E43 - In Transboundary Gulf of Maine: Environmental Indicators Bring Tide of
Change for Coastal and Ocean Managers
Susan L. Russell-Robinson, Kathryn Parlee, and Christine Tilburg
Abstract
The Gulf of Maine, the Bay of Fundy, and its watersheds are renowned for their beauty, diverse
array of wildlife habitats and natural resources. While ever increasing human activities in the
region stress these resources, coastal and ocean managers will soon have new tools to assess the
status of the Gulf of Maine and the effectiveness of ecosystem-based management decisions.
Formed in 2006, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment's Ecosystem Indicator
Partnership (ESIP) is developing indicators for six focus areas: 1) aquatic habitat, 2) climate
change, 3) coastal development, 4) contaminants and pathogens, 5) eutrophication, and 6)
fisheries and aquaculture. With support from a Geoconnections grant, ESIP is integrating
indicator data from a database discovery effort that evaluated and ranked 1400 relevant metadata
programs, looking at temporal and spatial extent, data format and access, data processing,
completeness of metadata, and existence of a quality control plan.
The most critical and regionwide databases are available from an environmental mapping portal.
(See http://www.gulfofmaine.org/esip/map/). Based on results from a series of listening
sessions focused on the needs of environmental managers, ESIP is developing webtools, a webbased
reporting system, and a portal for accessing this information. Use of these tools will enable
managers to assess region-wide programs and monitor for changes in the six indicator focus
areas. By May 2008, a prototype of these webtools will be fully functional and ready for
demonstration.
Contact Information
Susan L. Russell-Robinson
U.S. Geological Survey
915-B National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Tel: (703) 648-6682
Fax: (703) 648-5464
E-mail:
Co-Authors:
Kathryn Parlee, Environment Canada
Christine Tilburg, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment