An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water that has a measurable salinity gradient from its freshwater drainage to its ocean entrance. Estuaries make up approximately 10.9 million hectares of the coastline of the U.S.
CCMA's work in estuaries includes sediment toxicity monitoring by the National Status and Trends Program (NS&T), which is the longest continuously running monitoring program in the world. The NS&T Program has generated hundreds of reports, journal articles, and various products since it began in 1984, many of them focused exclusively on estuarine health.
In 1985, NOAA launched the Estuarine Living Marine Resources (ELMR) Program to develop a consistent database on the distribution, relative abundance, and life history characteristics of ecologically and economically important fishes and invertebrates that live in the nation's estuaries. CCMA's Biogeography Team continues this program today. The Nationwide ELMR database includes information for 153 species found in 122 estuaries and coastal embayments.
