home page banner reading:Working Together to Manage Our Ocean and Coastal Resources
Our Mission

To lead the nation's efforts to manage and conserve ocean and coastal resources.

 

Who We Are

The Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provides national leadership, strategic direction and guidance to state and territory coastal programs and estuarine research reserves.

We work with state and territory coastal resource managers in a variety of ways. We foster knowledge sharing, promote research and pursue innovative management strategies and techniques. We are working with partners to develop a scientifically-based, comprehensive national system of marine protected areas (MPA's). Through NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program we support effective management and sound science to protect, sustain and restore coral reef ecosystems.

Our activities are mandated by three articles of legislation: the Coastal Zone Management Act, MPA Executive Order, and Coral Reef Conservation Act. The Office is composed of six divisions: Coastal Programs, Estuarine Reserves, National Policy and Evaluation, Business Management, MPA Center, and the Coral Program.

Selected Features

Protecting Water Quality

Fishermen fishing in North Carolina
Coastal waters give us food, recreation, commerce pathways, and solace -- but many of these waters are threatened by pollution. OCRM works with partners to apply management practices that improve coastal water quality and keep healthy waters clean. We join forces to research new stormwater technologies and raise awareness of water quality issues.
Celcp New Projects

coral reef with parrotfish swimming above it
NOAA recently released The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associate States: 2008, the third in a series of status reports assessing the condition of coral reef ecosystems in 15 locations ranging from the U.S. Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to the western Pacific.

 

 

 

 

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