OOA IV will be held at the historic Algonquin Hotel in the beautiful town of St. Andrews in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the center of the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry. Each theme session will have one or more invited keynote speakers. Many choose the Caribbean as their rest and relaxation spot, but throughout the region, poorly planned coastal development overcrowding, sand mining, littering, erosion, drownings, access problems, declining water quality and user conflicts are cause for alarm. If we hope to continue enjoying our beaches, if we expect our beaches to contribute in a sustained way to our economy, we must take beach management seriously. Everything we do to improve our beaches enhances the quality of life for our people.
Every penny invested in our beaches strengthens our tourism and marine recreation industries.
Yet, throughout the region, beach management fails to receive sufficient economic support. Beach Services Provision and maintenance of facilities for beach users, safety issues, enforcement, beach quality grading. Beach Erosion Mitigation and Ecosystem Management Shore protection measures, impacts of people on coastal ecosystems. Management of Beach User Conflicts Numbers of users, conflict resolution, access, property rights. Financial Aspects Beach taxes, fee collection, beach economics, visitation statistics, monetary value of beaches.