Proposed NOAA effort

[Coral Health and Monitoring Program]

The following document, which will show up better at URL 

=09http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs/florida.html 

later today, represents the most recent proposed NOAA effort to sustain, 
monitor and enhance valuable ecosystems, including coral reef assemblages, 
in the Florida Bay/Florida Straits area in South Florida.  Your opinions 
on this effort would probably be of great benefit to policy makers who are 
charged with reviewing this plan. 

=09Sincerely yours, 

=09Jim Hendee 

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|                                                       | 
| Coral Health and Monitoring Program                   | 
| Ocean Chemistry Division                              | 
| Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorlogical Laboratory   | 
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration       | 
| Miami, Florida                                        | 
| USA                                                   | 
|                                                       | 
| Email:          coral at coral.aoml.noaa.gov             | 
| World-Wide Web: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov            | 
|                                                       | 
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NOAA ESSENTIAL TO RESTORING SOUTH FLORIDA'S ECOSYSTEM 

FY 1997 ($ 6 M) 

THE HEALTH OF FLORIDA BAY AND THE FLORIDA KEYS IS DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE 
HEALTH OF THE EVERGLADES.  Before 1900, freshwater flowed from the 
Kissimmee Lakes through the Everglades and into Florida Bay and coastal 
waters, where it mixed with seawater and moved onto the Florida Keys coral 
reefs.  This created some of the world's most productive and diverse 
coastal habitats.  From the Everglades grasslands to Florida Bay seagrass 
beds and Florida Keys coral reefs, the areas are an ecosystem linked 
together by the flow of freshwater. 

WATER FLOW IN SOUTH FLORIDA HAS BEEN DRAMATICALLY CHANGED AND THE 
ECOSYSTEM IS DETERIORATING.  Over the past 50 years, canals, dikes and 
development for agriculture and a growing population changed the 
direction, quantity and quality of freshwater flow.  These changes 
threaten South Florida's productive inland and coastal habitats, and the 
economies and people who depend on them. 

Like the Everglades grasslands, South Florida's coastal habitats are in 
jeopardy.  Coastal waters have changed:  increased salinity, increased 
nutrient concentrations, increased pesticide concentrations, decreased 
clarity, and changes in water flow.  These changes are contributing to 
ecological deterioration including: 

=95=09Dieoffs of seagrasses, 
=95=09Declining fish and shrimp populations, 
=95=09Increasing blooms of atypical phytoplankton and algae, 
=95=09Dieoffs of sponges, critical habitat for spiny lobsters (most valuabl= 
e 
fishery in Florida), 
=95=09Dieoffs of mangroves, and 
=95=09Deterioration of Florida Keys coral reefs, the third largest barrier 
reef in the world. 

Large areas of seagrasses in Florida Bay have been dying since the summer 
of 1987.  Seagrass habitats are essential nursery areas for many 
commercial and recreational fisheries species.  The loss of seagrasses has 
contributed to declines in seagrass-dependent species such as pink shrimp, 
with significant economic impacts on South Florida's commercial and 
recreational fisheries. 

NOAA IS ESSENTIAL TO THE RESTORATION EFFORT IN FY 1997.  The South Florida 
Ecosystem Restoration is an integrated effort among federal, tribal, state 
and non-governmental partners to halt continued degradation of the South 
Florida's ecosystem and restore the ecosystem's valuable functions and 
services from the Kissimmee Lakes through the Everglades, into Florida Bay 
and the Florida Keys. 

The restoration effort is depending on NOAA in FY 1997 for research, 
monitoring, assessments and coastal management.  NOAA's effort is (1) the 
only portion entirely devoted to restoring coastal components of the South 
Florida ecosystem, and (2) designed to evaluate the effects of "upstream" 
restoration actions on coastal resources. NOAA requires $ 6 million new 
funds in FY 1997 to fulfill these commitments necessary for successful 
restoration of land and coastal parts of the ecosystem.  This is a 
practical, relatively small investment in comparison to the large amount 
of federal, state and local dollars that will be spent to restore 
"upstream" portions of South Florida's ecosystem. 

NOAA HAS IMPORTANT RESPONSIBILITIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA.  NOAA is responsible 
for management of coastal resources in South Florida including fisheries, 
protected species and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.  NOAA's 
unique science, management, remote-sensing and on-site capabilities 
provide information on coastal, ocean and atmospheric conditions critical 
to the entire restoration effort. 

NOAA will contribute the information and tools essential to successful 
restoration of inland and coastal areas by focusing on four areas of 
critical need: 

1.=09ESTABLISH INTEGRATED COASTAL MONITORING IN FLORIDA BAY 
AND THE FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY 
(National Ocean Service $ 1.7 M) 

Goal: Establish a long-term integrated ecosystem monitoring program and 
information base on Florida Bay and Florida Keys to enable managers and 
scientists to assess ecosystem conditions and the effectiveness of 
management actions. 

Description:  This initiative will develop and implement the first 
integrated ecosystem monitoring program for South Florida's coastal and 
marine areas.  The project is designed to inventory, integrate and build 
on the existing, uncoordinated coastal monitoring efforts.  Initial 
efforts with the State of Florida have already inventoried, placed in a 
geographically-referenced computer information system and made Internet 
accessible more than 250 existing coastal monitoring programs. 

2. RESTORE SOUTH FLORIDA'S LIVING MARINE RESOURCES (National Marine 
Fisheries Service $ 1.7 M) 

Goal: Restore and sustainably manage South Florida's fisheries, sea 
turtles, marine mammals and their habitats and other coastal resources 
utilizing the best possible research, monitoring and management tools. 

Description:  Florida Bay seagrasses, delta, mangroves, keys and the coral 
reef communities are critical habitats for commercial and recreational 
fisheries, sea turtles, marine mammals, and other living marine resources. 
All of these habitats are showing signs of stress and experiencing 
dieoffs.  While some of the stresses affecting these critical habitats are 
known (e.g., fishing, nutrient increases), others are not well understood. 
The ability to recover from these stresses, and the effects of current 
restoration efforts directed at the Everglades need to be determined. This 
initiative will provide research, management and education urgently needed 
to halt the loss and restore these habitats.  It will provide information 
to evaluate the effects of current restoration efforts, and provide 
sustainable solutions for the species that depend on coastal habitats. 
Activities include: 

  =95=09Collect information on the effects of changes in South Florida on s= 
ea 
turtles and marine mammals to develop adequate multi-species management 
plans. 

  =95=09Use information from monitoring programs to assess the status, tren= 
ds 
and management needs of fisheries and other living resources of the 
Florida Key's coral reef system. 

  =95=09Use information on resource status and trends in models to predict 
outcomes and implement restoration and management of critical fisheries 
habitats (e.g., reef areas and Florida Bay seagrasses). 

3.=09DETERMINE CAUSES OF DECLINES AND EFFECTS OF RESTORATION 
ON COASTAL RESOURCES 
(Coastal Ocean Program $ 1.7 M) 

Goal: Provide information and models to predict possible outcomes and best 
solutions for restoration efforts in South Florida.  The goal is to better 
predict how restoration will proceed and what actions will reverse the 
decline in coastal resources and allow sustainable use in the future. 

Description:  The initiative will support research and modeling by NOAA 
and its academic partners on the natural and human components of South 
Florida's ecosystem.  Much of this information and predictive capability 
is currently not available.  The information and predictions will be used 
to evaluate the effects of the restoration and human demands on the 
coastal communities, resources and economies that depend on them. 

Using social, economic and ecological information, models will be 
developed to predict ecosystem (including human) responses to various 
human impacts and natural changes including: 

  =95=09Characterize human and natural stresses and responses in Florida Ba= 
y 
and the Florida Keys. 

  =95=09Develop an ecosystem model to predict impacts and guide management = 
of 
coastal resources and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. 

4.=09RESTORING SOUTH FLORIDA'S CORAL REEFS 
(NOS, NMFS, COP $ 1.0 M) 

Goal: Portions of the Florida Key's coral reef system are deteriorating. 
Fishing, pollution and other human impacts have impacted portions of the 
reef, but many of the causes of reef degradation are unknown and there is 
little capacity to monitor reef status.  This initiative will focus on 
restoring and sustainably using South Florida=92s fragile coral reefs. 



Description:  To adequately fulfill its restoration and management 
responsibilities for this special reef tract, NOAA must increase its 
efforts to monitor coral resources, manage human uses and determine the 
effectiveness of these efforts.  Using remote-sensing technology and 
volunteer assistants for on- site monitoring, this initiative will: 

  =95=09Build on existing, but limited coral reef monitoring efforts to 
complete the system required to provide long-term information on the 
health of the reef system. 

  =95=09Translate and provide this information to coastal managers. 

  =95=09Build public understanding, participation and local support for 
sustainable use of the coral reef tract. 

  =95=09Establish a cooperative training and research program to exchange 
information and build capacity for effective coral reef management at 
local levels. 

SOUTH FLORIDA'S ECONOMY DEPENDS ON HEALTHY COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS:  Large 
portions of South Florida's economy are dependent on healthy coastal 
habitats like Florida Bay and the Florida Keys.  Deterioration of South 
Florida's coastal resources will significantly impact these industries, 
the people that depend on them, and the people who come to use them from 
all over the United States. 

Healthy coral reefs, a healthy Florida Bay and clean coastal waters are 
the foundation of a healthy economy.  More than 3 million tourists/year 
from all over the U.S. spent an estimated $1.3 billion in 1991.  Florida's 
coral reefs are the #1 diving destination in the world, attracting more 
than 1.2 million divers per year.  Divers bring over $ 220 millon/year 
into the economy.  The asset value of water related recreation in the Keys 
is estimated at $ 22 billion. 

Commercial fishing is an important part of South Florida's economy.  In 
good seasons, for example, pink shrimp catches produced over $ 120 
million/year.  Spiny lobster catches produced $ 24 million/year. 
Recreational fishing produces more than 23,500 jobs.  The economic value 
of Florida Bay fishing trips exceeds $ 9.0 million per year. 

BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN NOAA'S STRENGTHS:  NOAA brings a unique suite of 
science and management capabilities to the South Florida ecosystem 
restoration effort through its expertise in coastal and atmospheric 
research, predictive modeling and resource management.  Successful 
restoration and sustainable stewardship of South Florida's valuable 
coastal resources will not be possible without application of NOAA's full 
capabilities. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Jansen, Office of Legislative Affairs=09=09(202-482-4981) 
Matthew Stout, Office of Public and Constituent Affairs=09(202-482-6090)