Bringing Baffin Back
Baffin Bay is the “jewel” of the Texas coast, with salty waters that have traditionally supported world-class fishing. Over the last 3-4 decades however, there has been a significant decline in its water quality and a deterioration in ecosystem health, with symptoms such as persistent harmful algal blooms, fish kills, and episodes of apparent starvation of a commercially important fish species (black drum). Anglers, fishing guides, landowners and bay-dependent businesses have commented that these symptoms were historically unprecedented for Baffin Bay but have been increasing in frequency and intensity in recent years, hurting their ability to make a living.
In 2013, HRI researchers enlisted 18 “citizen scientists” to study the water quality problems in Baffin Bay. They found that Baffin Bay is being subjected to excessive nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus) pollution coming from its watershed. This nutrient pollution is a key promoter of the algal blooms and other symptoms of water quality degradation. Without good water quality, it is difficult for bays such as Baffin to support critical habitat and a healthy fishery.
Bringing Baffin Back™ is unique in that it applies a whole ecosystem approach to address the challenges facing Baffin Bay. Its success depends on the high-quality research that is being conducted by researchers at HRI and partner institutes to understand these challenges, on the strength of partnerships with stakeholders that are vital for identifying solutions and the resources needed to implement those solutions, and on the continued interest from the public in restoring and protecting this iconic bay system.
Bringing Baffin Back™ will bring together partners from interdisciplinary backgrounds to first address the watershed sources of pollutants, followed by a rigorous, long-term bay-wide habitat restoration and conservation initiative. The rationale for this approach is simple – the health of Baffin Bay is intricately tied to the health of surrounding lands. In order to achieve successful outcomes leading to improved health in Baffin Bay, a whole-ecosystem approach that recognizes and addresses the connection between the watershed and bay is needed.
Learn more about Bringing Baffin Back™ in this video and on this interactive story map, and support our Baffin Bay initiatives by making a donation. We are also happy to announce the Louis "Scott" Murray Endowed Fund for the Conservation of Baffin Bay which was created in honor of long-time Baffin Bay and Laguna Madre advocate Scott Murray. Contributions to this fund can be made at www.HonoringScott.org.
To join a vibrant stakeholder group that is working to implement Bringing Baffin Back™, please send an email to Athena Frasca, BBB Watershed Coordinator, at athena.frasca@tamucc.edu.
