Changing ocean conditions are impacting the nation’s valuable marine and Great Lakes ecosystems—and the many people, businesses, and economies that depend on them. There is much at risk: marine fisheries alone support more than $321 billion in economic activity and 2.3 million jobs annually. This initiative will establish a nationwide Decision Support System. It will provide resource managers, fishing communities, ocean industries, and other decision makers with actionable information to reduce impacts and increase resilience.
Learn more about our activities in each region
Actionable Information for Resilience and Adaptation
Rapidly warming oceans, rising seas, increasing acidification, marine heatwaves and other extreme events are transforming the structure and function of marine ecosystems. For example, warming waters have already led to dramatic shifts in the distribution and abundance of important fish stocks and other species in many regions. These changes are already affecting fisheries, aquaculture, coastal economies, and sustainable production of safe seafood.
To prepare for and respond to these impacts, decision makers need:
- Reliable forecasts of future ocean conditions
- Information on what’s at risk
- Information on best strategies to reduce impacts and increase resilience
A Powerful New System
The Decision Support System will provide government, business, and community decision-makers with early warnings, forecasts, and actionable advice. This will reduce risks and increase resilience of valuable marine resources and resource-dependent businesses and communities.
NOAA is building out the System in all six U.S. marine regions and the Great Lakes. We are working with many partners and leveraging existing activities, including pilot projects in four U.S. regions (the Northeast, West Coast, Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska). These projects have demonstrated the System’s utility and provided successful building blocks for the System nationwide.
The System is composed of three interdependent components that work together to support decision making:
1. Robust Ocean Outlooks
We are building on existing modeling systems to efficiently and routinely deliver robust near-term forecasts and longer term projections of ocean and Great Lakes conditions in all U.S. coastal regions. This nationwide ocean forecast system, developed by NOAA Research, will provide the essential information for early warnings, risk assessments, and economic analyses. These routine ocean outlooks are also key to identifying best strategies for safeguarding marine resources and resource-dependent businesses, communities and economies in changing oceans.
2. Data Portal and Information Hub
We are implementing a public data management system to manage, store, and provide easy access to the information produced by the regional ocean modeling component. The portal, managed by NOAA Research, will increase public access to early warnings, forecasts, and projections of expected future ocean and Great Lakes conditions. The information hub will provide access to additional tools, data and information, including web-based systems for analyzing and visualizing the data on past, current and future ocean conditions.
3. Actionable Information, Tools, and Guidance
We established regional decision support teams through NOAA Fisheries and NOAA’s National Ocean Service at NOAA facilities in all six marine regions and the Great Lakes. These teams will provide decision makers with actionable information to reduce risks and increase resilience, including:
- Forecasts of changes in the distribution and abundance of fish stocks
- Assessments of risks to fisheries and fishing communities
- Evaluations of best options to safeguard resources, businesses, and communities with changing oceans
The cutting edge technology, modeling and forecasting capabilities will provide these and other tools essential to safeguarding America’s marine and Great Lakes resources and the many businesses, economies, and coastal communities that depend on them. The System is critical to ensuring sustainable fisheries and a prosperous seafood sector as called for in Executive Order 14276 “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” and multiple legislative drivers.
