When disaster strikes the marine environment, immediate expertise is needed to clean up, assess damage, ensure that responsible parties are held accountable, and make sure that settlement funds are used wisely to restore injured resources. Under the Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP), NOAA works on behalf of the public to restore natural resources injured by oil spills, hazardous-substance releases and ship groundings. This requires internal and external partnerships, including other federal, state and tribal trustees. At NOAA, the National Ocean Service assesses injury and damage. The Office of General Counsel oversees legal services. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for restoration planning and implementation.

Since the Damage Assessment & Restoration Program was established, settlements with polluters have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to restore injured habitats, from estuaries and coral reefs along the East and Gulf coasts to salmon streams and coastal habitats along the Pacific West coast. The NOAA Restortation Center ensures that these funds are used to implement a wide range of projects. Harmed coral colonies have been rescued and reattached, historical intertidal marshes have been recreated, and shellfish spawner sanctuaries have been created to replenish declining shellfish populations.

Photos by NOAA Restoration Center

Ocean 255 burns in Tampa Bay

Cross Bayou, Florida, post-construction

Construction of the 11-acre Cross Bayou mangrove restoration was completed in 1999. Once the site was cleared of solid waste, debris and invasive species (Brazilian Pepper and other non-natives), machinery was brought in to restore wetland elevation and create channels to allow for tidal flushing. Some 24,000 plugs of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) were planted in the excavated area.



Cross Bayou, Florida, one year after restoration began

Through natural processes, mangrove recolonized the site and will continue to do so over the next several years, creating habitat for oysters, fish and birds.

Reef Restoration off Mona Island, Puerto Rico
Photo by NOAA M/V FORTUNA REEFER grounded on Mona Island, Puerto Rico	Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc. Shattered coral fragments upside down on the seafloor, July 24, 1997
Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc. This is how undamaged coral looked	Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc. Massive coral head shattered by grounding
Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc. A diver reattached damaged coral with stainless steel nails and wire	Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc.
Photo by Coastal Planning & Engineering, Inc.

Commencement Bay Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Planning

Located at the southern end of Puget Sound, Commencement Bay is the harbor for Tacoma, Washington. Beginning in the early 1900’s, area streams were channelized, resulting in the present configuration of eight waterways. Industrial and commercial activities on or adjacent to each of the waterways include shipbuilding, aluminum smelting, oil refining, food processing, chemical manufacturing and chlorine production, among others.

Because Commencement Bay’s nearshore areas and waterways are used extensively as rearing and feeding habitat by numerous marine species, and the Bay itself is a migratory pathway for salmon, contaminants from point and non-point sources are a major concern to NOAA. Over 700 drains, seeps, open channels, and other discharge sources have been identified as possible sources of contamination.

NOAA is concerned about adverse effects caused by the release of hazardous substances in the Bay and its waterways and consequent contamination of sediments on the Bay’s floor. A report made available for public view and comment earlier this year invited liable parties to negotiate a settlement for actual restoration of lost habitats and services. NOAA is currently addressing damage assessment and restoration on a Bay-wide basis while EPA is addressing remedial action on a waterway-by-waterway basis. NOAA is compiling data, conducting studies of injuries to natural resources and planning and carrying out projects to restore injured resources and habitats.

Restoring River Herring in Massachusetts

Restoring River Herring through Acushnet River Fishway construction in Acushnet, Massachusetts will replace a poorly functioning fish ladder with a 265-foot Alaskan steep pass fishway that increases passage of river herring upriver to spawning grounds.


At the New Bedford Reservoir, fishway construction is being combined with two potential dam removals downstream. Providing access to over 200 acres of uncontaminated spawning area, this project could support a run of 100,000 to 200,000 adult river herring.

New Bedford Harbor was the nation’s first Superfund site with 18,000 acres of coastal sediment and living organisms contaminated by years of PCB releases from surrounding industry.

With the shared goal of successful passage upstream for alewife and blueback herring, partners of the New Bedford Harbor Trustee Council include NOAA Fisheries, the Department of Interior represented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the state of Massachusetts represented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. NOAA Fisheries’ Jack Terrill coordinates the Trustee Council assisted by Jim Turek, also of NOAA Fisheries. To ensure continuing protection for river herring and other species in the rapidly developing area, the Trustee Council purchased nearly 20 acres along the reservoir’s eastern shore.

Contact Info | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer

Publication of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S Dept. of Commerce

Date Last Updated: December 16, 2002 12:18 PM