Office for Coastal Managem

NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (OCM) is 

the federal agency tasked with implementing the 

Coastal Zone Management Act, which is the guiding 

legislation for the decisions and actions taken to 

keep the natural environment, quality of life, and 

economic prosperity of coastal areas in balance. As 

a scientific organization, NOAA provides access to 

the science and environmental intelligence 

communities need for these tasks. Four major 

programs make up the Office for Coastal 

Management, and each counts on active 

partnerships with all sectors to be successful. They 

include the National Coastal Zone Management 

Program, the National Estuarine Research Reserves, 

the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, and 

NOAA’s Digital Coast web-based resources. 

Included below are two highlighted scientific 

projects by OCM researchers and their partners.

Understanding and Mitigating Marsh Vulnerability to 

Environmental Changes

Tidal marshes, which provide key habitat for fisheries and valuable community protection against storm surge, 

are increasingly threatened by sea level rise. Scientists are using consistent monitoring protocols in National 

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NERRS scientists in Maryland inspect a test plot where dredged sediment was applied. Image credit: Chesapeake Bay 

Maryland NERR. 
Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) sites around the nation to better track marsh vulnerability and 

research the interactions of fauna, habitat, and inundation. Because of this effort, a NOAA-funded team has 

developed and released guidance for coastal managers on new approaches of sediment addition (thin layer 

placement) as a restoration strategy. 

FY20 Accomplishment(s): NOAA is working with state and university partners to understand and 

monitor coastal marsh vulnerability and implement effective restoration techniques to protect these 

valuable resources. 

Guidance Report: Raposa et al. 2020 (in collaboration with the National Estuarine Research Reserve 

System Science Collaborative)

https://www.nerra.org/01/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TLP-Guidance-for-Thin-Layer-Placement-20200217-

HRes.pdf

Project URL:

http://www.nerrssciencecollaborative.org/project/Raposa17

National Marine Economy Statistics

OCM, the NOAA Chief Economist’s 

Office, and the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis are working to produce a “Marine 

Economy Satellite Account (MESA)” 

measuring the U.S. marine economy. This 

three-year effort builds on decades of 

research on defining and measuring the 

marine economy, with significant 

contributions by the Middlebury Institute’s 

Center for the Blue Economy. The 

prototype results, published in June 2020, 

show that the U.S. marine economy, including goods and services, yielded $617 billion in gross output (total 

production) and contributed about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018. These 

experimental results include statistics for 55 marine industry groups, organized into ten major sectors: tourism 

and recreation, including recreational fishing; national defense and public administration; offshore minerals, 

including oil and gas; transportation and warehousing; living resources, including commercial fishing and 

aquaculture; ship and boat building; power generation; research and education; construction; and professional 

and technical services. These data show that the marine economy is vital to the nation, with total production that 

is greater than the agriculture or public utility industries. The data, currently spanning 2014 to 2018, will help 

national policy makers, marine industries, and investors make informed decisions about how to plan for the 

future — protecting our people, our economy, and our environment for future generations. In addition, this data 

can serve as a baseline to measure the magnitude of the impacts of COVID to the marine economy. 

FY20 Accomplishment(s): For the first time, the United States has ocean data that can be compared 

with official statistics regarding other U.S. industries and with the ocean economies of other nations.

Project URL:

https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/ocean-economy

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