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Understand, protect, restore, and sustainably use ocean and coastal habitats.

Ocean and coastal habitats are very diverse, ranging from coastal streams and sandy beaches to seagrass beds and kelp forests, and from coral reefs and arctic ice shelves to open ocean waters and deep ocean canyons. The nation's ocean and coastal habitats support some of the most valuable and diverse biological resources on the planet, including 66% of all U.S. commercial and recreational fish and shellfish, 45% of all protected species, 50% of nongame migratory birds, 30% of migratory waterfowl, and thousands of other species. These habitats also provide important services, including flood control, water filtration and storage, storm protection, food production, and recreation and tourism. While it is clear that human activities have degraded or destroyed many ocean and coastal habitats, in some cases, the scope and magnitude of these impacts are largely unknown, and we do not fully understand the complex processes related to ocean and coastal habitats.

Recent scientific examination of the effects of bottom trawling on the seafloor shows evidence of large-scale habitat alteration, particularly within less resilient seafloor communities. Other activities, such as dredging, although necessary to maintain our nation's waterways, can also harm valuable riparian and estuarine habitats and raise ancillary problems associated with contaminated dredge material and its disposal. Human activities, such as residential and commercial development, can alter or destroy valuable coastal wetlands, which are critical habitat for many species of fish, shellfish, birds, and other marine wildlife.

Ongoing Concerns

• There is limited understanding of the causes of recently observed changes in ocean chemistry and their potential impacts on ocean and coastal habitats.
• The nation's ocean and coastal habitats have never been comprehensively mapped or described.
• No coordinated monitoring program exists to track the health and condition of ocean and coastal habitats and integrate federal, state, and local data.
• There is no comprehensive, long-term planning and tracking of permits and use of ocean and coastal habitats, including impacts on essential fish habitat.
• Ocean and coastal habitats have tremendous social and economic values that are not captured in any assessment.
• Technical and financial resources are not available to adequately restore most damaged habitats or respond to emergency situations.
• Contaminated sediment, dredging, and the disposal of dredged material pose a threat to ocean and coastal habitats.

Recommendations

• Implement a coordinated, comprehensive effort to map and monitor the condition of U.S. ocean and coastal habitats, such as the Aquatic Restoration and Conservation Partnership.
• Produce an annual report card on the health of the nation's ocean and coastal habitats.
• Fully implement the essential fish habitat requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
• Work with other federal, tribal, state, and local agencies to encourage the use of existing wetland restoration programs to effect on-the-ground change in coastal areas.
• Implement coordinated, comprehensive efforts to reduce the impacts of dredging and fishing on coastal habitats.
• Develop cost-effective, environmentally acceptable regional sediment management procedures that speed remediation of contaminated sediments and increase beneficial reuse of both clean and remediated dredged material.
• Assemble and disseminate information on the social and economic values of ocean and coastal habitats.
• Develop and implement new technologies to respond to threats and restore damaged coastal habitats.
• Support community-based partnerships to identify, design, and implement coastal habitat restoration projects.
• Increase research to understand the ongoing changes in ocean chemistry.

For more information

http://www.nmfs.gov/habitat
http://www.arcpartners.org
http://www.fws.gov/cep/coastweb.html
http://state-of-coast.noaa.gov/bulletins/html/chr_10/chr.html
http://www.epa.gov/owow