Science Plan

“The Northeast U.S. region spans a range of ocean and coastal environments from Long Island Sound to the Canadian border in the eastern Gulf of Maine, and includes ecologically and economically rich ecosystems. Climate change, living resource harvesting, and increasing human populations are altering the structure and function of these ecosystems. Ecosystem changes are not only threatening the sustainability of marine and human communities, but also challenging managers to make decisions about marine resources under novel conditions with high degrees of uncertainty. In response to these changes and challenges, this document describes a plan to sustain an adaptive sentinel monitoring program that leverages and enhances existing monitoring efforts to detect key changes, informs researchers, managers, and the public about ecosystem status and vulnerabilities; and supports an integrated, ecosystem-based management framework for adaptive responses to changes in ecosystem states.”