of the nation's coastline. The Gulf of Mexico is vital to the US economy supporting commercial fishing, oil and gas production, shipping, and contributing trillions of dollars to the US economy. The Gulf of Mexico has also experienced many of the costliest disasters in the US including Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Andrew, and Ida as well as the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. And yet the Gulf of Mexico remains relatively understudied and poorly understood when compared to other US coasts or regional bodies of water.



The aforementioned literacy frameworks have allowed groups to build capacity around emerging issues, ascertain gaps, and collaborate more effectively on environmental literacy projects. A set of Gulf of Mexico Literacy Principles may similarly help to focus efforts on improving Gulf of Mexico knowledge by defining the landscape, identifying and sharing current efforts, and discovering gaps and needs. An effort is underway to develop these regional environmental principles that could provide a foundation for future cross-state collaborations. Use the QR code to share your thoughts on draft principles and contribute critical GoM concepts and stories and assist in the co-production of the nascent Gulf of Mexico Literacy Principles.