PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT SITE, AND THE CONTENT DOES NOT REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION.

Data Type: NOAA Technical Memorandum

An ecological characterization of the Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, U.S. Virgin Islands

The diverse ecosystem within [the Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, U.S. Virgin Islands] includes a large mangrove forest, a submarine canyon, coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal forests, and many other natural and developed landscape elements. … A comprehensive spatial inventory of these ecosystems is required for successful management. To meet this … Read more

A Pilot Survey of Deepwater Coral/Sponge Assemblages and their Susceptibility to Fishing/Harvest Impacts at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS): Cruise Report for NOAA Ship McARTHUR II Cruise AR-04-04 Leg 2

The offshore shelf and canyon habitats of the OCNMS (Fig. 1) are areas of high primary productivity and biodiversity that support extensive groundfish fisheries. Recent acoustic surveys conducted in these waters have indicated the presence of hard-bottom substrates believed to harbor unique deep-sea coral and sponge assemblages. Such fauna are often associated with shallow tropical … Read more

SIMS: A Shellfish Information Management System for Molluscan Shellfish Growing Waters

The Shellfish Information Management System (SIMS) is a web-based application designed in partnership with the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) to integrate information important to coastal managers responsible for ensuring the safe harvest of mulluscan shellfish. While the primary purpose of SIMS is to map and analyze classified waters, both the functionality and content of … Read more

A biogeographic assessment of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: A review of boundary expansion concepts for NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program

This biogeographic assessment represents the continuation of an ongoing partnership between the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). The purpose of this collaboration is to provide sanctuary managers with basic information on the distribution of marine flora and fauna relevant to the national marine sanctuaries they manage. … Read more

Fish Habitat Utilization Patterns and Evaluation of the Efficacy of Marine Protected Areas in Hawaii: Integration of NOAA Digital Benthic Habitat Mapping and Coral Reef Ecological Studies

Over the past four decades, the state of Hawaii has developed a system of eleven Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs) to conserve and replenish marine resources around the state. Initially established to provide opportunities for public interaction with the marine environment, these MLCDs vary in size, habitat quality, and management regimes, providing an excellent opportunity … Read more

Histological Techniques for Marine Bivalve Molluscs: Update

This chapter describes the procedures for determining the reproductive stage of oysters, mytilid mussels, and dreissenid mussels collected for NOAA’s National Status and Trends Mussel Watch Project. Analyses are conducted on paraffin-embedded tissues sectioned at a 5-µm thickness and stained using a pentachrome staining procedure. Each slide is examined microscopically to determine the animal’s sex … Read more

Spatial and temporal characterization of water quality at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge

Coastal stewardship involves recognizing important aspects of landscape function in order to identify and mitigate impacts affecting the sustainability of ecosystems and communities. In collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA’s National Ocean Service has worked to enhance our understanding of current conditions and potential impacts at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge … Read more