NOAA today announced the launch of the Distribution Mapping and Analysis Portal, a tool to track the location and movement of over 800 species of fish and invertebrates in U.S. waters. Portal data was collected from National Marine Fisheries Service bottom trawl surveys in the Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, and Alaska, with data for the Pacific Islands and Caribbean identified as an area of interest for future portal versions.
NOAA said that the portal shows that the ranges of many marine spaces are “shifting, expanding and contracting in response to changing ocean conditions,” adding that the portal will improve data sharing and collaboration, facilitate decision-making, and increase knowledge for stock assessments.
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that the new tool will “boost our ability to turn the data NOAA collects into robust decision-making resources for the entire fishery management community, helping build a Climate-Ready Nation,” with NMFS Asst. Administrator Janet Coit calling it “one of the most important actions NOAA Fisheries has taken to date to move toward climate-ready fisheries management.”
