Research to Resilience:
OAP’s FY25 Impact on ocean, coasts and Great Lakes acidification
Research and monitoring that serve communities
OAP supports research and monitoring that can be translated into practical tools and strategies that help people prepare for and adapt to ocean acidification impacts. In FY25, projects producing forecasts, industry partnerships, and regional activities help build resilience across our nation.
The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of the nation’s most valuable fisheries and faces challenges from a changing ocean, including ocean acidification and warming that drive slower growth. In response as part of the Regional Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (RVA) program, OAP funded a critical partnership between researchers and scallop fishermen in the Mid-Atlantic and New England to address fishermen observations with research they can use. This work was an effective exchange of scientific information and community knowledge to help support responsive fisheries management and the long-term resilience of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery.
“The fishermen want to come up with sustainable solutions so they can keep on fishing. We became a resource to help them understand what was happening to this industry and their livelihood”
said co-lead researcher, Dr. Shannon Meseck (NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center). Part of this exchange directed researchers to fishermen needs, including a recently published bioenergetic model to help with predictions for scallop growth that account for ocean acidification for adaptive fisheries management. Workshops were held in 2025 as part of a multi-year effort. Additionally, researchers also found multi-generational effects of acidification on bay scallops, another important fishery.
Coral reefs are vital to Hawai’i’s economy and culture and are at significant risk to changing ocean conditions, including ocean acidification and warming. To prepare communities for this risk, researchers at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa set out to create a fine-scale model and projections integrated with socioeconomics to map risk from ocean acidification for the Hawaiian islands.
“Until now, we weren’t able to capture the fine scale variability needed to better model what’s happening in a way that communities can plan for risk”
said Dr. Chris Sabine, co-lead researcher on the project. This first-ever advanced modeling approach produced risk maps for communities in the main islands that now “provide the foundation for more targeted and informed adaptation strategies that direct resources to areas where they can have the greatest impact,” stated Dr. Lansing Perng, another researcher on the team.
A new five-day forecast for coastal and ocean acidification metrics was added to the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Forecast System (CBEFS), adding to the information anglers and others rely on to make decisions. Since 2017, CBEFS has supplied the Chesapeake Bay community with real-time nowcasts and short-term forecasts of environmental conditions. These forecasts are available 24/7 with limited downtime, and include acidification metrics such as pH, alkalinity, and aragonite saturation-state, as well as the percent chance of encountering health hazards like harmful algal blooms and Vibrio vulnificus. OAP supports the ocean acidification forecasts, also valuable for reef restoration planning and shellfish management.
Also in 2025, carbonate chemistry monitoring went online in the lower Chesapeake Bay and a tributary, the Patuxent River. This array provides pCO2, pH, temperature, salinity, oxygen, turbidity, and chlorophyll measurements on the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory floating pier, and the research team conducts seasonal sampling of total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH aboard ships of opportunity. This work helps validate near real-time forecasts of acidification in the lower Chesapeake Bay, and characterize the state of acidification in an economically critical fisheries zone.
OAP announced $3 million for six awards dedicated to Regional Resiliency and Vulnerability Assessments (RVA). The collaborative projects advance our understanding of how ocean and coastal acidification affect human communities and coastal economies by delivering tools or adaptive strategies preparing communities for the impacts of acidification. Communities will be better prepared for a changing ocean by addressing specific regional challenges.
Ocean and coastal acidification monitoring can be critical for local ocean resource management and use. Establishing a new monitoring network requires iterative planning, sustained funding and comprehensive understanding of the coastal system. OAP staff and representatives of the Regional U.S. Coastal Acidification Networks provided a decision-making roadmap for considerations when developing a new observing network on local to regional scales. The best approach for monitoring differs by region, owing to their unique circumstances and user needs. Regional case studies that can inform future network development and implementation.
