CRC Joins Hundreds of Fishers for World Fisheries Day Celebration in Ghana

 

Dignitaries at high table
Dignitaries at the high table: From left – Paramount Chief of Cape Coast (Osabarima Kwesi Atta II – with microphone in hand); USAID/SFMP Chief of Party (Dr. Brian Crawford); President, National Fish Processors and Traders Association (Mrs. Regina Solomon)

The Coastal Resources Center (CRC), through its USAID-supported Sustainable Fisheries Management Project in Ghana, joined many around the globe to commemorate World Fisheries Day 2016, centered on the theme empowering fishing communities.” The event culminated with fishing communities signing a pledge to promote and commit to responsible fishing practices, in Cape Coast; close to the Castle visited by President Obama several years ago. World Fisheries Day is celebrated every year on November 21. The celebration in Ghana however took place on Tuesday November 22; because Tuesdays are traditional fishing holidays for artisanal fishers in Ghana. The event was organized by the major fishermen and fish processors associations in Ghana and is by the fisher folk and for the fisher folk to express their concerns about declining fish stocks in Ghana’s marine waters and their commitments to support sustainable and responsible fishing practices to rebuild Ghana’s marine fisheries; the marine sector makes up approximately 80% of the country’s domestic landings, employs over 140,000 people and provides 60% of the animal protein in local diet. For more information, click here

Hundreds Attend President Dooley’s Lecture in Ghana

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President Dooley signs a memorandum of understanding with University of Cape Coast, Ghana, colleagues Friday in Ghana. (credit: Patricia Mensah, CRC/SFMP)

Hundreds of people attended Friday’s public lecture by URI President David M. Dooley at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana and later witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between CRC/URI and UCC’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and Centre for Coastal Management, during the president’s first trip to the West African nation.

During his talk, President Dooley said his vision upon assuming office as president of URI was to vastly increase internationalization and globalization of the school and its students because the world we live in is not just interconnected but interdependent and hyper-connected. Such hyper-connectedness includes a global economy and society in which citizens communicate in seconds and not in days or weeks. The complexity of the modern world includes great challenges, such as climate change, which is beyond one single nation’s ability to solve alone, he continued.

“With these global challenges also come global opportunities. We need to focus more on the opportunities,” he told the audience.

He continued: The less-developed world is not responsible for the lion’s share of atmospheric changes, but it and the entire world have to live with the consequence. That is not the only challenge with global consequences: War in one country affects the entire world; the outbreak of diseases, quality of the air we breathe, sustainability of the food supply, disputes and conflicts are all global issues, he said.

“We are no longer insulated by borders and oceans as we once were, but in all this, are global opportunities and demand for higher education,” President Dooley said.

During the memorandum of understanding signing ceremony, President Dooley received a gift of rich local Ghanaian kente cloth and sandals. The entire URI delegation received souvenirs from UCC as a symbol of friendship.

President Dooley meets with incoming URI graduate students from Ghana Saturday. (credit: Patricia Mensah, CRC/SFMP)
President Dooley meets with incoming URI graduate students from Ghana Saturday. (credit: Patricia Mensah, CRC/SFMP)

President Dooley continued his inaugural trip to Ghana Saturday when he met with four doctoral and two master’s students bound for URI on a USAID-funded scholarship program. The graduate students went through an intensive and competitive selection process to emerge as recipients of the scholarships. President Dooley congratulated and welcomed the students in advance to URI and hoped they make the most of the experience.

Two USAID projects, USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP) and USAID/UCC Capacity Strengthening Project are collaborating in this effort.

Also Saturday, two research assistants from UCC supporting SFMP’s research and improved data quality systems activities demonstrated how they collect fish stock data.

 

President Dooley Begins Ghana Trip with Visit to UCC

Professor D.D. Kuupole, vice-chancellor of the Univresity of Cape Coast in Ghana welcomes President Dooley Friday, April, 15, 2016. (credit: Patricia Mensah, SFMP/CRC)
Professor D.D. Kuupole, vice-chancellor of the Univresity of Cape Coast in Ghana welcomes President Dooley Friday, April, 15, 2016. (credit: Patricia Mensah, SFMP/CRC)

URI President Dr. David M. Dooley is in Ghana through April 20, solidifying relationships with Ghanaian universities and visiting projects led by CRC: USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP) and USAID/West Africa Analytical Support Services and Evaluations for Sustainable Systems (ASSESS).

On Friday, April, 15, he met with University of Cape Coast (UCC) Vice-Chancellor Professor D.D. Kuupole. President Dooley said he sees his visit as an opportunity to strengthen collaboration and friendship with the wider university community. Prof. Kuupole says UCC treasures the collaboration, which has helped draw the university’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences into the limelight.

CRC Is Hiring an Assistant Director

Assistant Director, Coastal Resources Center
Provide strategic leadership and direction to the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) to build and manage the organization’s administrative structure. Support CRC’s philosophy and core values to facilitate the achievement of its short and long-term goals. Play a key role in CRC’s ongoing strategic planning process and enhancement of CRC’s infrastructure to maintain and deepen its leadership role in coastal management and governance. Primary responsibilities include administrative support services, human resources management, management information systems, communications, budget development, and fundraising. This is a full-time, calendar year position, limited to 6/25/16 with extension contingent on funding. Visit the URI jobs website at: https://jobs.uri.edu to apply and view complete details for job posting (#SF00063). Please attach 3 (PDF) documents to your electronic application: (#1) cover letter, (#2) resume which contains the names and contact information for three references, and (#3) a 3-5 page writing sample. Applications will close July 23, 2015. Only electronic applications will be accepted.  The University of Rhode Island is an AA/EEOD employer. Women, persons of color, protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups members are encouraged to apply.

CRC’s New Director Takes Helm in January

Anton Post at CRC, Narragansett RI, URI Bay Campus, October 2014
Dr. Anton Post outside CRC at the Graduate School of Oceanography. (Michael Salerno photo)

Anton F. Post, senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., has been appointed director of CRC. He succeeds Stephen Olsen, the founding director who led CRC for 40 years until his retirement in 2012. Post begins his new role in January. CRC’s International Programs Director Dr. Brian Crawford had been serving as the Center’s interim director since Olsen’s retirement.

He will be responsible for providing overall leadership and directing all programs and operations at CRC, which develops policies and programs to help manage coastal zones in the U.S. and abroad. He will oversee an annual budget of $8 million and 22 employees in Rhode Island, as well as numerous contract employees overseas.

“Dr. Post is a distinguished marine scientist with broad administrative experience in a number of positions,” said Bruce Corliss, dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography. “I am delighted that he will join the GSO faculty and provide leadership to the Coastal Resources Center as we build on the excellent program that has been developed over the years dealing with the management, policy and science of the oceans.”

Post holds academic and research appointments at several leading institutions. In addition to his role at the Marine Biological Laboratory, he is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University and program director in the Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation. He previously served as a professor at Hebrew University and a researcher and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam.

“The Graduate School of Oceanography has a deeply rooted tradition in marine sciences and is ranked among the leading oceanography institutions in the U.S., both in terms of education and research. It is a privilege to become a member of this thriving community and bring my expertise in marine microbial ecology to complement the broad range of exciting research topics that are being entertained at GSO,” said Post, who will also hold an appointment as a URI professor of oceanography.

His research focuses on the biology of algae and its ecology, evolution and genomics. He has studied plankton on research expeditions in the Ross Sea off Antarctica, the Great Lakes, the Red Sea, the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere. Post received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Amsterdam and served as a postdoctoral research fellow at Hebrew University.

“Global change alters the coastal ocean through rising seawater levels, progressing acidification, expanding oxygen minimum zones, changing biodiversity, etcetera. These changes also affect coastal communities with respect to the impact on the physical environment by shoreline erosion, changing groundwater levels, salinity intrusions, but also economically by challenging local fisheries and shellfish aquaculture activities to name just a few examples,” said Post. “I look forward to working with GSO and CRC staff on addressing these emerging challenges in their regional, national and international projects.”

CRC Helping to Craft Vibrio Control Plan for Oysters

CRC’s work on a vibrio control plan for Rhode Island is featured in the Sept. 1 edition of ecoRInews and on URI’s homepage. Vibrio is a bacterium that can grow in improperly handled oysters and sicken people. The story was written by CRC Communications Specialist Sue Kennedy and features Azure Cyler, Fisheries and Aquaculture Specialist.

Sustainable Livelihoods Work Featured in USAID Success Story

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The accomplishments of CRC’s sustainable livelihoods activities in Tanzania are featured in a success story on the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) website. The livelihoods initiative was one component of the five-year Pwani project, which focused on coastal villages near Saadani National Park and Zanzibar’s Menai Bay Conservation Area and concluded in December.

Pwani partnered with 1,359 households between 2010 and 2013 to reduce biodiversity threats and create sustainable livelihoods. For households in 21 villages, family income rose an average of 43 percent when they began various activities including bread baking, beekeeping, shell-craft jewelry making, solar-powered cell phone chargers and soap making. Read the full article to learn more.