TEXAS SURF CONSERVANCY
formerly Texas Surf Museum
From the Museum to the conservancy
In the fall of 2022 Texas Surf Museum shut its doors as a cultural arts space and transitioned into a new nonprofit organization, Texas Surf Conservancy, focused on marine conservation. Our transition is bittersweet. While we will miss seeing everyone in the gallery, we are grateful to be able to respond to relevant and timely issues that threaten Texas’ beaches and coastal habitats. Our long history of working with the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Texas General Land Office (GLO), and many other science and conservation groups, provides a solid foundation for the Conservancy to begin this new and exciting chapter of its existence.
RESEARCH
Phytoplankton Monitoring Network
In partnership with Texas Oyster Ranch, the Conservancy is a proud participant in the National Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN), a program run by NOAA and made up of a community-based network of volunteers who monitor marine phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms (HABs). PMN recognizes the interrelationships between humans and coastal ecosystems while providing volunteer citizen scientists with meaningful opportunities for hands-on science engagement. The PMN enhances the Nation’s ability to respond to and manage the growing threat posed by HABs, like Red Tide, by collecting important data for species composition and distribution in coastal waters and creating working relationships between volunteers and professional marine biotoxin researchers.
Twice a month, Conservancy staff collects water samples from the Ranch’s oyster farm on Copano Bay to look for HABs, using a state-of-the-art microscope donated by NOAA. The Conservancy and the Ranch provide NOAA with valuable data to help track how the burgeoning oyster mariculture industry in Texas interacts with the microbiome of the state’s bays and estuaries.
Since 2001 PMN volunteers have discovered over 500 blooms throughout the coastal United States and have generated over 480,000 observations of environmental conditions. Volunteer data is directly incorporated into the state HAB monitoring plains of Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. HAB managers of other states are notified of potential blooms by PMN staff directly.
Harmful algal blooms impact the coastal economy on average $82 million a year. Because every coastal state suffers HABs the problem is too much for any one agency. The National Phytoplankton Monitoring Network collects ecological data at low taxpayer expense in 36 states and territories. This is a true “citizen science” program that combines expertise from NOAA, state and federal agencies, and industry with the energy of volunteers from schools, universities and civic groups.
DONATE TODAY!
Charitable contributions of any size are greatly appreciated, and 100% tax-deductible. Your gift will support healthy beaches and marine habitats in the Coastal Bend.
For more information about donations and in-kind giving, contact Brad Lomax. (brad@waterstreetrestaurants.com)
sponsors & Partners
