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Recognize the value of our nation's estuaries, and protect and restore them for current and future generations.

Estuaries, where fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water from the oceans, are among the most productive environments on Earth. These transition zones from land to sea provide unique habitat for more than 75% of the U.S. commercial and 85% of the U.S. recreational fisheries. Estuaries are also popular places to live, work, and enjoy outdoor activities. More than 28 million jobs in the U.S. are created in association with estuaries, and more than 70% of Americans swim, boat, and fish in them.

Increasing pressures from inland activities and coastal development are causing habitat loss and degradation, fisheries declines, and overall reductions in estuarine health and productivity. Associated physical alterations, such as dredging, damming, and bulkheading, change the natural flow of fresh water to estuaries, affecting water quality, fish spawning, and the survival and distribution of living resources. Removal of vegetation can also affect water quality by causing increased erosion and siltation. Toxic substances and excess nutrients contribute to fish diseases, algal blooms, and low dissolved oxygen and can pose a threat to the health of humans and estuarine wildlife. The introduction of nonindigenous species is also affecting the ecological diversity of many estuarine environments, eradicating naturally occurring species and destroying essential habitat.

Ongoing Concerns

• Federal activities that affect estuaries are not always well integrated.
• Monitoring efforts in estuaries are often fragmented and not incorporated into overall monitoring data and analysis, hindering the ability of managers to evaluate and modify the effectiveness of their programs.
• Information on estuaries is often collected without reference to overall national research goals, or without the technological means to share and combine the data with other research efforts.
• Many people living inland and at a distance from the coast are unaware of how their actions affect estuaries.

Recommendations

• Improve communication and coordination among the various federal agencies and programs sharing responsibility for estuarine protection.
• Coordinate federal programs with tribal, state, and local smart growth initiatives to more efficiently implement on-the-ground solutions.
• Improve estuarine monitoring activities and data reporting to facilitate an adaptive management process.
• Create a national framework for estuarine research.
• Increase public understanding of the connections between human activities and estuarine health through improved education and outreach.
• Seek Congressional support for the Clinton/Gore Lands Legacy Initiative, which would provide essential funding for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and the National Estuary Program.

For more information

http://www.nos.noaa.gov:80/ocrm/nerr/welcome.html
http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/nep.html
http://www.fws.gov/cep/coastweb.html
http://marine.usgs.gov
http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov
http://www.epa.gov/emap/html/pubs/docs/midatl/cond_mae.htm