Videos
Improving Habitat for Community Resilience: The Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus Area
Join NOAA Fisheries as we visit the Middle Peninsula (Virginia) Habitat Focus Area to learn about the challenges the area faces from climate change—and the projects we’re working on with partners to enhance coastal resilience. Watch this video to learn about efforts to restore oyster reefs and shorelines, protecting wetlands and the coastal communities that live there.
Treasuring the Choptank: Residents and Scientists Envision a Healthier Chesapeake Bay
The Choptank River complex is located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and includes the Choptank River and its major tributaries. This treasured part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem represents a critical habitat for spawning striped bass and river herring, as well as historically abundant oyster reefs. The population of Eastern oysters in the Chesapeake Bay has declined dramatically over the past century due to overfishing, habitat loss (including poor water quality), and disease. NOAA and partners are working to protect and restore habitat, integrate science into resource management decisions, and engage the community
Repairing the Reef: West Hawai’i Focuses on Habitat
The northwest coast of Hawai’i Island is a unique habitat known and contains one of the state’s longest contiguous coral reefs, supporting an abundance of corals and fish. The area is home to hundreds of anticline pools, culturally significant fishponds, and numerous federally listed endangered and threatened species. However the area is threatened by nutrient discharge to coral reefs from cesspools, sediment run-off from large areas of bare land, overharvesting, and sea level rise. NOAA is partnering with The Nature Conservancy, local communities, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses to restore habitat and improve coral reef health along with other natural and cultural resources.
Science and Stewardship: Keys to Restoring Kachemak Bay
Located in southern Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay supports important recreational, subsistence, and commercial fishing. The bay provides a remarkably fertile environment for both fish and shellfish and the area is also important for marine transportation, tourism, and threatened and endangered species. The Bay’s ecological richness is vulnerable to development activities in Cook Inlet and the region has experienced significant declines in shrimp and crab that have not recovered despite fishery closures. NOAA and partners are bringing together science, shellfish restoration activities, and the community to better understand and address challenges from changing conditions.