A LACK OF BASELINE INFORMATION HINDERS THE ABILITY OF ASSATEAGUE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE (ASIS) TO PROTECT…

Public award description

A LACK OF BASELINE INFORMATION HINDERS THE ABILITY OF ASSATEAGUE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE (ASIS) TO PROTECT ITS OCEANIC RESOURCES FROM TWO URGENT THREATS: BENTHIC HABITAT DAMAGE FROM COMMERCIAL FISHING, AND BIOLOGIC AND GEOMORPHIC IMPACTS OF OFFSHORE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTS. THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE BATHYMETRY, SEDIMENT, AND BENTHIC HABITAT MAPS, AND WILL IDENTIFY CRITICAL BENTHIC HABITAT LOCATIONS, SO THAT ASIS CAN EVALUATE THE NEED FOR COMMERCIAL FISHING RESTRICTIONS; FOCUS RESOURCE PROTECTION EFFORTS EFFICIENTLY; MINIMIZE IMPACTS FROM OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT; UNDERSTAND OR PREDICT CHANGING RESOURCE CONDITIONS; AND PLAN FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF DETAILED MARINE MAPPING METHODOLOGIES AND LONG-TERM MARINE RESOURCE MONITORING PROTOCOLS AT THE PARK AND REGIONAL LEVELS. THE PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY MULTIPLE GROUPS. MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (MGS, AN AGENCY WITHIN THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (MDNR)) WILL BE LEADING THE SEISMIC AND SIDESCAN REMOTE SENSING SURVEY ACTIVITIES, OVERSEEING DATA PROCESSING, AND SHARING THESE DATASETS AND RELATED INSIGHTS WITH THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR. THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR WILL DEVELOP A BENTHIC SURVEY SAMPLING DESIGN, WILL LEAD ALL BENTHIC SAMPLING SURVEY ACTIVITIES, WILL CLASSIFY BENTHIC HABITATS USING CMECS (NOAA, 2009), WILL DEVELOP AND APPLY A BENTHIC INDEX OF BIOTIC INTEGRITY, WILL CREATE DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL POLYGONS IDENTIFYING BENTHIC HABITATS, WILL PRODUCE HARDCOPY MAPS ILLUSTRATING BENTHIC CLASSIFICATIONS AND LOCATIONS, WILL COMPOSE A FINAL REPORT AS DETAILED IN THIS SCOPE OF WORK, AND WILL CO-HOST A WORKSHOP TO EDUCATE PARK STAFF AND COOPERATORS ABOUT THE PARK S BENTHIC HABITATS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RESOURCE PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT. MGS WILL PROVIDE SURVEY DATASETS TO THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR WITHIN 5 MONTHS OF SURVEY COMPLETION AND WILL PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR TO PARTICIPATE IN THREE DAYS OF THE MAY-JUNE 2011 REMOTE SENSING SURVEYS IN ORDER TO IMPROVE BENTHIC SURVEY DESIGN AND UNDERSTANDING. MGS AND THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR ARE EXPECTED TO COLLABORATE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF INTERPRETING AND WRITING UP RESULTS, SO THAT THE FINAL CLASSIFICATIONS AND FINAL REPORT PRODUCED BY THE BENTHIC CONTRACTOR WILL INCORPORATE ALL AVAILABLE RELIABLE DATASETS TO DESCRIBE THE NEARSHORE ENVIRONMENT OF ASIS.