Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program II. Ecology (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-8
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evaluate the adequacy and applicability of studies conducted In the ESP, review the general state of knowledge In the appropriate disciplines, and recommend future studies. Under the auspices of the NRC Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, the Committee to Review the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program was formed to conduct the assignment.
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conducted workshops on each of those topics, focused on the progress of the ESP in assessing the environmental impacts of OCS oil and gas activities, evaluated shortcomings of the ESP, and identified future information needs. The biological characteristics of the components of marine ecosystems dictated the types of information gathered for evaluation by the ESP and therefore the nature of the panel's review.
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The dominant features and processes of OCS areas are adequately described to support more detailed site-specii ic studies on processes that govern shelf environments and evaluation of the impacts of environmental perturbations. In most instances, however, understanding of spatial and temporal variability in continental shelf habitats is lionized, and there Is little understanding of the relative vulnerability of the habitats to environmental impacts of OCS oil and gas activities.
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The latter point was recommended in an earlier review of the OCS oil and gas program. Within the ESP, there has been a lack of focus on the impacts of OCS activities on nearshore and onshore communities that, although unlikely to be affected dunng exploration, could be seriously affected when shore-based facilities are constructed or spired oil moves ashore.
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and gas activities. A major achievement of the ESP was the characterization of benthic habitats and the distribution of bird and marine mammal populations.
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For birds, MMS should establish a subset of potentially vulnerable colonies and should run a statistically based program to monitor numbers and reproductive biology of selected species dunng leasing, exploration, and production. Detailed long-term mon~tonng studies should also be done for selected species of marine mammals.
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Modeling is an important too} that can provide insights into a variety of ecosystem processes and should be used not as a substitute for field programs, but In conjunction with field programs to identity specific information gaps. To improve predictive capability for ecosystem modeling, MMS should: Use models to identify critical data gaps and processes that must be understood to predict accurately the possible environmental impacts of OCS activities.
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The marine mammal tissue bank being developed by NMFS (to which MMS contributes) could usefully be e~anded to include birds and fish.
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