NOAA sanctuaries give Pacific Council updates on management plans and monitoring

Kevin Grant, superintendent for the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and interim superintendent for Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank, delivered the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries’ 10th annual coordination report to the council and highlighted work on management plans, monitoring platforms and habitat restoration efforts.

Grant said management-plan reviews required under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act are underway for three West Coast sanctuaries and that NOAA published a draft management plan and environmental assessment for the Olympic Coast in May 2026, with a public comment period that closed in July. “NOAA is currently preparing the final management plan and environmental review documents for publication,” Grant said.

The presentation introduced Sanctuary Watch, a redesigned online condition-tracking portal that links infographics to status-and-trend data for each sanctuary and integrates datasets such as a marine-heat-wave tracker and trawl-survey results. Grant encouraged council members to explore the tools and described upcoming releases, including an updated Channel Islands tool slated for early 2027.

Advisory bodies including the Habitat Committee praised ONMS work on habitat and oceanographic monitoring. Scott Hapel, chair of the Habitat Committee, said the committee “wishes to express its appreciation for the focused efforts of ONMS on habitat and oceanographic monitoring that are important to the fisheries resources in this region.”

The report closed with staff and council members noting the value of continued coordination between sanctuaries, NOAA Fisheries and the council as the agency moves draft plans toward final documents and expands monitoring capabilities.