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NOAA's National Mussel Watch Program monitors the status and spatial and temporal trends of chemical contaminants and biological stressors in the nation’s coastal waters. The Mussel Watch Program is the longest running continuous contaminant-monitoring program of its kind in the United States. The program utilizes a sentinel-based approach to monitoring by collecting and analyzing sediment and bivalves (oysters and mussels) as surrogates for water pollution and bioaccumulation from a network of sites across the U.S. and territories.
Since its inception in 1986, the National Mussel Watch Program has grown and evolved. We currently sample sediment and bivalves from a network of nearly 500 sites along Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico on a 5-year rotating regional schedule. This regional approach allows the program to increase interaction with local stakeholders to support more specific data needs to help fill local data gaps. Through these adaptive changes and leveraging of regional partnerships, the program has increased its scientific relevance and reputation, and has evolved to include the assessment of nearly 600 chemical contaminants, including metals, legacy organic compounds, and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs).
Data
The National Mussel Watch Program provides unique data that is vital to evaluating the health of the nation’s estuarine and coastal waters, particularly describing the levels of chemical contamination. The program’s long-term data supports the assessment of potential impacts of unforeseen events such as oil spills and hurricanes, the evaluation of the effectiveness of regulations that ban toxic chemicals, and legislation such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. The goal of the National Mussel Watch Program is to support ecosystem-based management through integrated nationwide environmental monitoring, assessment, and research to describe the status and trends of our nation’s estuaries and coasts.
Publications
The National Mussel Watch Program collects sediment and bivalve samples from one of five regions each year. For every year of collection, we publish 2-3 data reports summarizing the status and trends of chemical contamination at the sites assessed for (1) contaminants of emerging concern, (2) trace metals, and (3) legacy organic contaminants. Each year of collection is summarized within the pages linked below and the resulting data reports can be found at the bottom of each page for that year.
Partnerships
The National Mussel Watch Program would not be successful without the support from our network of partners throughout the U.S. These groups have assisted our program with the collection of samples throughout the years and we are continuously grateful for their support and assistance.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Greater Farallon Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation
Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council
Prince William Sound Science Center
Resighini Tribe of Yurok People
San Francisco Estuary Institute
Southeast Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
Contact Us
If you have any questions, would like more information about the program, or would like to get involved with our sampling efforts, please reach out.
Dr. Dennis Apeti | Mussel Watch Program Manager
Lauren Swam | Mussel Watch Environmental Scientist
Felipe Arzayus | Monitoring and Assessment Branch Chief
Pictured: NOAA Monitoring and Assessment Branch and field support team conducting field work in the Great Lakes in 2022. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Erik Davenport, Andrew Yagiela (GLERL), Mary Rider, Luke Petzy (GLERL), Felipe Arzayus, Lauren Swam, Dr. Dennis Apeti, James Daugomah, Dr. Michael Edwards, Dr. Tony Pait.
The National Mussel Watch Program would not be successful without the support from our network of partners throughout the U.S. These groups have assisted our program with the collection of samples throughout the years and we are continuously grateful for their support and assistance.