Setting a New Course for U.S. Coastal Ocean Science

Phase 1: Inventory of Federal Programs

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The U.S. Coastal Ocean Challenge

 

The Challenge

Concern for the degradation of the coastal ocean continues to grow, reflecting both the high value Americans place on this resource and the increasing number of threats it now faces. The challenge is to coordinate our research to develop the scientific understanding of our coastal ocean environment that will be the foundation for sustainable use and wise stewardship of this important resource.

The productivity and natural beauty of the U.S. coastal ocean are already jeopardized in many areas by the unprecedented stresses being placed on this environment. Rapid, often unplanned growth in the coastal zone has created serious pollution problems and habitat loss while increasing the demand for resources and services. Given the high density of the coastal population and the high demand for coastal property, local communities often look to the coastal ocean to relieve their resource and disposal needs.

National Concerns about the U.S. Coastal Ocean

The United States owns the largest EEZ in the world, one with enormous resource potential. The coastal ocean possesses significant resources that will help improve the Nation's balance of trade, revitalize coastal industries, and create employment. While many coastal resources are overutilized, a number of resources and promising coastal industries remain undeveloped. Also, the economic impact of some coastal industries is not widely appreciated. For example, coastal recreation represents one of the largest categories of spending in the marine sector.(1) Water-oriented (both freshwater and saltwater) recreation has an annual economic value of $20-25 billion dollars and a sizeable public constituency.

These problems are not limited to the United States. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 called upon those with expertise to assist developing countries to improve the scientific and technical understanding to sustainably develop their coastal resources and protect coastal ecosystems. (4)

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High-Priority U.S. Coastal Ocean Issues

Resolution of pressing issues created by human use and impact on coastal ocean resources requires better scientific input. Some of these issues are urgent; all of them are important. Integrated management of these problems will require coordinated interdisciplinary science support. Science is also needed in understanding defense issues.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

• Toxic contaminants
• Excess nutrients
• Algal blooms
• Dredged materials, turbidity, and other debris
• Catastrophic spills

COASTAL HABITAT CONSERVATION

• Habitat alteration, loss, and degradation
• Habitat conservation, restoration, enhancement, and mitigation

CONSERVATION AND USE OF LIVING COASTAL RESOURCES

• Coastal biodiversity
• Fisheries management
• Marine mammal protection
• Endangered species recovery
• Exotic species introductions

UTILIZATION OF NONLIVING COASTAL RESOURCES

• Coastal development and infrastructure
• Offshore energy and mineral exploration and development

PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY

• Severe weather
• Coastal flood and wave hazards
• Search and rescue
• Navigation safety
• Earthquake hazard and tsunamis
• Beach erosion

NATIONAL DEFENSE

 

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Science and Technology for Coastal Problem-Solving

Scientific and technological advances are required to observe, monitor, assess, and predict environmental events and trends and to resolve issues that result from competing resource uses. Reversing these negative trends while accommodating future growth will not be easy. Policy and technology must focus on controlling degradation, conserving resources, and sustaining productivity of the coastal ocean environment. The following categories broadly define these urgent concerns:

Environmental Quality. Environmental quality is a fundamental health concern and its maintenance is required for major sectors of the economy, including fisheries, recreation, and tourism. For example, billions of dollars have been invested in the infrastructure supporting coastal tourism. (5) The return has been significant. For example, according to statistics collected by the Florida Department of Commerce, in 1991 tourists to that State spent $28.9 billion on taxable items. Yet due to the increasing popularity of the coastal zone, the outcomes of development are causing serious declines in environmental quality. The degradation is evident in many areas as a result of pollution, including agricultural and urban runoff, pesticides, industrial chemicals, medical wastes, and sewage. As a result, increasing areas of the coast are unfit for fishing and recreation. In 1990, only 56 percent of the Nation's estuarine waters assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency fully supported uses such as fishing and swimming, and in the Great Lakes the figure was a meager 2 percent.

As environmental quality declines, the negative impacts on living resources increase and external costs grow. Lesions, tumors, and high levels of toxic chemicals are found in fish from coastal and Great Lakes waters, and many coastal residents are warned not to eat certain fish species. In New York, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination caused the closure of the State's striped bass fishery for 5 years affecting 1,400 commercial fishermen and costing an estimated $100 million.(6) During the 1980s, pollution controls reduced lead and cadmium contamination; however, at the same time, copper contamination of mussels and oysters rose significantly.(7) In the mid-1980s, nearly 2,000 industrial and municipal plants discharged 6.3 trillion gallons of wastes per year directly into estuaries and coastal waters. Estuaries alone receive one quarter of the Nation's treated municipal wastewater as well as hundreds of billions of gallons of raw sewage from combined sewer overflows. (6,8) However, pressures to use coastal waters for waste disposal will continue to grow.

The threat of catastrophic spills of oil and hazardous chemicals grows as more of these products are transported through coastal waters. The tonnage of shipped cargo has doubled since the mid-1950s, and over half of the present cargo is classified as hazardous. In addition, about 200 million metric tons of dredged materials are disposed of each year in coastal waters at an estimated disposal cost of $50 million. (6) Virtually every port in the Nation has contaminated dredged materials that require disposal. Yet the disturbance of these materials may have serious impacts on marine life at both the dredge and disposal sites.

Excessive nutrients such as fertilizer runoff from crops and lawns promote algal blooms and lower water quality through increases in turbidity and declines in dissolved oxygen. Lowered water quality, along with diseases carried by raw sewage, close one-third of the Nation's shellfish beds at any given time. Toxic algal blooms are occurring with increasing frequency causing public health concerns, harming coastal tourism, and closing fisheries.

Coastal water quality is largely controlled by biological processes which are far more complex than the largely chemical processes that control air pollution. A comprehensive approach is necessary to address the complexities associated with the degradation of coastal ocean quality. A scientific focus on monitoring and assessing the transport processes and risks associated with pervasive pollution will lead to improved methods of pollution control and ecosystem restoration.

To improve policies related to coastal environmental quality, we need to improve our ability to assess and predict the impacts of point and nonpoint source pollutant loads on the important biological components of the environment. This requires improved data on sources of pollution, an ability to predict the movement of pollutants within receiving waters, an understanding of how pollutants are captured or released by sediments, a better understanding of the biogeochemical processes that control biological uptake of pollutants, and an understanding of how environmental quality affects the population dynamics of key species.

Coastal Habitat Conservation. Conservation of coastal habitat is fundamental to the sustained use of living marine resources. Coastal marshes, seagrass beds, and coral reefs provide refuge, food, and nursery areas for shellfish, fish, birds, other wildlife, and a diversity of plant life. The important role estuaries and wetlands play in sustaining the health and abundance of marine species has long been recognized. In the U.S., an estimated 77 percent of commercial species rely upon estuaries during some life stage.(9) Yet half of all coastal wetlands have been destroyed over the past 200 years. At least some of the 42 percent decline in commercial landings of estuarine-linked species may be attributed to loss of these coastal wetlands. A direct correlation between marsh area and species abundance has been documented for the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery. Loss of coastal habitats has also been implicated as a contributor to the decreased landings of other species such as spiny lobsters.(7)

Habitat loss is a primary cause of the decline in coastal biodiversity. In the U.S., 80 endangered species depend on habitat within 10 vertical feet of mean sea level. (6) Yet the acreage of unaltered coastal habitat continues to shrink. Driven by human population growth, development in the coastal zone has removed many productive habitats. Over the past 30 years, 46 percent of residential development and 40 percent of commercial and industrial development have occurred in the U.S. coastal zone. (11) Until recently, no legal protection for valuable habitats existed. Because of their importance to both economic development and ecological processes, coastal habitats require special attention. Additional scientific knowledge of habitat processes will strengthen our ability to identify, protect, and restore such habitats as coastal wetlands, thereby improving the quality of the coastal ocean. Restoration of these coastal areas will in turn improve the quality and quantity of living marine resources and restore the capacity to filter water, trap sediments, and control flooding.

To improve policies related to habitat conservation, we need improved assessments of coastal habitats, improved methods for predicting the impacts of management decisions on habitat conservation, and a science-based strategy for restoring habitats. This will require a better understanding of the complex processes that create and maintain habitats, particularly estuarine habitats. Research on the dynamics of important species within various ecosystems is critical to providing links between the species and essential habitat characteristics.

Conservation and Use of Living Coastal Resources. Fish and shellfish, marine mammals and birds, coral reefs, aquatic vegetation, and various terrestrial plants and animals are examples of the rich biodiversity that inhabit the coastal environment. More accurate and timely scientific information is needed to support effective management of these valuable resources.

Recreational and commercial fishing industries contributed over $24 billion annually to the U.S. economy in recent years. Over 350,000 coastal residents rely on fishing for their livelihood and over 17 million Americans fish for recreation. (12,13) Of 153 commercially fished species, 43 percent are overexploited; for another 38 percent the scientific information needed to assess the stocks has not been gathered. (14) Overfishing can disrupt the natural balance among marine species. Georges Bank, a fishing area off the northeast coast of the U.S., for centuries has supported a richly productive cod and haddock fishery. Overfishing, largely by foreign fleets, has disrupted the entire ecosystem which is now dominated by low-value skates and dogfish. There is concern about when and if the former community structure will return. In the Pacific Northwest, habitat loss and other factors have severely damaged wild salmon stocks, several of which have now been listed as threatened. Ironically, while fishery resources become increasingly stressed, demand for fishery products has grown as Americans become more health conscious. Currently, the U.S. is unable to meet demand for seafood products resulting in a fishery trade deficit of $5 billion a year. (15)

U.S. coastal ocean activities are also having a dramatic effect on a wide variety of noncommercial species. At least 27 marine mammals and birds in U.S. coastal waters are now listed as threatened or endangered. (16) Illegal harvesting of fish and shellfish, destruction of coral reefs, effects of commercial and recreational fisheries on the conservation of marine mammals and on their habitat and prey, and the impacts caused by the introduction of harmful exotic species, such as the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes, are all damaging valuable living resources.

The rapid depletion of the Nation's living coastal resources must be reversed. Better scientific knowledge of species interactions will provide an improved understanding of relationships critical to the sustained use of commercial species. Balancing and diversifying fisheries to achieve sustainable yields depends on a thorough knowledge of population dynamics and species interactions. Coastal ocean studies targeted to document and understand species interactions will lead to increased economic benefits through improved fisheries management methods. Understanding the natural processes and anthropogenic impacts on living coastal resources promotes the stewardship necessary to restore these depleted resources.

To improve policies for conservation and use of living coastal resources, we need to improve our capabilities to assess fishery stocks and to predict future yields based on coupled biological and physical methodologies. Successful prediction requires better understanding of the population dynamics and interactions among important species and the links with natural and anthropogenic change.

Utilization of Nonliving Coastal Resources. The utilization and development of nonliving resources in coastal areas has strong economic and ecological implications. Offshore mineral and energy resources such as natural gas and oil and, to a lesser extent, sand, gravel, phosphate, and cobalt are important to the Nation's economy. However, over ten years after the establishing the U.S. EEZ, these offshore resources remain virtually unused, with the exception of oil and gas.(17) Oil and gas are likely to continue to be economically significant in the foreseeable future; current production accounts for about $16 billion annually.(3) Offshore reserves are estimated to represent between 26 and 40 percent of the U.S. total reserves.

There are also vast quantities of hard mineral resources on the seafloor as well as dissolved in the seawater itself, yet our knowledge of the distribution and abundance of many minerals of economic interest remains limited. For example, the Blake Plateau offshore Florida is estimated to contain 2 billion tons of phosphorites, with perhaps larger deposits off Georgia. There is a growing concern for the potential disruption in the supply of imported strategic minerals such as cobalt, chromium, manganese, and platinum group metals.(3) While many countries have advanced research and development associated with ocean mining, the U.S. has failed to participate in this development.

Improper exploration and extraction of these ocean resources can cause significant damage to the coastal ocean environment and to the resources themselves. Wise stewardship of these and other resources in the coastal ocean requires substantial social, economic, and scientific information. These issues have been the subject of much contention and national debate. For example, in 1990 the moratoria were imposed on offshore oil drilling in large areas of the EEZ until additional information was collected for the environmental impact assessment of the proposed action; Congress later expanded the area covered by these moratoria. Without additional environmental information, this type of impasse will become more frequent and the Nation will lose this economic potential.

The ocean itself is also an underexploited resource. Waves, tides, or temperature gradients in coastal waters have a demonstrated potential for energy production. (3) Much of the research has focused on the production of electricity, which in some cases is already economically feasible. Coastal waters could potentially offer a constantly renewed supply of energy which is conveniently adjacent to urban population centers.

To improve policies related to the use of nonliving coastal resources, we need improved methods for addressing the impacts of their development on the coastal ocean environment, including improved assessments of water quality and living resources. There needs to be an improved understanding of physical processes. For example, methods for predicting circulation of coastal waters are required to evaluate differing development scenarios and make valid environmental assessments and predictions.

Protection of Life and Property. As the U.S. coastal population, real estate investments, and nearshore activities have increased, the risks to life and property from coastal hazards, both natural and human induced, have increased dramatically. Coastal storms cause billions of dollars in damage. Currently, there are an estimated 276,000 households in high-hazard areas threatened by storm surge and an additional 2.4 million households located in the floodplain adjacent to this high-impact zone. (18) The vulnerability of our shoreline areas to catastrophic damage was illustrated by the damages of Hurricanes Hugo (1989), Andrew (1992), and Iniki (1992) which, according to current estimates of the National Weather Service, cumulatively caused losses in excess of $40 billion. Millions of dollars are spent each year on structures such as jetties, seawalls, and beach replenishment in an attempt to protect coastal investments from natural processes.

Other threats to U.S. coastal communities include fault systems on continental shelves which can generate earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Occurring with minimal warning, the flooding from tsunamis can be rapid and catastrophic. These and other geologic processes also threaten international communication systems which rely on seafloor cables and affect pipelines on, or in, the seafloor. A better understanding of these processes is needed to predict and plan for severe events.

Today almost 95 percent of the world's commerce involving billions of dollars is transported by ship through coastal waters, nearly twice the tonnage of twenty years ago. For the U.S., 99.8 percent by weight and 81.1 percent by value of international commerce are shipped through coastal waters. (19) Over half of this maritime commerce consists of petroleum products and hazardous materials. Between 1980 and 1987 an average of 16.2 million gallons of oil and other hazardous materials were spilled annually into coastal waters. (20) Furthermore, siltation of channels and coastal debris from human activities continue to impact this vital component of our economy by causing waterway maintenance problems and navigational hazards. In addition, improved knowledge of winds, waves, currents and water levels would save the Nation millions of dollars in transportation costs as well as preventing maritime accidents.

Coastal ocean science can provide a better understanding of spatial and temporal changes in U.S. coastal areas that result from natural and anthropogenic processes. A more complete knowledge of the forces causing coastal changes will enhance predictive capabilities related to timing and strength of storm hazards thereby saving lives and millions of dollars in property damage. The continual destruction along coastlines and barrier islands caused by the energy of waves and sediment transport will become increasingly costly. Better information about these processes will provide the basis for sound building codes and environmental controls related to coastal development. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard requires coastal ocean and meteorological information to support law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental protection, and aids to navigation missions.

To provide improved protection of life and property, we need the capability to forecast the location and severity of life-threatening and potentially damaging events. This capability will help improve planning for coastal development and related disaster mitigation schemes. Better predictions of storms and storm-related processes are required as is a better understanding of the links among storms, circulation, sediment transport, and the response of shorelines.

National Defense. Significant Federal coastal ocean science is directed toward issues relevant to national defense. Much of this research has dual use: civilian as well as military value. Increased coordination between Federal agencies will address efficiently both civil and military concerns.

To provide improved scientific data for national defense, we need to enhance our capacity for observing, monitoring, predicting, and understanding the dynamics of the coastal ocean.

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