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Integrated Assessments
Integrated Assessments provide information to managers and scientists so they can evaluate a system, develop options for future action, and identify gaps in the understanding of the associated issues. The assessments describe the ecosystem, assess its current condition, forecast the future ecological health using current management strategies, and evaluate alternate strategies and their potential impacts.
The assessments also provide a process to evaluate alternate management methods and information that 1) identifies objectives and priorities for marine protection and enhancement, 2) outlines agreed-upon actions and implementation plans to protect and enhance marine ecosystems, 3) serves as a tool for cumulative impact analysis and implementation funding, and 4) maintains or improves ecosystem health and the health of high-priority threatened species.
- A successful Integrated Assessment will be:
- Responsive to policy-relevant questions.
- Based on peer review and public participation.
- Integrated, bringing together information and data from many sources.
- Based on high-quality existing information.
- Predictive of ecosystem health, consequences of management actions or non-actions, and outcome for future actions.
An Integrated Assessment also identifies uncertainties in the existing data and gaps in understanding a topic. Through partnerships in the research community, CCMA builds on its internal and external research capabilities to address them.
Ongoing Assessments
- Biogeographic Assessment of Central and Northern California National Marine Sanctuaries: Phase II
- Biogeographic Assessment of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to Support Boundary Alternative Assessments
- Biogeographic Assessment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
- Biogeographic Assessment of Stellwagen Bank NMS
- Biogeographic Assessment of Olympic Coast NMS
- Survey of Sediment Quality in St. Lucie Estuary, and Vicinity
- Sediment Toxicity in Boston Harbor: Magnitude, Extent, and Relationships with Chemical Toxicants
- Tortugas Integrated Biogeographic Assessment
Completed Assessments
- 106-Mile Dumpsite Assessment Study
- Arctic Contamination Assessment Study
- Biogeographic Assessment of Central and Northern California National Marine Sanctuaries: Phase I
- Biological Effects of Toxic Contaminants in Sediments from Long Island Sound and Environs
- Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay Pollution Characterization
- Data Rescue for Ecosystem Assessment
- International Mussel Watch Study
- Human Uses of Estuaries: Galveston Bay
- Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors Vicinity Bioeffects
- Magnitude and Extent of Chemical Contamination and Toxicity in Sediments of Biscayne Bay and Vicinity
- Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in Four Bays of the Florida Panhandle: Pensacola, Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew and Apalachicola
- Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in Selected Estuaries of South Carolina and Georgia
- Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary
- Mussel Watch Temporal Trends Assessment
- NS&T/EMAP Carolinian Province Assessment Study
- Pribilof Islands — NS&T St. Paul Study
- Sediment Coring Study
- Spatial Trends in Sediment Contamination
- Survey of Sediment Quality in Sabine Lake, Texas, and Vicinity
- Tampa Bay Bioeffects