May 5, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA announces the selection of two sites in NOAA’s North Atlantic Region as the next Habitat Focus Areas under NOAA’s Habitat Blueprint. The Penobscot River watershed in Maine and the Choptank River complex in Maryland and Delaware are areas where the agency will focus its resources to support habitat conservation and restoration.
“Many NOAA offices already are actively engaged with federal, state and local partners to protect and restore habitat in both of these areas,” said John Bullard, regional administrator, NOAA Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, which covers the Great Lakes and federal coastal areas from Maine to North Carolina. “However with the designation, we’ll gain efficiencies and be able to direct our collective internal resources to further achieve benefits for communities and natural resources.”
The North Atlantic includes a variety of habitats such as salt marshes, rivers, seagrass beds, and shellfish reefs. Both selected areas have experienced habitat degradation and face challenges from pollution, development, overfishing, invasive species, and barriers to fish passage. This has reduced the resilience of fish and other wildlife communities, degraded water quality and habitat health, and impacted public use and tourism.
Read the full press release from NOAA Fisheries