The Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) is comprised of 175 stocks (down from 199 beginning in FY 2020) selected for their economic, ecological, and social importance, that represent 83% of total catch. Each stock is given a score between 0 and 4 (0=status unknown; 4=meets all sustainable fishing criteria). The index (scored on a 1,000 point scale) increases when NMFS determines that a stock is either no longer subject to overfishing, no longer overfished, or its biomass has rebuilt or increased to at least 80 percent of target.

This measure captures a range of efforts by NOAA’s Aquaculture Program that together will lead to a more efficient federal permitting process. These efforts include: working with federal partners under the White House/OSTP's Subcommittee on Aquaculture to coordinate and streamline inter-agency permitting, working with industry partners to establish and manage offshore aquaculture pilot projects, conducting spatial analysis and developing siting tools, developing engineering solutions, efforts to assess and reduce risk (e.g., entanglement) from aquaculture operations, conducting programmatic environmental reviews to reduce burden on individual applicants, and drafting/revising guidance to permit applicants to improve application quality. We will also continue to support, as requested, any Congressional initiative to develop aquaculture legislation.

This measure tracks cumulative progress of NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey toward completing gravity observations for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) initiative and implementation of a new National Vertical Datum. The measure indicates the percentage of the U.S. for which NOAA has airborne gravity data necessary to support the new National Vertical Datum. This improved vertical reference system is critical for all observing systems and activities requiring accurate heights. For example, this system is important for helping determine where water flows in order to make accurate inundation models and assessments.

This measure shows the number of environmental reviews (ESA Section 7 formal consultation, MMPA incidental harassment authorization, EFH consultation) that exceed regulatory, statutory, or otherwise agreed-upon deadlines. Under the ESA and MSA, Federal agencies must consult with NOAA when any project or action might affect an ESA-listed marine species or a critical habitat. Under the MMPA, NMFS issues incidental harassment authorizations, which allow for the otherwise prohibited incidental “take” of marine mammals resulting from lawful activities (such as military readiness training, seismic surveys, or coastal construction).

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.

A winter storm warning provides NOAA customers and partners advanced notice of a hazardous winter weather event that endangers life or property, or provides an impediment to commerce. Winter storm warnings are issued for winter weather phenomena like blizzards, ice storms, heavy sleet, and heavy snow. This performance indicator measures the advance warning lead time in hours of winter storm events. Improving the accuracy and advance warnings of winter storms enables the public to take the necessary steps to prepare for disruptive winter weather conditions.

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 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.

NOAA and NMFS support research to advance commercial-scale marine aquaculture production. This is done through commercial scale demonstration facilities in collaboration with—and co-funded by— industry and coastal seafood communities to facilitate the commercial viability of marine aquaculture production. Additionally, NOAA will use aquaculture research to remove production bottlenecks for shellfish and finfish related to siting, disease, genetics and genomics, hatchery seed stock, and feed availability. Performance is measured by calculating the number of either unique or completed stages in ongoing projects which directly advance marine aquaculture production.

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 tracks the number of dives that use imagery/video as well as other sensors that provided a multidisciplinary first-look at an unknown or poorly understood area of the ocean. These data can be collected using a variety of platforms including ROVs, AUVs, ASVs, etc. OER recognizes a distinction between exploration and characterization. Exploration is conducted using a suite of tools and techniques that provides a multidisciplinary first-look at an unknown or poorly understood area of the ocean. The outcome is intended to be sufficient to inform follow-on characterization, which provides comprehensive data for a specific area of interest of the seafloor, sub-bottom, and/or water column that supports specific research, resource management, policymaking, or applied mission objectives (this is not depth dependant unlike the mapping statistics).