Areas of Expertise

Biophysical, Socio-economic, & Environmental aspects of land use systems Fisheries research & management Marine and estuarine ecosystem research & management Mangrove, seagrass & coral community research,protection, and restoration Marine & coastal archaeological investigation Oceanographic & meteorological telemetry Oil spill damage assessment & habitat restoration Rehabilitation of disused shrimp ponds Wetland inventory & Coastal zone management Wetland habitat protection, restoration & mitigation

Acid Sulfate Soils Biodiversity protection Conservation planning Conservation and Aquatic Biology Coastal Resources Assessment Coral Reef Ecology & Management Ecotourism development Natural resource management Protected species protection Publishing & Editing Soil Science Statistical analyses Techniques/procedural manuals Water resources management

This range of expertise on coastal zone issues makes CSI an ideal choice for large-scale, multi-disciplinary projects such as regional coastal zone planning and analysis, environmental impact assessments, marine protected area designs, water quality data management, professional training programs and conference presentations for government and industry. We have long-standing associations and sub-contractor relationships on all continents, which gives us the ability to involve local professionals from many disciplines in our projects. Planning, engineering, laboratory studies, landscape and marine restoration, and socioeconomic analyses can be incorporated by experts contracted from our contact list at any level of sophistication

Some specific examples of our expertise are: Oil Spill Experience Dr. Mike Marshall was the scientist-in-charge of the seagrass community project in the Minerals Management Service/ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s study of the Bahia Las Minas, Panama, oil spill impacts and recovery. The spill took place at a coastal refinery within Bahia Las Minas. Marshall worked on the project from its inception in 1986 through its end in 1993. Documents from the entire oil spill project are available from the Minerals Management Service. Dr Richard Pagett has a wealth of global experience in consulting for the petroleum industry and for governments in oil producing countries. Mr. Robin Lewis has restored wetlands impacted by oil spills in Florida and in other countries. Dr. Stephen Bloom is an accomplished marine ecologist and biostatistician. He has consulted on a wide range of projects concerning biological impacts and recovery from those impacts. Carbon projects and Mangrove Restoration Projects Since Coastal Seas International has a wealth of experience in mangrove restoration projects we have begun the process of setting up mangrove restoration projects for carbon sequestration purposes. Dr. Marshall has developed contacts in Colombia and in Nicaragua to become involved in restoring the once extensive mangrove forests of the Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta. Much of the forest within the Cienaga was killed by the construction of a coastal highway in the 1960s...some 50,000 hectares of mangroves died after construction began due to a combination of hyper-salinization and periodic flooding. Efforts have been underway since the 1990's to restore a more natural set of hydrological conditions to the Cienaga. This effort has been partially successful but the process could be sped up by using a few techniques that we have learned from other mangrove restoration projects. In Nicaragua CSI is is again involved in an effort to restore and to protect existing mangroves in the mouth of the Estero Real. Again part of the problem in this area is due to hydrological alterations. Although mangrove cutting without replanting is a second very large factor in the loss of mangroves. We are working with CIDEA (Centro de Investigacion de Ecosistemas Acuaticos) and MARENA (Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) to begin the process of project certification and project planning. We would like to work in other countries with mangrove restoration needs and we see the carbon credit business as a good way to finance large projects, Please contact CSI if you are interested in working with us. Benthic Studies – sampling design, collection, sample sorting and species identification, data analysis and reporting. Coastal Seas International can carry out complete benthic and epibenthic studies in marine and estuarine environments. We have conducted benthic studies in Florida, Panama and Colombia. The benthic environment includes the infauna that inhabit soft sediments while epibenthos are the fauna that live on the surface of soft sediments and on structures such as rock, seagrass plants, corals , mangroves, and saltmarsh plants . We are capable of sampling to depths of 165 feet (50 meters) by a variety of methods (diver held cores, grab samplers, video camera tows, photographic quadrats, etc. Our team includes certified research divers with many years of experience. Our laboratory is equipped with Wild microscopes, balances, muffle furnaces and drying ovens. Our expertise includes statistical and multivariate analyses of benthic data including control/experimental and recovery analyses.

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