In a collaborative effort with researchers, managers, and community members, NOAA scientists are using the IEA approach to provide ecosystem science to support natural resource management of the Hawaiian Islands. In contrast to more conventional approaches to resource management, the IEA relies on collaborative, interdisciplinary, and adaptive methods to consider interactions among multiple components of Hawaii’s coastal and marine ecosystem and recognizes that local communities are an integral part of the ecosystem.

In a collaborative effort with researchers, managers and local community members, a team of NOAA scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Ecosystem Dynamics and Assessment Branch are leading the use of the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach in 3 distinct ecosystems: Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Mid-Atlantic Bight to bring social and ecological science to natural resource managers in the Northeast United States.

Regional Goals

The CCIEA is an interdisciplinary research effort led by U.S. West Coast NOAA scientists. Our goal is to provide science support for ecosystem-based management of the California Current – a complex ecosystem in which natural and human systems are inextricably linked.

We’ve broadly identified and adopted the following ecosystem endpoints for the California Current Ecosystem.

Ecosystem Integrity

The structure and function of marine and coastal ecosystems and ecological communities.

Alaska IEA Goals

Alaska’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment program facilitates the delivery of assessments, provides ecosystem science to management, relevant stakeholders, and community members in the Alaska region to support effective Ecosystem-Based Management. They are carried out as a collaboration with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center(AFSC,) and the OAR Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), community and university partners, and regional management councils to integrate field research, data, and models to inform management decisions.

In a collaborative effort with researchers, managers and local community members, a team of NOAA scientists are leading the use of the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach to balance the needs of nature and society through integrated science for current and future generations of the Gulf of America. The Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) approach brings ecosystem science and management advice to natural resource managers to effectively carry out ecosystem-based management in the Gulf of America, formerly the Gulf of Mexico.

The second step of the NOAA Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) approach includes identifying, selecting, and when needed developing, — indicators— that capture the status and trends of key ecosystem components defined in the first step of the approach.

The first step of the NOAA Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) approach is to clearly define goals and the system of interest. The term “scoping” is often used to describe this first step which includes defining:

NOAA’s IEA supports EBM
For many years, NOAA has recognized the value and importance of moving towards Ecosystem-Based Management as an integrated way to meet the Agency’s missions and mandates. NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) program is developing and implementing a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to help advance EBM and to manage our Nation’s trust marine resources in an ecosystem context.

Ecosystem-Based Management is defined as:

Vision:

Through an integrated science approach, the NOAA Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) program balances the needs of nature and society for current and future generations, supporting a variety of marine resource management objectives in an ecosystem context.