SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR 

AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL 

VISION

A Report by the

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

of the

NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

NOVEMBER 2018
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

ii

About the National Science and Technology Council

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal means by which the Executive 

Branch coordinates science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal 

research and development enterprise. A primary objective of the NSTC is to ensure science and 

technology policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals. The NSTC 

prepares research and development strategies that are coordinated across Federal agencies aimed at 

accomplishing multiple national goals. The work of the NSTC is organized under committees that 

oversee subcommittees and working groups focused on different aspects of science and technology. 

More information is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc. 

About the Office of Science and Technology Policy

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was established by the National Science and 

Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 to provide the President and others within 

the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological 

aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the 

environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics. OSTP leads 

interagency science and technology policy coordination efforts, assists the Office of Management and 

Budget with an annual review and analysis of Federal research and development in budgets, and serves 

as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major 

policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. More information is available at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp.

About the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology

The purpose of the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) is to advise and assist on 

national issues of ocean science and technology. The SOST contributes to the goals for Federal ocean 

science and technology, including developing coordinated interagency strategies and fostering

national ocean science and technology priorities.

About this Document 

This document was prepared by the SOST. This document serves as the second U.S. ocean science and 

technology decadal plan, following Charting the Course for Ocean Science for the United States for the 

Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy (2007) — which was 

updated in 2013 with the release of Science for an Ocean Nation: An Update of the Ocean Research 

Priorities Plan.

Copyright Information

This document is a work of the United States Government and is in the public domain (see 17 U.S.C. 

§105). Subject to the stipulations below, it may be distributed and copied with acknowledgment to 

OSTP. Copyrights to graphics included in this document are reserved by the original copyright holders 

or their assignees and are used here under the government’s license and by permission. Requests to 

use any images must be made to the provider identified in the image credits or to OSTP if no provider 

is identified. Printed in the United States of America, 2018.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

Chair (Acting)

Ted Wackler, Deputy Chief of Staff and 

Assistant Director, Office of Science and 

Technology Policy

Executive Director

Chloe Kontos, National Science and 

Technology Council

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

Chair

Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Science Advisor, 

Environmental Protection Agency

RDML Timothy Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary 

of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

Deerin Babb-Brott, Principal Assistant 

Director, Oceans and Environment, Office of 

Science and Technology Policy

OSTP Liaison

Stacy Aguilera-Peterson, Executive Secretary, 

Office of Science and Technology Policy

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

CO-CHAIRS

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Science Foundation

Office of Science and Technology Policy

MEMBERS

Arctic Research Commission

Department of Agriculture 

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Department of Defense 

Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Department of Defense, Navy

Department of Energy, Office of Science 

Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

iv

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health

Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard 

Department of the Interior

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey

Department of State

Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration

Environmental Protection Agency

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget

Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy 

Joint Chiefs of Staff 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Science Foundation

Marine Mammal Commission

Smithsonian Institute

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

Ocean Resource Management Subcommittee

U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System

OTHER AGENCIES

Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of the Interior, National Park Service 

Department of Justice
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary .....................................................................................................................................1

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................3

Goal I. Understand the Ocean in the Earth System....................................................................................6

Goal II. Promote Economic Prosperity ..................................................................................................... 17

Goal III. Ensure Maritime Security............................................................................................................. 28

Goal IV. Safeguard Human Health ............................................................................................................ 35

Goal V. Develop Resilient Coastal Communities ...................................................................................... 44

Moving Forward.......................................................................................................................................... 51

Summary of Stakeholder Engagement..................................................................................................... 55
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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List of Acronyms

AIS – Automatic Identification System

AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

eDNA – Environmental DNA

EEZ – Exclusive Economic Zone

EOV – Essential Ocean Variable

GDP – Gross Domestic Product

HAB – Harmful Algal Bloom

IARPC – Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee

IDSS – Impact-based Decision Support Services

IMO – International Maritime Organization

IUU – Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported

MSI – Marine Safety Information

MTS – U.S. Marine Transportation System

NAIS – Nationwide Automatic Identification System

NOPP – National Oceanographic Partnership Program

R&D – Research and Development

ROV – Remotely Operated Vehicle

S&E – Science and Engineering

S&T – Science and Technology

SES – Social-Ecological System

SOCCOM – Southern Ocean Carbon Climate Observation and Modeling

STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Executive Summary

America’s unrestricted access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, rivers, Great Lakes, and 

Arctic region powers domestic and global commerce. The ease of moving cargo and people beyond our 

coasts fuels the Nation’s competitive advantage, advances trade, generates capital, and drives the 

domestic economy forward, in turn projecting strength abroad and safeguarding our national interests. 

Similarly, the biological diversity and productivity of the ocean sustains the health of coastal 

communities and promotes a vibrant national economy. The ocean also plays a fundamental role in the 

Earth system. Ensuring responsible ocean stewardship with science and technology (S&T)

breakthroughs depends on a strategic Federal portfolio supported by foundational basic research. 

Science and Technology for America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision identifies pressing research needs and 

areas of opportunity within the ocean S&T enterprise for the decade 2018-2028. 

This vision identifies five goals to advance U.S. ocean S&T and the Nation in the coming decade: (1) 

Understand the Ocean in the Earth System; (2) Promote Economic Prosperity; (3) Ensure Maritime 

Security; (4) Safeguard Human Health; and (5) Develop Resilient Coastal Communities. Each goal is 

supplemented with specific objectives and actionable priorities to achieve those objectives. 

Throughout this document, priorities across goals are interlinked and interdependent. The objectives 

for the five goals as well as an additional section that outlines areas of immediate ocean research and 

technology opportunities are summarized below:

Goal I. Understand the Ocean in the Earth System: 

1) Modernize Research and Development (R&D) Infrastructure; 

2) Harness Big Data; 

3) Develop Models of the Earth System; 

4) Facilitate Research to Operations

Goal II. Promote Economic Prosperity: 

1) Expand Domestic Seafood Production; 

2) Explore Potential Energy Sources; 

3) Assess Marine Critical Minerals; 

4) Balance Economic and Ecological Benefits; 

5) Promote the Blue Workforce

Goal III. Ensure Maritime Security: 

1) Improve Maritime Situational Awareness; 

2) Understand a Changing Arctic; 

3) Maintain and Enhance Marine Transportation 

Goal IV. Safeguard Human Health: 

1) Prevent and Reduce Plastic Pollution;

2) Improve Forecasts of Marine Contaminants and Pathogens; 

3) Combat Harmful Algal Blooms;

4) Discover Natural Products

Goal V. Develop Resilient Coastal Communities: 

1) Prepare for Natural Disasters and Weather Events; 

2) Reduce Risk and Vulnerabilities; 

3) Empower Local and Regional Decision-Making
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Areas of immediate ocean research and technology opportunities include:

1. Fully integrate Big Data approaches in Earth system science;

2. Advance monitoring and predictive modeling capabilities;

3. Improve data integration in decision-support tools;

4. Support ocean exploration and characterization;

5. Support ongoing research and technology partnerships

Two cross-cutting topics that are relevant to each of the five goals are the modernization and 

management of ocean-related infrastructure, and an educated, diverse, and dynamic “blue” workforce. 

Continued investments in these two areas will contribute to U.S. global leadership within ocean S&T.

This document presents a decadal vision for an innovative and collaborative ocean S&T enterprise that 

promotes American security and prosperity while conserving the marine environment for present and 

future generations. Carrying out the research goals will require investments in and coordination of 

ocean S&T across all levels of government and private industry, academia, and nongovernmental 

organizations over the long-term. These goals will be achieved over years, working with Federal and 

non-Federal partners to direct and leverage the necessary resources. Additionally, while this document 

will provide important guidance to Federal agencies on ocean S&T priorities, implementation of this 

plan is dependent upon available resources and will vary year to year.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Introduction

The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are among the United States’ most treasured resources. 

They are an integral part of our national identity and our Nation’s future. The ocean1 covers 71 percent 

of the Earth’s surface and hundreds of millions of people rely on a viable ocean to sustain them.

2 A 

healthy, productive, and resilient ocean is inextricably linked to Earth’s climate and weather patterns 

and contributes significantly to our quality of life. The ocean provides and creates jobs, gives mobility 

to our Armed Forces, helps feed our Nation, secures our borders, fuels our economy, enables safe 

movement of goods, and provides places for recreation. Understanding the physical, chemical, 

biological, and geological changes in the ocean is vital to the survival and prosperity of humanity. 

In the United States, the ocean and its wealth of natural resources have played a critical role in fueling 

American prosperity and energy dominance, protecting our country, generating jobs, sustaining 

industries, and contributing to Americans’ overall well-being. Our coastal ports and global waterways 

make up the epicenter of world trade, facilitating a thriving U.S. economy through the maritime 

enterprise. The biological diversity and productivity of the ocean sustains the health of coastal 

communities and promotes a vibrant national economy. At the same time, the coastal communities 

that take part in and benefit from the ocean economy are also vulnerable to events such as hurricanes 

and floods that are exacerbated by sea level rise. Many of these changes to the ocean and its services3

are evident by human observation and traditional ecological knowledge,

4 exhibiting visible alterations 

to coastlines and ecosystems, navigation routes, water quality, species compositions, the timing and 

occurrence of pathogens, abundance of marine debris, and populations of commercially and 

ecologically important marine species.

The ocean science and technology (S&T) enterprise can provide the foundational knowledge needed to 

address many complex ocean-related challenges and inform decision-making that will ultimately 

strengthen our Nation and its communities. One essential objective of this document is to facilitate the 

integration of natural and social sciences. No single discipline can comprehensively address the 

complex and pressing problems facing the ocean, which can no longer be studied in isolation but must 

be considered as a part of a dynamic Earth system. This document recognizes the connections among 

the ocean, land, ice, and atmosphere. Humans are an important element of the Earth system as agents 

of change to Earth system processes. They are beneficiaries of Earth’s natural resources and are at risk 

from Earth’s natural hazards. The inclusion of human dimensions in ocean S&T ensures holistic 

understanding of the Earth system. The scientific understanding of the Earth system,5 the need to 

 1 For the purposes of this document, “ocean” includes the open ocean, coasts, estuaries, coastal watersheds, and Great 

Lakes.

2 Hoegh-Guldberg, O. et al. (2015) Reviving the Ocean Economy: the case for action - 2015. World Wildlife Fund International, 

Gland, Switzerland., Geneva, p. 60. https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/WWF-Report-Reviving-theOcean-Economy-Summary.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018). 3 Ocean services are the benefits humans derive from different aspects of ocean structure and function. These can be 

partitioned into (1) Provisioning Services, (2) Supporting Services, (3) Regulating Services, and (4) Cultural Services. More

information can be found at: NOAA (2017) Ecosystem Status Report for the Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem.

https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ecosys/ecosystem-status-report/ecosystem-services.html (accessed June 12, 2018). 4 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2018) Traditional Ecological Knowledge. https://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/traditionalknowledge.html (accessed November 4, 2018). 5 Cornell, S., I.C. Prentice, J. House, and C. Downing. (2012) Understanding the Earth system: Global change science for 

application. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 267. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511921155 (accessed June 15, 

2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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obtain, analyze, and manage Big Data,6 and the relevance of dynamic feedbacks among socioeconomic,

biophysical, and biogeochemical systems,

7 are key concepts that are evident throughout this 

document. As an ocean Nation and a global leader, the United States can advance the ocean S&T 

enterprise by fostering innovation and investing in basic and applied ocean research, technology, 

education, and workforce development—all key to increasing knowledge and understanding of the 

ocean system and maintaining our country’s influence and leadership in an ever-challenging global 

arena. 

Two cross-cutting topics emerged as critical components among all goals in this document. They 

include the modernization and management of ocean-related infrastructure, and an educated, diverse,

and dynamic workforce that strengthens the “blue” economy. State-of-the-art research infrastructure 

provides the United States with unique competencies, allows for advances in discovery, minimizes 

potential economic and societal losses, and ensures the S&T workforce has the capabilities it needs to 

conduct world-leading ocean research. Infrastructure and advanced technologies such as airborne, 

marine, space- and land-based assets support U.S. ocean research and technology interests. 

Modernized technologies, including ocean-observing and modeling capabilities, and improvement in 

capabilities such as data acquisition and high-performance computing, are two related priorities

relevant to all goals in this document. U.S. economic well-being and global leadership in S&T depend 

on an ocean-literate society and a well-trained blue workforce of the future. A strong blue workforce 

will enable the Nation to address tomorrow’s ocean needs and contribute more jobs, enhanced 

production, and national prosperity.

The vision for the coming decade is a Nation that recognizes the importance of a science-based and 

technologically driven understanding of the ocean to American livelihoods, national security, and 

economic independence. This same knowledge enhances the conservation and stewardship of the 

ocean and its resources. Advancing the ocean S&T enterprise enables a better understanding of the 

past, enhanced opportunities to observe the present, and the ability to predict the future. 

Science and Technology for America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision identifies research priorities and areas of 

opportunity within the ocean S&T enterprise for the decade 2018-2028. The aim of this document is not 

to prescribe policies, but to provide guidance for U.S. Federal agencies and non-Federal sectors to align 

their resources and areas of expertise, further build the scientific and technological foundation that will 

improve our knowledge and stewardship of the ocean, address issues of national and global 

importance, and inform decision-making for the coming decade.8 This document considers the needs

of researchers, resource managers, policymakers, educators, tribal, State, territorial, and local 

governments, and other stakeholders, and will rely on the continuous stream of information and 

knowledge derived from fundamental basic research by and for the ocean S&T community for the wellbeing of the Nation.

 6 “Big data” refers to data sets so large and complex that commonly used or traditional data processing tools 

to capture, curate, and manage data within a tolerable elapsed time are inapplicable. Compared to traditional data, “Big 

Data” is characterized by high volume (enormous size of data), high velocity (timely response requirements), high variety 

(diversified data types), low veracity (uncertainties in the data), and high value (significance in knowledge and products). Jin, 

X., B.W. Wah, X. Cheng, and Y. Wang. (2015) Significance and challenges of big data research. Big Data Research 2:59-64. 

https://wah.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/wah/Wah/papers/J94/J96.pdf (accessed June 15, 2018). 7 National Ocean Service. (2018) Socioeconomics. https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/ (accessed April 17, 

2018).

8 Prospectus: Ocean Research in the Coming Decade. (October 2016) https://www.nsf.gov/geo/oce/orp/orp-prospectus.pdf

(accessed April 17, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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This document builds on a number of initiatives outlined in the first comprehensive national ocean 

research decadal priorities plan.9 Over the last decade, the ocean community has advanced novel 

ocean technologies, discovered new marine life and ocean-derived therapeutics, helped marine 

populations recover, tracked environmental changes, and answered important questions about how 

the ocean works. This document charts the course for the next decade.

A number of documents acknowledge complementary efforts, such as Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal 

Survey of Ocean Sciences.

10 Sea Change identifies strategic research priorities to advance scientific 

understanding of the ocean and recommendations for alignment of infrastructure and budgets with 

science priorities. This document does not intend to supersede Sea Change, but rather broadens its 

scope to wider government activities and includes all stakeholders and related entities involved in the 

ocean S&T enterprise.

Organization of this Document

This document presents five high-priority ocean S&T goals: (1) Understand the Ocean in the Earth 

System; (2) Promote Economic Prosperity; (3) Ensure Maritime Security; (4) Safeguard Human Health; 

and (5) Develop Resilient Coastal Communities. The first goal serves to improve the foundational 

understanding of the global ocean and is followed by the application of such scientific knowledge into 

more specific goals. Within each goal are S&T objectives, identified as key areas to advance the U.S. 

ocean S&T enterprise in the next decade. Subsections describe specific research and development 

(R&D) priorities to advance the U.S. ocean S&T enterprise. These priorities will likely evolve as the U.S. 

ocean S&T enterprise advances during the next decade. Many of these actions will produce short-term 

benefits that respond to immediate needs of communities, industries, ocean stakeholders, and the 

public. Others create building blocks to support key outcomes in the medium- to long-term. The goals, 

objectives, and priorities in this document were developed through a collaborative effort involving 

Federal agencies and stakeholders with interests and responsibilities linked to the ocean. 

 9 NSTC Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology. (2007) Charting the Course for Ocean Science in the United 

States for the Next Decade. An ocean research priorities plan and implementation strategy, p. 85. 

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/nstc-orppis.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018). This 

plan was updated in 2013 with the release of Science for an Ocean Nation: An Update of the Ocean Research Priorities Plan, p. 

100. https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=735388 (accessed October 22, 2018). 10 National Research Council. (2015) Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. Washington, DC: The National 

Academies Press, p. 86. https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 29, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Goal I. Understand the Ocean in the Earth System

The ocean is the largest habitat and is home to some of the most biologically diverse areas of the planet. 

To date, we have explored less than 15 percent of the global ocean floor.

11 The ocean is the predominant 

physical feature on our planet and drives the global climate through the absorption, retention, and 

transportation of heat, water, and carbon. The global ocean S&T enterprise has made significant 

progress in understanding the physical, geological, chemical, and biological aspects of the ocean 

system, but the dynamic ocean environment is changing in terms of ocean chemistry, temperature, sealevel, and currents, all of which affect marine biology.12 Consequently, we must make observations, 

refine our models, and develop new predictive capabilities to be able to sustainably manage our ocean 

resources.

Scientific and technological advances have brought significant improvements in our understanding of 

the ocean. Exploration, discovery, and assessment of marine resources, processes, and ecosystem 

structure and function are vital to capitalize on economic and cultural opportunities, improve human 

health, and protect life and property at sea. Innovative laboratory techniques and biological tools allow 

us to identify and understand the contributions of the smallest organisms, while satellites, seafloor 

cabled arrays, and autonomous vehicles have revealed ocean behavior on temporal and spatial scales 

that were previously inaccessible. Developments in electronic technologies have opened new research 

and technological horizons. However, a combination of existing and emergent technologies and 

modeling capabilities are needed to further elucidate the ocean’s behavior, its future trajectories, and 

its connections to other components of the Earth system. These technological capabilities will inform 

evidence-based stewardship, ensuring continued safeguarding of the air we breathe, the water we 

drink, and the food we eat.

The study and exploration of the ocean begins at the land-sea and atmosphere-sea interfaces and 

reaches to the deepest depths, where the ocean interacts with the seafloor and, further still, the deep 

biosphere found in the ocean sediments and crust beneath the seafloor. Changes in climate have 

altered important biogeochemical variables, such as pH and oxygen concentration, which have impacts 

on the biology and the ecology of the ocean. The deep and coastal oceans are regions of high carbon 

storage and rapid change, and are especially important to fisheries; coastal areas in particular can be 

subject to rapid change. Recent studies have demonstrated the increasing importance of the deep 

ocean for heat storage. The global ocean’s stratification and heat content have increased, the latter of 

which accounts for most (over 90%) of the overall changes in the Earth’s energy budget.13

To understand present conditions, determine rates of change, and make reliable projections of the 

future states of the Earth system and climate, we need to understand the past and present changes in 

the ocean environment. This first goal seeks to improve the foundational understanding of the global 

ocean, which is paramount to achieving the other four goals highlighted in this document.

 11 Mayer, L., M. Jakobsson, G. Allen, B. Dorschel, R. Falconer, V. Ferrini, G. Lamarche, H. Snaith, and P. Weatherall. (2018) The 

Nippon Foundation—GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project: The Quest to See the World’s Oceans Completely Mapped by 2030. 

Geosciences, 8(2), p. 63. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/8/2/63/htm (accessed September 29, 2018). 12 Lenton, T.M., H. Held, E. Kriegler, J.W. Hall, W. Lucht, S. Rahmstorf, and H.J. Schellnhuber. (2008) Tipping elements in the 

Earth's climate system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 105(6):1786-1793. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2538841/ (accessed June 15, 2018). 13 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis. 5.2.2.3 Implications for 

Earth’s Heat Balance. https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch5s5-2-2-3.html (accessed June 15, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Modernize R&D Infrastructure

Access to the sea has always been a fundamental hurdle for marine research as the ocean can be a 

harsh, unforgiving, and dangerous environment. Consequently, our research infrastructure is critical to 

our Nation’s leadership role in ocean science, and plays a significant foundational role in each of the 

areas this document addresses. The infrastructure and technology necessary for successful ocean 

research includes ships, submersibles, aircraft, satellites, land-based radar, moorings and cabled 

buoys, and various unmanned underwater, surface, and airborne vehicles. Research infrastructure also 

includes land-based facilities, i.e., state of the art laboratories, to support deployed ocean assets and 

to receive, analyze, and manage incoming data using high-performance computing and 

communications networks that support wide access to and use of information. Additionally, 

investments in modern laboratories and affordable technologies are critical to conducting 

corresponding experiments that are essential to our understanding of the changes we observe in 

nature. 

Box 1.1. Observing the Distant Ocean: An Example from the Southern 

Ocean

The Southern Ocean Carbon Climate Observation and Modeling (SOCCOM) project seeks to extend 

sparse physical and biogeochemical observations of the remote Southern Ocean by deploying a 

robotic observing system composed of some 200 autonomous profiling floats to provide greatly 

increased coverage in time and space of the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean plays an 

important role in regulating global ocean circulation and long-term climate patterns. The 

processes and changes occurring therein will be analyzed and used to improve the next generation 

of high resolution coupled Earth system models used to project the future changing paths of the 

Earth’s climate and biogeochemistry. As well as SOCCOM’s mission to transform scientific and 

public understanding, the education of a new generation of ocean scientists is needed to extend 

the SOCCOM float technology to a broader user community. 

 

Figure 1.1. SOCCOM technology and map. SOCCOM floats in white. Pre-SOCCOM floats in yellow. 

Non- op. floats in cyan. From June 25, 2016. (Images courtesy of NSF)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Ocean observations, both remote and in situ, remain vitally important for advancing knowledge of and 

detecting changes in the ocean system over time, and for predicting weather impacts on community 

infrastructure, safety, and commerce (Box 1.1). Developing deployable unmanned technologies will 

advance our ability to explore hard to reach places such as the Arctic. Data from these new technologies 

will feed into tactical models and decision aids for marine operators, as well as critical information for 

economic and national security activities. Observations and regular surveys are supported by essential 

infrastructure, including ship and aircraft fleets, and ocean remote sensing assets. Networks of fixed 

monitoring stations and moorings, drifting floats, and cabled observatories also represent foundational 

infrastructure for ocean research.14 Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated 

aerial and surface vehicles are innovative technologies that are changing marine research and rapidly 

expanding and improving accessibility to the research and technology seascape. With precision 

navigation, high endurance, and multiple sensors, these vehicles now routinely launch from ships and 

land stations with the capability to efficiently collect and automatically send large volumes of valuable 

data.15

Presently, most observations occur in the upper few hundred meters of the ocean, and mostly take 

place in the Northern Hemisphere. However, ship-based observations, complemented by sustained 

deployment of subsurface floats, moored instruments, and autonomous vehicles (e.g., ocean gliders 

and other AUVs) have enabled significant expansion of our reach to observe biological, chemical, 

physical, and geological variables (Box 1.2) as well as energy resources throughout the ocean. 1617

 14 Programs such as the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) have developed networks to involve academia and integrate 

infrastructure such as science-driven platforms and sensor systems, consolidate observing systems, and deliver a variety of 

ocean related data and data products to users. 15 It is important to note that ships are needed with these autonomous technologies for uses such as launch, recovery, and 

unexpected retrievals.

16 The Task Team for an Integrated Framework for Sustained Ocean Observing. (2012) A Framework for Ocean Observing. 

UNESCO, Washington, D.C. IOC/INF-1284 rev, p. 25. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002112/211260e.pdf (accessed 

June 15, 2018).

17 Henson, S.A., C. Beaulieu, and R. Lampitt. (2016) Observing climate change trends in ocean biogeochemistry: when and 

where. Global Change Biology 22(4):1561-1571. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4785610/ (accessed June 15, 

2018); Muller-Karger, F.E., P. Miloslavich, N. Bax, S. Simmons, M.J. Costello, I. Sousa Pinto, G. Canonico, W. Turner, M. Gill, E. 

Montes, B. Best, J. Pearlman, P. Halpin, D. Dunn, A. Benson, C.S. Martin, L.V. Weatherdon, W. Appeltans, P. Provoost, E. Klein, 

C. Kelble, R.J. Miller, F. Chavez, K. Iken, S. Chiba, D. Obura, L.M. Navarro, H.M. Pereira, V. Allain, S. Batten, L. BenedettiChecchi, J.E. Duffy, R. Kudela, L-M. Rebelo, Y. Shin, G. Geller. (2018) Advancing marine biological observations and data 

requirements of the complementary Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) 

frameworks. Frontiers in Marine Science 5:211. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00211 (accessed September 4, 2018).

Box 1.2. Essential Ocean Variables

Ocean observations are often prioritized based on nationally and globally agreed upon Essential 

Ocean Variables (EOVs) that are key to assessing change and causes of change in the ocean.16 These 

variables include physical, biogeochemical, biological, and acoustic measurements that influence 

societal needs such as ocean health, as well as short- and mid-term weather forecasting and longerterm changes in climate. EOVs can serve as input to numerical models and improve our ability to 

more quantitatively project changing ocean and atmospheric conditions. Emerging technologies 

should consider current EOVs and develop technologies to improve measurement of EOVs, while 

maintaining the quality required for sustained observational records that can capture events, as 

well as identify the emergence of longer trends through time.17
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Ocean research infrastructure is one of the highest priorities of the ocean S&T community.18 Our 

Nation’s ocean research infrastructure needs to align capabilities with requirements, including the 

number and type of research vessels, to ensure that our assets are optimized through coordination and 

collaboration while also retaining the capacity to meet its goals. This includes satellite and other 

autonomous data collection efforts and related archive and data storage infrastructure. Many of these 

efforts rely on international collaboration including strong international partnerships and observing 

networks. The increase in autonomous data collection will depend on increased storage and processing 

of Big Data and improved analytical methods. Integrating these observations will enable a full 

understanding of how we can promote economic growth while conserving marine resources. 

Next-generation and sustained observing systems could provide more robust and timely observations

on the diversity and abundance of life in the sea along with physical and other environmental data. In 

addition, new systems could further our understanding of geohazards and weather events, providing 

information on the physical processes controlling their occurrence, timing, and magnitude.

Fundamental understanding of Earth processes and basic research of subduction zone phenomena19

will lead to the scientific understanding needed for robust forecasts of future geohazards and related 

events and can greatly assist risk mitigation. Technological advances in timing, power, shielding, 

underwater and satellite telemetry, and autonomous vehicles could improve the quality of seismic 

observations on the seafloor, and increase the frequency of data transmission to shore (Box 1.3). While 

hurricane track forecasts have improved dramatically, improvements in hurricane intensity predictions 

have lagged. At-sea observations of water column temperatures are essential for improving both 

hurricane track as well as hurricane intensity forecasts. With the advent of remotely sensed salinity 

measurements, recent studies emphasize the role of salinity in upper-ocean stratification and the 

potential to use satellite salinity data as a new resource to monitor storms and hurricanes.20

Priorities

• Sustain critical ocean monitoring, maintain time-series data collection, and support new 

observations and discovery in the world’s ocean to provide the continuous information streams 

that inform research, advance forecasts, and support responsible resource management 

decisions.

• Prioritize new observing methods focused on processes that lack fundamental understanding, 

such as a modernized research fleet, gliders, and associated sensors, especially in areas 

identified as being important for human health, safety, and marine life. 

• Identify and expand observations for unique processes and locations for extreme events, as 

well as in under-sampled areas of the global ocean, such as the deep-sea, offshore frontiers, the 

Southern Hemisphere, and key continental margins (Box 1.1).

• Support the development and accuracy of technologies in controlled environments at the 

interfaces: where land meets water, where water meets air, where water meets ice, and where 

water meets the ocean bottom.

 18 As is supported by National Research Council. (2015) Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. Washington, 

DC: The National Academies Press, p. 86. https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 29, 2018). 19 Gomberg, J.S., and K.A. Ludwig. (2017) Reducing risk where tectonic plates collide: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2017. 

302:1-4. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2017/3024/fs20173024.pdf (accessed May 9, 2018). 20 Fournier, S., J. Vialard, M. Lengaigne, T. Lee, M.M. Gierach, and A.V.S. Chaitanya. (2017) Modulation of the Ganges‐

Brahmaputra river plume by the Indian Ocean dipole and eddies inferred from satellite observations. Journal of Geophysical 

Research: Oceans, 122(12): 9591-9604. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017JC013333 (accessed 

October 12, 2018).
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• Utilize data from local hydrographic, geophysical, and atmospheric variables, and bathymetric 

maps of the ocean floor to serve as boundary conditions for observations and models and to 

advance early tsunami and earthquake warning systems.

• Extend the Argo Program to include full-ocean depth coverage (Deep Argo), dynamically 

complete (ArgoMix which adds turbulence sensors to Argo floats), and inclusion of 

biogeochemical sensors21 (BGC Argo).22 

 21 Tollefson, J. (2016) Massive network of robotic ocean probes gets smart upgrade. Nature 531:421–422. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/531421a (accessed June 15, 2018). 22 Buck, J. (2013) NASA Helps Launch Student-Built Satellites as Part of CubeSat Launch Initiative. NASA Public Release 13-

343. https://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/november/nasa-helps-launch-student-built-satellites-as-part-of-cubesat-launchinitiative (accessed April 20, 2018).

Box 1.3. CubeSats and Other Readily Available Sensing Technologies

Satellites once exclusively operated by nation states now have the simplicity to be built by highschool students.22 As launch opportunities grow, the ocean science community is better poised to 

rapidly enhance global observations of the world’s oceans. Similarly, autonomous and remotecontrolled air vehicles can now be equipped with sophisticated sensors suitable for shipboard and 

coastal studies. Multi- or hyper-spectral electro-optical sensors can now routinely measure ocean 

biological parameters over wide areas. Day-night, all-weather sensing of the ocean surface using

radar allows measurement of ocean winds and waves, as well as detection of vessels. Transmission 

of data from satellites to users will soon be significantly enhanced by Wi-Fi satellites, so that high 

fidelity data can be readily transmitted without regard for bandwidth limitations. Likewise, data 

from drifters, gliders, and unmanned surface vessels can be rapidly routed to users.

Figure 1.2. Students contribute to collecting Earth observations while getting hands-on 

experience building CubeSats: inexpensive, small, 3-pound satellites. (Image courtesy of NASA)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Harness Big Data

Equally important to ocean R&D infrastructure is the ability to maximize data utility. In the coming

decade, the United States can upgrade four-dimensional data assimilation and improve analysis of 

currently available data that can be useful for many products and as initialization for models that make 

predictions on all space and time scales. Big Data is revolutionizing our understanding of the ocean in 

the Earth system. Big Data allows scientists to measure and gain large amounts of information about 

the environment and directly translate that knowledge into enhanced scientific models and products 

to improve decision-making.23 From a broad perspective, Big Data is the bond that connects and 

integrates the environment, human society, and cyberspace.6 Big Data allows for the assessment of 

relationships between the ocean and other elements of the Earth system through rigorous, data-driven 

methods. Advancements in Big Data capabilities can improve general circulation models and 

integrated Earth system models, as well as improve dynamic, integrated and/or coupled biophysical 

models for future-condition forecasting. Two sources of Big Data in oceanography are: (1) large 

amounts of multi-dimensional data measuring a wide range of ocean variables collected by remote and 

in situ sensors across the globe, and (2) well-constrained and verified model simulations of ocean 

processes on global, regional, and local scales with high spatial and temporal resolution. Responsibly 

creating publicly available Big Data sets includes benefitting long-term public interests while also 

respecting intellectual property. 

Critical to sustaining ocean biodiversity is a mixed set of research and applications including, but not 

limited to, sustained ocean observations, the infrastructure needed for those observations in support 

of Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), and blending in new approaches such as “omics.” Omics24, a subset 

of molecular tools including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, is an emerging Big Data field 

with the potential to transform our ability to characterize the biological composition of the ocean 

efficiently, comprehensively, and at reduced costs (Box 1.4). For example, using metagenomics to 

inventory the microbiomes of various ocean habitats has allowed for a greater understanding of diverse 

microbial population structure and gene expression (i.e., behavior) over space and time. Metagenomics 

tools can be extended beyond bacteria to include the study of marine viruses (an emerging area of 

epidemiology), phytoplankton, zooplankton, and complex holobionts such as sponges and corals. A 

challenge for the coming decade is determining how microbial population structure and function vary 

with physical and chemical oceanographic parameters. Addressing such a challenge will enhance 

marine monitoring by measuring food web function, species biodiversity, prevalence of pathogens and 

pollution, and the rate at which microbes degrade materials. Such omics technologies can augment 

traditional observation programs and are being integrated into buoy-deployed and mobile AUVs. 

 23 McAfee, A., and E. Brynjolfsson. (2012) Big Data: The management revolution. Harvard Business Review 3-9. 

https://hbr.org/2012/10/big-data-the-management-revolution (accessed April 17, 2018). 24 The term omics refers to fields of study in molecular biology with the suffix –omics, which aim to better detect, 

characterize, quantify, and understand pools of biological molecules [such as genes (genomics), mRNA (transcriptomics), 

proteins (proteomics), and metabolites (metabolomics)] in a given sample. More information can be found at: Horgan, R.P., 

and L.C. (2011) ‘Omic’ technologies: genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. The Obstetrician & 

Gynaecologist 13:189–195. https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1576/toag.13.3.189.27672; Gilbert, J.A., G.J. 

Dick, B. Jenkins, J. Heidelberg, E. Allen, K.R. Mackey, and E.F. DeLong. (2014) Meeting report: Ocean ’omics science, 

technology and cyberinfrastructure: current challenges and future requirements (August 20–23, 2013). Standards in Genomic 

Sciences 9(3):1251. https://doi.org/10.4056/sigs.5749944 (accessed June 15, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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The ocean S&T enterprise must continue to support data repositories, cloud computing, and datasharing efforts. Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSE)25 and Observing System Experiments 

(OSE)26 used in parallel with ocean models and data assimilation strengthen the impact of observations

and cost-effectively optimize remote and in situ ocean sampling. A unified national effort should aim to 

establish common frameworks across diverse computing systems and facilitate data integration. These 

efforts will establish a common structure for Big Data datasets and promote efficient data sharing and 

communication of data limitations such as uncertainties while minimizing costs and resources.27

Priorities

• Advance Big Data analytics and cloud computing platforms to identify and forecast changes in 

ocean circulation and heat and freshwater transport, ocean biogeochemical cycling, marine 

ecosystems and ecosystem services, and sea level rise.

• Increase and sustain the ocean community’s access to usable Big Data, and strengthen the 

interactions between the ocean observing, research, and modeling communities.

• Strengthen high-performance computing to effectively process and use Big Data analytics and 

omics technologies that enhance the understanding of the ocean in the Earth system.

• Deploy and integrate recent technological advances such as environmental DNA (eDNA) and 

other omics approaches to ocean assessments.

• Promote collaborative platforms to integrate omics, biodiversity, economic, and 

environmental databases.

• Encourage unclassified, releasable data, particularly Big Data, to be easily accessible and 

usable to local and regional decision-makers and the public. 

 25 Masutani, M., T.W. Schlatter, R.M. Errico, A. Stoffelen, E. Andersson, W. Lahoz, J.S. Woollen, G.D. Emmitt, L-P Riishøjgaard, 

and S.J. Lord. (2010) Observing System Simulation Experiments. 647-680. In: Lahoz W., B. Khattatov B., and R. Ménard (eds.) 

Data Assimilation. Making sense of observations. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. 26 Lord, S., G. Gayno, and F. Yang. (2016) Analysis of an observing system experiment for the Joint Polar Satellite System. 

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 97(8):1409-1425. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00207.1 (accessed June 

15, 2018).

27 For example, ongoing efforts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Navy, and others are 

focusing on building a common ocean modeling framework merging Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) ocean models by 

establishing a merged code-base permitting options for different spatial resolutions and temporal model integration 

extents.

Box 1.4. Big Data from Environmental DNA

As organisms move through the ocean, they leave in their wake a path of tiny particles which 

scientists can sample for DNA. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging omics technology that 

allows researchers to sample water, soil, or air in order to determine the species found in that area. 

eDNA is a cost-efficient and quick surveillance tool useful for assessing a habitat’s biodiversity, 

monitoring for invasive species, and tracking the movements of threatened and endangered 

species. Informing on the presence, absence, and abundance of certain species has great potential 

for better understanding and managing vulnerable ocean habitats. Ensuring quality control of 

eDNA data, managing the massive amount of data generated from sampling eDNA, and applying 

eDNA data to support decision-makers will allow the Federal government to capitalize on the 

potential benefits of eDNA technology.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Develop Models of the Earth System 

The foundational research and technology needed to advance our understanding of the ocean within 

the Earth system includes modeling of the dynamics of the ocean, including climate, atmospheric, and 

weather-related influences on the ocean. The coastal and deep oceans require additional study to 

better understand how current changes in the coastal zone and deep-sea can be used to improve the 

capability to predict how the coastal ocean may respond to future changes, the associated impacts on

marine ecosystem services, and the resilience of the communities that depend on them.28 Advanced 

understanding of the ocean environment also plays a key role in improving understanding of 

geohazards associated with subduction zones, including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, 

and landslides.29

Coastlines consist of distinct but tightly coupled systems that are connected to nearby terrestrial 

systems by the flow of water and materials from coastal and estuarine drainage areas to the ocean (Box 

1.5). Understanding and quantifying the impacts and feedbacks of human and environmental 

influences on coastal ecosystems requires comprehensive, multi- and inter-disciplinary research, 

including steps toward development of predictive capabilities. Added emphasis should be placed on 

particularly vulnerable systems, such as bays, estuaries, coastal wetlands, marshes and mangrove 

systems, and high latitude regions such as the Arctic. 

Adaptation to and mitigation of coastal change, and resilience to extreme events, requires 

understanding the vulnerability of coastal zones.30 Reliable and validated models that integrate coastal 

processes, hydrography, and land use and change, and include biogeochemical processes and 

biodiversity, are essential to predict changes in ecosystem services.31 Such models are also important 

to project potential impacts on public health, infrastructure, and the economy, and to provide 

communities and decision-makers with options and cost-benefit analyses. Understanding the 

interaction between land and ocean cannot be limited to the development of technologies or model 

improvement. In order to ensure the sustainability of ocean resources, studies of biological, chemical, 

geological, and physical process should consider applications that are useful to coastal managers, and 

should forge synergies across disciplines to put forward an integrated understanding of the coastal 

system.

 28 Such research is supported by the National Academy of Sciences Sea Change: 2015-2015 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. 

In particular, priority science question number two: “How are the coastal and estuarine ocean and their ecosystems 

influenced by the global hydrologic cycle, land use, and upwelling from the deep ocean?” National Research Council. (2015)

Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, p. 86. 

https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 29, 2018). 29 Such research is supported by the National Academy of Sciences Sea Change: 2015-2015 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. 

In particular, priority science question number seven: “How can risk be better characterized and the ability to forecast 

geohazards like megaearthquakes, tsunamis, undersea landslides, and volcanic eruptions be improved?” National Research 

Council. (2015) Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, p. 

86. https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 29, 2018). 30 Adger, W.N., J. Barnett, K. Brown, N. Marshall, and K. O'Brien. (2013) Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and 

adaptation. Nature Climate Change 3(2):112-117. https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1666 (accessed June 15, 2018). 31 Such research is supported by the National Academy of Sciences Sea Change: 2015-2015 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. 

In particular, priority science question number three: “How have ocean biogeochemical and physical processes contributed 

to today’s climate and its variability, and how will this system change over the next century?” National Research Council. 

(2015) Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, p. 86.

https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 29, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Priorities

• Enhance capabilities of Earth system models, including dynamic coupling of various 

components within the ocean-ice-land-atmospheric system. 

• Engage various research communities, including academia, to enhance model success and 

provide continuous improvement and support.

• Improve biological and ecological modeling and the development of bioinformatic analyses to 

better predict effects caused by stressors on coastal and marine ecosystems.

• Examine quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) and data assimilation resulting in more 

accurate coupled ocean-land-weather modeling.

• Increase studies of the air-sea interface to provide better understanding of the relationships 

between ocean characteristics, including mixing processes that transport surface momentum,

and the ocean interior.

• Integrate new monitoring technologies into existing and emerging ocean observation systems 

(e.g., U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS); the United Nations Global Ocean 

Observing System (GOOS)), while ensuring quality assurance and data comparability. 

Box 1.5. The Interconnected Earth System

The flow of water and constituents (dissolved and particulate) from land to the coastal ocean 

connect the terrestrial and marine systems. Natural and anthropogenic processes add and alter 

riverine constituents that flow to the coastal ocean; inputs are regulated by hydrology 

(precipitation and evaporation), land use, and the condition of the drainage network (including 

reservoirs and ecological condition of estuaries). Excess nutrient runoff can lead to oxygen 

depletion and associated acidification, affecting numerous living marine resources. In the coastal 

zone, physical and biogeochemical processes control the transport and fate of the discharged 

material, which may be recycled or removed (via export) from the system.

Figure 1.3. Water flow and transformations with the Earth system. (Image courtesy of NASA)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Facilitate Research to Operations

Applying R&D advancements to operation, commercialization, or other uses is fundamental to advance 

the United States in ocean S&T, and to enhance economic prosperity, maritime security, human health, 

and resilient coastal communities. Deploying such research concepts requires a comprehensive 

understanding of the ocean in the Earth system including the role of external factors. Research which 

adopts a social-ecological system (SES) lens and considers the whole system, particularly contextspecific factors, is more likely to observe operational success. Coupled physical, biological, chemical, 

geological, and socioeconomic models support the systems based approach that many ocean S&T 

applications depend upon.

For example, much progress has been made in weather forecasting in the last decade, both with respect 

to more accurate modeling, and moving from forecasting (modeling) to Impact-based Decision Support 

Services (IDSS). Sustained progress in forecasting and IDSS will critically depend on a more holistic 

approach to environmental modeling, particularly on shorter “weather” time scales, by expanding 

coupled modeling experiences gained with seasonal forecasting, tropical cyclone, and weather-iceocean models to fully-coupled global and regional atmosphere-ocean-ice-land-aerosol-wave 

prediction for weather time scales.

Substantial fundamental advances have arisen from programs that cross traditional disciplinary 

boundaries, bringing together scientists and stakeholders from many fields, research institutions, 

Federal agencies, and other entities. In order for the United States to continue its leadership in ocean, 

coastal and Great Lakes research, we must utilize and encourage public-private partnerships, 

specifically regarding infrastructure such as marine laboratories and oceanographic research fleets.

Such partnerships can better promote emerging technologies, and enable the transfer of ocean-related 

technologies from the lab to the market, broaden user accessibility to key advances, and bolster the 

ocean economy. To do so, coordinated investment in merit-based, competitive research, 

infrastructure, and education is key. One example that has documented numerous successes through 

public-private partnerships is the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), which has

provided the framework to rapidly foster such partnerships and tech transfer goals.

Priorities

• Integrate environmental observing and prediction systems with multi-use prediction and 

simulation systems to promote economically efficient, environmentally sound, and successful 

operations across the broad spectrum of marine operations.

• Support global operational modeling capabilities in order to improve the ability to protect 

operational forces, installations, and equipment from hazardous conditions of the physical 

environment. 

• Develop programs that provide a more accurate, validated, longer-range, global ocean, 

atmosphere, and sea ice forecast system for decision support to enhance safety of flight, safety 

of navigation, and mission planning. 

• Advance interagency collaborations in order to pursue goals such as the deployment of 

unmanned underwater gliders prior to hurricane season, which will provide better awareness 

of storm intensity leading to improved hurricane forecasts.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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• Sustain forecasting capabilities, for example, by maintaining a network of drifting buoys in the 

Arctic Ocean, which collect sustained weather and oceanographic observations for 3-5 years 

and provide operational and scientific communities access to in situ data.32

• Encourage opportunities for public-private partnerships, particularly to leverage knowledge 

and resources, ensure the successful application of ocean research, avoid duplication of efforts, 

and improve communication between ocean researchers and ocean users.

 32 As also supported by Performance Element 3.1.2 in the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. (2016) Arctic 

Research Plan FY2017-2021. Washington D.C. p. 84. https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/plan/objective/3.1 (accessed April 

17, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Goal II. Promote Economic Prosperity

Optimizing sustainable use of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the high seas is vital to America’s 

global economic leadership (Box 2.1). The U.S. ocean economy, which includes six economic sectors 

that depend on the ocean, is estimated to have contributed more than $320 billion to the U.S. Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP) and supported 3.2 million jobs directly dependent on these resources in 2015.

33

These economic sectors include: living resources, marine construction, offshore mineral extraction, 

tourism and recreation, ship and boat building, and marine transportation.

Our ocean is home to a vast array of living and non-living marine resources. Much of the ocean is 

underexplored, and offers great potential for advancing science, technology, and our growing 

economy. Our resources are central to the national economy and American quality of life, and thus we 

must balance our present use of ocean resources with a productive and healthy ocean for future 

generations. Characterizing the primary uses of the marine environment (including fisheries, 

aquaculture, transportation/shipping, energy, national security, land values, mineral extraction, 

recreation, and protected species habitats) and the goods and services, beneficiaries, and market and 

non-market values attributable to those uses, is key to understanding the ocean’s potential.

Living marine resources serve critical roles in their ecosystems and in sustaining life on land; they are 

used for food, medicine, and cosmetics, and support services such as fisheries and tourism, as well as 

processes that may influence the climate (e.g., biologically-controlled marine processes absorbing 

excess atmospheric carbon dioxide and the absorption and transport of atmospheric heat). Non-living 

marine resources also serve multiple roles: in powering our communities, reducing our dependence on 

foreign sources of minerals, providing avenues for transportation, and controlling climate (e.g., through 

thermohaline adjustments). The ocean S&T enterprise can expedite and better inform the exploration, 

assessment, and sustainable management of America’s living and non-living marine resources.

Emerging innovative technologies serve a critical role in capitalizing on marine resource economic 

opportunities while sustaining future options. S&T advancements will provide the necessary 

information to guide responsible future development and investment opportunities and allow 

resource-dependent communities to adapt to ocean changes. As resource identification and surveying 

progresses, S&T advancements can continue to ensure that multiple uses such as energy exploration 

and recreational activities successfully coexist. Ocean education will drive technological 

breakthroughs, will strengthen public understanding and engagement in best using and protecting 

ocean resources, and will provide a foundation for the Nation’s growing blue workforce. Readily 

available data and user-friendly quality assured tools incorporating the best available environmental 

and social data will empower our resource managers and policy makers to harness America’s resources 

responsibly.

 33 NOAA. (2018) Report on the U.S. Ocean and Great Lakes Economy. Charleston, SC: NOAA Office of Coastal Management, p. 

27. https://coast.noaa.gov/data/digitalcoast/pdf/econ-report.pdf (accessed May 31, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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343536373839

 34 NOAA. (2011) The United States is an Ocean Nation. 

https://www.gc.noaa.gov/documents/2011/012711_gcil_maritime_eez_map.pdf (accessed June 18, 2018). 35 NOAA. (2013) National Coastal Population Report: Population Trends 1970 to 2020. 

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coastal-population-report.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018). 36 Colby, S.L., and J.M. Ortman. (2014) Projections of the size and composition of the U.S. Population: 2014 to 2060. Current 

Population Reports, P25-1143, U.S. Census Bureau. Washington, D.C. 

https://census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.pdf (accessed June 18, 2018). 37 NOAA. (2016) State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2016 Update. National Ocean Economics Program.

Box 2.1. The U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone

The U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is one of the largest in the world, encompassing 

approximately 4.38 million square miles.34 Coastal counties contain approximately 40% of the U.S. 

population, yet account for only 10% of the area within the U.S.35 As the U.S. population is expected 

to surpass 400 million by the middle of this century,36 it is important to understand how ocean 

changes will impact the Nation’s economic security, safety, environment, and health:

• 42% of the U.S. labor force is employed in coastal watersheds.37

• In 2014, counties adjacent to the shore contributed to 43% percent of the U.S. GDP.37

• The offshore mineral industry contributed over 170,000 jobs in 2013 and $122 billion, the 

majority of which was predominantly from the oil and gas sector.37

• Approximately 88,000 square miles of the Nation’s coastal wetlands provide nursery areas 

for commercially harvested fish and places of refuge for migrating birds.37

• In 2015, the commercial and recreational fishing industry supported 1.6 million jobs and 

contributed $208 billion in sales to the U.S. economy.38

• Ocean measurements, observations, and forecasting generate about $7 billion in revenues 

annually.39

Figure 2.1.Total sales and jobs supported by commercial and recreational fisheries.

(Images courtesy of NOAA)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Expand Domestic Seafood Production

The United States currently imports 90% of its seafood, leading to a $14 billion seafood trade deficit.40

Given that the World Bank projects a nearly 50% increase in worldwide fish consumption between 2006-

2030,41 the United States has an opportunity to meet this demand, ensure food security, create new 

industries, and accordingly provide jobs by maximizing sustainable wild and aquaculture harvest. 

The United States leads the world in science-based sustainable fishery management, yet maximum 

sustainable harvests are not realized in all fisheries and changes in ocean temperatures threaten the 

stability of key populations. Advances in technologies such as underwater sensors (cameras, audio 

recorders, biochemical, etc.) to better survey and land target species and reduce bycatch42 can lead to 

more efficient and effective fishing.43 Electronic real-time reporting of landings and modern data 

management techniques for our commercial fisheries will lead to greater certainty in what is being 

caught and what is left in the water. Improving the accuracy and accessibility of seafood data will 

promote America’s seafood industry by enhancing transparency and traceability.

To meet our Nation’s seafood demands, narrow the seafood trade deficit, and reduce pressure on wild 

populations, the United States needs to complement wild fisheries with aquaculture, including

mariculture.

44 Using sustainable and environmentally responsible marine aquaculture methods, the 

United States could change from being a net seafood importer to a net seafood exporter, using only a 

fraction of our EEZ. Improved and expanded research associated with environmental monitoring, in 

addition to promoting emerging aquaculture technologies, will help mitigate risks associated with 

land-based and open water practices and make aquaculture a financially feasible industry while 

ensuring the health of our ocean and its biodiversity.

Sustainable aquaculture requires improved understanding of environmental risks, technical 

infrastructure, and active collaborations between Federal, State, territorial, and tribal governments 

and the private sector to streamline the permitting process. Federal partnerships and extramural 

research opportunities for academia and aquaria will contribute to U.S. aquaculture being a sciencebased, environmentally responsible, financially viable, and sustainable business.

 

National Marine Fisheries Service. http://midatlanticocean.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/03/NOEP_National_Report_2016.pdf (accessed April 19, 2018). 38 National Marine Fisheries Service. (2016) Fisheries Economics of the United States, 2015. U.S. Department of Commerce, 

NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-163, p. 237. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/fisheries-economics-unitedstates-2015 (accessed June 15, 2018). 39 ERISS Corporation, the Maritime Alliance. (2016) The Ocean Enterprise. A study of U.S. business activity in ocean 

measurement, observation and forecasting. https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/ocean-enterprise-study/ (accessed April 19, 2018). 40 NOAA. (2016) Fisheries of the United States. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/fisheries-united-states2016-report (accessed April 17, 2018). 41 World Bank. (2013) Fish to 2030: Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture. World Bank. Washington, D.C. Report 83177-GLB. 

http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3640e/i3640e.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018). 42 Bycatch refers to discarded catch of marine species and unobserved mortality due to a direct encounter with fishing 

vessels and gear. More information can be found at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/bycatch (accessed May 31, 

2018).

43 Hazen, E.L., K.L. Scales, S.M. Maxwell, D.K. Briscoe, H. Welch, S.J. Bograd, H. Bailey, S.R. Benson, T. Eguchi, H. Dewar, and S. 

Kohin. (2018) A dynamic ocean management tool to reduce bycatch and support sustainable fisheries. Science Advances

4(5):eaar3001. http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/5/eaar3001.full (accessed June 15, 2018). 44 Mariculture is a subset of aquaculture, referring to aquaculture activities within the open ocean. The term aquaculture 

refers to the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of animals and plants in all types of water environments. More information 

can be found at: NOAA Aquaculture. (2018) https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/aquaculture#overview (accessed June 5, 

2018); National Ocean Economics Program. (2007) http://www.oceaneconomics.org/LMR/Aquaculture/ (accessed June 5, 

2018).
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Public acceptance for aquaculture products will be essential for market success and should be a key 

focus of education. Key research infrastructure includes test beds for industry and researchers to try 

new ideas, and technology and development of key inputs to production such as feed and fingerlings. 

Support industries such as animal health, processing, manufacturing, and engineering will create more 

jobs.

Priorities

• Support development and deployment of sensors to detect, identify, and quantify target and 

protected species.

• Employ real-time data techniques and modern data management to reduce uncertainty in 

fishery management.

• Leverage and evolve scientific tools and information to support a clear road map for 

aquaculture permitting including effective siting, water quality, genetics, and other sciencebased computer tools to aid industry with applications for aquaculture sites and compliance 

with government mandates.

• Develop and test genetic approaches that safeguard wild genetic diversity while allowing for 

genetic improvement of resources such as farmed shellfish stocks, and use the hatcheries to 

develop such genetic selection programs for a range of commercially valuable resources such 

as mollusks. 

• Advance ocean-based biomass research and technologies to better produce food, fiber, biofuel, 

and other products from sources such as seaweed farms, and transfer technology to industry.

Explore Potential Energy Sources

America’s coastline and extensive EEZ contains vast untapped renewable (wave, tidal, wind, thermal) 

and non-renewable (oil and gas) energy sources to help power the Nation (Box 2.2). In addition to 

generating electricity for use on-shore, power generated at sea (from waves, currents, or wind) could 

be used to serve the needs of other existing or emerging ocean industries (aquaculture, ocean mineral 

mining, oceanographic research, or military missions). Aligning energy innovation with emerging 

developments in ocean science, security, and maritime technology could provide dynamic 

opportunities to further drive coastal economic development. The development of domestic energy 

resources should be achieved in concert with enabling military operations, training, and testing.

The Federal government has an interest in harnessing American energy sources safely and efficiently

through new and innovative technologies. In particular, improving technology transfer could increase 

U.S. competitiveness in the global market, such as in offshore wind. Also, the United States can use

emerging technologies to rapidly increase seafloor mapping and further assess the ocean’s potential as 

an energy source. New acoustic technologies will expand ocean exploration and discovery, and provide 

a better understanding of energy development impacts on the marine environment.
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Box 2.2. Potential Untapped Sources of Energy

There are many promising and undeveloped sources of energy available in ocean and coastal areas. In 

particular, harnessing the wind to produce electricity for society has grown exponentially on land and is 

moving out into the ocean where wind resources are greater and more consistent. Wind turbines introduce 

structures in the water column that will create an artificial reef system, not dissimilar to the Gulf of Mexico 

oil and gas structures. These structures could potentially become a part of an observing network to host 

monitoring equipment like temperature sensors, current profilers, or cameras to support continuous 

observations while generating electricity from a clean, renewable source. The durability of these structures 

depend on sound engineering design specific to the varying geology and wind, wave, and ocean current 

conditions of the U.S. offshore environment. 

While wind, waves, and tides are relatively well understood sources of energy, gas hydrates and 

hydrothermal systems in the marine environment represent untapped yet poorly understood categories left

to be explored. Gas hydrates are present on both coastal shelves and the deep ocean, often in 

permafrost. Understanding the biogeochemistry and geomorphological change associated with permafrost 

thaw as well as risks associated with shelf and slope destabilization that accompany thaw will demand 

significant scientific attention. Similarly, untapped energy that exists in deep ocean hydrothermal systems 

requires improved science that integrates magmatic, tectonic, geochemical, fluid flow, heat and mass flux, 

mineral formation, circulation, and biological processes. These hydrothermal systems also produce deepocean mineral deposits, seafloor massive sulfides, and contribute to ferromanganese crusts and nodules 

through fluxes of metals to seawater. 

Figure 2.2. Wind turbines on land, which far exceed the number of at-sea wind turbines. 

(Image courtesy of NSF)
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The ocean floor is similar to the terrestrial environment; it has mountains, canyons, channels, and hills. 

Most of these features are unmapped and unexplored, with less than 15% of the ocean floor currently 

mapped.11 Detailed bathymetric mapping is important to better understand climate, earthquakes, 

tsunamis, weather forecasting, ocean habitats, and biodiversity, as well as ocean resource use and 

exploration. “Seabed 2030” is an international collaboration of public and private partners focused on 

compiling a high-resolution45 map of the global ocean over the coming decade.46 The Federal 

government will continue to map and better characterize America’s EEZ, particularly through 

advancements in the oceanographic fleet and other assets. Bathymetric data will provide the necessary 

information to identify energy sources, and will also have cascading benefits for fisheries management, 

mineral extraction, cable and pipeline routing, natural hazard preparedness, and military and defense 

applications.

Priorities47

• Continue mapping the U.S. EEZ and the global seafloor and perform surveys and 

characterizations of ocean resources and habitats, data tools, and logging platforms to provide 

temporal and spatial coverage, and assessments of classification, condition, and valuation 

mapping.

• Develop efficient and cost-effective at-sea power generation (wave, methane, solar, wind, etc.) 

for ocean observation platforms.

• Study contaminant releases (e.g., oil spills, natural seeps, pollutant loading) and benthic 

disturbances to improve understanding of their effects on coastal communities and 

transportation routes, and advance technologies to limit negative impacts. 

• Support new technologies to measure underwater noise levels and acoustic conditions in 

coastal and open ocean environments in order to quantify long-term trends in ocean noise 

levels, monitor changes in acoustic habitats and in interference with underwater technologies, 

and assess the impacts of increases in human produced noise.

 45 The ultimate goal is to complete 100 meter horizontal grid mapping resolution, but at least a resolution which falls in a grid 

cell found in a range of 35 to 768 footprint for a 2° × 2° system deep water system, as per described in Table 2 of this paper: 

Mayer, L., M. Jakobsson, G. Allen, B. Dorschel, R. Falconer, V. Ferrini, G. Lamarche, H. Snaith, and P. Weatherall. (2018) The 

Nippon Foundation—GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project: The Quest to See the World’s Oceans Completely Mapped by 2030. 

Geosciences, 8(2), p.63. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/8/2/63/htm (accessed September 29, 2018). 46 Seabed 2030 is a collaborative partnership between the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) and the Nippon 

Foundation aimed to facilitate the complete mapping of the ocean floor by 2030. More information can be found at: 

https://seabed2030.gebco.net/ (accessed May 8, 2018). 47 Pratson, L.F., and W.F. Haxby. (1996) What is the slope of the U.S. continental slope? Geology 24(1): 3-6. 

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/24/1/3/206427/what-is-the-slope-of-the-u-s-continentalslope (accessed April 15, 2018).
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Assess Marine Critical Minerals

U.S. offshore and deep-sea areas remain mostly unexplored and unused. Especially important for 

American independence and prominence in the global market is access to critical minerals in the 

marine environment. Given that China is the top supplier of many of the 35 critical minerals identified 

in the U.S. 2018 list of critical minerals,

48 the United States needs policies, infrastructure, and 

technologies to produce and maintain supplies of critical minerals. A recent Executive Order 

highlighted the importance of “identifying new sources of critical minerals” and “increasing activity at 

all levels of the supply chain, including exploration, mining, concentration, separation, alloying, 

recycling, and reprocessing critical minerals.”49 Such efforts can be supported by exploration of the 

outer continental shelf to the abyssal plains and hydrothermal vents and seamounts along the midocean ridges for valuable resources including manganese nodules, cobalt-rich crusts, and polymetallic 

sulfides.

In the past, the harsh environment and inaccessibility of potential extraction sites have meant that the 

marine environment was often discounted as a source for critical minerals. In the coming decade, the 

ocean S&T enterprise can support the United States in the discovery and assessment of marine 

resources. Basic mapping, baseline data, and ocean condition observations are foundational for 

understanding these resources and planning how to best use them. 

Priorities

• Identify and quantify the location, size, and nature of important deep-sea minerals through 

sediment characterization and geochemical signals to better understand the complexity and 

scalability of resource use.

• Conduct basic and applied research to characterize the effects of deep-sea mining on 

vulnerable marine ecosystems, including the impact of light, heat, rock debris, underwater 

sediment plumes, noise, and biodiversity loss. Such research should include documentation of 

deep-sea biodiversity, and improved prediction of the scale and extent of environmental 

impacts from deep-sea exploration.

• Study the physical conditions at environmentally sensitive and important areas using surveys 

and gap analyses to assess effectiveness of current monitoring efforts and platforms. 

• Continue involvement in global endeavors and organizations to both further our knowledge of 

and protect the ocean environment, such as the SeaBed 2030 Initiative and the International 

Seabed Authority.

 48 Department of Interior. (2018) Final list of critical minerals 2018. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-05-18/pdf/2018-

10667.pdf (accessed June 15, 2018). 49 See Executive Order 13817, issued on December 20, 2017, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of 

Critical Minerals. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/26/2017-27899/a-federal-strategy-to-ensure-secureand-reliable-supplies-of-critical-minerals (accessed June 18, 2018).
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Balance Economic and Ecological Benefits

Proper stewardship of the ocean is critical to the long-term vitality of the United States. We must 

promote economic growth while protecting our marine environment for current and future 

generations. The United States benefits from its wide range of coastal ecosystems, from the cold Arctic 

waters of Alaska to the temperate Gulf of Mexico to the tropical reefs of southern Florida. Management 

of these unique ecosystems requires location-specific data and information to be included in adaptive 

management strategies.

Adaptive management allows U.S. managers and decision-makers to effectively oversee America’s 

ocean resources according to new information and changes in context, while considering both shortterm gains and long-term objectives. To balance economic and ecological goals, adaptive management 

relies on systems-based decision-support tools that incorporate socioeconomic data, including 

stakeholder knowledge, and better link physical and chemical ocean changes with corresponding 

biological responses. Tools that include regionally-specific information are likely to lead to more 

effective outcomes, as context is key to successful adaptive management of marine resources.

Decision-makers rely on research on the changes in resource and habitat conditions, as well as up-todate information on human uses (e.g., frequency, duration, and intensity of use). Research on how 

organisms and marine populations respond to environmental changes will enable better predictions of 

economic and societal effects from environmental changes, especially for industries such as fisheries, 

ocean recreation, and marine tourism. These industries will also benefit from a better understanding of 

both top down (e.g., shark finning) and bottom up (e.g., coral bleaching) trophic pressures. 

Integrating socioeconomics and building the knowledge to inform ecosystem-based management can 

facilitate adaptive management. Ecological and economic tools to evaluate natural capital50 and 

ecosystem services can enable more accurate and timely decisions. Further understanding of 

ecological and economic relationships can better support effective valuation methods (e.g., for food, 

transportation, land values, extraction of minerals and other natural products, ecotourism, and 

recreation). 

Understanding cumulative impacts is also critical to improving adaptive management and to 

optimizing objectives. Ocean resources are exposed to many different stressors, such as 

eutrophication, marine debris, and ocean noise. Our Nation will rely on research to evaluate cumulative 

impacts of multiple human influences as well as data on how changes in natural environmental 

stressors exacerbate stressor impacts. Recent developments in R&D have led to the increased use of 

advanced technologies to address this need, such as DNA-probes and biosensors. Monitoring and 

forecasting efforts will be enhanced through state-of the-art passive acoustic observing capabilities by 

the national Ocean Noise Reference Station Network.51

 50 “Natural capital is defined as the Earth’s stock of natural assets. Those assets are part of the world’s ecosystems, ‘a 

geographically specified system of organisms (including humans), and the environment and the processes that control its 

dynamics’ according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystem services are the flow of benefits provided by these 

systems.” Department of Commerce. What is Natural Capital? https://www.commerce.gov/naturalcapital (accessed 

November 4, 2018).

51 Gedamke, J., J. Harrison, L. Hatch, R. Angliss, J. Barlow, C. Berchok, C. Caldow M. Castellote, D. Cholewiak, M.L. DeAngelis, 

R. Dziak, E. Garland, S. Guan, S. Hastings, M. Holt, B. Laws, D. Mellinger, S. Moore, T.J. Moore, E. Oleson, J. Pearson-Meyer, W. 

Piniak, J. Redfern, T. Rowles, A. Scholik-Schlomer, A. Smith, M. Soldevilla, J. Stadler, S. Van Parijs, and C. Wahle. (2016) Ocean 

Noise Strategy Roadmap. NOAA, p. 144. 

https://cetsound.noaa.gov/Assets/cetsound/documents/Roadmap/ONS_Roadmap_Final_Complete.pdf (accessed April 17, 

2018)
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Priorities

• Develop biological and ecosystem indicators and determine their efficacy for understanding 

cumulative impacts and assessing the overall vulnerability of marine resources and ecosystem 

services to human influences at all trophic levels, particularly in light of shifting baselines. 

• Identify evaluation and performance criteria that managers can use to gauge effectiveness of 

management strategies.

• Continue quantitatively monitoring coastal and open ocean biogeochemical trends to 

characterize changes in ocean acidification, assess impacts of sea level rise52 on ocean 

resources, and quantify cumulative effects. 

• Explore “intervention” science and techniques53 that recognize and leverage the inherent 

resistance and adaptive qualities of species under the threat of degradation or mortality with 

changing environmental conditions. 

• Explore low impact, alternative fuel sources for maritime and port-related uses, balancing 

stewardship with energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and marine safety.54

Promote the Blue Workforce

The United States has excelled as a leader in scientific research and technological innovation, but 

today’s world and environmental-related challenges continue to evolve. Meeting these challenges 

requires enhancing our knowledge about the ocean. It is essential to our economic well-being that we 

create and support an ocean-literate society focused on the development of an educated and diverse 

workforce. This workforce would ensure that the United States maintains a competitive advantage in 

our understanding of the oceanic environment by capitalizing on a strong knowledge base, and would

support Executive Order 13845.

55 Studies reveal that advances in science, technology, engineering, and 

math (STEM) are central to our Nation’s ability to create new jobs, improve quality of life, and maintain 

our position as a global leader in S&T.56 STEM fields are also vital for national defense purposes to build 

ocean models, create systems that protect our Nation, and maintain tactical advantages. 

A well-trained, diverse, and dynamic workforce capable of addressing tomorrow’s career needs has 

long been identified as a priority for our Nation.57 There is a growing need for a dynamic workforce to 

address national ocean challenges focusing on Big Data analysis, computational modeling, offshore 

renewable energy, and instrumentation operation and maintenance. It is imperative that we bridge the 

 52 Such research is supported by the National Academy of Sciences Sea Change: 2015-2015 Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences. 

In particular, priority science question number one: “What are the rates, mechanisms, impacts, and

geographic variability of sea level change?” National Research Council. (2015) Sea Change: 2015-2025 Decadal Survey of 

Ocean Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, p. 86. https://doi.org/10.17226/21655 (accessed September 

29, 2018).

53 Hobbs, R.J., L.M. Hallett, P.R. Ehrlich, and H.A. Mooney. (2011) Intervention ecology: applying ecological science in the 

twenty-first century. BioScience, 61(6): 442-450. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2011.61.6.6 (accessed September 4, 2018). 54 Such efforts can be enhanced through interagency initiatives, such as through the CMTS-led Maritime Energy and Air 

Emissions Working Group. https://www.cmts.gov/topics/energy_and_air_emissions (accessed June 14, 2018). 55 See Executive Order 13845, issued on July 19, 2018, Establishing the President's National Council for the American Worker. 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/24/2018-15955/establishing-the-presidents-national-council-for-theamerican-worker/ (accessed October 11, 2018). 56 National Science Board. (2010) Preparing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators: Identifying and Developing our Nation’s 

Human Capital. NSB-10-33. https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2010/nsb1033.pdf (accessed June 15, 2018). 57 National Science Board. (2018) A Policy Companion Statement to Science and Engineering Indicators 2018. NSB-2018-7. 

Alexandria, VA. National Science Foundation. https://nsf.gov/nsb/sei/ (accessed October 11, 2018).
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gap between identified challenges and the workforce training required in order to effectively pursue 

S&T that may be relevant to the ocean enterprise. The development of cutting edge, advanced training 

opportunities will give the present ocean workforce the ability to make educational advancements 

outside of the traditional training opportunities. Investments in people, basic and applied research, and 

facilities are key to a strong workforce, professional development, and growing economic prosperity.58

These opportunities and investments will foster the workforce’s ability to adapt to dynamic 

technological advancements made within the S&T enterprise. 

American capabilities begin with discoveries made in S&T, and our future competitiveness relies on a 

continuous supply of talented scientists and engineers. The security of the Nation and the quality of 

lives across the country also rely on strong science literacy in our communities. We need to ensure 

that all levels of academic programs are supported to fully prepare students to enter the workforce with 

the knowledge and experience they need to fuel the American ocean enterprise. Additionally, we must 

provide formal and informal research and training opportunities for students at both the K-12 and 

collegiate levels of education and beyond. This will ensure a technically qualified and diverse workforce 

capable of solving problems related to the protection, restoration, and management of coastal and 

ocean ecosystems, climate variability, and other societal challenges and needs. One example where 

students can gain place-based hands-on education and training involving all disciplines is U.S. marine 

and freshwater laboratories. Such training helps prepare the Nation’s youth to address complex ocean, 

coastal, and Great Lakes challenges, and ensures U.S. leadership and competitiveness in the global 

market.

The ocean S&T enterprise offers workforce opportunities for workers at all education levels—not just 

those with advanced degrees—and across demographic groups. America’s skilled technical workforce, 

which consists of individuals who may use STEM knowledge and skills in their jobs but don’t have a

four-year degree, are important to U.S. economic competitiveness. In addition, unemployment rates of 

skilled technical workers in science and engineering (S&E) and S&E-related jobs were significantly lower 

than those of workers in non-S&E jobs without bachelor’s degrees, and their earnings were significantly 

higher.59 The Federal government is well positioned to encourage courses and programs in marine 

technology and coastal engineering and to facilitate student-led missions related to the ocean 

workspace, such as through remotely operated vehicle (ROV) competition challenges.60

Community and technical colleges can help expose a more diverse body of students to job 

opportunities in the blue workforce. Special degree programs geared toward ocean work, hands-on

experience, and professional development offered through these institutions can prepare students for 

marine occupations, including marine forecasters, ocean instrument technicians, and underwater ROV

developers. Investment in all levels of education is critical for ensuring U.S. leadership and that the next 

generation of Americans remains competitive in the growing international field of ocean R&D. 

 58 The White House. (2015) National Security Strategy. Washington, D.C. p. 35. http://nssarchive.us/wpcontent/uploads/2015/02/2015.pdf (accessed June 15, 2018).

59 National Science Board. (2018) Science and Engineering Indicators 2018 Digest. NSB-2018-2. Alexandria, VA: National 

Science Foundation, p. 28. https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/digest/ (accessed June 15, 2018). 60 National Science Foundation. (2013) Underwater Robotics Competition Helps Students Build Skills for Ocean Occupations.

https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128911 (accessed June 1, 2018).
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Priorities

• Develop and enhance programs between agencies and educational institutions that provide 

certification in Unmanned Maritime Systems. These programs would enable students to 

participate in short (e.g., 3-month) training cycles where they study nautical science, 3-D 

positioning, ocean policy, autonomous systems, and the interfaces of all aspects of unmanned 

maritime systems.

• Share resources to support surveys and unmanned system operations, allowing operators from 

multiple agencies’ oceanographic fleets to identify best practices and apply lessons learned 

through joint cooperation.

• Improve and support cooperation among the Federal government, State governments, the 

private sector, and academic universities to successfully recruit researchers and ocean policy 

experts into the ocean science workforce, including the Federal component.61

• Support coastal communities to provide them with the latest skills necessary to conserve 

coastal resources, protect traditional livelihoods, and capitalize on future opportunities (e.g.,

offshore renewables, etc.).

• Develop and expand programs to equip educators pre-K through post-secondary, both formal 

and informal, to represent ocean science with fidelity and to intrigue their students as a means 

of preparing the future workforce. 

 61 This cooperation includes the Knauss Sea Grant Marine Policy Fellowship Program. More information can be found at: 

https://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss (accessed May 28, 2018).
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Goal III. Ensure Maritime Security

Maritime security is essential to the Nation’s ability to defend the homeland and to sustain military 

advantages, both globally and in key regions.

62 Our Nation’s investments in ocean observations, data 

management, and modeling and prediction (to include undersea acoustics and other underwater 

detection and avoidance technologies) must be applied to preserve and enhance the myriad of 

strategic, operational, and tactical advantages for U.S. Armed Forces in the maritime arena. 

Maritime security also ensures the Nation’s economic prosperity and U.S. global leadership. 

Approximately 80% of global trade by volume is transported across the ocean.63 An efficient, safe, and 

secure maritime environment enables commerce, including marine public transportation, tourism, 

merchant ship traffic, aquaculture to improve nutrition and food security, and economic activities in 

the Nation’s EEZ, the U.S. extended continental shelf, and on the high seas. Given that the Nation’s 

coastal ocean and inland waterways act as gateways of commerce and that the United States has one 

of the most extensive maritime transportation systems in the world,64 the ability to effectively navigate, 

map, chart, and predict ocean variability is critical for maritime security.

The rapid global growth of information dissemination and evolving technologies, including artificial 

intelligence and satellite remote sensing, has added immense complexity to both national defense 

(military) and homeland security (law enforcement and safety) challenges, as well as to the emergence 

of new operations such as automated cargo and naval vessels. An agile, rapid, and economical 

approach to ocean S&T investment will continue to contribute to national security. 

Maritime security for national defense and law enforcement must be strengthened by continued 

scientific and technological advancement to keep America competitive in an increasingly complex 

global maritime environment. Developing the next generation of ocean S&T capabilities is a 

tremendous challenge that must be undertaken to ensure not only the Nation’s maritime security, but 

its maritime superiority.

65

 62 Department of Defense. (2018) National Defense Strategy of the United States of America: Sharpening the American 

Military’s Competitive Edge, p. 14. https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-StrategySummary.pdf (accessed June 19, 2018). 63 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (2017) Review of Maritime Transport, p. 130. 

https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/rmt2017_en.pdf (accessed November 5, 2018). 64 National Chamber Foundation. (2003) Trade and Transportation: A Study of North American Port and Intermodal Systems.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Washington, D.C., p. 7. https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdotinfo/library/projects/la_entrada/portstudy.pdf (accessed June 18, 2018). 65 United States Navy. Chief of Naval Operations. (2016) A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority. p. 10. 

http://www.navy.mil/cno/docs/cno_stg.pdf (accessed June 19, 2018).
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Improve Maritime Situational Awareness

Maritime domain awareness and security operations require continuous, near-real-time monitoring of 

the ocean and its changing conditions. The rapid growth of a range of sensing capabilities can be 

leveraged for the benefit of ocean sciences and other vital purposes. Increased understanding of the 

ocean enhances environmental protection, safe navigation of the ocean, and other uses, while 

providing essential information required for maritime security and military operations. In concert with 

this is the need to acquire situational awareness and context to better interpret the totality of data.

While an immense amount of data is collected in the physical, chemical, geological, acoustical, and 

biological observations of the ocean, we can improve the way we both model ocean environments and 

spark new innovations through the use of newly enabled machine learning and artificial intelligence 

algorithms. Both advanced hardware and software are required to assimilate and understand new 

observations, analyze the vast existing amounts of ocean data, and run the integrated models that are 

used to predict the maritime environment for operational decision-making. Ship-based seafloor and 

sub-seafloor surveys are now being supplemented by autonomous and remotely operated vehicles to 

assess the ocean (Box 3.1). Continued development of not only vehicles but autonomous behaviors and 

technologies is needed to reduce the need for human intervention. The United States should take better 

advantage of its technological workforce to develop systems for Earth system models, which have 

unique architecture requirements.

A thorough understanding of a range of oceanographic parameters and their interactions is critical for 

homeland security and commercial operations to safely operate and deploy in the marine environment. 

Direct observations of ocean currents, waves, tides, sound propagation, ocean temperature, and 

salinity provide robust predictive models. Safety at sea for commercial, security, and defense 

operations is also influenced by factors such as wave height and period, winds over water, and the 

sudden onset of hazardous conditions compounded by lack of open sea, in situ weather observations.

Remote sensors66 are unable to observe the ocean depths and existing in situ observation systems are 

sparse.

67 More diversification in maritime observing systems will better help us establish trends in the 

maritime environment that are significant to our Nation’s security needs. Accordingly, an important 

component of this strategy is to maintain and enhance the existing profiling and drifting sensor arrays, 

expanding capabilities through the addition of sensors, and more flexible and capable platforms. 

Comprehensive datasets provide essential inputs into ocean models to increase their fidelity, which can 

be achieved through a more diversified maritime observing sensor suite.

A diverse suite of space-based sensors capable of taking ocean measurements across the usable 

electromagnetic spectrum will support a wide range of ocean research, ocean models, and help

improve forecasts of winds, waves, currents, species distributions, significant weather events, and 

seasonal to longer-term ocean variability. Measurements must be effectively communicated and 

aggregated in coupled data assimilative global models of the ocean, atmosphere, and ice to support 

maritime operations in nearshore and deep-ocean environments. 

Such computational capabilities can address the considerable vulnerability to detrimental activities 

that exist in unobserved locations. Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing is a risk to marine 

species and ecosystems, undermines sound management of sustainable fisheries, and poses significant 

 66 Referring to electromagnetic sensing from altitude. 

67 Akbari, E., S.K. Alavipanah, M. Jeihouni, M. Hajeb, D. Haase, and S. Alavipanah. (2017) A review of ocean/sea subsurface 

water temperature studies from remote sensing and non-remote sensing methods. Water 9(12):936 

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/9/12/936 (accessed November 8, 2018).
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commercial, humanitarian, and security risks. The connection between human trafficking and IUU 

fishing is already strong, and the Federal government continues to assess the risk of such unmonitored 

transport for the smuggling of people and materials for criminals and terrorists.

Box 3.1. Tactical Advantage

Less than 15% of the world’s ocean floor has been explored.11 Unmanned underwater vehicles (i.e., 

gliders) allow researchers to explore more of the ocean, and faster, at a fraction of the cost of a 

manned submersible or a ship. Gliders are propelled by ocean currents and navigate with fins by 

diving and surfacing. These gliders have no active propulsion system and can operate to depths of 

1,000 meters, for up to four months before retrieval and servicing. Gliders have the ability to provide 

hundreds of profiles per month, thus freeing oceanographic ships to perform missions in other 

areas.

The temperature and salinity data collected by the gilders are used by ocean modelers to forecast 

future environmental ocean conditions. The model forecasts are provided in near-real-time to 

support strategic, operational, and tactical fleet requirements and activities. These forecasts allow 

better prediction of ocean currents, density, sea states, and tides, which provide physical 

battlespace awareness and a common operational picture for U.S. Armed Forces.

Figure 3.1. An unmanned underwater vehicle is deployed from a Naval Oceanographic Office 

(NAVOCEANO) survey vessel. (Image courtesy of U.S. Navy)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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Populations reliant on their coastal waters and lacking sufficient modern infrastructure are at risk for 

loss of food security if IUU fishermen poach fish populations on which these populations depend for 

sustenance, or if ocean acidification and warming leads to the loss or migration of staple fish stocks. 

Additional research is needed to understand the scale of both of these problems, develop monitoring 

and mitigation technologies, and identify effective interventions and policies.

Priorities

• Support the maritime observing framework that ensures diverse sensing capabilities for a range 

of U.S. end users.

• Sustain oceanographic sensors and autonomous monitoring technologies to enhance data 

collection under the ocean’s surface and at the surface in all weather conditions to support 

high-spatial-resolution and near-real-time forecasting of the Earth system (terrestrial and 

oceanic). 

• Pursue new methodologies and/or observing technologies and use of distributed networks of 

organic, tactical sensors68 for collection of maritime environment variables.

• Develop inexpensive sensors with low environmental impact for remote sensing studies that 

enable observations across the electromagnetic spectrum and for full-ocean-depth sensors 

that exploit the emerging technology that integrates electronics and soft materials (conductive 

polymers).

69

• Establish national glider coordination and standards to provide ocean sampling in coastal 

regions, strong oceanographic currents, and other regions where drifters and floats are 

impractical.

• Develop advanced computational capabilities to analyze vessel, operator, cargo, and 

infrastructure data to identify anomalous behaviors in the maritime domain, such as IUU 

fishing, human migration, at-sea smuggling, transnational maritime criminal activities, etc., to 

better support appropriate security responses. 

Understand a Changing Arctic

Many nations are interested in understanding the Arctic’s harsh environment and its resources. 

Research into the Arctic is motivated by scientific curiosity and longer-range commercial 

considerations.70 Arctic dynamics influence global geophysical and biochemical systems, including 

freshwater storage and export, ocean-ice-atmospheric interactions, weather and climate dynamics, 

primary production, and the ocean’s response to acidification, while also shaping human activities in 

the region. Opinions on the future of Arctic shipping and related activities within the Northwest 

Passage, the Northern Sea Route, and a potential transpolar route vary. Overall, the changing 

conditions of the Arctic, particularly the diminishing sea ice, are resulting in increased vessel traffic and 

extraction of natural resources. These developments impact homeland and national security 

 68 Shipboard or in situ sensors that are incorporated into a larger body, and are used to collect and present integrated 

situational awareness data.

69 For example, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) funded soft materials integration laboratory 

explores such technology applications for oceanographic sensor development. http://sml.me.cmu.edu/?page_id=44

(accessed September 29, 2018).

70 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. (2016) Arctic Research Plan FY2017-2021. Washington D.C. p. 84. 

https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/plan/ (accessed April 17, 2018).
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operations such as search and rescue, oil spill preparedness and response, and the overall domain 

awareness necessary to ensure that the Arctic region does not become a seam through which illegal 

activities can occur undetected. 

Accurate operational forecasts of the environment, such as the location of the ice edge, the 

characteristics and evolution of sea ice, and the wind and wave conditions at the surface, will be critical 

to safe and efficient operations (defense and commercial) in the Arctic.71 To achieve this, Earth system 

models need to better integrate Arctic ocean, ice, and atmospheric data and incorporate the physical 

processes, interactions, and feedbacks involved in the seasonal evolution of ice extent, area, thickness, 

and volume. Improved incorporation of Arctic conditions and processes in coupled Earth system 

models will help constrain predictions of future conditions. Observational technologies that are 

specifically designed to function in the Arctic environment will help provide better inputs into these 

models. 

Space-based observation of oceanographic parameters and cryospheric parameters in the Arctic can

supplement in situ measurements in the harsh polar environment. Such observations will be 

increasingly important to understand processes in the marginal ice zones as ice coverage diminishes 

and the Arctic becomes a commercially viable transportation route. To achieve this, a change in how 

we approach Earth system models that better integrate Arctic ocean, ice, and atmospheric data must 

occur, for example, through the use of evolutionary computation72 and artificial intelligence. Many of 

these priorities will be addressed in collaboration with the United States Global Change Research 

Program (USGCRP) and the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC).

Priorities

• Support integration of pan-Arctic/global knowledge and activities, including validated coupled 

ocean-ice-atmosphere models for improved Arctic prediction at multiple time scales. 

• Improve models for enhanced forecasting and prediction of Arctic weather. 

• Promote collaborative networks of researchers, communities, and native peoples to advance 

and disseminate knowledge and prediction of the sea ice and Arctic weather systems.

• Support domestic and international R&D focused on innovative response technologies and 

procedures suitable for the Arctic environment. 

• Study the use of dispersants and the impacts of petrochemicals and other hazardous materials 

in order to provide better oil spill response options and protection for Arctic native 

communities, sea life, and migratory marine mammals.

 71 This objective aligns with IARPC Research Goal 9: Enhance Frameworks for Environmental Intelligence Gathering, 

Interpretation, and Application toward Decision Support. Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. (2016) Arctic 

Research Plan FY2017-2021. Washington D.C. p. 84. https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/plan/research-goal/environmentalintelligence (accessed April 17, 2018). 72 Eiben, A.E., and J. Smith. (2015) From evolutionary computation to the evolution of things. Nature 521:476-482. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14544 (accessed June 18, 2018).
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Maintain and Enhance Marine Transportation 

The U.S. Marine Transportation System (MTS)73 is critical to the economy and national security (Box 

3.2). Vital commercial, government (including military), and recreational traffic rely on a safe, secure, 

and efficient transportation system. The Nation’s maritime critical infrastructure–ports, inland 

waterways, and systems and structures supporting maritime commerce—contributes some $4.6 trillion 

in economic activity and millions of jobs each year.74 This includes about $1.5 trillion of cargo annually 

through U.S. seaports to and from international trading partners.75 Ocean S&T can support improved 

waterway management and safety, expanded shipping infrastructure and vessel capabilities, cyber 

resilience, and enhanced port operations and productivity. Understanding of cyber vulnerabilities in 

the maritime domain–both ashore and shipboard, mapping and predicting cyber-threats, as well as 

developing cyber-resilient options for maritime systems–would support mitigation strategies to 

manage cyber risks in the MTS.76

The maritime community relies on critical data during voyage planning and while transiting through 

U.S. navigational waterways (e.g., data from the Nationwide Automatic Identification System (NAIS), 77

the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS),78 and Marine Safety Information (MSI)79). Such 

technologies allow for tracking and monitoring of vessel movements using systems along the coast or, 

when out of range of terrestrial networks, through a growing number of satellites equipped with 

automatic identification system (AIS) receivers. The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requires AIS to be equipped aboard 

vessels of 300 or more gross tons engaged in international voyages, and all passenger ships regardless 

of size. The IMO also requires a similar global system, Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) for 

applicable vessels, to provide global identification and tracking in the maritime domain. 

In addition to technological advances, the ability to effectively communicate and maintain connections 

across ocean networks enhances safe navigation, search and rescue operations, and domestic and 

global trade. This can be achieved through advancing knowledge of the impact of invasive species on 

maritime transportation, electronic information to support cargo risk assessments, capability to screen 

cargo at loading, techniques to prevent smuggling of weapons, enhanced container security 

technologies, and other measures to ensure cargo integrity and in-transit visibility through maritime 

domain awareness.80

 73 Consists of ocean, coastal, and inland waterways, intermodal connections, and vessels.

74 U.S. Coast Guard. (2018) 2018 State of the Coast Guard. Admiral Zukunft. March 1, 2018. https://www.uscg.mil/SOTCG2018/

(accessed May 15, 2018).

75 The National Ocean Service. (2018) How important is our ocean economy? 

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oceaneconomy.html (accessed April 15, 2018). 76 U.S. Coast Guard. (2017) Cyber Risks in the Marine Transportation System. p. 10. https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/CGFAC/Documents/USCG_Paper_MTS_CyberRisks.pdf?ver=2017-07-19-070403-473 (accessed April 19, 2018). 77 The NAIS is an automatic tracking system used by ships, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), and other maritime community 

users.

78 PORTS is a program of NOAA’s National Ocean Service that supports safe and cost-effective navigation by providing 

accurate real-time information required to avoid groundings, allisions, and collisions. The information provided at key hubs 

(currently 31 locations) includes tide/water level, current, wave, meteorological, and bridge clearance information.

79 MSI is currently provided by the U.S. Coast Guard through “Local Notice of Mariners” and via Very High FrequencyFrequency Modulated (VHF-FM) marine band broadcasts. 80 U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2015) A Reliable Waterway System is Important to Agriculture. 

https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Importance%20of%20Waterways%2010-2015.pdf (accessed June 15, 

2018).
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Priorities

• Modernize the delivery of Marine Safety Information by experimenting with transmitting 

enhanced MSI (eMSI) via AIS technology for display on integrated bridge systems. 

• Support ocean/maritime information sharing and cybersecurity to deploy maritime 

surveillance and communications in remote regions.

• Support and validate field detection equipment to detect nuclear, chemical, disease, biological, 

and other threats at ports of entry.

• Develop and validate systems to identify and track vessels failing to transmit required 

identification signals (e.g., AIS).

● Examine the vulnerabilities and dependencies between national security and sustainable 

national and international commerce (e.g., stable currency value, safe ship transit, reliable 

transportation, and enhanced infrastructure).

• Improve port security through diversified monitoring systems (e.g., use of autonomous 

platforms, monitoring of undersea cables, and improvement of detection technologies at the 

entrance to the Nation’s ports and other navigable waterways for counter-terrorism evaluation 

and enhanced maritime security).

• Develop detection/avoidance and low noise technologies for ships to reduce interactions 

between vessels and marine life (e.g., whales).

Box 3.2. America is a Maritime Nation

• Our Nation enjoys tremendous geographic advantages in its unhindered access to the 

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic region.

• America possesses a vast network and thousands of miles of navigable rivers, canals, and 

other waterways on which ships and barges carry massive amounts of commodities and 

products both within the United States and to and from the world market, taking 

advantage of 360 major ports. For example, 60% of U.S. grain exports are moved by barge 

for at least part of the journey.80

• The MTS is the economic lifeblood of the American and global economy, and plays an 

essential role in U.S. national security and economic interests. It enables critical national 

security sealift capabilities, where it supports U.S. Armed Forces logistical requirements 

around the globe. 

• Any disruption to the MTS, whether man-made or natural, would have a potentially 

devastating impact on the domestic and global supply chain.

• New technologies can enhance safety and reduce threats, but also often add complexity to 

vessel designs, propulsion systems, operations, automation, robotics, networked systems, 

and new methods for offshore natural resource exploration, production, and 

transportation, which can make the MTS even more vulnerable to disruption.

• The Federal government, in its enduring role of promoting safety, security, and 

stewardship, safeguards the MTS and helps ensure the uninterrupted flow of maritime 

commerce.
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Goal IV. Safeguard Human Health

The ocean provides a vast array of resources, natural products, and ecosystem services that impact 

human health and support our quality of life. It also provides safe and nutritional sources of food and 

drinking water, and natural products that ameliorate health issues and offer safer alternatives to 

cosmetics, anti-fouling agents, pharmaceuticals, and other products. More than 28,000 biochemicals 

have been isolated from marine species; many are important pharmaceutical products and hundreds 

of new compounds from the marine environment are discovered each year.81 Moreover, marine 

organisms are responsible for approximately 50% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. 82

Despite these benefits, the ocean also has hazards such as marine pathogens and harmful algal blooms 

(HABs),83 both of which can produce toxic chemicals detrimental to human health, and pose a threat to 

our growing economy. 84 For example, the seafood, restaurant, and tourism industries lose about $82 

million dollars every year due to the impacts of HABs.85 In addition, knowledge gaps impede decisionmakers from effectively mitigating emerging threats to human health, such as microscopic plastic 

(microplastics) debris found in the ocean. Advances in ocean S&T to improve seafood quality and safety, 

and harness the health benefits of seafood consumption, can benefit communities home and abroad.

Recent advances in ocean S&T have led to discovering new products derived from nature and improving 

risk management. There is still a need, however, to increase our understanding of ocean dynamics and 

resources, spur technological innovations, and improve the discovery and responsible use of ocean 

products and services. This can be accomplished by expanding exploration and discovery into 

unexplored ocean regions, collecting and studying natural products, and developing improved 

resource management practices, which can reduce the strain on known resources. Prediction, 

monitoring, and mitigation capabilities can also allow for a more strategic approach for how we use the 

ocean.

 81 Blunt, J.W., B.R. Copp B.R., R.A. Keyzers, M.H.G. Munro, and M.R. Prinsep. (2015) Marine natural products. Nature Product 

Report 32:116–211. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4np00144c (accessed June 18, 2018). 82 Marine phytoplankton are responsible for roughly half of global net primary production. Field, C.B., M.J. Behrenfeld, J.T. 

Randerson, and P. Falkowski. (1998) Primary production of the biosphere: Integrating terrestrial and oceanic components. 

Science, 281(5374):237-240. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/281/5374/237 (accessed October 4, 2018). 83 HABs are hyper-proliferating colonies of algae that produce toxic or harmful effects on people, animals, and surrounding 

ecosystems. More information can be found at: Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research 

and Control Act. (2018) Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia in the United States. A report on interagency progress and 

implementation. Washington D.C. p. 153. https://cdn.coastalscience.noaa.gov/pageattachments/research/FINAL_USEC%20signed%20-%20Progress%20and%20Implementation%20Report_HABHRCA.pdf

(accessed June 15, 2018). 

84 Chen, C.Y., C.T. Driscoll, K.F. Lambert, R.P. Mason, L.R. Rardin, C.V. Schmitt, N.S. Serrell, and E.M. Sunderland. (2012) 

Sources to seafood: Mercury pollution in the marine environment. Maine Sea Grant College Program. Orono, Maine. p. 26. 

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/assets/pdf/sources_to_seafood_report.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018); Evers, D.C., J.G. 

Wiener, C.T. Driscoll, D.A. Gay, N. Basu, B.A. Monson, K.F. Lambert, H.A. Morrison, J.T. Morgan, K.A. Williams, and A.G. Soehl. 

(2011) Great Lakes mercury connections: The extent and effects of mercury pollution in the Great Lakes region. Biodiversity 

Research Institute. Gorham, Maine. Report BRI 2011-18, p. 44. 

http://www.briloon.org/uploads/BRI_Documents/Mercury_Center/Mercury_Connections/GLMC_FinalReport.pdf (accessed 

April 17, 2018).

85 National Ocean Service. (2017) Why Do Harmful Algal Blooms Occur? https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/why_habs.html

(accessed April 19, 2018).
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Prevent and Reduce Plastic Pollution

Plastics provide important benefits to our society and are used to make many everyday products, from 

medical devices to automobile airbags, to cell phones and computers. However, too many plastics—

especially single-use plastics—are not properly disposed of and find their way into our oceans and 

waterways.Other items are lost, abandoned, or discarded at sea, such as derelict fishing gear and other 

items from vessels or stationary platforms. Once in the marine environment, these plastics are 

considered to be marine debris. This marine debris leads to wildlife entanglement, animal mortality 

from ingestion, habitat destruction, water contamination, flooding from clogged drainage systems, 

impediments to transportation and commerce, and impacts on human health.

Plastic debris is ubiquitous in all marine and freshwater environments, and has been documented 

globally from rivers and lakes, inland seas, shorelines, the ocean’s surface and water column, coastal 

and deep-sea sediments, sea ice, and biota. It exists throughout the global ocean due to its durability, 

global usage, and ease of transport by ocean currents and wind. Marine plastic debris threatens the 

healthy functioning of coastal, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems, along with the societies and 

economies reliant upon them. A better understanding of the sources, transport, fate, and impacts of 

marine plastics will be essential to identifying effective, globally-translatable solutions for marine 

plastic debris.

Marine plastic debris originates from land-based and sea-based activities. It is estimated that more than 

half of the plastic in the global ocean originates from five countries: China, Indonesia, Philippines, 

Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.86 Research suggests that mismanaged plastic waste, including materials from 

inadequate waste management systems, is the most significant pathway by which land-based sources 

of debris can reach the ocean.86 Plastics do not mineralize (i.e., chemically break down) once they enter 

the environment, but instead physically break apart into smaller pieces called microplastics (Box 4.1). 

Consequently, plastic material remains in marine and freshwater environments for a long period of 

time, posing a threat to ecosystems, wildlife, humans, and economies across the globe.

Plastic debris can have widespread economic, ecological, and human health impacts. Marine debris can 

affect several economic sectors including aquaculture, fisheries, coastal tourism, commercial shipping, 

recreational boating, local coastal governments, and emergency response services. The costs 

associated with marine debris can be direct (e.g., beach cleanups, fishing gear replacement) or indirect 

(e.g., reduced revenue for coastal tourism industries, impacts to biodiversity and ecosystem services). 

Marine debris encounters have been documented for nearly 700 species,

87 from coastal vegetation, to 

plankton, invertebrates, fish, cetaceans, sea turtles, and seabirds. Common wildlife impacts include 

ingestion, entanglement, transport of non-native species, and habitat damage. Finally, plastic marine 

debris contains, and can possibly transfer, chemicals having known toxicological effects on humans 

and wildlife through pathways including ingestion, inhalation, and contact.88 However, the actual 

 86 Jambeck J.R., R. Geyer, C. Wilcox, T.R. Siegler, M. Perryman, A. Andrady, R. Narayan, and K.L. Law. (2015) Plastic waste 

inputs from land into the ocean. Science 347 (6223): 768-771. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768.full

(accessed October 2, 2018).

87 Gall S.C., and R.C. Thompson. (2015) The impact of debris on marine life. Marine Pollution Bulletin 92: 170–179. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14008571?via%3Dihub (accessed October 2, 2018). 88 Smith M., D.C. Love, C.M. Rochman, and R.A. Neff. (2018) Microplastics in seafood and the implications for human health. 

Current Environmental Health Reports 3: 375-386. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40572-018-0206-z (accessed 

October 2, 2018); Koelmans A.A., E. Besseling, E. Foekema, M. Kooi, S. Mintenig, B.C. Ossendorp, P.E. Redondo-Hasselerharm, 

A. Verschoor, A.P. van Weze, and M. Scheffer. (2017) Risks of plastic debris: unravelling fact, opinion, perception, and belief. 

Environmental Science & Technology 51: 11513-11519. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b02219 (accessed 

October 2, 2018); Koelmans A.A., A. Bakir, G.A. Burton, and C.R. Janssen. (2016) Microplastics as a vector for chemicals in the 
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ecological and human health risks associated with different plastics and their associated chemicals 

remain largely unknown.89

In order to effectively address marine plastic debris, additional research is needed in a number of areas. 

One area includes scalable waste management technologies that allow for appropriate containment 

and safe reuse of plastic waste. Equally important, S&T can support ongoing monitoring, modeling, and 

research in order to more fully characterize the scope and scale of the marine plastic debris problem. 

Domestic and international efforts to prevent plastic debris must occur alongside research to 

understand, and ultimately mitigate, its effects on marine and freshwater ecosystems, humans, and the 

ocean. Public-private partnerships and collaborative efforts by the public, academia, nongovernmental 

organizations, non-profit organizations, and government agencies can address this man-made 

problem to achieve a cleaner future by both preventing and reducing plastic pollution. 

Priorities

• Establish reliable and reproducible methods for monitoring marine debris, including the 

collection, extraction, characterization, and quantification of plastics across various 

environmental compartments (e.g., shoreline, sea surface, water column, seafloor, and biota) 

in both marine and freshwater systems.

• Improve understanding of the transport and fate of marine debris within and among 

environmental compartments as a result of oceanographic processes and the variable 

processes of degradation, fragmentation, biofouling, and bioaggregation among polymer 

types.

• Support development of next-generation biodegradable plastics to reduce marine debris 

impacts on marine life and coastal communities.

• Estimate the risks associated with microplastic exposure for commercial seafood resources and 

humans to improve the understanding of potential exposure pathways, toxicological 

mechanisms, and public health concerns.

• Collaborate with industry to evaluate current (and if necessary, develop new) innovative, costeffective technologies and methodologies to gather, recycle/reuse, and treat plastic waste. 

 

aquatic environment: critical review and model-supported reinterpretation of empirical studies. Environmental Science & 

Technology 50: 3315-3326. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5b06069 (accessed October 2, 2018). 89 Koelmans A.A., E. Besseling, E. Foekema, M. Kooi, S. Mintenig, B.C. Ossendorp, P.E. Redondo-Hasselerharm, A. Verschoor, 

A.P. van Weze, and M. Scheffer. (2017) Risks of plastic debris: unravelling fact, opinion, perception, and belief. Environmental 

Science & Technology 51: 11513-11519. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b02219 (accessed October 2, 2018).
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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909192939495

 90 Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Pollution. (2015) Sources, fate and effects of 

microplastics in the marine environment: a global assessment. International Maritime Organization 90, p. 98. 

http://www.gesamp.org/publications/reports-and-studies-no-90 (accessed November 7, 2018). 91 Eriksen, M., L.C.M. Lebreton, H.S. Carson, M. Thiel, C.J. Moore, J.C. Borerro, F. Galgani, P.G. Ryan, and J. Reisser. (2014) 

Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: More than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. PloS one

9:e111913. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111913 (accessed June 18, 2018); Gall S.C., 

and R.C. Thompson. (2015) The impact of debris on marine life. Marine Pollution Bulletin 92: 170–179. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14008571 (accessed October 2, 2018).

Box 4.1. Microplastics Accumulation in the Food Chain

Microplastics are particles of plastic that range in size from 1 nanometer to < 5 millimeters.90 They 

can be manufactured for household products or result from larger pieces of marine debris breaking 

down over time into smaller pieces. It is estimated that 269,000 metric tons of microplastics are 

floating at or near the surface of the ocean, affecting over 700 marine species.91 Depending on the 

material, microplastics may float or sink, contaminating both coastal and deep-sea sediments.92

Ingestion of microplastics by marine organisms at all trophic levels is well documented. However, 

there is limited evidence to suggest that microplastics are a relevant exposure pathway for the 

transfer of persistent organic pollutants into organisms.93 The transfer of microplastics from marine 

organisms to humans through seafood consumption may present a risk to human health, yet 

research is lacking.94 Likely, plastic-mediated contaminants accumulate due to the preferred 

binding of persistent organic pollutants (including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic 

aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) to plastic particles.95 However, the scientific community is still 

investigating whether microplastics themselves leach into the tissue of marine organisms that 

consume them.93 For the coming decade, we should learn how these processes and direct exposure 

of microplastic chemicals through the food chain ultimately impact human health. In addition, 

further research is necessary to determine the extent to which microbes in the ocean environment 

consume persistent plastics and what might be done to enhance the success of such natural 

processes.

Figure 4.1. Accumulation of microplastics on a shoreline. (Image courtesy of NOAA)
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Improve Forecasts of Marine Contaminants and Pathogens 

Ocean chemistry can enhance human well-being by supplying healthy compounds in our food, but it 

can also put human health at risk, such as by exposing people to toxins. Through state-of-the-art 

forecasting capabilities of ocean chemicals and conditions, researchers and managers have been able 

to reduce the risk of threats such as seafood-borne illness (e.g., shellfish and finfish poisoning). Through 

monitoring levels of known toxins and pathogens, the seafood industry works with local, State, and 

Federal agencies to provide healthier products and guard against potential human health risks from 

the ocean.96 Predictive capabilities depend on research in ocean hydrodynamics, chemical fate and 

transport, and human reactions to toxins and pathogens. For example, continuous monitoring of 

temperature and salinity in coastal regions can help predict overgrowth of Vibrio vulnificus, the 

bacterium responsible for 95% of seafood-related death in the United States.97 Bacterial infections can 

result from ingestion of contaminated seafood or enter via the bloodstream by way of open wounds 

exposed to tainted seawater. Toxin-associated illnesses occur in a similar fashion via ingestion of 

animals (namely shellfish) that have been feeding on several species of toxin-producing algae. 

There are also large uncertainties in contaminant emission rates and ocean-mediated biogeochemical 

cycling mechanisms. An increased understanding of such processes can better inform consequences 

such as that of halogens and isoprene emissions from the ocean that can exert significant influences on 

atmospheric chemistry, including ozone levels. Forecasting ocean biogeochemical and physical cycling 

is done at multiple spatial and temporal scales. For example, forecasting of waterborne pathogen levels 

might be necessary over a time scale of days for a specific recreational area, whereas forecasting of 

contamination levels in fish in a large area such as Lake Superior might change over years to decades. 

Forecasting tools require accurate estimates of contaminant sources and how these sources change 

over time, and need to be based on validated models (Box 4.2).

Priorities

• Improve predictive mathematical models of the sources, transport, fate, and degradation of 

constituents immediately relevant to human health.

• Understand the pathways of human and animal exposure to waterborne pathogens, toxic 

chemicals, and algal toxins, including oral, dermal, and airborne routes via drinking water, food, 

recreational water, and aerosols.

 92 Woodall, L.C, A. Sanchez-Vidal, M. Canals, G.L.J. Paterson, R. Coppock, V. Sleight, A. Calafat, A.D. Rogers, B.E. 

Narayanaswamy, and R.C. Thompson. (2014) The deep sea is a major sink for microplastic debris. Royal Society Open Science

1:140317. http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/1/4/140317 (accessed June 18, 2018). 93 Lohmann, R. (2017) Microplastics are not important for the cycling and bioaccumulation of organic pollutants in the 

oceans—but should microplastics be considered POPs themselves? Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 

13(3): 460-465. https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ieam.1914 (accessed November 7, 2018). 94 Smith M., D.C. Love, C.M. Rochman, and R.A. Neff. (2018) Microplastics in seafood and the implications for human health. 

Current Environmental Health Reports 3: 375-386. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40572-018-0206-z (accessed 

October 2, 2018).

95 Seltenrich, N. (2015) New Link in the food chain? Marine plastic pollution and seafood safety. Environmental Health 

Perspectives 123(2):35-123. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25643424 (accessed April 17, 2018). 96 McMichael, A.J., C.D. Butler, and J. Dixon. (2015) Climate change, food systems and population health risks in their ecosocial context. Public Health 129(10):1361-1368. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25896548 (accessed June 15, 2018). 97 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. (2017) Chesapeake Bay Vibrio Pathogen Forecast. 

https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/chesapeake-bay-vibrio-pathogen-forecast/ (accessed May 30, 2018).
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• Advance knowledge of the exchange of chemical contaminants and nutrients between the 

ocean and the atmosphere, the impacts of the changing ocean, and other contributors to the 

occurrence, frequency, and severity of human health impacts from constituents relevant to 

human health.

• Support computational modeling capabilities for bioaccumulation research, especially in 

pharmacokinetic simulations98 of contaminants threatening water quality and food safety (e.g., 

per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

Combat Harmful Algal Blooms

Understanding the incidence, severity, and persistence of hazards to human health from oceanic, 

estuarine, and freshwater areas requires increased observations at multiple spatial and temporal 

scales. This includes arrays and networks of monitoring sites, in situ measurements from buoys and 

instrumented moorings, and remotely-sensed data and imagery from aircraft and satellites. An 

example for this need to enhance monitoring capabilities is the increasing occurrence and spread of 

HAB events worldwide, including recent highly impactful HAB events in the United States.83

HABs are created by a small subset of naturally occurring microscopic or larger plant-like cyanobacteria 

or algal species. However, over the past several years in particular, their "blooms" (rapid growth 

periods) have become more prevalent and severe. The physical, chemical, and biological conditions 

that influence HAB development and persistence are myriad and may include changes in water 

temperature, extreme weather events, and precipitation patterns due to climatic changes; runoff and 

pollution from wastewater systems, urban areas, and agricultural sites; and invasive organisms.

 98 “Pharmacokinetic simulations demonstrate the fate of a chemical inside of the body, from initial exposure to elimination, 

and how the body’s absorption, distribution, etc. may alter the chemical compound.” Environmental Protection Agency. 

(2018) Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/research-andpolyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas (accessed September 4, 2018).

Box 4.2. Building Forecasting Tools for Human Health

• Contaminants produced in situ, such as biotoxins, require accurate estimates of generation 

or production rates under different conditions. 

• Understanding toxic chemicals requires knowledge of loading rates from direct discharges, 

nonpoint sources, and indirect pathways such as watershed processes and atmospheric 

surface exchange, as well as the legacy distribution and amounts of the pollutant within 

the system resulting from past loading.

• Forecasting of atmospheric deposition requires understanding of atmospheric emissions 

as well as atmospheric fate and transport processes. Once the loading and/or generation 

rates are understood, knowledge of the dynamic behavior of the contaminant in the 

oceanic ecosystem is required.

• Advanced research and technologies require more effective measuring of biological 

variables and indicators. 
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HABs have been reported in every U.S. coastal State and can produce a toxic threat to humans and their 

local environment.99 This threat to the seafood and tourism industries calls for improved HAB toxin 

sensors, monitoring protocols, and quantification of toxins and their chemical structures. Better 

understanding the source, fate, and spatial and temporal scales of land-based nutrient runoff in 

relation to HABs will help mitigate these events in coastal and oceanic environments. New technologies 

based on immunoassays, enzyme inhibition, optical biosensors, nucleic acid amplification, and other 

novel approaches continue to evolve under government and private funding. Federal leadership is 

needed on the provision and quality of reference materials (e.g., specimens, toxin standards, and 

molecular probes) as well as data management and data visualization tools for increased awareness of 

public health risks and effective response and mitigation strategies.

Policy-makers, public health authorities, and communities need the best available information to 

minimize current and future exposure to HABs and other known and potential ocean related health 

threats. Ongoing R&D should focus on analytical measurements, process understanding, and modeling 

to provide more reliable, useful, timely, and policy-relevant information. 

Priorities

• Develop guidelines, testing methods, and rapid response strategies for accurate assessment 

and mitigation of pathogens, eutrophying chemicals, toxic chemicals, and algal toxins. 

• Enhance and transfer new tools and technologies such as omics and bioinformatics into 

management programs that promote human health and protect humans from HABs and other 

ocean-related issues.

• Generate data for computational and mathematical model evaluation and improvement to 

develop risk assessments of HABs and other known and emerging threats to human health.

• Document human and animal exposure, illness, disease, and death related to HABs and other 

water quality risks.

• Emphasize public access to monitoring data, create user-friendly data formats, and ensure 

readily available metadata of parameters related to health risks.

• Develop socioeconomic measures to estimate societal costs from exposure to HABs and other 

ocean-related human health hazards, and share that information with State, local, and tribal 

groups. 

 99 Environmental Protection Agency. (2017) Nutrient Pollution: Harmful Algal Blooms. 

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/harmful-algal-blooms (accessed June 12, 2018).
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Discover Natural Products

While many promising pharmaceutical candidates are produced through synthetic approaches, 

approximately half of all new pharmaceutical approvals still trace their structural origin to natural 

products,100 illustrating the unique structural and chemical diversity found in the ocean environment. 

A substantial number of natural products with applications in medicine (anti-cancer, anti-viral, antifungal, antibiotics), nutrients (dietary supplements, food additives), energy (biofuels), and other 

beneficial materials (e.g., antifoulant, diagnostics tools, and cosmetics) derive from marine hosts.101 For 

example, the Alaskan deep-water green sponge produces molecules that target and kill pancreatic 

cancer cells in the laboratory.102 Microbial (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotic (fungi) symbionts of 

various marine hosts also produce a wide variety of compounds with potential for drug discovery. The 

rich diversity of the ocean presents enormous economic and biological potential (Box 4.3). Advances in 

ocean exploration and non-invasive discovery technologies (e.g., acoustic tools, digital imaging, 

remote vehicles, deep-diving submersibles, and improved environmental sensors) will enable 

Americans to leverage such potential, while also mitigating environmental impacts.

Advances in molecular approaches such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics 

will improve the discovery, optimize production, and increase understanding of the mechanisms for 

how chemicals influence our bodies. Increased computational capabilities and improvements in 

bioinformatics analyses, as well as open access knowledge and sharing of raw data, will open new doors 

for harnessing marine natural products.103104105106

Priorities

• Continue responsible exploration and discovery of oceanic habitats and associated species, 

including bacteria, archaea, fungi, microbes, and viruses, to discover natural products and 

processes that improve human health and the environment. 

• Contribute to research on sensors and collection devices for extreme and hostile ocean 

environments, such as the deep-sea, to facilitate expanded sustainable ocean exploration and 

discovery. 

 100 Stratton, C., D.J. Newman, and D.S. Tana. (2015) Cheminformatic comparison of approved drugs from natural product 

versus synthetic origins. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 25(21):4802–4807. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4607632/ (accessed June 15, 2018). 101 Food and Drug Administration. (2011) Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Fourth Edition. Florida 

Sea Grant College Program. Gainesville, Florida. p. 468. 

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/food/guidanceregulation/ucm251970.pdf (accessed April 17, 2018). 102 Alaska Fisheries Science Center. (2017) Small, deep-water Alaska sponge has molecules that selectively target and kill 

pancreatic tumor cells. https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/News/Green_Sponge.htm# (accessed April 17, 2018). 103 Lawson, K. (2011) Global Markets for Marine-Derived Pharmaceuticals. BCC Research. 

https://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/pharmaceuticals/marine-derived-pharma-markets-phm101a.html

(accessed April 17, 2018); Blasiak, R., J-B. Jouffray, C.C.C. Wabnitz, E. Sundstrom, and H. Osterblom. (2018) Corporate control 

and global governance of marine genetic resources. Science Advances 4(6): eaar5237. 

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/6/eaar5237 (accessed October 22, 2018). 104 Vierros, M., C.A. Suttle, H. Harden-Davies, and G. Burton. (2016) Who owns the ocean? Policy issues surrounding marine 

genetic resources. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 25(2):29–35. 

https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lob.10108 (accessed April 17, 2018). 105 Mayer, A.M.S. (2018) Marine Pharmaceuticals: The Clinical Pipeline.

http://marinepharmacology.midwestern.edu/clinical_pipeline.html (accessed November 7, 2018). 106 Malve, H. (2016) Exploring the ocean for new drug development: Marine pharmacology. Journal of Pharmacy and BioAllied 

Sciences 8(2): 83-91. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4832911/ (accessed June 18, 2018).
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• Support the infrastructure (e.g., analytical methods, computer data mining technology, 

bioinformatics, computational capabilities) to screen, identify, and make sustainable use of 

beneficial natural products.

• Understand opportunities for increasing macroalgae culturing for use as raw material for 

beneficial algal bioproducts such as foods and biofuels.

• Accelerate partnerships with private industry and academia to support biosynthetic assembly 

lines and incubation beds (i.e., demonstration projects) to more rapidly move products to 

market, and improve mariculture techniques to assure the supply of natural products for R&D.

Box 4.3. Economic Potential of Marine Natural Products

• Ocean-derived pharmaceuticals are rapidly expanding in the global market, from $4.8 

billion in 2011 to a projected global market of marine biotechnology at $6.4 billion by 

2025.103

• Patent applications related to marine genetic material are increasing at a rate of 12% each 

year, with over 5,000 genes derived from marine organisms already patented.104

• The Global Marine Pharmaceuticals Clinical Pipeline105 reveals over 30 natural products, 

which have been Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved or are in Phase III, II, or I of 

pharmaceutical development. 

 59% of these compounds are isolated from bacteria associated with marine 

mollusks or sponges.

 80% of these compounds target various cancers.

• Approximately 1,340 new marine natural product compounds were isolated from various 

marine microbes, invertebrates, and algae in 2015.81

• There are currently over 20 marine natural products in FDA preclinical trials that target 

various diseases including bacterial and fungal infections, malaria, tuberculosis, diabetes, 

cystic fibrosis, and cancer.106
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Goal V. Develop Resilient Coastal Communities

In 2017, the United States experienced the most expensive year on record in terms of natural disasters, 

causing $306 billion in total damage, of which $265 billion came from hurricanes.107 Changing climatic 

conditions can affect the Earth’s hydrological cycle, atmospheric water vapor concentrations, clouds, 

precipitation patterns, and runoff and stream flow patterns.108 Flooding and coastal storms can have 

huge direct costs related to damaged local infrastructure109 as well as other indirect economic and 

social costs110 that affect people throughout the country (Box 5.1).111 To protect coastal populations and 

infrastructure, the Nation must find ways to encourage innovation while mitigating risk from storms 

and other hazards. It is critical to prepare communities for extreme weather using scientific 

information, adaptive management strategies, and enhanced communication to promote a more 

resilient weather-ready Nation. 

Our coasts and associated communities are economic engines that provide transportation, recreation, 

tourism, and energy for the millions of people that visit and reside in coastal as well as inland areas. 

Comprehensive understanding of the coastal and marine ecosystems, forecasting shifts of community 

vulnerability due to human and natural processes, and embedding that knowledge in decision-making 

processes that reduce risk and vulnerability and enhance economic prosperity of U.S. communities are 

long-standing scientific and technological challenges. Science-based information and tools can help 

coastal communities respond and adapt to a changing ocean. 

The economic strength and sustainability of U.S. communities depends on services the ocean provides. 

Identification and measurement of communities’ strengths and vulnerabilities allow managers and 

other decision-makers to assess management strategies to build and maintain resilient and prosperous 

communities, while promoting sustainable economic growth and healthy ecosystems. This baseline 

information also enables temporal and geographic comparisons of social-ecological systems and 

associated ecosystem services to understand and forecast the impacts of environmental change on the 

well-being of human communities for generations to come.

 107 National Centers for Environmental Information. (2018) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters. 

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/ (accessed April 17, 2018). 108 NASA. (2018) The Water Cycle and Climate Change. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Water/page3.php

(accessed April 17, 2018).

109 Padgett, J., R. DesRoches, B. Nielson, M. Yashinsky, O.S. Kwon, N. Burdette, and E. Tavera. (2008) Bridge damage and 

repair costs from Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Bridge Engineering 13(1):6-14. 

https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0702(2008)13%3A1(6) (accessed June 15, 2018); Kunz, M., B. Mühr, T. 

Kunz-Plapp, J.E. Daniell, B. Khazai, F. Wenzel, M. Vannieuwenhuyse, T. Comes, F. Elmer, K. Schröter, and J. Fohringer. (2013) 

Investigation of superstorm Sandy 2012 in a multi-disciplinary approach. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

13(10):2579. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-13-2579-2013 (accessed June 15, 2018). 110 Morris, K.A., and N.M. Deterding. (2016) The emotional cost of distance: Geographic social network dispersion and posttraumatic stress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Social Science and Medicine 165:56-65. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003656/ (accessed June 15, 2018). 111 Shen, G., and S.G. Aydin. (2014) Highway freight transportation disruptions under an extreme environmental event: the 

case of Hurricane Katrina. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 11(8):2387-2402.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13762-014-0677-x (accessed April 15, 2018); Becker, A.H., P. Matson, M. Fischer, 

and M.D. Mastrandrea. (2015) Towards seaport resilience for climate change adaptation: Stakeholder perceptions of 

hurricane impacts in Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI). Progress in Planning 99:1-49. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305900614000427 (accessed April 15, 2018).
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Box 5.1. The Cost of Extreme Events

• In 2017 alone, there were 16 weather and climate related events from drought, flooding, 

freeze, severe storm, tropical cyclone, or wildfire events in which, for each event, economic 

damage exceeded $1 billion.112

• Estimated damages from Hurricane Harvey, including property damage, lost wages, and 

disrupted business, were as much as $125 billion.113

• Superstorm Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, devastating coastal communities 

and causing over $70 billion in property damage and at least 147 direct deaths across the 

Atlantic basin.114

Figure 5.1. Satellite photos of Ortley Beach, New Jersey, before (top) and after (bottom) 

Superstorm Sandy. (Images courtesy of NOAA and Google)
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Prepare for Natural Disasters and Weather Events112113114

The United States has experienced more than 219 weather and climate disasters since 1980, resulting 

in the total cost of more than $1.5 trillion115 which is about $45 billion per year. Disasters are generally 

focused and have a disproportionately larger impact on specific locations and communities. Building a 

weather-ready Nation, where society is prepared for and responds appropriately to extreme weather, 

water, climate, and environmental threats is critical. Ensuring community resilience in the face of 

increasing vulnerability requires collaboration across all levels of government, industry, nonprofits, and 

academia (Box 5.2). Decision support services, along with physical, natural, and social science data and 

information, can help coastal communities mitigate the impacts from these threats. 

Whether on a fair, sunny, and mild day or during an extreme-weather event with potential for loss of life 

and property destruction, improved decisions contribute to better prepared communities. Nowhere is 

this more important than in the coastal environment, where there is a need for continued research, 

support, and data for informed decision-making. Connections to the marine enterprise require 

relationship building, gathering and streamlining of requirements, and a coordinated approach to 

decision-support tools. Decision-support tools help build resilience and reduce adverse consequences. 

This all results in safer and more secure maritime transportation and enhances safe, enjoyable coastal 

recreation. The goal is a future with minimal weather-related losses of life and property at sea, along 

our coasts, and within our watersheds.

 112 National Centers for Environmental Information. (2018) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Table of Events. 

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/US/1980-2018 (accessed April 17, 2018). 113 Office for Coastal Management. (2018) Hurricane Costs. https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/hurricane-costs.html

(accessed April 17, 2018).

114 Hurricane Research Division. (2017) Costliest mainland United States tropical cyclones 1900-2017. Unadjusted for 

inflation. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/costliesttable.html (accessed April 17, 2018). 115 United States Global Change Research Program. (2014) National Climate Assessment. USGCRP. Washington, D.C. 

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/report-findings/extreme-weather (accessed June 15, 2018).

Box 5.2. Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey in 2017 resulted in major impacts to lives and property due to extensive flooding 

from storm surge, unrelenting rainfall, and heavy riverine discharge. Model predictions are not yet 

able to quantitatively link these three sources of coastal inundation, highlighting a critical gap in 

capabilities. Addressing the “Harvey-gap” in total coastal water-level prediction and Impact-based 

Decision Support Services (IDSS) capabilities requires coupled atmosphere-ocean-land-wave 

models. To address this, efforts are underway to develop a total coastal water plan to conduct 

modeling in a single estuary beginning in 2018 and expanding to a full national operational 

capability in 5-10 years. Initial capabilities will focus on water levels with 2-D ocean models; “end 

products” in the 10-year time frame will have to address navigation and water quality issues with 

3D ocean models.

IDSS requires both accurate modeling and an accurate assessment of model uncertainties. 

Stochastic atmospheric physics and developing strategies for coupled ensemble generation 

(particularly for non-weather coupled components) are active fields of research that will enhance 

operational improvement over the next 5-10 years.
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Priorities

• Conduct needs assessments to determine status of prediction tools and information already 

provided, identify existing gaps and enhance the capacity and capability to offer, integrate, 

display, and disseminate data and information. 

• Support and disseminate tools for understanding and translating science to promote 

resilience-based approaches in ocean and coastal communities, waterborne recreational users, 

and those experiencing drought and flooding.

• Identify needs, areas for coordination, methods for technology transfer, and develop and 

implement a suite of integrated marine weather products to provide earlier warning and better 

highlight hazardous weather conditions at sea, fortify water quality efforts underway,

116 and 

reduce risk to coastal residents unaware of extreme weather events and storm surge.

• Produce and implement communications and outreach strategies with associated milestones, 

training tools and media relations platforms delivering technology, resilience, and commercerelated success stories to showcase products and services, increase awareness, educate, and

enable adaptation strategies.

Reduce Risk and Vulnerabilities

While natural disasters and weather events are major threats, coastal communities are also at risk 

because of many other disturbances. In particular, many communities depend on coastal and marine 

resources for commercial and recreational uses, and changes to those resources provide both risks and 

opportunities to those industries and activities engaged in those uses. For example, fish populations 

may migrate along coasts, disrupting areas historically dependent on those populations, and providing 

new opportunities for other communities. Similarly, coastal economies and ecosystems are often 

dependent on their beaches and research into pollution discharge, sea level rise, and sediment 

transport and resulting changes in geomorphology is critical.

The ability of communities to overcome these disruptions depends on reducing risk, and where 

possible, capitalizing on opportunities by understanding community dependencies, forecasting

resource responses to environmental change, and providing options for resource managers and 

industries to plan for the future. Because our Nation’s security and prosperity is affected by our 

communities’ access and use of coastal resources (e.g., fisheries, energy, recreation, and cultural 

heritage), it is important to understand the factors that affect the ability of communities to respond to, 

and recover from, natural and manmade disturbances. Vulnerability assessments for communities can 

lead to further risk reduction.

There is interest in better understanding the current state of resilience at multiple scales—from national 

to local—and the various determining factors that influence community resilience. Community 

resilience is affected by economic stability and the ability for communities to survive and rebuild in 

response to diverse challenges and impacts. Coastal communities recognized as highly resilient will 

attract investment and strengthen the ocean economy.

Understanding how communities change over time requires baseline information to assess 

vulnerability and resilience historically and into the future. This effort requires collaborative efforts 

between local community, State, and Federal governments to determine past conditions, current 

trends, and future projections. Thus, accurate observations, mapping, and ecosystem condition data 

 116 More information can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-water (accessed June 12, 2018).
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must be available for modeling and analyses across the entire coastal area.117 This baseline information 

leads to a better understanding and measure of community vulnerability and resilience.

Whether it be a coastal city planner developing a new 50-year infrastructure plan, or a fisherman 

preparing for the next season, individuals and communities are often presented with a myriad of 

choices, some which reduce risk and some which augment risk. Understanding the economic or social 

drivers that lead to support, opposition, or indifference to specific risk-reduction strategies or 

community enhancement actions could lead to increased effectiveness and reduced cost for local 

economies and response entities.

Priorities

• Examine community-driven resilience planning that uses the experience, concerns, and needs 

of industry and stakeholders, and incorporates their perspectives in conjunction with 

conventional science-supported, public-sector planning efforts. 

• Identify and document baseline conditions (e.g., biophysical, economic, ecological, social, and 

cultural) and biophysical indicators for use in assessments of environmental and natural 

hazards, catastrophic events, cumulative effects, and community vulnerability and resilience.

• Examine how environmental hazards, including a changing climate and rising sea level, along 

our coasts are affecting American communities (e.g., economic, ecological, social, and cultural)

at varied scales, resulting in questions concerning financial and social vulnerabilities to certain 

populations. 

• Understand, describe, and quantify where possible, social vulnerability and the factors that 

contribute to the resilience of communities that depend upon and engage with coastal and 

marine resources.

• Assess how future conditions and changes to the environment could interact with hazards and 

catastrophic events, and affect community vulnerability, resilience, and continuity.

• Describe and evaluate effects of key drivers on community and economic resilience (e.g., 

presence/absence, application, consistency, compliance, and effectiveness of planning and 

construction laws, regulations, ordinances, codes, and practices; barriers and effectiveness of 

incentive mechanisms, and existing socioeconomic conditions of populations).

• Research the risks of ocean acidification and other ocean changes as they relate to at-risk 

populations, food security, and the implications for humanitarian crises.

 117 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. (2016) Arctic Research Plan FY2017-2021. 8.4 Improve observations, 

mapping, and charting to support research across the coastal interface. Washington D.C. 46-47. 

https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/plan/objective/8.4 (accessed April 17, 2018).
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Empower Local and Regional Decision-Making

For a coastal community to be resilient, it must build capacity to respond to disturbances. This requires 

a better understanding of the particular characteristics of the community and industries, as well as 

information to support dynamic risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of local and regional tradeoffs. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development defines capacity development as 

the “process by which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and societies increase their 

abilities to: (1) perform core functions, solve problems, define, and achieve objectives; and (2) 

understand and deal with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner.” In 

alignment with the other national initiatives (e.g., National Preparedness Goal118), research, technical 

assistance, and capacity development actions should be fostered to understand existing conditions 

and address deficiencies for coastal community and economic resilience across multiple scales.

There is no “one size fits all” to understanding, measuring, or developing capacity for community 

resilience. Rather, developing capacity is context and location specific and depends on a community’s

physical, social, economic, and cultural characteristics, which vary from place to place, by region, and 

through time. Access to local and regional specific data, including traditional, indigenous, or local 

knowledge, and data tools can assist effective decision-making when planning for the future of coastal 

communities.119

Arising coastal issues, including management towards sustainable fisheries and ecosystems, are often 

best addressed holistically. There is a growing body of case studies where both Western science and 

traditional ecological knowledge have effectively been applied to the marine realm, including coastal 

regions employing partnerships with local and regional tribal organizations. Federal agencies should 

develop best practices for such partnerships and seek to expand partnerships in the coming decade.

The complex interconnections between humans and marine ecosystems also require a better 

understanding of their spatial and temporal scales. Research that considers all the drivers influencing 

a resource is better equipped to provide government, industry, nonprofits, and academia a more 

accurate understanding of marine resource-based economies and their challenges and opportunities 

for growth. Such greater understanding will provide more realistic situational awareness of our coastal 

and marine resources so that coastal communities and marine industries can appropriately prepare for 

and adapt to changes. Capacity building depends on incorporating stakeholders who are dependent 

on marine resources into resilience planning.

Incentive programs can aid in the acceptance of program requirements by offsetting real or perceived 

costs, but may not be adopted for reasons that are still not understood. Applied economics, psychology, 

and decision science can help determine what makes something acceptable and why, how opinions are 

formed and influenced by others, and ultimately which decision made by an individual or a community 

is refused or adopted. 

 118 FEMA. (2018) National Preparedness Goal. https://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness-goal (accessed April 17, 2018). 119 Such local and regional data, tools, and technical support is available through integrated marine information systems 

such the Digital Coast Partnership (https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/), the Marine Cadastre (https://marinecadastre.gov/), 

and Regional Ocean Partnership (ROP) portals (e.g., the Northeast Ocean Data Portal, 

https://www.northeastoceandata.org/), some of which are supported by Executive Order 13840, issued on June 19, 2018, 

Ocean Policy To Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States. 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/22/2018-13640/ocean-policy-to-advance-the-economic-security-andenvironmental-interests-of-the-united-states (accessed October 12, 2018).
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Priorities

• Examine incentives and successful adoption of specific programs or concepts across segments 

of a community (e.g., by population characteristics, such as age, gender, profession, income, 

and education). Identify and inform decision-makers of specific incentives and disincentives 

related to actions to further improve community recovery and adaptation capabilities. 

• Assess and evaluate existing and potential community-level adaptations to environmental 

variability and change to understand what elements are most effective in mitigating impacts 

and what factors are most important in adoption of those adaptation measures.

• Develop capacity to deliver research results and culturally relevant products to all communities 

at risk (e.g., translating scientific jargon, evaluating and communicating risk).

• Determine methods and incentives for increasing capacity for communities to effectively 

evaluate and improve their resilience in alignment with their own specific needs and objectives. 

• Develop observation and monitoring systems, tools, and delivery mechanisms to evaluate 

scenarios, and to enable better decisions, in terms of social, ecological, cultural, and economic 

health and well-being taking into consideration the probabilities of the scenarios.
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Moving Forward

This document establishes a vision for the Federal ocean S&T enterprise, in partnership with the 

broader ocean community, for the 2018-2028 decade. The outlined priorities are intended to guide the 

development of future Federal ocean research implementation plans within each agency. It also 

encourages Federal agencies’ collaboration with State and local governments, academia, private 

industry, and nongovernmental organizations to leverage non-Federal resources and support related 

non-Federal efforts. Its success will require an engaged, informed, and coordinated ocean community 

as a concerted effort is essential to advancing ocean S&T and improving application of that 

understanding for the benefit of the Nation. 

This document does not prescribe metrics and agency-specific tasks. Instead, it offers direction in the 

form of priorities. These priorities were designed to promote research that contributes to greater 

understanding of ocean issues and variability, addresses relevant needs of resource managers and 

mandates of governing entities, encourages partnerships to expand the Nation’s capabilities, and 

positively impacts national and economic security. 

Advancing national ocean R&D priorities requires a coast-to-coast effort. These priorities vary across 

regions, as do the ways in which different regional organizations address them. This document acts as 

a guide to identify areas requiring national attention, while recognizing the need for flexibility.

Learning from the Last Decade 

This 2018 vision for U.S. ocean S&T builds off the 2007 plan, aiming to advance the achievements and 

progress developed during the past 10 years. For example, the prior plan identified the need to forecast 

ocean and ocean-influenced processes and phenomena to produce better decision-making tools. This 

document advances such efforts to strengthen decision-making processes by incorporating 

socioeconomic and regionally specific data. A significant area of growth in the last decade is the 

establishment of a coordinated national and international network of observations120 with associated 

data transmission, data management and communications, and data analyses and modeling 

capabilities. We have collected an enormous amount of data about our oceans and coasts, and this 

document addresses the need to obtain, analyze, and manage such Big Data.

Some identified research priorities in the previous plan remain as continued objectives, while many of 

the priorities are even more relevant today. For example, the 2007 plan called for advancing modeling 

capabilities to improve “understanding and forecasting the response of natural and constructed 

landscapes and ecosystems to extreme weather events, natural disasters, and changing ocean 

conditions to inform hazard mitigation and response plans, support navigation safety.” In light of 2017’s 

hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, their aftermath, as well as the continued rise in Presidential Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Declarations in response to extreme weather and 

hazardous events, this priority remains just as crucial to continue the momentum toward improved 

predictions and proactive measures such as expedited warning and response time. 

 120 Interagency Ocean Observation Committee. (2017) Integrated Ocean Observing System. http://www.iooc.us/oceanobservations/integrated-ocean-observing-system/ (accessed April 17, 2018).
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Areas of Immediate Opportunity

Managing ocean S&T innovation is a long-term pursuit. There is, however, a need for balancing shortterm research to address immediate needs or potential concerns, with long-term R&D efforts to 

understand the fundamental ocean system and inform major challenges and decision-making. As 

technologies advance and research priorities shift, it is important to ensure that a balanced approach 

is taken between longer-term goals and areas of immediate opportunity. 

Five recurrent topics emerged from the goals and objectives described in this document that provide 

focus for initial research and technology opportunities. These areas surfaced from Federal agencies 

with interest and responsibilities linked to the ocean, and thus represent synergy across Federal 

agencies and immediate areas of coordination and collaboration. They are not exclusive of other efforts 

directed to the full suite of longer-term research and technology activities. These areas resulted from 

criteria that include impact of the work, urgency of the research and technology, availability of funds, 

and partnerships and collaborations across agencies and the broader scientific community.

1. Fully integrate Big Data approaches in Earth system science

Big Data is revolutionizing the way scientists and the public approach and study the ocean in the Earth 

system. However, scientific communities often use Big Data for research objectives and require their 

data to be in a specific format, or the data is not made publically available in due course. As a result, 

many long-term measurements and models are not accessible to non-academic institutions and 

businesses. Sources of ocean-related Big Data in ocean sciences include the large amounts of multidimensional measurements on a wide range of ocean variables collected by remote and in situ sensors 

across the globe. Big Data can also include biological information in the form of genetics as well as highresolution, verified model simulations of global, regional, and local ocean processes. Full accessibility 

and use of Big Data capabilities provides opportunities for new and strong collaborations between the 

observational, modeling, scientific, and technological communities, resulting in novel findings through 

deployment of cloud infrastructure, data-analytic tools, data-mining algorithms, and scalable workflow 

frameworks. For example, certain Big Data analyses can be used to combat illegal fishing by increasing 

enforcement efficiency through rapid identification of illegal vessels, and complementing concrete 

resources such as manpower, ships, and planes.121

2. Advance monitoring and predictive modeling capabilities

Advances in understanding coupled and nonlinear ocean, atmosphere, land, and ice phenomena and 

variations are required to monitor the environment and predict future changes. These models, and the 

expanded ocean observing data on which they rely, are significantly enhanced by improving 

computational resources and enabling ensemble simulation approaches to forecasting. Recent 

hurricane events clearly illustrate that research efforts aimed at improving coupled ocean-coastalhydrology models for total water and storm surge prediction capability is of high priority and critical to 

the preparedness of the Nation. A combination of existing and emergent technologies and modeling 

capabilities is required to further elucidate oceanographic systems, future trajectories and 

uncertainties, and the connections among Earth system components. For example, building a weather-

 121 Command, Control, and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis. (2013) Fisheries Enforcement: U.S. Coast 

Guard is Sharpening Enforcement Tools with Big-Data Help from CCICADA. http://ccicada.org/2013/12/20/fisheriesenforcement-us-coast-guard-is-sharpening-nforcement-tools-with-big-data-help-from-ccicada/ (accessed April 23, 2018). 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA’S OCEANS: A DECADAL VISION

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ready Nation requires ports and open ocean transit systems to continuously include weather, water, 

climate, and environmental data and information into decision-making and planning to ensure safe, 

secure, and efficient maritime commerce. Unified efforts should target the establishment of common 

and interoperable frameworks that allow for efficient model execution on scalable computing systems, 

as well as interdisciplinary application and standardized interface with Earth system observations.

3. Improve data integration in decision-support tools 

Understanding and managing the interactions of the human dimensions within the Earth system needs 

to be enhanced in the coming decade. Decision-making pertaining to ocean use and conservation 

issues is challenged by increasing complexities of economic variability, ecosystem features, and 

community diversity. The situation is becoming more challenging as the number and types of ocean 

users increase, while interdependencies between the ocean’s ecosystems and human well-being 

continue to grow.122 Decisions will need to directly address the role of humans as shaping modern 

seascapes and coastal landscapes. For example, physical, biological, and socioeconomic models can 

be coupled with various Earth system models of potential impacts or benefits to people, industry, and 

the surrounding ecosystems to evaluate alternative management approaches.123 Science, research, 

and technology will be most useful for citizens if the results and the implications of those results are 

broadly understandable and communicated, and made easily accessible. Decision-support tools and 

allied approaches will help both individuals and their communities ensure their viability now and in the 

future. 

4. Support ocean exploration and characterization 

Advances in ocean S&T within the coming decade will allow us to better explore our ocean and better 

understand our environment, such as improved seafloor mapping to better inform maritime 

transportation operations. While ocean exploration includes assessing physical and ecological 

characteristics, recent technological advancements in molecular tools collectively referred to as omics, 

has the promise to revolutionize our ability to explore, sample, and efficiently characterize the 

biodiversity of the ocean. Through omics it has been possible to characterize and quantify the 

distribution and function of several organisms in ocean ecosystems through space and time, and 

explore organisms for natural products discovery. The declining cost and rapid increase in omics 

technologies offer new opportunities to address pressing needs in ocean science. Further development 

of eDNA and other omics approaches to interpret the marine environment are likely to provide a high 

return on investment. Although there are sampling and cyberinfrastructure challenges for the coming 

decade, it is currently possible to address critical questions from managers and stakeholders. One 

example is how omics data can be used and/or coupled with models to effectively monitor and predict 

ecosystem changes and their consequences, as well as to manage marine resources such as fisheries. 

eDNA is one technology that can be better developed to help facilitate fine-scale geographic and 

 122 Levin, P.S., and M. Poe. (2017) Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean. Academic Press. London. p. 530. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780128053751 (accessed June 15, 2018); Plagányi, E.E., and E.A. Fulton. (2017) 

The Future of Modeling to Support Conservation. 423-446. In: Levin P.S., and M. Poe (eds) Conservation for the Anthropocene 

Ocean. Academic Press. London. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/25751/ (accessed June 15, 2018). 123 Holsman, K., A. Hollowed, A. Haynie, S. Kasperski, J. Ianelli, K. Aydin, W. Cheng, A. Hermann, T. Kristiansen, and A. Punt. 

(2016) A stress test for fisheries management: using coupled physical-biological-socioeconomic models to evaluate alternative 

management approaches in Alaska. NOAA Fisheries. p. 42. https://cpo.noaa.gov/sites/cpo/MAPP/Webinars/2017/11-21-

16/Holsman.pdf (accessed April 21, 2018).
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temporal mapping of fish populations to assess fisheries management effectiveness.124 The discovery 

of natural products is essential for the development of new therapeutics, nutrients, energy, ecological 

processes, and other beneficial products and technologies derived from a variety of marine hosts. 

Exploration, discovery, and assessment of marine resources, processes, and ecosystem structure and 

function, are vital to capitalize on economic opportunities, human health, and environmental 

resilience, among others.

5. Support ongoing research and technology partnerships

Advancing the Nation’s ocean S&T enterprise described in this document requires effective 

collaboration of all organizations involved in ocean science. Participation of local, tribal, State, and 

regional governance entities will ensure that national ocean priorities incorporate the needs of specific 

areas or groups. Involvement of academic institutions provides scientific innovation and peer review, 

helps identify and address pressing research questions, and shapes society’s interaction with the ocean 

by communicating ocean science directly to the public. Increasing partnerships across government, 

nongovernment, international, and the private sectors prevents duplicative efforts, strengthens 

resources and opportunities, helps prioritize ocean science, and promotes an ocean-literate public. For 

example, programs have successfully used partnerships with Federal agencies, academia, industry, 

State, local, and tribal governments, and nongovernmental organizations to increase ocean-related 

knowledge for the purposes of promoting national security, advancing economic development, 

protecting the marine environment, enhancing quality of life, and strengthening science education and 

communication.125

 124 Stoeckle, M.Y., L. Soboleva, and Z. Charlop-Powers. (2017) Aquatic environmental DNA detects seasonal fish abundance 

and habitat preference in an urban estuary. PLoS ONE 12(4):e0175186. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175186

(accessed June 15, 2018).

125 An example of such collaborative programs is the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP). More information 

can be found at: http://www.nopp.org/ (accessed June 1, 2018).
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Summary of Stakeholder Engagement

Multiple writing teams contributed in the drafting of this document. Additionally, many mechanisms 

were used to solicit feedback from outside stakeholders. In addition to the public input period, the 

SOST presented the prospectus during Town Halls of five widely-attended conferences in 2017. The 

input gathered by these outreach efforts assisted in crafting the overall content of the document.

SOST collected input from the public on the draft report following the June 2018 Federal Register Notice 

for public comment. SOST incorporated changes, as appropriate,to reflect those public comments into 

the final report. A total of 50 public comment submissions were received from individuals and groups 

from academia, private industry, non-profit organizations, Federal and State governments, and the 

public. Reviewers considered all comments and incorporated the feedback as appropriate into the final 

document.