January 2005
The National Coastal Condition Report
What is the National Coastal Condition Report?
EPA issued the National Coastal Condition Report II (NCCR II) in January 2005 as the second in a series of
environmental assessments of U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The report includes assessments of 100
percent of the nation's estuaries in the contiguous 48 states and Puerto Rico. Estuaries are bodies of water
where fresh water from rivers meets the salt waters of the ocean. This interaction provides a unique, highly
productive environment that supports a great diversity of wildlife and fisheries and contributes tremendous
value to the nation's economy.
The NCCR II is based on data gathered by a variety of federal, state and local sources, and includes over 50,000
samples taken between 1997 and 2000 in all continental seacoasts and Puerto Rico. We analyzed three types of
data: coastal monitoring data, offshore fisheries data, and assessment and human health advisory data.
What is the Overall Condition of the Nation's Coastal Waters?
The overall condition of the nation's coastal waters is fair, which is essentially the same as the first report in
2001. This rating is based on five key indicators of ecological health: water quality, coastal habitat loss, sedi-
ment quality, benthic community condition, and fish tissue contaminants. For each of these five key indica-
tors, we assigned a score of good, fair, or poor to each coastal region of the U.S. We then averaged these
ratings to create overall regional and national scores illustrated in the map below, using "traffic light" color
scoring. Consistent with the recent Oceans Commission report (www.oceancommission.gov), this report sends a
clear message about the serious challenges facing our nation's ocean and coastal resources.
Overall National
Coastal Condition
Overall
Northeast
Overall
Great Lake
National Coastal
Condition Report II
Overall
Southeast
Ecological Health
Waier Quality Index
Sediment Quality Index
Coastal Habitat Index
Fish Tissue Index
Surveys completed, but tin indicator
dala available until llu> nexl
' Surveys completed, but no Indicator
data available until the next report.
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Our Treasured Coastal Waters
Coastal habitats provide spawning grounds,
nurseries, shelter and food for finfish, shellfish,
birds and other wildlife, as well as nesting,
resting, feeding, and breeding habitat for 85
percent of waterfowl and other migratory birds.
Estuaries provide habitat for more than 75
percent of America's commercial fish catch, and
for 80 to 90 percent of the recreational fish catch.
In 2001, commercial fishermen landed 9.8 billion
pounds offish and shellfish valued at $3.3 billion.
Nationwide, commercial and recreational fishing,
boating, tourism, and other coastal industries
provide more than 28 million jobs. Coastal
recreation and tourism generate $8 billion to $12
billion annually.
Summary of Other Findings
• From a regional perspective, the coastal condi-
tion in the Southeast is good, Gulf of Mexico and
the West is fair, the Great Lakes is fair to poor
and the Northeast and Puerto Rico is poor. The
next report will assess regional trends for the
majority of the U.S. coastal waters.
Nationally, twenty-one percent of assessed
resources are unimpaired; thirty-five percent are
impaired; fourty-four percent are threatened for
aquatic life use or human use.
Suitability of waters for fishing is measured
using the fish tissue contaminants index.
Twenty-two percent of coastal waters are im-
paired for fishing, based on EPA's guidelines for
moderate consumption of recreationally-caught
fish.
Suitability of waters for aquatic life use is mea-
sured using the water quality, sediment quality,
habitat loss, and benthic indices. Twenty-eight
percent of coastal waters are impaired for aquatic
life use.
• Among the key indicators, coastal habitat condition, sediment quality, and
benthic condition ranked the lowest; whereas, individual components of
water quality, including dissolved oxygen and dissolved inorganic nitrogen,
ranked slightly better.
Changes from the Last Report
The first NCCR, published in 2001, also reported that the nation's estuarine re-
sources were in fair condition. The NCCR I used available data from 1990 to 1996
to characterize about seventy percent of the nation's estuarine resources. We
reduced the number of indicators in the second report from seven to five. We
consolidated the eutrophication index, dissolved oxygen, and water clarity indica-
tors from NCCR I to form a single water quality index. As a result, the new water quality index better
reflects a balance between water quality, sediment quality, and living resource indicators. Comparisons
between the two Coastal Condition Reports are not straightforward because of these and other changes.
An indirect benefit of the NCCR II has been to build local, state, and tribal capacity in cost-effective and
scientifically sound monitoring of local conditions required under the Clean Water Act.
For More Information
The National Coastal Condition Report II reflects a collaborative effort among the U.S. EPA, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey,
and many state, regional and local organizations. For more information, contact:
Barry Burgan in EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds at (202) 566-1242 or
• Kevin Summers in EPA's Office of Research and Development at (850) 934-9244.
For a copy of the report, please call 1-800-490-9198 and request EPA publication # 620/R-03/002 or visit
EPA's web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr2/.
EPA 842-F-04-L
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