NOAA's Estuarine Living Marine Resources Program 



The Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) Division of NOAA's Office of Ocean Resources Conservation 

 and Assessment (ORCA) was created in response to the need for comprehensive information on the effects of 

 human activities on the nation's coastal ocean. The SEA Division performs assessments of the estuarine and 

 coastal environments and of the resources of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 



In June 1 985, NOAA began a program to develop a comprehensive information base on the life history, relative 

 abundance and distribution of fishes and invertebrates in estuaries throughout the nation (Monaco 1986). The 

 Estuarine Living Marine Resources (ELMR) program has been conducted jointly by the SEA Division, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and other agencies and institutions. The nationwide ELMR data base was 

 completed in January 1 994, and includes data for 1 35 species found in 1 22 estuaries and coastal embayments. 

 Eight reports and reprints are now available free upon request, and another is scheduled for completion in 1 994 

 (see below). This report, Distribution and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in North Atlantic Estuaries, 

 summarizes information on the distribution and abundance of 58 fish and invertebrate species in 1 7 North Atlantic 

 estuaries. A national report summarizing the data and results from the program will be published in 1 995. 



Three salinity zones as defined in Volume 1 of NOAA's National Estuarine Inventory Data Atlas (NOAA 1985) 

 provided the spatial framework for organizing information on species distribution and abundance within each 

 estuary. These salinity zones are tidal fresh (0.0 to 0.5 ppt), mixing (0.5 to 25 ppt), and seawater (>25 ppt). The 

 primary data developed for each species include spatial distribution by salinity zone, temporal distribution by 

 month, and relative abundance by life stage, e.g., adult, spawning, juvenile, larva, and egg. 



Additional information on this or other programs of NOAA's SEA Division is available from: 



NOAA/NOS SEA Division, N/ORCA1 



1305 East-West Hwy., 9th Floor 



Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 



Phone (301) 713-3000 



Fax (301) 713-4384 



Selected reports and reprints available from NOAA's Estuarine Living Marine Resources program include: 



Monaco, M.E., et al. 1990. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in west coast estuaries, Vol. I: Data 

 summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 4. NOAA/NOS Strategic Assessment Branch, Rockville, MD. 240 p. 



Emmett, R.L., et al. 1 991 . Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in west coast estuaries, Vol. II: Species life 

 history summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 8. NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Rockville, MD. 329 p. 



Nelson, D.M., et al. 1 991 . Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in southeast estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 

 9. NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Rockville, MD. 1 77 p. 



Monaco, M.E., et al. 1992. Assemblages of U.S. west coast estuaries based on the distribution of fishes. Journal of 

 Biogeography 19: 251-267. 



Nelson, D.M. (editor), et al. 1 992. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Gulf of Mexico estuaries, Vol. 

 I: data summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 10. NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Rockville, MD. 273 p. 



Bulger, A.J. , et al. 1993. Biologically-based salinity zones derived from a multivariate analysis. Estuaries 16:311-322. 



Pattillo, M.E., et al. In prep. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Gulf of Mexico estuaries. Vol. II: species 

 life history summaries. ELMR Rep. No. 1 1 . NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Silver Spring, MD. 



Stone, S.L., et al. 1 994. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in Mid-Atlantic estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 



12. NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Silver Spring, MD. 280 p. 



Jury, S.H., et al. 1994. Distribution and abundance of fishes and invertebrates in North Atlantic estuaries. ELMR Rep. No. 



13. NOAA/NOS Strategic Environmental Assessments Division, Silver Spring, MD. 221 p. 



