eNhaNCiNg the oCeaN obserViNg system to meet restoratioN ChalleNges iN the gulf of mexiCo

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C o m m e N ta r y eNhaNCiNg the oCeaN obserViNg system to meet restoratioN ChalleNges iN the gulf of mexiCo b y s t e V e N a .m u r aw s k i a N d w i l l i a m t. h o g a r t h We need to know the state of the system so we can measure change.
-From the keynote address by Admiral Thad Allen, USCG (Ret.)It was clear during the DWH response phase that important ocean parameters, such as current speed and direction, water chemistry, air quality, and biological effects of oil exposure, were not being sampled well, necessitating significant technology upgrades (Lubchenco et al., 2012).Many of these observations have not been sustained.Before making new observing investments, however, the objectives, priorities, and governance across the many entities involved (Table 1) need to be critically considered.The outcome of these deliberations should be a coastal and ocean observing system that is right-sized, with a unified set of priorities, that is capable of supplying adequate science to restoration planners, and that realizes the specific intents of these new funds in ways that are both cost-effective and forward-looking.

CurreNt state of obserViNg iN the gulf
What currently exists in the Gulf of Mexico can hardly be characterized as a coastal and ocean observing system.
Rather, it is a collection of purpose-built monitoring technologies and projects that support specific uses by various interests.Starting with the Restoration Council's overarching goals as the basis for improving the monitoring system that will support them, an important question to pose is: How can existing and new observing programs be better coordinated and supported to provide the required information?
Ocean monitoring programs in the Gulf address a wide variety of sectoral needs (Box 1); some of them provide sufficient information over relevant temporal and spatial scales to meet the needs of the user community, whereas some do not meet those needs because of inadequate funding or low priority.Several of the observing programs can arguably be considered "adequate" to meet most user demands, including ones that: • Determine the annual extent of the hypoxic area off Louisiana (Rabalais et al., 2001), and some (but not all) others that assess coastal water quality and pathogen content (Wolfe et al., 2012) • Measure population abundance of some fishery and protected species resources (Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2008) Wolfe et al., 2012).Rather than reinventing the wheel, these efforts should be brought together and analyzed as system-wide investments are considered.
In evaluating the merits and needs for additional observing to support various sectors, four questions should be asked before any long-term commitments are made: (1) who will use these data? ( Steven A.Murawski (smurawski@usf.edu)  is Peter R. Betzer Endowed Chair in Biological Oceanography and Director, Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE), University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.William T. Hogarth (billhogarth@ fio.usf.edu) is Director, Florida Institute of Oceanography, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
, at the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Conference, January 21, 2013 iNtroduCtioN As a result of fines and penalties generated by the settlement of civil and criminal actions and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) claims resulting from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) incident, various entities are poised to receive billions of dollars to improve the health and resilience of the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem.While much of the funding will go to economic development in states impacted by the oil spill, the lion's share will be used to restore specific natural resources damaged as a result of DWH and to tackle larger and more chronic environmental issues such as loss of wetlands, nutrient enrichment, fisheries sustainability, and toxic contaminant management.In addition, the federal RESTORE Act directs that some of these funds will be used to improve long-term monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
Ecosystem Restoration Task Force(2011)    to develop a Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy, and in doing so stipulated four overarching goals: (1) restore and conserve habitat, (2) restore water quality, (3) replenish and protect coastal and marine living resources, and (4) enhance community resilience.These goals are specific and outcome-oriented and therefore should guide the development of priorities for enhancing the science supporting them.The Task Force has since been replaced by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which has adopted the four Task Force goals and added a fifth: restore and revitalize the economy (Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, 2013).

(
Ylitalo et al., 2012).A comprehensive baseline for PAHs in Gulf fishes did not exist prior to the DWH spill.Because of this deficiency, some baseline data were developed on the fly by sampling areas not yet exposed to oil (i.e., west and east of the surface spill area) or by timing the sampling to beat the approaching oil contamination(Ylitalo et al., 2012).Other baseline fish contaminant data were available from a narrowly defined study funded by the Minerals Management Service (now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) in the western Gulf of Mexico in the early 1990s(McDonald et al. 1996; Figure1) and from data collected in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina(Hom et al., 2008).However, it would seem prudent to have a more routine fish-hydrocarbon surveillance program that placed particular emphasis on impacts of chronic exposures on food species(Dickoff et al., 2007).This is especially true in light of the pervasive nature of the oil and gas industries in the Gulf and of continuing releases of hydrocarbons into the environment in the form of produced waters (waters that are released from wells with the oil and gas), low-level spills, other accidental releases, and natural sources(NRC, 2003a).Such a system does not now exist but would have utility if there were to be future spills of any magnitude and also for monitoring environmental compliance with regulations and detecting pipeline leaks.Importantly, with the current emphasis on seafood safety testing and the pending release of related NRDAR data, there will be a significant and much better baseline that, if sustained, would constitute major elements of such a surveillance program.The Integrated Ocean Observing and the Coastwide Monitoring System(Steyer, 2010) in Louisiana to measure ecological change associated with wetlands restoration In contrast, the scramble for baselines against which the impacts of DWH can be measured has revealed serious shortcomings in a number of sampling programs and in their integration with one another.For example, some programs that are unable to meet the NRDAR and Restoration Council goals because of previous lack of consistent support include those that assess: • Contaminants in water and sediments (particularly offshore) • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metabolites in seafood and other species • Fishery-independent population abundance for many offshore and coastal species • Abundance and distribution of turtles and mammals • Fish, mammal, turtle, and invertebrate disease/health • Deep ocean benthic community health in vulnerable areas Also included in this category are programs that collect real-time oceanographic and meteorological observations (e.g., use high-frequency radars and other technologies to determine surface and deep water transport), and that monitor economic, social, and public health, and other relevant ecosystem attributes.A case in point where insufficient data were being collected prior to DWH is monitoring of PAH concentrations in Gulf fishes.Seafood safety is an important societal concern following DWH box 1 | some sectoral interests requiring sustained Coastal and ocean observing Programs in the gulf of mexico • disaster response-weather forecasting • fishery management/aquaculture siting • Pathogen/contaminant management • water quality management and nutrient abatement • habitat protection/restoration (monitoring specific projects and their cumulative impacts) • Protected species management • Coastal development planning • hydrocarbon and mineral extraction operations and environmental compliance • renewable energy siting • sea level rise, ocean acidification, and other climate-related issues • air quality and human health monitoring • military preparedness • other marine and coastal sectoral uses System Regional Associations (IOOS-RA) programs currently either serve data directly or point to locations where data are being served from various monitoring projects.Two IOOS-RA programs are currently operating in different parts of the Gulf: the Gulf of Mexico Region Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA).There are multiple data archives (e.g., NOAA National Coastal Data Development Center, GCOOS, SECOORA, Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program, Gulf Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative) and multiple metadata and formatting standards that need to be reconciled to facilitate effective conduct of cross-disciplinary studies in support of management decision making.In addition, various state and federal agencies and academic institutions have collected important data sets and stored them outside publicly available archives; their existence will continue to bedevil the creation of a comprehensive monitoring and analysis system.A notable bright spot in this regard that is unprecedented in oil spill history (Lubchenco et al., 2012) is the posting by the relevant federal agencies participating in the response of considerable raw and synthesized data collected during the response phase of the DWH oil spill (http://www.RestoreTheGulf.gov).oPPortuNities Various marine-oriented industries in the Gulf depend upon a robust supply of goods and services (e.g., oil and gas, fishing, shipping, cruise lines, military).Their considerable investment in infrastructure (Figure 1) provides an opportunity for mutually beneficial cost-effective data collection.Marine industries, federal and state researchers, and academics have cooperated in fisheries research (Hogarth, 2006) and have collected samples along standard shipping lanes (e.g., using continuous plankton recorders; Reid et al., 2003), and these groups have also worked with the oil and gas industry (e.g., Hernandez et al. 2001).A few modest-sized observing projects have attached sensors to oil platforms, demonstrating the utility of piggybacking on this infrastructure (e.g., meteorological and ocean condition data are being supplied to the National Data Buoy Center in real time from some platforms, and a few oxygen sensors on oil platforms are supplying real-time data on hypoxia).Much more could be done using existing industrial infrastructure.For example, Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of hypoxic water in summer 2011, based on traditional ship-based measurements (Rabalais et al., 2001).The spatial distribution of hypoxia occurs roughly in the same locale yearly, fluctuating in time and area.There are hundreds of oil and gas platforms in this region (Figure 2) that, if outfitted with dissolved oxygen and other environmental sensors, could potentially supply continuous high-quality monitoring of the onset, intensity, and termination of hypoxic conditions.That the extent of hypoxia is a likely key ecosystem indi- figure 2. locations of current oil and gas infrastructure (yellow dots, figure1) and the approximate isoline of hypoxic bottom water (< 2 mg l -1 dissolved oxygen) based on July 2011 sampling by the louisiana universities marine Consortium (http://www.gulfhypoxia.net/research/shelfwide Cruises/2011/Pressrelease2011.pdf).

table 1 .
. some entities currently involved in gulf of mexico coastal and ocean observing systems (list does not include state or federal government primary data collection programs).