Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal Fall Update

 MARCO made several significant additions and updates to the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal’s Marine Life, Maritime, Water Quality and Fishing themes over the summer and early fall. Scroll below for highlights and click on the links for more information about these map products.

Port Access Route Studies: In the Sept. 14 edition of the Portal’s “How Tuesday” webinar series, Coast Guard personnel presented information on findings, public comment opportunities and next steps for a series of Port Access Route Studies (PARS) focused on major East Coast ports. You can view maps showing recommendations from the draft reports of the New Jersey Seacoast/Delaware Bay and Northern New York Bight PARS in Marine Planner.

Updated Fish Maps: MARCO, in coordination with the Marine-life Data and Analysis Team, the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, OceanAdapt, and the Northeast Ocean Data Portal, recently released updated maps depicting the distribution and biomass of fish species in the northeastern U.S. continental shelf ecosystem.

All Fish Species: Biomass (Spring)

Balloon Litter & Marine Debris: Three new map layers provide a snapshot of the prevalence of balloon litter among the many types of marine debris found on beaches throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The maps mark six locations throughout the region where MARCO initiated recurring beach cleanups beginning in 2016 and recorded how many pieces of balloon litter and other plastic trash were recovered.

Proposed Passive Acoustic Network: Six new data layers depict the components of a proposed Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) design for regional long-term monitoring of cetaceans in North and Mid-Atlantic offshore lease areas and wind energy areas.

Additional Fishing Management Areas: In consultation with the Portal’s fishing industry users, five maps were added to the Fishing theme  showing Northeast multispecies (small mesh) management areas. Click here to view them.

Join us Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. for an edition of the Portal’s “How Tuesday” webinar series that provides a tutorial on using Groups and the Portal’s other advanced tools. For details and to register and obtain a Zoom link, please click here.

Let us know what you think about these or any other features on the Portal. Send your questions or comments to the MARCO Portal team at portal@midatlanticocean.org.

Share this: