Improving Regional and Ecosystem- Based Ocean Management Bob Tudor, DRBC Urban Coast Institute, Monmouth University April 14, 2008

Basin Facts ● ● Largest un-dammed river east of the Mississippi – 330 miles ● ●13,539 square mile drainage ● ●17 million water users ● ●Largest freshwater port in the world ● ●Three reaches included in National Wild and Scenic River System ● ●World class trout fishery in the tailwaters of the NYC reservoirs ● ● Tremendous economic significance for the region.

Why an integrated regional approach in the Delaware River Basin and Near-shore Coast? Manageable environmental problems Manageable environmental problems Shared Resource/Shared Sense of Region Shared Resource/Shared Sense of Region Management Issues transcend political and jurisdictional boundaries and require vertical and horizontal coordination Management Issues transcend political and jurisdictional boundaries and require vertical and horizontal coordination Partnering: Need to leverage talents and resources of multiple partners, including private sector corporations Partnering: Need to leverage talents and resources of multiple partners, including private sector corporations

Ecosystem-based Management Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Key Processes Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Key Processes Interconnectedness among Systems: Interconnectedness among Systems: 1. Air, Land, and Sea 2. River, Estuary, Ocean 3. Physical, Chemical and Biological Interconnectedness among Sectors and Institutions: Interconnectedness among Sectors and Institutions: 1. Ecology, Society, Economy 2. Government, Academia, Private, Non-profit

DRBC: Ecological Flows Reservoir Management for Multiple Objectives: Water Supply; Flood Mitigation and Ecological Flow Reservoir Management for Multiple Objectives: Water Supply; Flood Mitigation and Ecological Flow Ecology Endpoints: Trout, Dwarf Wedgemussel, Warmwater Fishes, Oyster Ecology Endpoints: Trout, Dwarf Wedgemussel, Warmwater Fishes, Oyster Partners: Feds, States, TNC, TU, DRF, Partners: Feds, States, TNC, TU, DRF, PDE, Academy of Natural Sciences

Penta-PCB Load by Source Category Sept 2001 through March 2003

PDE: Delaware Estuary Operational Needs Top Six Operational Needs 1. Strengthen Linkages Between Science and Management Management 2. Develop a Conceptual Framework Describing the Ecosystem Ecosystem 3. Implement an Ecosystem Management Approach 4. Grow the Monitoring Infrastructure and Link to Improved Indicators and Goals Indicators and Goals 5. Improve Data Coordination, Compatibility, Quality, Sharing, Access and Archiving Access and Archiving 6. Educate Public and Build Identity for Defining Traits and Issues Issues

PDE: Delaware Estuary Technical Needs 1. Contaminants (forms, sources, fates & effects for different classes) 2. Tidal Wetlands (status, trends and relative importance of different types) 3. Ecologically Significant Species & Critical Habitats (oysters, benthos, horseshoe crabs) 4. Ecological Flows (effects of flow changes on salt balance & biota) 5. Physical-Chemical-Biological Linkages (e.g., sediment budgets, toxics & biota) 6. Food Web Dynamics (key trophic connections among functional dominant biota) 7. Nutrients (forms, concentrations and balance of macro- and micronutrients) 8. Ecosystem Functions (assessment and economic valuation of ecosystem services) 9. Habitat Restoration and Enhancement (science & policy) 10. Invasive Species (monitoring, management & control)

Climate Change Management Endpoints: Management Endpoints: Drinking Water, DO, Sensitive Biological Communities, Phytoplankton Community Composition Drivers: Drivers: Sea Level Rise, Salinity Changes, Shifted Rainfall/Runoff Patterns, Shifted Air Temperature and Solar Radiation Model Scaling and Linkages: Model Scaling and Linkages: Global Climate, Regional Climate, Regional Hydrologic, Estuarine Hydrodynamic, and Regional Water Quality Scenario Assessment and Forecasting Scenario Assessment and Forecasting Partners: NOAA (NWS,NOS,OAR); EPA; Rutgers; State Resource Managers; PDE Partners: NOAA (NWS,NOS,OAR); EPA; Rutgers; State Resource Managers; PDE

InvestigatorAffiliationInvestigatorAffiliation A. AllenU.S. Coast GuardL. AtkinsonOld Dominion University A. F. BlumbergStevens Institute of Technology W. BoicourtUniversity of Maryland W. BrownUniversity of Massachusetts M. BrunoStevens Institute of Technology D. ChapmanUniversity of DelawareA. CopeNOAA Mount Holly WFO A.GangopadhyayUniversity of Massachusetts T. HerringtonStevens Institute of Technology D. HollowayOPeNDAPE. HowlettApplied Science Associates D. KingUniversity of MarylandJ. KohutRutgers University B. LipphardtUniversity of DelawareA.MacDonaldMonmouth University J. McDonnellRutgers UniversityJ. MoisanNASA Wallops J. O’DonnellUniversity of ConnecticutM. OliverRutgers University O. SchofieldRutgers UniversityH. SeimUniversity of North Carolina J. TitlowWeatherFlow Inc.D. UllmanUniversity of Rhode Island J. WilkinRutgers UniversityR. WilsonSUNY, Stony Brook W. WittmanPublic Service Electric & Gas M. YaroshCIT A. VorosNY/NJ COASTS. GlennRutgers University Phased Deployment and Operation of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARCOOS) 30 Co-PIs, 20 Institutions NWS WFOs Std Radar Sites Mesonet Stations LR HF Radar Sites Glider AUV Tracks USCG SLDMB Tracks NDBC Offshore Platforms CODAR Daily Average Currents

MARCOOS Regional Theme 2: Ecological Decision Support - Fisheries SST from Satellites Subsurface T from GlidersForecast T from Models Global Summer-Winter Temperature Difference Migratory Fish Populations

High Profile, Region Scale Problems (Technical and Institutional) Ecological Flows Ecological Flows Contaminants: PCB Loadings Contaminants: PCB Loadings Consequences of Climate Change Consequences of Climate Change Sustainable Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries Improve Data Coordination, Compatibility, Quality, Sharing, Access and Archiving Improve Data Coordination, Compatibility, Quality, Sharing, Access and Archiving Grow the Monitoring and Modeling Infrastructure and Link to Improved Indicators and EBM Success Criteria Grow the Monitoring and Modeling Infrastructure and Link to Improved Indicators and EBM Success Criteria Grow Institutional Capacity for Regional Collaboration: DRBC, PDE, MACOORA Grow Institutional Capacity for Regional Collaboration: DRBC, PDE, MACOORA

Final Thoughts Ecosystem-based management implies that: Ecosystem-based management implies that: 1. We have measurements of ecosystem condition, and 2. We have scientifically sound criteria to judge whether the ecosystem is impaired or not. Current state of ocean management using biological criteria is very inadequate. (Example- no recognized measure of benthic community diversity and biomass to measure health of this significant resource component) Current state of ocean management using biological criteria is very inadequate. (Example- no recognized measure of benthic community diversity and biomass to measure health of this significant resource component) MACOORA is making good progress on physical/chemical data front, more help is needed on spatial and temporal trends of biological communities. MACOORA is making good progress on physical/chemical data front, more help is needed on spatial and temporal trends of biological communities. Need to link physical/chemical data to biological data to better assess cause and effect relationships of ecosystem impairment. Need to link physical/chemical data to biological data to better assess cause and effect relationships of ecosystem impairment. Regional collaboration is needed among state and federal managers and academic researchers to develop systems-based monitoring, data management, and assessment capacity. Regional collaboration is needed among state and federal managers and academic researchers to develop systems-based monitoring, data management, and assessment capacity.