The National Ocean Acidification Observing Network (NOA-ON) is comprised of a suite of sensor assets. Each sensor tracks the daily cycle of ocean carbonate chemistry, which allows us to characterize Ocean Acidification in accordance with the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring (FOARAM) Act. This network provides the capacity to track long-term changes in ocean chemistry and to alert stakeholders and industry partners about corrosive events impacting the Nation’s blue economy.

An important purpose of national marine sanctuaries is to ensure that the significant resources they protect provide benefits to the public. This performance measure is intended to track the extent to which marine sanctuaries benefit the public through the provision of “resource services”. Resource services include commonly defined “ecosystem services” as well as the services provided by archaeological resources. The measure uses status ratings from sanctuary condition reports to quantify the proportion of services rated as either “Good” or “Good/Fair,” both of which are considered acceptable levels of service potential.

This measure tracks the percentage of Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) fish stocks for which adequate assessments are available. Assessments are vital to determine the scientific basis for supporting and evaluating the impact of fishery management actions. To be deemed adequate, assessments must be based on recent quantitative information sufficient to determine current stock status (abundance and mortality) relative to established reference levels and to forecast stock status under different management scenarios

Volunteers are a critical part of national marine sanctuaries and help support science, education, and conservation priorities. Volunteers assist in many projects, such as citizen science, monitoring, education support, and marine debris cleanups. Volunteer hours can also be assigned a value through the widely used nonprofit organization, Independent Sector, which provides a yearly estimate of what a volunteer hour is worth. Using this number, each year ONMS calculates how much in-kind support our volunteers provide.

This network provides the capacity to track long-term changes in ocean chemistry and to alert stakeholders and industry partners about corrosive events impacting the Nation’s blue economy. This indicator reflects the number of National Ocean Acidification - Observing Network (NOA-ON) observations that are successfully transmitted to NOAA. This occurs when a NOA-ON sensor asset successfully transmits a minimum of 8 observations within a 24 hour day. Ideally, the number of transmitted observations should equal 100% of observations collected.

This measure highlights change in jobs that communities or businesses generate or save due to Sea Grant assistance (i.e., providing information to help communities, industries or businesses expand, make better decisions or avoid mistakes). Sea Grant provides the information and training that informs business decisions, and in some Hurricane forecast track error cases firms create or sustain jobs as a result. A job created is a new position created and filled as a result of Sea Grant activities. An existing position that is filled with a Sea Grant-trained applicant should not be reported in this measure. A job sustained is an existing, filled position that is sustained as a direct result of Sea Grant activities. A job cannot be reported as both created and sustained in the same year.

This measure tracks the progress of ongoing or completed recovery actions included in NMFS approved recovery plans for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Recovery plans include a list of actions necessary to de-list the species. These include actions that may be completed in a year or that may take many years to complete or are ongoing. Recovery of a species may take decades. Completed recovery actions shows incremental progress.

This measure tracks the percentage of fish stocks that are below their annual catch limit (ACL) in a given year. In 2007, Congress enacted a requirement to use ACLs to end and prevent overfishing. The use of ACLs has been successful in ending and preventing overfishing, as stock assessments have shown the number of stocks subject to overfishing continuing to decline. Performance is measured by comparing the final annual catch estimate to the ACL for each stock that has an ACL. If the final annual catch estimate for the stock is less than the ACL, NOAA will report that the stock did not exceed its ACL.

Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) audits select a random sample of consignments to a target statistical validity. Each consignment is audited for completeness and verified accuracy of documentation. Once this evaluation is complete, any concern with the consignment is forwarded to the Office of Law Enforcement for further investigation. This measure shows the percentage of audited consignments with documentation that is sufficiently complete and verified accurate to not warrant further investigation.

Seaports with access to Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems (PORTS®) data move vessels and their cargo more safely and efficiently, and this measure tracks the number of top U.S. seaports that have access to PORTS® data. To create a list of the Nation’s top 175 seaports, NOS selected the top 152 ports by international tonnage, accounting for more than 99.9% of all direct imports and exports by tonnage in 2016. NOS added to this list 23 seaports that are critical to coastal military installations, the Nation’s energy supply, or commercial marine fisheries landings.