COSA Committee Meeting June 23, 2017 Greg Sanders Wildlife Biologist BOEM Pacific Region greg.sanders@boem.gov

A Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the California Current Ecosystem BOEM Information Need: Enhance environmental assessment capabilities, identify information gaps, and manage activities that may affect marine resources Date Information is Required: Today, but 2020 will be acceptable

Background Relationship with Previous Work/Efforts: Evolution of “Summary of Knowledge” Studies

Background Relationship with Concurrent/Future Efforts: Past, present and future studies from all sources feed this assessment

Study Objective Provide BOEM analysts, their partners and the public with up-to-date and comprehensive geo-referenced data for environmental review of offshore energy projects along the Pacific coast. Imagery Bathymetry Bottom Type Oceanography Species Distribution (many layers) Human Use

Biogeographic Assessment Process Methods Biogeographic Assessment Process Step 1 Planning Step 2 Data Evaluation Step 3 Data Analysis Step 4 Management Applications Figure credit: Caldow et al., 2015

Methods Identify data sources, develop relationships with data providers, and acquire data Organize GIS data into a common spatial framework

Methods Synthesize data to create maps/data layers Conduct preliminary biogeographic analyses

Methods Prepare a report and publish GIS data products and metadata on the web

Strategic Science Questions How are trophic groups, families and species distributed spatially and temporally in the California Current Ecosystem? Where can offshore energy projects be located to avoid or minimize impacts? How do we characterize impacts in the context of the ecosystem? What significant gaps exist in our knowledge of the California Current ecosystem?