Coastal Resources

Chesapeake Bay is a water body of many uses. It serves simultaneously as a recreation area, transportation hub, waste disposal system, and seafood production system. Human activities in the watershed have increased nutrient input from point and nonpoint sources, which leads to excess algal production and the hypoxic (low oxygen) water that threatens valuable fisheries.

Projects funded in this area concentrate on the Bay's living resources, focusing on how human impacts by fishing or changes in water quality affect populations of fish and crabs, for example. This research is key in support of the implementation of multi-species, ecosystem-based management of critical resources.

Projects in this Area