requirements under the CWA to report on the condition of each state’s aquatic 
resources. The information on the status of NMS resources, which has been derived 
from standard monitoring methods and indicators that allow comparisons to the 
surrounding regional ecosystem and across other sanctuaries as a system, helps to 
fulfill the needs of system-wide monitoring strategies for the NMS Program (NMSP 
2004) as well as related directives under the NMS Reauthorization Act of 2000. 
Moreover, because the protocols and indicators are consistent with those used in 
previous EMAP/NCA estuarine surveys, comparisons also can be made between 
conditions in offshore waters and those observed in neighboring estuarine habitats, thus 
providing a more holistic account of ecological conditions and processes throughout the 
inshore and offshore resources of the region. Such information should provide valuable 
input for future National Coastal Condition Reports, which historically have focused on 
estuaries (U.S. EPA 2001,2004). 
Lastly, results of this study should provide support to evolving interests within the 
U.S. and other parts of the world to move toward an ecosystem approach to 
management (EAM) of coastal resources (Murawski 2007; Marine Ecosystems and 
Management 2007). Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (lEAs) have been identified 
as an important component of an EAM strategy (Murawski and Menashes 2007, Levin 
et al. 2008). An IEA is a synthesis and quantitative analysis of information on relevant 
natural and socio-economic factors in relation to specified ecosystem management 
goals (Levin et al. 2008). Initial steps in the IEA process include the assessment of 
baseline conditions defining the status of the system as well as the assessment of 
stressor impacts and their links to source drivers and pressures. Results of the present 
study will be available to support such initial steps in the development of an IEA for the 
California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. While the focus of the present study is on 
indicators of ecological condition, limited socio-economic indicators have been included 
as well (e.g., fish contaminant levels, water clarity, marine debris), which can be used to 
help address some common human-dimension questions, such as “Are the fish safe to 
eat?” or “Is the water clean enough to swim in?” 
This assessment was made possible through the cooperation of numerous 
organizations. The project was funded principally by EPA (Office of Research and 
Development, ORD) and co-managed through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by 
staff from EPA/ORD and the NOAA National Ocean Service’s (NOS) National Centers 
for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation 
Operations provided three weeks of ship time on the NOAA Ship McARTHUR II, which 
supported the primary sampling effort conducted in June 2003 from the Strait of Juan de 
Fuca in Washington south to Pt. Conception, CA. The Northwest Fisheries Science 
Center (NWFSC), under NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), provided 
field support and analysis offish pathologies through a cooperative agreement with 
EPA. The NWFSC also supplemented the collection of fish samples for contaminant 
and pathology analysis through coordination of sampling conducted by their Fishery 
Resource Analysis and Monitoring (FRAM) Division at stations falling within the 
appropriate depth range during their annual west-coast groundfish surveys. State 
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