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NOAA Priorities for anEcosystem Approach to Management

A Presentationto the

NOAA Science Advisory Board

John H. DunniganNOAA Ecosystem Goal Team Lead

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries

August 8 2005

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Outline

• Purpose: Review Progress and Prospects• Recap

– November, 2004 briefing to SAB– New developments

• Elements of an Ecosystem Approach, and Opportunities

• Current EAM Activities• Challenges• Desired Outcomes

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Purpose

• Review Progress towards Ecosystem Approaches

• Review and Comment on Planned Activities– Regional Workshops– EAM Inventory and Table Top Exercise– Ecosystem Indicators

• Review and Comment on Ecosystem Goal’s Priorities

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Recap: Where Have We Been?

• November 3 briefing to SAB

• Focused on:– Overview of Goal structure– The shifting EAM paradigm– Delineation of ecosystems– Plan to Move Forward: Ecosystem

coordinators, regional teams, workshops

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NOAA’s DefinitionsNOAA’s Definitions

• An ecosystem is a geographically specified system of organisms (including humans), the environment and the processes that control its dynamics

• An ecosystem approach to management:

• Adaptive

• Regionally directed

• Takes account of ecosystem knowledge and uncertainty

• Considers multiple external influences

• Strives to balance diverse societal objectives

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Federal EAM Activities

• President’s Ocean Action Plan• Calls for ecosystem approach to management• Established a new governance structure• Committed to Gulf of Mexico partnership

• Subcommittee on Integrated Management of Ocean Resources (SIMOR)

• Developed work priority areas• Highlighted next steps toward ecosystem approach to

management• Advance interagency/regional collaboration

• NOAA: Development of Ecosystem Goal Team (EGT) planning

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Elements of an EcosystemElements of an EcosystemApproach to Management (EAM)Approach to Management (EAM)

Ecosystem Goal Strategy

Integration and Outreach Observe and Characterize Research and Modeling Management and Stewardship

MISSIONMISSIONProtect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources

through ecosystem-based managementthrough ecosystem-based management

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EAM ElementsEAM Elements

• Integration and Outreach: Improve internal and external coordination on a regional scale. Integration builds on NOAA’s leadership, expertise and assets with federal, regional, state and local partners to sustain healthy ecosystems.

• Observe and Characterize: Evaluate changes in environmental conditions of regional coastal and marine resources and gain an understanding of the conditions, their causes and consequences to inform management.

• Research and Modeling: Apply a multi-disciplinary and geographically focused research approach to improve the scientific basis for regional ecosystem decisions.

• Management and Stewardship: Identify, negotiate and implement strategies to protect, restore and sustain healthy and productive use of regional ecosystems. Increase public awareness and involvement to benefit and improve the health of the ecosystems.

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Integration and OutreachIntegration and Outreach

• Form regional teams and conduct regional stakeholders workshops

• Develop regional ecosystem health indicators• Identify sub-ecoregions, discuss inland

boundary issues

• Evolve regional EAM collaborative mechanisms

• Well informed public to act as stewards

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Observe and CharacterizeObserve and Characterize• Integrate observational capabilities into the IOOS

structure

– Economic survey and assessments across regions

– Characterize habitats that provide critical ecosystem functions

– Expand monitoring/observing systems beyond boundaries of NERRS and National Marine Sanctuaries to focus on ecosystems

– Expand knowledge of fish and protected species status and forecasts based on ecosystem approach

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Research and ModelingResearch and Modeling

• Complete regional ecosystem science plans through collaborative processes

• Identify causes and impacts of changes to ecosystem conditions.

• Develop forecasts to predict ecological and socioeconomic impacts.

• Develop, improve, and deliver tools and technologies supporting ecosystem based management.

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Management and StewardshipManagement and Stewardship

• Incorporate advanced knowledge of ecosystem connectivity into NOAA resource management activities, and encourage this with partners (e.g., states)

• Management decisions based on agreed upon ecosystem health indicators

• Balance ecosystem sustainability both biologically and socio-economically

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EAM: A TemplateEAM: A Template

Ten preliminary operational steps for ecosystem approach to management:

1. Identify stakeholders/partner interests, concerns, and values and engage them in all steps below.

2. Determine major factors/ stressors that affect ecosystem health. 3. Establish ecosystem boundaries, sub-ecoregions and agreed upon

suite of ecosystem indicators of health and productivity. 4. Determine research and information needs.5. Design ecosystem level systems for information and monitoring. 6. Identify/develop necessary maps and tools of ecoregions and habitats.

7. Establish strategies for achieving targets and performance measures.8. Identify available resources (including partnerships) to accomplish

strategies. 9. Formalize agreements on how the Regional Ecosystem Team will

operate.10. Implement Plans/ Monitor/ Engage/Adapt.

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Current EAM ActivitiesCurrent EAM Activities

• Potential for integration and outreach workshops and meetings 2005-2006

• Southeast Shelf – The Nature Conservancy, August 2005,

NOAA, November 2005• Gulf of Mexico

– June 2005; November 2005

• Northeast Shelf– Support August 2005 Governors meeting, workshop

2006

• California Current– COMPASS 2006

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Current EAM ActivitiesCurrent EAM Activities

• Regional integration and assessment activities in the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes

• Gulf of Mexico Alliance• Great Lakes Regional Collaboration

• NOAA EAM National Inventory• Best practices/lessons learned• Five year time frame

• EGT Table Top Exercise• Internal integration exercise for Gulf of Mexico

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Current EAM ActivitiesCurrent EAM Activities

• NOAA is developing a standard set of high-level indicators of health for regional ecosystems.

• Five categories for a common suite of national indicators have been developed: biological, chemical, physical, habitat, and socio-economic

• Additional specific indicators will be developed based on regional management issues

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NOAA’s EAM OpportunitiesNOAA’s EAM Opportunities• Accelerate implementation of EAM

• Link Climate Change to Ecosystem Forecasting

• Improve Usefulness of Data for Managers

• Determine Links between Oceans and Human Health

• Develop Environmentally Sound Aquaculture

• Control Invasive Species

• Engage International Partners in EAM

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NOAA’s EAM Challenges

• Advancing regional approaches with a national framework

• Coordination and integration of observing activities with IOOS

• Promote collaborative regional science planning• Indicators: coalesce around a uniform set of national

indicators; and supplement with ecosystem-specific indicators

• Need to build collaboration with partners and stakeholders

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Desired Outcomes

• SAB suggestions for Additional Planned Activities

• SAB comments on Ecosystem Goal’s Science Priorities

• Identify a process on how the Ecosystem Goal might engage the SAB for advice on Ecosystem Indicators

• SAB advice on how the Ecosystem Goal can meet its several identified challenges