The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held an interactive webinar on April 11, 2023 to share information about four projects working to restore Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There were more than 160 people in attendance.
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group released the Draft Restoration Plan 3 and associated materials, including several factsheets, on March 14, 2023.
We recently held two public webinars on March 28 and April 4, 2023, to present the draft plan, answer questions, and receive public comments. We answered a few questions during the webinars, which are summarized along with the webinar script in a Webinar Script and Q&A Summary. We also received a few public comments during the webinars. These comments will be available in the Administrative Record following the release of the final plan
Through the cooperation and coordination of five states, four federal agencies, numerous partners, and thousands of deeply committed individuals, strong restoration progress continues in the Gulf of Mexico 13 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred on April 20, 2010.
The Open Ocean Trustees invite you to learn more about restoration underway for the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities projects during a public webinar on April 11.
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has released its Draft Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Birds (PDF, 304 pages) for public comment through April 28, 2023. The draft plan is available for review and in libraries and other repositories. A list of repositories is provided at the link below.
To support restoration planning and evaluation of restoration effectiveness, the Open Ocean Trustees have approved three new Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activities.
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has approved a planning project, Characterization of Caribbean Fisheries Interactions with Highly Migratory Species (PDF, 10 pages), to support the restoration of fish and water column invertebrates injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
To make the most of our efforts, we work hard to leverage funding from other sources and strive to engage other restoration partners. For example, the McFaddin Beach and Dune Restoration in eastern Texas funded by Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, RESTORE, the state, and the county. In addition, there are several projects intended to restore an adjacent salt marsh project funded by the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund. This collaboration has increased the restoration footprint and reaps far greater
We are restoring resources in multiple locations across the Gulf. For example, we have oyster reef projects in the waters off each of the five Gulf States. We are restoring habitats for migratory birds and sea turtles in multiple locations from barrier islands to the beaches that line the Gulf Coast. We have restoration projects for wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats and for improving water quality across the Gulf. And, we're continuing restoration of resources and habitats offshore in the Gulf, including new projects for marine mammals, deep-sea habitats, fish, and sea turtles.
Many of our projects are designed to benefit multiple restoration types. Projects that restore coastal marshes may also benefit wildlife, improve water quality, and enhance recreational opportunities. Additionally, a beach project that enhances recreational access to beaches may also educate visitors about the local birds and their nests.
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Louisiana Outer Coast |
