National Marine Ecosystem Status (NaMES)
Conducting holistic, longterm assessments of marine ecosystems
What We Do
The National Marine Ecosystem Status Website (NaMES) was created to provide a snapshot of major U.S. marine and Great Lakes ecosystem indicators. This site captures the status and trends of eight U.S. ecosystem regions and overall national status while also providing the opportunity to explore the key indicators for a particular topic area. For some indicators, data is shown at sub-LME scales such as island territories or for particularly important areas like coral reefs.
These key components, from sea surface temperature to coastal tourism, are all interconnected and play important roles in the overall functioning of these ecosystems. This philosophy, which considers human and physical-chemical indicators that affect biological components of an ecosystem, all as an integrated whole, is known as an “ecosystem-based” approach. By tracking the status and trends of these components over time, this information can help us to better understand the current state of all parts of U.S. marine ecosystems.
Top News
NOAA cruises set the foundation for restoring crucial Florida ecosystems
March 28, 2025
South Florida is comprised of 350 miles of the only barrier coral reef in North America – and the third largest in the world. 1,800 miles of shoreline is lined with mangroves in the Florida Keys alone, which provide coastal protection from storms and support juveniles of commercialized fish species. The region sustains the largest […]
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Who We Are
Background
In May 2017, NOAA’s Ecosystem Indicators Working Group (EIWG) formed to review existing indicator reports, what data might be available within NOAA, and consider how best to proceed with an indicator web portal. In 2019 and 2020, the EIWG built the “National Marine Ecosystem Status” website and received approval from the NOAA Leadership to launch on Monday October, 19th, 2020. NaMES has operated without disruption since, and has continued to onboard new data, regions and content annually.
Key Impacts
This site provides users with links to more detailed sources of NOAA data and information. Information on this site is sourced from publicly available data and is updated annually. By tracking and communicating these data both spatially and thematically, we can monitor the status of U.S. ocean, Great Lakes and coastal ecosystems that provide food, jobs, security, and well-being to millions of people. This reporting is meant to allow the U.S. population to see the performance of their marine ecosystems. This effort was the subject of a 2021 NOAA Bronze Medal.