Rebuilding the Health of New England’s Ocean

The northeastern U.S. coastal ocean is a rich and diverse place, from the near-shore sounds of southern New England to the beaches of Cape Cod, and the rocky shores and complex circulatory patterns of the Gulf of Maine. These ecosystems have abundant resources and have supported coastal communities for generations. But these valuable ecosystems are vulnerable. The impacts of increasing human uses, including many new industrial uses, and the effects of fragmented, single-sector management are showing in degraded water quality, depleted fish stocks, and damaged habitat that have diminished our lifestyle and economy alike. These effects are widespread, often linked to common causes, as evidenced by documented “dead zones” in Long Island Sound, shifting and unbalanced natural communities from changing climate and invasive species, and diminished fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. The New England states also have identified causal links to human activity such as development on land and use of fossil fuels with the health of our coastal waters and estuaries.

Collaborating Toward a Common Vision

Many people, agencies, and organizations are already working to protect and restore coastal and ocean ecosystem health in the northeastern U.S. NROC’s role is to support the National Ocean Council’s draft Implementation Plan, guided by the four themes of (1) adopting EBM; (2) obtaining, using and sharing the best science and data; (3) promoting efficiency and collaboration; and (4) strengthening our regional effort. These themes are well-suited to NROC’s and to the OCEH Committee’s construct and strategy to enhance communication and collaboration, advocate for collectively-determined priority regional actions, and help articulate a common vision for management and restoration.

To implement this strategy, NROC has identified three areas of focus within coastal and ocean ecosystem health:

• Link observations to management decision-making.
• Enhance data collection, integration and dissemination.
• Improve governance, coordination and communication.

Strategies

The committee has identified two strategies for working toward its goal of protecting and restoring coastal and ocean ecosystems in the northeast:

1. Support research and monitoring that enhances our understanding of ecosystem structure and function, improves utility of social, economic and environmental indicators, and leads to effective EBM implementation.
2. Strengthen regional coordination to promote efficiency and collaboration by building partnerships, sharing resources, and reducing redundancy of efforts and ensuring full public and professional participation in the decision-making process.

During the 2013-2014 timeframe the OCEH Committee will be developing comprehensive plans within these two strategies to guide funding and activities that will most effectively meet the goal of a healthy and sustainable regional ecosystem. Activities listed below are underway or in the development phase and will begin the process of implementing the strategies. While far from complete with respect to the goal of implementing an EBM framework throughout the region, many of these actions provide a start, or even a cornerstone towards achieving that goal.

Committee Members

Steve Couture, New Hampshire Coastal Program, (State Co-Chair), steven.couture@des.nh.gov

Regina Lyons, Environmental Protection Agency (Federal Co-Chair), lyons.regina@epa.gov

Jake Kritzer, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS Co-Chair), jake@neracoos.org

Ivy Mlsna, Environmental Protection Agency, mlsna.ivy@epa.gov

Todd Callaghan, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (HCOM State Co-Chair), todd.callaghan@state.ma.us

Dan Sampson, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (HCOM State Co-Chair), daniel.sampson@state.ma.us

Chris Williams, New Hampshire Coastal Program (Alternate State Co-Chair), christian.williams@des.nh.gov