East Coast of North America Strategic Assess- 

 ment Project. Development of a diagnostic capability 

 to link estuaries to marine ecosystems is a component 

 of the East Coast of North America Strategic Assess- 

 ment Project (ECNASAP) (NOAA 1991). The 

 ECNASAP is currently under developmentthrough two 

 joint pilot projects between NOAA and Canada 

 (ACZISCC 1993). This project is defining the major 

 biological, physical, chemical, and economic charac- 

 teristics of the East Coast of North America to address 

 multiple resource-use conflicts. The study area begins 

 at the head of tide in estuaries and encompasses the 

 continental shelf as defined by the 200-m isobath and 

 epipelagic waters. The ELMR distribution and abun- 

 dance data are the primary source of fish and inverte- 

 brate information for U.S. East Coast estuaries. These 

 data will be integrated with the coastal and offshore 

 living resource information to develop a consistent GIS 

 data base on species found from the head of tide to 

 past the continental shelf. This will enable the devel- 

 opment of a capability to define the coupling of estua- 

 rine and marine ecosystems based on species' spatial 

 and temporal distributions, life history strategies, and 

 physical and hydrological habitat requirements (Mo- 

 naco and Lowery in prep) 



The ECNASAP complements other Federal marine 

 environmental programs, e.g., National Status and 

 Trends (O'Connor 1990), and will support regional 

 environmental assessments of anthropogenic effects 

 on living marine resources. Integration of biological 

 and physical data will significantly improve our ability to 

 identify and define the biological linkages and physical 

 interchanges between estuarine and shelf habitats. As 

 it becomes apparent that the cumulative effects of 

 small alterations in estuaries have a systemic impact 

 on coastal ocean resources, it is more important than 

 ever to compile consistent information on the nation's 

 estuarinefishes and invertebrates. Although the knowl- 

 edge available to effectively conserve and manage 

 living resources is limited, the ELMR program provides 

 an important tool for assessing the status of estuarine 

 fauna and examining their relationships with other 

 species and their environment. The ELMR data base 

 provides the best available baseline information on the 

 zoogeography and ecology of estuarine fishes and 

 invertebrates, and identifies gaps in our knowledge of 

 these resources. 



Acknowledgements 



We thank those individuals that reviewed the data in 

 this report and provided additional information. With- 

 out their efforts, a study of this magnitude and complex- 

 ity would not be possible. In addition, we thank the 

 many other scientists and managers who provided 

 contacts and references. Special thanks are due to 

 Tony Lowery and Pamela Rubin fortheir comments on 

 this manuscript. The cover illustrations of lobster, cod, 

 and herring are from Goode (1884). 



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