National Marine Ecosystem Status (NaMES)
Marine ecosystems provide food, jobs, security, well-being, and other services to millions of people across the U.S., yet they and the people that rely on them are facing increasingly complex challenges. Tracking the status and trends of ocean and coastal ecosystems is critically important to understand how these ecosystems are changing and to identify potential issues.
This web portal provides the status of marine ecosystems across the U.S. and access to information and data on NOAA ecosystem indicators—quantitative and/or qualitative measures of key components of the ecosystem. Indicators are grouped into Climatological, Physical-Chemical, Biological, and Human Dimension categories.
Users can view the indictors in seven regions (Alaska, Hawaii-Pacific Islands, the California Current, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Southeast U.S., and the Northeast U.S.) or the national status,
Users can also view the indicator by Themes:
- Chlorophyll A
- Zooplankton Biomass
- Coral Reefs
- Forage Fish
- Seabirds
- Overfished Stocks
- Marine Mammals
- Unusual Mortality Events
- Sea Surface Temperature
- Sea Level
- Sea Ice Extent
- Climate
- Coastal Population
- Coastal Tourism
- Coastal Employment
- Commercial Fishing
- Recreational Fishing
- Fishing Engagement
- Billion-Dollar Disasters
- Beach Closures
Each view includes explanations of the region or theme and a listing of additional relevant resources. Clicking on an indicator provides full information about the data and the status of the indicator.