# Presentation: 053820

## The Importance of Coastal Waters - Recent Reports

- National Coastal Condition Report
- Heinz Center’s State of the Nation’s Ecosystems
- Europe's water: An indicator-based assessment
- The Report of the Pew Oceans Commission
- U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

## National Coastal Condition Report

- Data collected largely from estuaries
- Seven Indicators:
- water clarity,
- dissolved oxygen,
- coastal wetland loss
- Eutrophic condition
- sediment contamination
- benthic condition
- Fish tissue contamination

## National Coastal Condition Report

## Slide 4

## National Coastal Condition Report 

- Update has been drafted
- Extends coverage to West Coast
- Updates the indicator of eutrophication

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems

**Farmlands**
**Forests**
**Grasslands and Shrublands**
**Urban and Suburban Areas**
**Fresh Waters**
**Coasts and Oceans,**
**Recommended 16 Indicators:**
**System Dimensions**
**Chemical and Physical Dimensions**
**Human Uses**

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems

- System Dimensions
- Coastal Living Habitats
- Shoreline Types

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems

- Chemical and Physical Conditions
- Areas with Depleted Oxygen:
- Contamination in Bottom Sediments
- Coastal Erosion
- Sea Surface Temperature

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems

- Biological Components
- At-Risk Marine Species
- Non-native Species
- Unusual Marine Mortalities
- Frequency/ Extent of Harmful Algal Blooms
- Condition of Bottom-Dwelling Animals
- Chlorophyll Concentrations

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems

- Human Uses
- Commercial Fish and Shellfish Landings
- Status of Commercially Important Fish Stocks
- Selected Contaminants in Fish and Shellfish
- Recreational Water Quality

## Heinz CenterReport on the Nation’s Ecosystems 

**Core National Indicators**** **
- Extent of Major Ecosystem Types
- Fragmentation and Landscape Patterns
- Movement of Nitrogen
- Chemical Contamination
- Natural Ecosystem Services

## Europe's water:An indicator-based assessment

**6 of 57 Indicators cover coastal waters**
- Nutrients in coastal and marine waters
- Loads of nutrients discharged to sea
- Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to marine and coastal waters
- Chlorophyll in coastal and marine waters
- Harmful phytoplankton in coastal waters
- Oxygen in bottom layers of marine waters

## Pew Oceans Commission

- A Report to the Nation - Recommendations for a New Ocean Policy, May 2003
- Links development and growth along the coasts to the declining health of ocean habitats and resources

## Pew Oceans Commission

- :  State of America’s Oceans
- Coastal watersheds are now home to more than half of the U.S. population, but are only 13% of the land. Another 25 million people will live along the coast by 2015, further straining our wetlands, mangrove forests, estuaries, coral reefs, and other coastal habitats.

## Pew Oceans Commission

**Recommendations:**
- Revise, strengthen, and redirect pollution laws to focus on nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis.
- Address unabated point sources of pollution.
- Create a flexible framework to address emerging         and nontraditional sources of pollution.
-  Strengthen control over toxic pollution.

## U.S. Coastal Commission

- The Commission and its report were established by Congress to deal with:
- stewardship of fisheries and marine life;
- responsible use of offshore oil, gas and non-living resources;
- coastal storms and other natural hazards;
- ocean and coastal pollution;
- marine transportation;
- the role of oceans in climate change;
- oceanographic science and technologies; and
- international leadership and cooperation in marine affairs.