NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Biennial Report to Congress 2007‐2008
NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Office of Habitat Conservation NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
Table of Contents
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Ecosystem Science ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Coastal and Living Resource Management ..................................................................................................11 Environmental Literacy...................................................................................................................................18 Regional Collaboration....................................................................................................................................23 Looking Forward: 2009 and Beyond ...........................................................................................................25
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Foreword
On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), I am pleased to submit this report on the substantial contributions of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office to protect and restore the living resources and habitat of the Bay during fiscal years 2007 and 2008. The Chesapeake Bay is North America’s largest estuary, stretching across one of the most economically significant and populous regions of the United States. Nearly 17 million people live in the Bay’s watershed, which spreads across New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Home to more than 3,600 species of plants and animals, including some 350 species of finfish and 175 species of shellfish, the Bay is a biologically diverse ecosystem. But the health of this ecosystem has faced years of challenges from many sources, including the human-induced impacts of degraded water quality, overharvesting of fisheries, and habitat destruction. Working with resource managers and policymakers, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office provides state-of-the-art science, technical assistance and funding, and outreach and education to advance the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, furthering an increase in citizen stewardship throughout the watershed. From its offices in Annapolis and Oxford, Maryland, and Gloucester Point and Norfolk, Virginia, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office employs a holistic approach— looking at the diverse impacts to the Bay that come from a wide spectrum of sources. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is playing an active role in NOAA’s Regional Collaboration initiative, improving the connections among NOAA capabilities in the mid-Atlantic and leveraging the variety of expertise and capacity of NOAA’s entire portfolio to meet the Bay’s unique needs. In addition, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office is a key partner in the Environmental Protection Agency-led Chesapeake Bay Program, working with other Federal and State agencies, academic institutions, and nongovernmental organizations to improve the Program’s strategic approach through the development of the Chesapeake Action Plan. NOAA recognizes that the challenges for Bay restoration are formidable—even as we see smallscale results, the cumulative pressures of increasing population in the watershed place additional burdens on our efforts. However, we remain committed to achieving a different vision for the Bay region and residents. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will continue to address these challenges in partnership with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations to ensure that we provide the science, service, and stewardship to achieve a healthy and productive Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Peyton Robertson, Director NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
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Executive Summary
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) plays a critical part in the Federal Government’s role to support Bay protection and restoration. NOAA has strategically deployed staff around the Bay to better understand and respond to the needs of its constituents. This report details NCBO’s accomplishments over the past two years, highlighting accomplishments while outlining remaining challenges and strategies to address them. This report to Congress for the 2007-2008 biennium is submitted in accordance with NCBO’s authorization, enacted by Congress in 1992 (Public Law No. 98-210) and reauthorized in 2002 (Public Law No. 107-372). Specifically, the law requires “a biennial report to Congress and the Secretary of Commerce with respect to the activities of the Office and on the progress made in protecting and restoring the living resources and habitat of the Chesapeake Bay.” In accordance with these statutes, this report includes descriptions of programs and projects supported, developed, and implemented by NOAA in order to carry out science, service, and stewardship to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. NCBO has created a new internal alignment that allows it to better integrate its unique collection of NOAA assets, organized around three primary functions: 1. Ecosystem Science, where NCBO scientists focus on data collection, observations, and analysis to collect and organize information critical for understanding Bay restoration needs; 2. Coastal and Living Resources Management, where NCBO works with resource managers and decision makers to provide them with the science and interpretation to develop and implement policy; and 3. Environmental Literacy, where education and outreach are used to foster Bay stewardship. Together these three areas represent a comprehensive approach to ecosystem management, enabling scientists and resource managers to examine the interconnected elements of the Bay ecosystem as they develop and implement management decisions.
Today’s students are tomorrow’s stewards of the Chesapeake Bay and its living resources.
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Highlights from the Biennium – Key Accomplishments Ecosystem Science • Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System: Deployed six innovative observational platforms that collect and transmit real-time environmental data to a wide variety of constituents and mark points and enhance interpretation along the new Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. • Habitat Characterization: Collected up-to-date information on the Bay bottom (including status of living resources, sediment types, and bathymetry) to develop habitat assessments that aid native oyster restoration and support the management of coastal living resources. • Derelict Fishing Gear: Completed an initial study to evaluate potential effects of derelict crab traps in collaboration with a number of Federal, State, and academic partners with support from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program. Coastal and Living Resources Management • Restoring Oysters: Supported native oyster restoration programs in Bay waters, bringing the total of oyster reefs enhanced since 1999 to more than 2,000 acres. Provided scientific advice to State resource management authorities in Maryland and Virginia, enabling them to develop informed oyster strategies for the future. • Non-Native Oyster Research: Concluded a research program on non-native oysters; research provided the most up-to-date science that informed the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and released for public comment in fall 2008. • Blue Crab Science for Management: Funded blue crab biology research and improvements in hatchery technology through the Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium. Developments included enabling out-of-season spawning in the hatchery. • Evaluating Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Efforts: Worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop Large-Scale Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration in Chesapeake Bay: Status Report, 2003-2006. NOAA’s and the Corps’ efforts represent the largest single coordinated research effort to date to improve the status of the science and capabilities for large-scale SAV restoration. Environmental Literacy • Stewardship Education: Completed an evaluation of the Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant program and implemented changes—in both the B-WET program and NCBO’s other environmental literacy efforts—based on that evaluation. The B-WET program has reached students and educators across the watershed and provided support for meaningful watershed educational experiences. • Supporting Local Decision Makers: Piloted programs through Chesapeake NEMO—the Network for Education of Municipal Officials—to educate citizens and local governments on demographic and development trends and the problems that can result from poorly planned growth. • NOAA @ Nauticus: Storefront to the Public: Established a NOAA Education Resource Center, disseminating NOAA products to educators in and around the Norfolk area, and installed “Science on a Sphere,” a NOAA-developed six-foot spherical representation of the Earth that can display a variety of data sets to teach about earth systems science.
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Activity (Dollars in Thousands) Chesapeake Bay Studies National Aquarium Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System Multispecies Blue Crab Research Bluefish/Striped Bass Virginia Trawl Survey Oxford Lab (via NOS) Oyster Restoration—MD Oyster Restoration—VA Non‐Native Oyster Research Morgan State Oyster Pilot B‐WET Anacostia Watershed Initiative Total
FY05 $3,449 $1,000 ‐‐ $493 $2,168 $471 ‐‐ $2,000 $1,971 $1,971 $1,971 ‐‐ $2,464 ‐‐
FY06 $3,452 $1,200 $493 $493 $4,931 $690 $493 $2,000 $3,945 $1,972 $1,972 ‐‐ $3,452 ‐‐
FY07 $3,486 $1,001 $300 $493 $3,825 $690 $494 $1,920 $2,995 $875 $820 ‐‐ $2,101 ‐‐
FY08 $1,920 $893 $447 $353 ‐‐ ‐‐ $447 $1,600 $1,786 ‐‐ ‐‐ $470 $3,500 $134
Appropriations during the Biennium The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office used funds requested by the President and appropriated by Congress for science, service, and stewardship targeted to restoration of the Chesapeake Bay’s health. Ongoing evaluation of progress and adapting programs to meet changing needs and knowledge ensures maximum effectiveness of these efforts.
$17,958 $25,093 $19,000 $11,550
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Ecosystem Science
The NCBO Ecosystem Science program focuses on applied research and monitoring; integrated coastal observations; and synthesis, analysis, and modeling to describe and predict Bay ecosystem processes. NCBO undertakes these activities directly through its own capabilities, including a state-of-the-art field program, indirectly by supporting the work of outside entities (including regional academic partners), and collaboratively with other NOAA offices and regional resource management partners (including the Chesapeake Bay Program and State partners). In 2007 and 2008, NCBO science supported a better understanding of the Bay ecosystem, which enhanced restoration and protection of the Bay’s resources. Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System: Taking the Pulse of the Bay A highlight of the biennium was the launch of the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), innovative observational platforms that collect and transmit real-time environmental data to a wide variety of constituents—including scientists, on-the-water users including commercial and recreational boaters, educators, and natural resource decision makers. The six buoys in the system also mark points and enhance interpretation along the new Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, established by Congress in December 2006. The direct link between CBIBS and the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail led to a memorandum of agreement, signed in October 2008, between NOAA and the National Park Service to ensure effective cooperation and collaboration. CBIBS also fills observational gaps in the Bay as a contributor to the NOAA-administered Chesapeake Bay Observing System and Integrated Ocean Observing System. Buoys have been deployed at the mouths of the Susquehanna, Patapsco, Potomac, and Rappahannock rivers; in the James River off Jamestown, Virginia; and in the Elizabeth River off Norfolk, Virginia. Each CBIBS buoy is deployed with an appropriate set of sensors for its location. For example, wave height and current velocity sensors are installed on buoys located in high-traffic boating areas such as the Rappahannock River. More information on the buoy system is available at www.buoybay.org.
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Ecosystem Science Goal: To provide science‐ based information and tools required to facilitate ecosystem approaches to management and stewardship.
Coordinating Bay‐wide Observations: Enabling a Cohesive System NCBO collaborates with other parts of NOAA and outside organizations to enhance the availability of data to meet user needs. At the core of this collaboration is maintenance of the Chesapeake Bay Observing System (www.cbos.org), which collects and makes observations readily available from disparate systems. In December 2007, NOAA and Old Dominion University cosponsored a Chesapeake Bay Observing System User Forum attended by approximately 100 A range of commercial and recreational boaters—including constituents and stakeholders, which kayakers—relies on buoys in the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive focused on how observational data and Buoy System to give them the most up‐to‐date information about conditions on the Bay to ensure a safe boating experience. products delivered through the Chesapeake Bay Observing System support human safety, maritime operations, and the sustainability of all living resources in the Bay. NOAA staff gave presentations on CBIBS, coastal storm inundation models, and the need for technologies to alert mariners to the presence of right whales in shipping lanes. Feedback from system users at this forum has helped NCBO staff refine development and delivery of the system. NCBO also continues to host the East Coast Node of the NOAA CoastWatch remote sensing program, which operates in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Observing System and makes coastal satellite remote-sensing data available online. The East Coast Node provides satellite data and imagery including sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, and ocean surface winds, and develops remote-sensing products for the Chesapeake Bay. Characterizing Habitat: Mapping the Bay Bottom NCBO’s field program operates a variety of vessels out of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. This partnership permits easy access for NCBO scientists to collect up-to-date acoustic information on the sea floor, bottom-dwelling organisms (e.g., oysters), sediment types, and fish stocks for development of habitat characterizations and use of those habitats by fish. NCBO uses a geographic information system to integrate and analyze this data. These habitat assessments have aided native oyster restoration and support the management of coastal living resources. Native oyster restoration programs in Maryland and Virginia have been key users of NCBO benthic habitat characterizations. Acoustic mapping and ground truth data are collected to describe where optimal oyster habitat exists to aid site selection for restoration projects. Benthic habitat characterizations developed by NCBO are supporting oyster restoration projects in Maryland (the Upper Choptank, Magothy, Corsica, Lower Chester, and Rhode and West rivers) and Virginia (the Lower Rappahannock River).
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Derelict Fishing Gear Study: Identifying and Clarifying the Problem During sonar mapping and habitat characterization operations in the winter of 2005, NCBO observed many derelict crab traps in parts of the upper Chesapeake Bay. To evaluate potential effects of these traps, NCBO organized a derelict fishing gear research effort, in collaboration with a number of Federal, State, and academic partners including the Virginia Marine Resource Commission, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. A derelict fishing gear sonar survey of the Maryland portion of the Bay (and analysis of the commercial fishing effort) enabled NCBO to estimate that there are approximately 42,000 derelict crab traps in Maryland Bay waters. Analysis of a similar survey in Virginia, conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is underway; a final estimate of the number of derelict traps in the Virginia portion of the Bay is expected in spring 2009. NCBO also conducted research to quantify the NCBO field operations staff members use side‐scan effects of derelict traps on blue crabs and other sonar to map benthic habitat. species that may encounter the lost gear. From 2006 through the winter of 2008, baited experimental traps were deployed to simulate the effects of “ghost fishing” by derelict traps. In addition, non-fishing traps were deployed to monitor the rate of fouling and trap degradation. Experimental traps in Maryland and Virginia continued to fish even without additional baiting, capturing species such as blue crab, white perch, pumpkinseed, oyster toadfish, and Atlantic croaker. Research shows that in Virginia, each experimental derelict trap captured an average of 50.6 blue crabs and 13.6 Atlantic croaker per season. Experimental traps in Maryland show a similar trend. This information is helping scientists and resource managers assess the impact of ghost fishing traps on living aquatic resources. Chesapeake Bay Integrated Ecosystem Assessment: Putting the Pieces Together NCBO collaborated with NOAA’s Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on development of a Chesapeake Bay Integrated Ecosystem Assessment. During 2008, NCBO applied its scientific capabilities to this project, including benthic mapping of targeted tributaries. The detailed benthic habitat maps developed as part of the Chesapeake Bay Integrated Ecosystem Assessment process will enable scientists and resource managers to better understand the relationship of living resources
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to their habitat. Ultimately, the information from the comprehensive assessments of the status of key ecosystem components and processes will be delivered as a suite of tools to address the needs of coastal resource managers. Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Modeling: Developing Tools for Managers To better understand the complicated interactions between and among living resources, NCBO is using ecosystem-based models of the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Model was created in response to a management need in the Chesapeake region for quantified estimates of food web connections in the Bay. Resource managers can use this information to understand how one stock affects another within the food web and how the many Bay fisheries impact both target and non-target species. (For example, if more striped bass are caught, what does that mean for the menhaden population?) Model development throughout the biennium has been carried out in close consultation with Chesapeake Bay researchers through a series of workshops. The model includes 45 functional groups of organisms, some of which represent different stages in the lives of individual species, representing all trophic levels in the Bay. The input data primarily includes assessment results (including biomasses, mortality rates, catches, and effort) supplemented with research vessel survey data; ecological studies (as available from researchers and institutions in the region); and estimates obtained from literature where necessary to supplement local data. This model is an important tool for synthesizing fisheries data and research into a single tool. To describe the model, NCBO experts wrote the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Model Report, which includes details on how the model was developed and how it works, and features sample results of NCBO experts use information from many sources, including trawl surveys, to populate the model runs. This database needed to accomplish ecosystem modeling. documentation, produced as a NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Technical Memo, facilitates use and supports development of the model. To better display the model output for non-scientists, NCBO is also developing three-dimensional computer-generated graphics to visually depict the changes in the Chesapeake fisheries ecosystem based on various scenarios.
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Coastal and Living Resource Management
NCBO identifies and analyzes the needs of coastal and living resource managers and coordinates NOAA programs to deliver policy advice and technical assistance to Bay decisionmakers. Living resource management strategies supported by NCBO foster ecosystem-based approaches to management for the protection and restoration of key ecological species (including oysters, striped bass, menhaden, blue crabs, and their habitats, including submerged aquatic vegetation). During 2007 and 2008, NCBO increased scientific knowledge among decision makers through the development of targeted tools and coordination of policy efforts. Ecosystem Approaches to Management: Advancing Fisheries Research NCBO’s emphasis on ecosystem-based fisheries management was highlighted in November 2006 when the American Fisheries Society published Fisheries Ecosystem Planning for Chesapeake Bay. NCBO coordinated the efforts of regional scientists and resource managers to develop this first-of-its-kind fisheries ecosystem plan, which provides valuable guidance for ecosystem-based fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic coastal region. Concepts described in the document help managers to maintain the broadest possible view of the ecosystem, enabling a better understanding of the effects of individual management decisions. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Executive Council adopted the document as the principal guidance for implementing ecosystem-based management in the Chesapeake Bay. The office presented fisheries research and promoted the discussion of the latest results among scientists to make research more effective and relevant; NCBO hosted gatherings of NCBO-funded researchers to present their most up-to-date findings. The Fisheries Science Symposium held in April 2007 was attended by nearly 200 scientists and policymakers. For two days, the attendees focused on topics including multispecies management, blue crab research and stock enhancement, trophic interactions (how living resources in the food chain relate to one another), and menhaden research. In 2008, NCBO sponsored a menhaden research program symposium to review the latest NCBO-supported research
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Coastal and Living Resource Management Goal: To enhance implementation of ecosystem management through improved coordination and assistance and targeted protection and restoration.
on this key Bay species. NCBO used new technology to enable the attendees to participate via “webinar” without the travel costs of leaving their offices. Participants in the four sessions discussed menhaden research findings including: • estimating the number of menhaden removed from the Chesapeake Bay by predators; • examining the exchange of menhaden between Bay and coastal systems; • reviewing larval studies to determine the number of juvenile menhaden that end up in the Bay; and • determining menhaden abundance in the Chesapeake Bay. A summary of the four sessions—including recommendations for future research—was developed to help inform constituents of the results of completed research. One preliminary finding, based on a five-year monitoring and research program headed by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, estimated that menhaden account for approximately 8% of striped bass diet. Researchers are also exploring how chemical traces on menhaden otoliths (bonelike structures in the inner ear) can help scientists determine where menhaden spent their time as juveniles. Native Oysters: Restoring Habitat and a Fishery For hundreds of years the native oyster, Crassostrea virginica, has played a key role in the ecological and economic health of the Bay. But overharvesting, habitat destruction, and disease have reduced oyster populations to roughly one percent of historic levels. The dramatic decline in oysters has had negative effects on the ecology and economy of the Bay. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office has supported restoration of native oysters in Maryland and Virginia since 1999, working toward the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Chesapeake Action Plan goal to implement oyster restoration practices on 2,466 acres of oyster bar and reef habitat between 2007 and 2010. To facilitate policy discussions, NCBO coordinated the Virginia Interagency Oyster Team, which includes representatives from the Virginia Institute of Marine Bay‐wide efforts have resulted in achievement of 8% of the Chesapeake Bay Science, the U.S. Army Program’s goal for native oyster restoration as set forth in the Chesapeake 2000 Corps of Engineers— Agreement. Norfolk District, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy. Team members met regularly to review oyster restoration activities. The team also examined monitoring data from the Great Wicomico River (the site of an oyster restoration project) and reviewed the development of potential policy recommendations on use of artificial substrates. NCBO also participated on Virginia’s Blue Ribbon
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Oyster Panel to develop a new oyster management plan for the Commonwealth. The panel completed its work in May 2007 and recommended expanding spat-on-shell production, increasing private hatchery capacity in Virginia, and enhancing the role of aquaculture to support economic goals. Maryland convened its Oyster Advisory Commission in fall 2007. The Federal Government is represented by the NMFS Office of Habitat Conservation (NCBO’s parent office) with guidance from NCBO. The 21-member Commission—composed of scientists, watermen, anglers, businessmen, economists, environmental advocates, and elected officials—is developing new strategies for rebuilding and managing the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population. The Maryland Oyster Advisory Commission’s 2007 Report on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Oyster Management Program (submitted January 2008) noted that: • A successful, self-sustaining, ecologically strategic, and enforceable large oyster sanctuary program is essential to restoring the ecological function of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. • More restrictive harvest measures, including a moratorium, alone will not restore oysters and their ecological benefits without a significant, sustained commitment of resources for habitat restoration and water-quality issues. • It is possible for the State of Maryland to provide incentives and resources to facilitate the transition of Maryland’s traditional State/private and largely “put-andtake” oyster fishery to a privatized industry. NOAA has also worked with partners to advance oyster restoration on multiple fronts, including applied research technology development and progressive management approaches. In Virginia, oyster restoration activities supported by NOAA are undertaken by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which rehabilitated approximately 1,000 acres of oyster beds from 2002 through 2008 and developed standard monitoring protocols for restoration sites. In addition, NOAA has supported the development of private-industry hatchery production technologies to support large-scale restoration, expanding commercial aquaculture opportunities to complement restoration. Finally, NOAA funding supported the development and implementation of an integrated management strategy for the Rappahannock River, including rotation of harvest areas and sanctuary sites. This effort was made possible through a partnership among NOAA, Virginia State agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private industry. Restoration work in Maryland has been implemented by the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This partnership has achieved gains in the production and deployment of juvenile oysters, improved scientific knowledge, and engaged watermen in restoration activities. ORP conducts oyster restoration at managed reserves, sanctuaries, and unmanaged areas. From 1999 to 2008, ORP projects have rehabilitated more than 1,100 acres in Maryland waters, of which 915 acres are currently managed as sanctuaries or harvest reserve sites. NOAA funding primarily supported hatchery production of oyster larvae, setting of larvae on shell, and transport and planting of spaton-shell oysters.
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Non‐Native Oysters: Researching Potential Effects of Introduction In response to the dramatic decrease in the native oyster population, Maryland and Virginia have suggested introducing a non-native species of oyster into the Bay. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serves as the lead agency in drafting a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to look at the potential effects of introducing Crassostrea ariakensis, an Asian species of oyster, into the Chesapeake Bay—and to consider alternatives for native oyster restoration. In order to inform the PEIS on the non-native oysters, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, as a cooperating agency in the PEIS effort, funded a research program to examine C. ariakensis. The PEIS drafting team used findings from the research program—which looked into topics including competition between the native C. virginica and C. ariakensis, relative resistance to oyster diseases, and the two species’ ability to form habitat for other living resources as reefs—in the draft PEIS, which was released to the public for comment in late October 2008. NCBO played a critical role in linking science with developing policy by supporting and communicating the research. NOAA-funded research on non-native oysters to date has shown: • Like the native oyster, non-native oysters suffer from diseases, primarily a parasite, Bonamia. • Infestation by common shell-boring polychaete worms is more common in non-native than native oysters due to the non-native oysters’ thinner shells. • The non-native C. ariakensis grows faster than the native C. virginica, but to a degree that varies with salinity. • Interactions between the two species are likely, but the outcome of interactions is hard to predict. Interaction could result in competition for limited habitat. Throughout the biennium, NCBO also supported interagency coordination on management issues related to non-native oysters. NCBO provided input to management entities regarding permit requests, for example, when the Virginia Seafood Council requested permits from the Virginia Oysters play an important role in the Bay Marine Resource Commission for continued testing of ecosystem. NCBO research and restoration triploid (sterile) C. ariakensis. NCBO worked with NMFS’ efforts help decision makers explore Northeast Region to develop a letter from NOAA to the potential future strategies. Army Corps in response to the Virginia Seafood Council proposal. While NOAA did not oppose these preliminary trials, it did express concern because of cumulative risk (this was the sixth year for similar trials in the same location) and described biosecurity measures that should be part of the permit conditions. Blue Crab Science and Policy: Supporting Resource Managers through Science The blue crab is an icon of the Bay, but population levels and harvest numbers remain below average; of special concern are trends that keep juvenile and female population numbers low. The
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NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office played a critical role in delivering the science that resource managers need to make informed decisions regarding blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. The NOAA-chaired Fisheries Steering Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program releases an annual Blue Crab Advisory Report that provides resource managers in the various Bay jurisdictions with the data and information they need to sustainably manage the blue crab fishery. The 2007 Blue Crab Advisory Report—based on data including the 2006-07 winter dredge survey—noted that: • Once again, the abundance of crabs over five inches remained lower than historical levels. • The number of juvenile crabs increased slightly over the previous year but was still well below the average. • The number of mature females was also below average.
Bay‐wide harvest of crabs has been below the long‐term mean for the past decade.
The fact that the 2007 Bay-wide harvest of 43.5 million pounds was the lowest recorded since 1945 spurred the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, which includes fisheries scientists from universities, NMFS, and the States of Maryland and Virginia, to meet in early 2008 to discuss the situation. The Committee reached consensus on two major points: • An adaptive, interim rebuilding target of 200 million crabs older than 1 year should be established. The Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee recommended that the Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions take management actions aimed at achieving the rebuilding target, and emphasized that management actions focused on mature female crabs would create the best scenario for increasing recruitment. • Regulating fishing effort is not the most effective tool for managing the blue crab fishery. The Committee recommended that the jurisdictions consider annual quota-based management for crabs based on abundance estimates from the winter dredge survey. Hearing these concerns, and noting that the crab population has plummeted 70 percent since the early 1990s, in April 2008 the Governors of Maryland and Virginia called for new blue crab restrictions. State resource management entities responded by strengthening regulations on fishing female crabs and tightening time periods for the crab fishery. Analysis showed that if fishing regulations were left at 2007 levels, nearly 67 percent of the Bay’s crabs would be harvested in 2008—well above the overfishing threshold of 53 percent. The new regulations were expected to reduce the amount of crabs taken in 2008 to near the target level of 46 percent, which scientists have determined is the level at which a healthy crab population can be sustained. The 2008 Blue Crab Advisory Report noted that adult crabs, mature females, and especially juvenile crab populations remained well below average. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office continues to
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work with the management jurisdictions to monitor how the blue crab population responds to the enhanced regulations. NCBO blue crab science also supported NMFS’ Northeast Region as it responded to Virginia and Maryland’s requests for a blue crab disaster declaration. In September 2008, the Secretary of Commerce declared a commercial fishery failure for soft shell and peeler blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay due to undetermined causes as defined in Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The harvest value of these segments of the blue crab harvest had declined 41 percent from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. NCBO funding during FY 2007 supported the work of the Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium, a formal partnership of Federal and academic institutions. Consortium research focused on the biology of the blue crab, and produced significant developments in hatchery technology and techniques, including enabling out-of-season spawning, which allows for off-season production, and improving captive hatching and rearing technologies. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: Analyzing Past Efforts Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)—underwater grasses—is one of the most important habitats in the Bay, providing shelter for juvenile fish and crabs, serving as food for waterfowl, improving water clarity by absorbing nutrients, settling sediment suspended in the water, stabilizing the bottom, and absorbing wave action that can cause shoreline erosion. But SAV is susceptible to negative effects of sediment and nutrients. Currently, bay grasses cover only 35 percent of the 185,000-acre goal set by the Chesapeake Bay Program. In 2008, NCBO and the Engineer Research and Development Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jointly released the “Large-Scale Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration in Chesapeake Bay: Status Report, 2003-2006,” which described and noted lessons learned from NOAAand Corps-funded SAV programs. Combined, these research programs represent the largest single coordinated research effort to date to improve the status of the science and capabilities for large-scale SAV restoration.
The report highlights the successful development of tools and techniques necessary to plant SAV at scales that would have been unattainable with existing technologies only a few years ago. Indeed, the costs of conducting the plantings are decreasing as understanding of what works and does not work increases and technologies improve. However, despite considerable progress, goals set by the Chesapeake Bay Program for SAV restoration will not
Bay‐wide efforts have resulted in achievement of 35% of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s goal for submerged aquatic vegetation restoration (185,000 acres) as set forth in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.
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be achieved. The report results indicate that SAV restoration acreage goals are not realistic given current technology and funding. Further, the effects of climate change will play a significant role in determining the success or failure of SAV restoration. The report concludes that the new techniques worked at some sites, specifically in the lower Potomac and the Virginia coastal bays, but that refined site selection protocols are needed to enable restoration workers to better choose sites where the new SAV planting methods will work.
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Environmental Literacy
Environmental Literacy Goal: To foster ecosystem stewardship through increased environmental awareness, knowledge, and literacy in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The NCBO Environmental Literacy program provides a continuum of educational programming designed to increase awareness, build knowledge, and facilitate productive and lasting citizen involvement in stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Events and projects throughout the biennium highlight how NCBO’s Environmental Literacy program has driven change and grown environmental literacy in Bay watershed citizens. Bay Watershed Education and Training (B‐WET): Raising the Bar The B-WET Chesapeake Program provides funding to support hands-on watershed education for students and teachers to foster stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay. B-WET Chesapeake has supported the Chesapeake Bay Program’s goal of reaching every student in the Bay watershed with a meaningful watershed educational experience by the time he or she graduates from high school. B-WET funding has provided more than 150,000 students and 18,000 teachers with meaningful watershed educational experiences—including an estimated 50,000 students and 6,000 teachers. During the biennium, the B-WET Chesapeake grant program shifted focus toward “exemplary” projects that successfully combine hands-on student education and professional development for their teachers, resulting in more robust programming and greater effectiveness of funded projects. Increasing focus on exemplary B-WET projects—rather than just student experiences or teacher training—is one way the program has raised the bar for environmental education in the Bay region. By going through a formal evaluation process, B-WET has demonstrated tangible links between students receiving meaningful watershed educational experiences and their environmental ethic. A research team, led by eeEvaluations, released an evaluation of the B-WET Chesapeake Program in February 2007 that found that, in addition to the program’s potentially increasing students’ overall academic achievement in science: • Students increased their knowledge of issues facing the Bay watershed and actions they can take to protect the Bay, and strengthened their intention to take action to protect the Bay.
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B-WET professional development programs increased educators’ confidence and intention to implement meaningful watershed educational experiences with their students. Students involved in B-WET programs also garnered national attention. Students at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, Virginia, who received programming from a B-WET project in partnership with Earth Force, won a 2007 President’s Environmental Youth Award to celebrate their efforts to create an electronic recycling program. Building on the enthusiasm generated from their outdoor studies, students designed a program to enable and encourage recycling of electronic products in their community. This tremendous honor administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is bestowed on only one program per EPA region each year. This project highlights the relationship between environmental education and action.
Fifth‐graders from Wicomico County, Maryland, sample water from the Wicomico River thanks to a B‐WET Chesapeake grant.
To encourage new applicants to the program, the NCBO Environmental Literacy team produced and presented grant workshops in 2007 and 2008 designed to educate potential applicants in the B-WET grant process. In 2008, the B-WET grant application workshops reached more than 80 attendees in Maryland and Virginia and via the Internet, which enabled all interested organizations to participate. Additional Formal Education Programs: Filling the Gaps During 2007-2008, NCBO used its experience in administering B-WET to identify and address some shortcomings in environmental education in the Bay region. To address these gaps, NCBO initiated the Environmental Science Training Center to “train the trainers”; enhanced the Emerging Scientist Project, which targets at-risk youth in Washington, D.C., high schools; and expanded NOAA Science Camps to three locations to offer students additional opportunities for scientific inquiry. The Emerging Scientist Project engages underserved youth in environmental and marine sciences and gives educators the tools to effectively teach about the Chesapeake Bay. The B-WET Program identified a need for high-quality basic science education programs reaching high school students in Washington, D.C. To remedy this, NOAA partnered with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland, to develop a program catering to the unique needs of the school division serving our Nation’s capital. In spring 2008, the Emerging Scientist Project worked with four classes from two D.C. high schools, providing meaningful watershed educational experiences to nearly 100 students and related professional development and classroom support for their teachers.
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“B‐WET helps Maryland meet its environmental education goals.” Rebecca Bell is Environmental Educational Specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education. Grants from B‐WET Chesapeake have enabled Maryland to greatly expand environmental education opportunities Statewide. “B‐WET funding allowed one county school system to develop and systematically implement an entire grade‐ level experience within the curriculum,” said Bell. “Maryland’s current B‐WET grant focuses services on eight smaller, high‐need school systems on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first year of the grant resulted in a watershed experience for students in five school systems and training in investigation techniques for more than 30 teachers in cooperation with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies.” Funding and support provided by B‐WET has provided the spark and the means to systemically broaden horizons for Maryland students and given teachers the tools they need to continue to grow the future stewards of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Emerging Scientist Project furthers the learning begun at the elementary and middle school levels through programs administered by the D.C. Department of the Environment, a B-WET recipient. The Project extends this student pathway into high school by engaging students in inquiry-based, hands-on learning in their science classes and facilitating Bay-related student research assignments. The Emerging Scientist Project also has forged a partnership with the EnvironMentors initiative in an effort to encourage interested students to pursue an indepth, yearlong research project that will focus on local watershed issues. By working with EnvironMentors, NOAA has partnered with an organization with a successful track record of encouraging and assisting D.C. students to further their education—95 percent of students participating in EnvironMentors continue on to college-level studies. The program has employed cutting-edge technology, including using live interactive broadcasts to students at schools around Washington, D.C, showcasing NOAA scientists at work onboard the R/V Bay Commitment. NOAA scientists drew links for students between health of the Bay and health of fish and other aquatic life. Virtual field trips were coupled with in-class presentations and hands-on field experiences throughout the semester. Another gap NCBO identified was the need for continuing education for environmental education professionals in the Bay region. While teacher training has long been recognized as essential in providing meaningful watershed educational experiences, the professionals reaching our teachers and students are often teaching outof-date science. The Environmental Science Training Center, a virtual center designed to impart the most up-todate NOAA science to the educational community, was created to address this need. Since its inception in summer 2007, the center has delivered a broad array of workshops on ecological forecasting, algal blooms, phytoplankton monitoring, and the use of autonomous underwater vehicles in NOAA research. There was also a lack of science-based summer programming for students interested in building upon what they learned in their classroom programs. In recognition of this, NCBO offered NOAA Science Camps in 2007 and 2008 in Maryland and Virginia, based on the successful model developed by the NOAA offices in
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Seattle, Washington, and run with the assistance of NCBO’s local partners. NCBO partnered with Nauticus in Norfolk, Virginia; the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, Virginia; and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center to get campers out in the field—often a little wet and dirty—and immersed in NOAA sciences and exploring how the Bay has changed over the past 400 years. The NOAA @ Nauticus 2007 Summer Science Camp—developed and NCBO Summer Science Camps give watershed students hands‐on access to implemented by the NOAA scientific experiences. Chesapeake Bay Office and the City of Norfolk’s Nauticus maritime museum—was recognized as a “2008 Program that Works” by the Virginia Math and Science Coalition. The Coalition noted the Camp’s impact on science education and congratulated NOAA on providing students with a meaningful experience tied to an important natural resource. Innovative Technologies: Developing Cutting‐Edge Education Tools NCBO has developed innovative ways for educators to use real-time data from the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS) in their classrooms. In 2007 and 2008, NCBO worked with the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) to develop “Chesapeake Exploration,” which uses real-time and archived data from CBIBS buoys and NERRS observational platforms to expand on the overarching concepts introduced in the national estuaries curriculum. This approach provides a model for curricula in other regions. To give younger students—down to elementary-school level—a hands-on experience with observation buoys, NCBO created “Build-a-Buoy.” At Build-a-Buoy events, students build “observational buoys,” employing reusable PVC parts. The young buoy builders also attach an indoor-outdoor thermometer, allowing them to compare air and water temperatures. Chesapeake NEMO: Supporting Decisionmakers NCBO was a partner in organizing Chesapeake NEMO—the Network for Education of Municipal Officials—which helps communities in the Chesapeake watershed foster well-planned growth, preserve water quality, and protect natural areas. Chesapeake NEMO connects communities with educational and financial assistance programs on natural resource-based planning and delivers customized technical assistance, helping communities implement sound planning and watershed protection. Over the 2007-08 fall/winter, Chesapeake NEMO staff worked with Mathews County, Virginia, on a series of five public workshops. Workshops focused on educating county citizens on topics including demographic and development trends and some of the causes behind them and sustainable rural economic development. Chesapeake NEMO also delivered educational materials and assistance to Forest Heights and Cumberland, Maryland.
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“NOAA @ Nauticus is a ‘Program that Works’.” Susie Hill is Education Specialist for Special Programs at the Nauticus maritime museum in Norfolk, Virginia. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office partnered with Nauticus to develop and implement summer student science camps in 2007 and 2008. “Our Bay Mysteries Camp is a wonderful example of the unique partnership that we are building with NOAA. This year’s camp has been our best yet! Campers learned firsthand about what role NOAA plays in helping to identify what environmental factors can affect our local watershed and how they can help to restore the health of the entire Chesapeake Bay. We want these campers to leave our camp wanting to become future stewards of our Bay,” said Hill. Armed with knowledge learned from NOAA and Nauticus, campers who participated in the 2007 and 2008 summer camps in Norfolk are well on their way to environmental literacy and action.
NOAA @ Nauticus: Representing NOAA to the Public Nauticus, a maritime museum located on the Norfolk waterfront, is visited by 300,000 people each year. NCBO programs at Nauticus share NOAA science with students, educators, the science-interested public, and other targeted audiences. Important tools include a NOAA Education Resource Center, disseminating NOAA products to educators in and around the Norfolk area, and a “Science on a Sphere,” a NOAA-developed six-foot spherical representation of the Earth that can display a variety of data sets to teach about earth systems science. Many visitors to Nauticus are introduced to NOAA sciences—and therefore begin to develop environmental literacy—via museum exhibits. Two new NOAA exhibits were opened at Nauticus during 2007-08: “Secrets of the Deep” uses a submersible replica to explore national marine sanctuaries, and “NOAA’s Legacy” highlights aspects of both NOAA’s heritage and current mission. Coinciding with the opening of “NOAA’s Legacy,” the Mayor of Norfolk declared May 21, 2007, “NOAA Heritage Day” in Norfolk. In another example of the innovation engendered by the NOAA @ Nauticus partnership, a buoy in the CBIBS system was developed with assistance from Nauticus funding and deployed in the Elizabeth River off Norfolk in September 2008. The buoy serves the larger observing system and also delivers data directly to a high-tech kiosk stationed at the museum to introduce visitors to the buoy and its observations. Nauticus’ large auditorium provides a unique location for additional outreach and education events. NCBO, Nauticus, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation partnered to launch the Blue Planet Forum lecture series, which in 2008 included presentations from James Woolsey, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.), the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Under Secretary Lautenbacher spoke on climate change and the Bay, bringing tangible science relevant to the Hampton Roads area directly to constituents.
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Regional Collaboration
Chesapeake Bay Program: Providing Critical Support NCBO provides critical scientific and policy support to the Chesapeake Bay Program, a regional partnership that has led efforts to restore the Bay since 1983. On behalf of the partnership, NCBO activities support many of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement goals as noted earlier in this document, including Living Resource Protection and Restoration, Sound Land Use, and Stewardship and Community Involvement. Throughout 2007 and 2008, the Chesapeake Bay Program underwent a thorough, introspective process to develop the Chesapeake Action Plan, an umbrella document to guide the way forward for Chesapeake Bay Program operations as well as the health of the Bay. NCBO played a lead role in drafting the strategy for ecosystem-based fisheries management. The Chesapeake Action Plan was submitted as a report to Congress in July 2008. Reorganization to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the Chesapeake Bay Program continues, and NCBO staff members continue to participate both in the day-to-day operations of the Bay Program as well as higher-level strategysetting sessions. NCBO in Virginia: Supporting the Commonwealth During 2008, NCBO provided a staff member to serve on part-time detail at the Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Office as a NOAA liaison. The position connected NOAA tools, science, and services with Virginia’s coastal management issues, focusing on climate change and fisheries management. NOAA provided staff support to Virginia’s Commission on Climate Change by identifying and summarizing materials from other regions, connecting with relevant NOAA and other Federal expertise, and developing recommendations for adaptation. In the blue crab arena, the detail supported Virginia’s work in reviewing the status and management options for blue crab populations by working with State and Federal stakeholders to help develop and implement regional strategies for sustaining blue crab populations within the Chesapeake Bay. NCBO in Maryland: Sharing Science with the State NOAA’s Director of the Office of Habitat Conservation served on the Maryland Oyster Advisory Commission, and NCBO has helped Maryland with additional technical advice on oyster restoration. In 2008, NCBO’s submerged aquatic grass expert and fishery biologist was named to the Maryland Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund Science Advisory Panel to advise the governor on restoration efforts around the State. Also during the biennium, NCBO collaborated with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on pilot studies to test alternative methods for sampling oysters and estimating populations with greater precision. NCBO also collaborates with the State via a partnership with the Integration and Application Network of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences in a group called Chesapeake EcoCheck. This group produces a Chesapeake Bay Report Card, which evaluates water-quality and biotic indicators in 15 Bay tributary and mainstem areas and also determines an overall Bay health index grade. The Report Card is produced for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Tidal Monitoring and Analysis Workgroup, in which several NCBO staff members participate.
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“NOAA Restoration Day revitalizes my sense of mission.” A participant in the NOAA Restoration Day in Maryland, Mary Lou Cumberpatch works at the NOAA Central Library. Her participation in NOAA Restoration Day enabled her to get out from behind the desk to accomplish hands‐on restoration of the Bay watershed. “It’s great to be able to translate into action what NOAA’s mission is all about— restoring and caring for our nation’s resources,” said Cumberpatch. “Being out in the Chesapeake Bay planting Bay grass reminds me of what we’re really trying to do back in Silver Spring every day. It really revitalizes my sense of mission.” In addition to logistical support and scientific advice, NCBO collaboration on NOAA Restoration Day has included working with NOAA offices from a variety of programs to grow the grasses Mary Lou mentioned—in their offices. This way, NOAA employees develop a direct investment in the Bay.
In addition, NCBO supported work to accomplish the 2007 National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment Update through EcoCheck. The report updates a 1999 study on how nutrients are affecting America’s estuaries. The report was released by NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Sciences at a July 2007 event at the National Press Club, featuring remarks from officials from NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Within NOAA: Enhancing Collaboration to Maximize Effectiveness NCBO has been an active participant in the North Atlantic Regional Team of NOAA’s Regional Collaboration effort since its inception. In April 2007, three NCBO staff members participated in the first meeting of the North Atlantic Regional Team, where participants from multiple NOAA line offices from across the northeastern United States developed work plans for 2007 and 2008 and identified opportunities to leverage experience among offices. In October 2007, NCBO hosted a “NOAA in the Mid-Atlantic” conference—a sub-regional meeting to improve methods of communication among NOAA offices in the area. NCBO also participated in the January 2008 NOAA Program Planning and Integration (PPI) Regional Collaboration Workshop in Kansas City, which focused on interregional communication and understanding of regional issues, and in the April 2008 regional team meeting at the NMFS Northeast Regional Office. NCBO’s support for the North Atlantic Regional Team included the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’s Director serving as acting lead for four months in 2008. Restoration Day: Enabling NOAA Staff to Help the Bay Held annually since 2004, NOAA Restoration Day is a true “one-NOAA” event, organized by offices from NOAA’s National Ocean Service and NMFS, and attended by NOAA staff from multiple line offices. This event has grown every year as NOAA employees work to restore habitat at two important sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—one each year in Maryland and Virginia. NOS Special Projects; NCBO; NOAA Restoration Center, Office of Response and Restoration; and National Geodetic Survey all contribute unique skills and capabilities to the event.
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In both 2007 and 2008, Restoration Days were held on the same date in June in both Virginia and Maryland. In 2007, staff at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Environmental Center in Charles City removed trash and planted shrubs and grasses along 500 feet of shoreline, while NOAA employees working at Jug Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, planted wild rice and removed invasive species. In 2008, the event grew to include 200 participants, who participated at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center in Grasonville, Maryland, and York River State Park west of Williamsburg, Virginia. Employees restored habitat, including planting native vegetation and underwater grasses, clearing trash and debris, and restoring native oyster beds. Overall, participants in 2008 planted 1 million oysters, 2,000 wetland plants, and 8,000 square feet of native grasses, and put NOAA’s mission into action firsthand.
Staff members from across NOAA line offices participate in activities including planting Bay grasses at NOAA Restoration Days in Maryland and Virginia.
Looking Forward: 2009 and Beyond
In FY 2009 and beyond, NCBO will: • Continue to pursue an ecosystem-based management approach in the Chesapeake Bay, further leveraging NOAA’s capabilities and new technology to support these efforts. • Consolidate and refine NCBO’s field operations capability to better support monitoring, research, and education activities. • Continue to provide real-time meteorological, oceanographic, and water-quality data streams dedicated to monitoring the health of the Bay via the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System. An online educational curriculum using real-time observations from the buoy will be launched in early 2009, and NCBO will provide teacher trainings on this curriculum. • Conduct further research on the ecologically important Atlantic menhaden, refining research priorities based on previous findings. • Support review and finalization of the oyster Environmental Impact Statement, ensuring that findings from NCBO’s non-native oyster research program are applied. • Play a critical role in supporting the regional approach that NOAA has adopted by representing NOAA in the mid-Atlantic through the North Atlantic Regional Team.
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NCBO’s commitment to provide critical science—including work accomplished onboard R/V Bay Commitment—to resource managers is a critical element of NOAA’s mission in the Chesapeake Bay.
For more information on any of the programs under way at the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, please contact the office at (410) 267-5660.
Graphics credits: Cover and pages 4, 9, 10, 14, 20, 25: David Harp, Chesapeakephotos.com Pages 8, 24: NOAA photos Pages 12, 16: Chesapeake Bay Program, 2007 Health and Restoration Assessment Page 15: Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, 2007 Blue Crab Advisory Report Page 18: Maryland Department of Education
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