The Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) last month convened its 2019 All Hands Meeting in Gulf Shores, AL.
In addition to a Gulf of Mexico Monitoring Community of Practice Workshop and series of team/cross-team meetings, the conference included an opening plenary session that included remarks by GOMA Executive Director Laura Bowie, NOAA Acting Deputy Asst. Administrator/Office for Coastal Management Director Jeff Payne, Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources Deputy Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship, Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft, Esri Industry Manager for Ocean and Coastal Environments Drew Stephens, and an ecotourism panel discussion featuring representatives from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, the City of Orange Beach, and Down Under Dive Shop.
During a Get-to-Know GOMA breakfast shortly before the opening plenary session convened, GOMA officials provided background on the organization, its history, structure, progress to date (including progress on implementation of the Governors’ Action Plan III), Gulf Star Program, and its upcoming Gulf 2020 initiative that will involve participation from all 5 Gulf states in a nationwide effort to highlight the contributions of the Gulf to the region and the country. As to the latter, co-branding opportunities to partner in the effort include hosting an event, social media engagement, and sponsorships. In addition, GOMA announced that its 2020 annual meeting will take place in Biloxi, MS, and that they hope to host the Gulf governors who founded GOMA in 2004 at the event.
At the opening plenary session, welcome remarks by Alabama Deputy Conservation Commissioner Blankenship and Mayor Craft focused on the importance of sustainability and the ecological and economic importance of the Gulf to the region, as well as the establishment of the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism and Sustainability and other restoration opportunities under the RESTORE Act.
NOAA Acting Deputy Asst. Administrator/Office for Coastal Management Director Jeff Payne emphasized the importance of the maritime environment while promoting the economy and sustainability, as well as the power of partnerships. In doing so, he noted GOMA’s leadership and history as the nation’s first state-led regional ocean partnership, and said that the core principles of partnerships are a common vision, shared resources, shared risks, share accountability, and shared credit, which he said were all reflected in GOMA’s participation in NOAA’s regional coastal resilience grant program. Payne also cited actions to support implementation of the 2018 ocean policy executive order including the launch of the interactive OceanReports data tool and provision of funding to regional ocean partnerships.
Esri representative Drew Stephens talked about importance of collaboration with NGOs, government, and industry and his organization’s efforts to collect and publish data, including Esri’s hazard assessment of every U.S. coastal watershed, its Living Atlas of the World (the largest digital map library), and activities related to artificial intelligence, story maps, and a geospatial cloud, among other things.
GOMA also recognized its current and previous Gulf Star Program partners. GOMA noted that $2.3 million has been awarded for projects during the program’s first three years, helping to address coastal resilience, data and monitoring, education and engagement, conservation, restoration, and resilience planning, marine debris, incorporation of socioeconomics/ecosystem services into a coastal resilience index, and issues affecting habitat resources, water resources, and wildlife and fisheries.
During the ecotourism panel, participants discussed the close linkages between the economies of Gulf communities with a healthy Gulf, including a focus on how a healthy Gulf has benefitted Alabama’s coastal economy, efforts to maintain and enhance “destination tourism” in the region by being a bigger player in the ecotourism arena, Alabama’s environmental leadership, and the state’s beaches, wildlife, and marine life as tourist attractions.
GOMA is a regional ocean partnership that was established in 2004 by the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Its mission is to enhance the ecological and economic health of the Gulf region by encouraging collaboration among government agencies, businesses, education providers and non-governmental organizations. Priority issues addressed by the Alliance include water resources, habitat resources, community resilience, data and monitoring, wildlife and fisheries, and education and engagement.
