NOAA Habitat Focus Areas
In targeted areas across the country, NOAA focuses our programs and investments to address high-priority habitat issues. Together with our partners, we maximize the impact of our collective resources and make meaningful change for local communities.
NOAA Habitat Focus Areas are targeted places where we focus our programs and investments to address high-priority habitat issues. Across the country, local communities and economies are threatened by the loss and deterioration of coastal and marine habitats. Through HFAs, we coordinate with our partners to maximize our collective resources and improve habitat conditions for fisheries, coastal communities, and marine life.
Since 2012, NOAA has designated 11 HFAs nationwide—from the tropical coral reefs of Culebra, Puerto Rico, to the mountain-lined estuary of Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Each works in a unique, local context to address specific habitat challenges.
Biscayne Bay, Florida
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Biscayne Bay is a shallow, clear-water bay located next to the large metropolitan area of Miami. The Biscayne Bay Habitat Focus Area stretches nearly 50 miles—from northern Dumfoundling Bay to southern Barnes Sound and Manatee Bay. It encompasses a coral reef that runs parallel to the shore. This area is a hotspot for marine life and a favorite place for boating, fishing, and diving, which support the local economy.
Habitat in Biscayne Bay faces three major threats: declining water quality, physical damage to coral reefs, and a loss of reliable freshwater flow. To help, NOAA worked with local partners to study nutrient pollution and improve freshwater flow, which will support fisheries and other marine species that rely on the habitat.
Choptank River, Maryland/Delaware
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With its headwaters in Delaware and flowing through Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Choptank River is a vital part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The Choptank River Habitat Focus Area includes the river itself and its major tributaries. This area is famous for its oyster reefs and serves as a nursery for fish like striped bass and river herring. For generations, local families have relied on these waters for fishing, boating, and other recreational opportunities. Many residents of the watershed have traditionally been employed in agriculture or commercial fishing.
Challenges face several types of habitat in the area, including the river bottom, wetlands, submerged aquatic vegetation beds, and oyster reefs. NOAA and partners are leading efforts to restore and protect habitats in the Choptank River ecosystem—including large-scale oyster reef restoration. We are also collaborating closely with the local community through the Envision the Choptank initiative.
Kachemak Bay, Alaska
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Kachemak Bay is a massive, ecologically rich estuary in southern Cook Inlet, Alaska. In addition to being a NOAA Habitat Focus Area, Kachemak Bay is a State of Alaska Critical Habitat Area and a National Estuarine Research Reserve. The bay supports commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing and provides a home for abundant coastal and marine species, including whales, seals, sea otters, and shorebirds.
Despite its beauty, Kachemak Bay faces many threats, including a sharp decline in shrimp and crab populations and the spread of marine invasive species. NOAA and partners have developed tools to monitor and manage habitats in the area and assess their risk to threats. We have also created systems to predict harmful algae blooms and changing ocean conditions, giving local managers necessary data to best support the bay’s fisheries and wildlife.
Watch the video: Science and Stewardship: Keys to Restoring Kachemak Bay
Manell-Geus, Guam
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Manell-Geus lies at the southern tip of Guam. This Habitat Focus Area encompasses coral reefs, mangroves, and extensive seagrass beds, as well as the island’s only shallow-water lagoon. Located primarily in the village of Merizo, the rivers and reefs associated with this watershed support the village’s strong fishing tradition. The area is also an important habitat for green and hawksbill sea turtles and has the largest population of sea turtles observed on Guam.
Habitats face two primary threats in Manell-Geus: streambank erosion and invasive species. Soil from steep hillsides often washes into the water, smothering reefs and impacting water quality and coral health. These problems are made worse by outbreaks of invasive "crown-of-thorns" starfish, which prey on coral polyps. NOAA has worked with community partners to implement sediment control practices—like planting trees on hillsides to stop erosion—and to establish a coral nursery to supplement coral reef growth and recovery.
Middle Peninsula, Virginia
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The Middle Peninsula of Virginia is surrounded by the tidal portions of the York River, the Piankatank River, and Mobjack Bay. It’s a landscape of scattered farms, forests, and small rural towns. The waters contain rich beds of submerged aquatic vegetation that support important commercial and recreational fisheries such as bluefish, summer flounder, black sea bass, and endangered Atlantic sturgeon. Boating and other water-based recreation are cherished parts of life in the region and contribute to the local economy, as do commercial fishing and aquaculture.
The Chesapeake Bay, including the Middle Peninsula, has experienced a dramatic decline in oyster populations—currently at less than 1 percent of historic levels. The area is also experiencing high rates of shoreline erosion, flooding, and marsh loss, which threaten homes and fish habitat. Through the Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus Area, NOAA is supporting the design, implementation, and monitoring of wetlands restoration and living shoreline projects to reduce shoreline erosion and provide healthy habitat. We are also restoring oyster reefs to enhance habitat for commercial and recreational fish species.
Muskegon Lake, Michigan
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Muskegon Lake is a 4,200-acre drowned river mouth of the Muskegon River. Located on the west shoreline of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, it is connected to Lake Michigan by a navigation channel. It provides important nursery habitat for fish like Chinook salmon, large- and smallmouth bass, and walleye, along with threatened species like lake sturgeon.
Beginning in the late 1800s, Muskegon Lake was an industrial center, which contributed to the area’s environmental challenges. The area was once listed as a Great Lakes Area of Concern. NOAA collaborated closely with partners on efforts to "delist" the lake—cleaning up pollutants and industrial debris, restoring fish habitat, and rebuilding natural shorelines. We have also worked closely with the local community to support long-term stewardship of the watershed.
Northeast Corridor and Culebra Island, Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico’s Northeast Marine Corridor and Culebra Island Habitat Focus Area comprises a wide array of ecosystems. They range from coastal forests, wetlands, and bioluminescent lagoons to seagrass beds, coral reefs, and miles of pristine beach. Many species of coral fringe the island and provide habitat to recreationally and commercially important fish such as grouper. The reefs also protect the island from storms and support a thriving tourism industry.
The region has struggled with the effects of development, pollution, overfishing, and the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria. To help local reefs recover, NOAA and partners have grown corals in underwater nurseries and transplanted them back in the water. To improve water quality, we have also implemented restoration projects to reduce the amount of land-based sources of pollution washing into the sea.
Penobscot River, Maine
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The Penobscot River is the second largest river in New England, draining nearly one-third of the state of Maine. It hosts the largest run of Atlantic salmon remaining in the United States and is used as a spawning or nursery area by 11 species of migratory fish. The area is home to the Penobscot Indian Nation, which still occupies part of its ancestral homeland on Indian Island, surrounded by Penobscot waters.
Over the centuries, barriers to migration, water pollution, and overfishing have contributed to an almost complete elimination of many sea-run, migratory fish species and their habitat on the river. With fewer alewife and blueback herring, important commercial species like cod have lost a key food source. This has also affected Tribal subsistence fishing and the historically large recreational fishery for Atlantic salmon. Through the Penobscot River Habitat Focus Area, NOAA and partners have worked to improve fish passage and restore upstream migration throughout the watershed.
Russian River, California
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California’s Russian River drains nearly 1,500 square miles, including much of Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. It provides water for local farms and vineyards and serves as a home for coho salmon and steelhead trout.
With the Russian River Habitat Focus Area, NOAA and partners have restored stream habitat to provide breeding grounds for salmon, as well as improving frost, rainfall, and river forecasting to reduce local flooding. We have also helped develop innovative reservoir management strategies to balance the water needs of fish and people.
Watch the video: Russian River Restoration
St. Louis River Estuary, Minnesota/Wisconsin
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The St. Louis River estuary runs along the western edge of Lake Superior on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Historically, this area has been challenged by a long history of pollution and poor water quality. This environmental degradation—and its effects on fish, wildlife, and communities—led to the estuary being named a Great Lakes Area of Concern.
NOAA worked closely with many partner agencies as part of a collaborative watershed approach to conservation and restoration. Together, we have restored wetlands, created new spawning grounds for fish, and stabilized miles of shoreline to prevent erosion. These projects have supported Great Lakes fisheries, improved water quality, and provided opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors.
West Hawaiʻi
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The northwest coast of the island of Hawaiʻi is known for its clear waters and vibrant coral reefs. West Hawai‘i contains one of the state’s longest contiguous coral reefs, supporting an abundance of species. Nearly a quarter of the fish found here live nowhere else on Earth. The region also features the area’s highest concentration of anchialine pools—enclosed ponds with an underground connection to the ocean.
From its significant cultural sites to its thriving tourism industry, West Hawaiʻi is important to the region’s economy, history, culture, and environment. However, numerous threats have led to habitat loss in the area, including pollution and soil runoff from the land and changing ocean conditions. NOAA works with our partners through the West Hawaiʻi Habitat Focus Area to reduce land-based pollution and improve coral health. We also helped restore several acres at Kīholo Fishpond, a culturally and ecologically important site that supports more than 19 species of estuary and reef fish.
Watch the video: Repairing the Reef: West Hawaiʻi Focuses on Habitat