This project will launch a cross-sector Biodiversity Management Council to translate existing ecological, fisheries, economic, and community knowledge into decision-ready biodiversity indicators to inform fisheries management, working waterfront decisions, and habitat restoration in Mobile Bay.
Management of biodiversity in Mobile Bay is complex. For example, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources manages state fisheries, the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program supports estuary-wide planning, monitoring, and other projects, meanwhile agencies such as NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers influence restoration, habitat, and navigation outcomes. What is needed is durable coordination between many of these actors and the coastal communities and stakeholders they’re meant to serve.
In this project, researchers from the University of South Alabama will establish a Biodiversity Management Council to serve as a central platform to:
- co-develop and evaluate biodiversity indicators, state and federal managers, resources users and other local experts;
- move existing knowledge into shared indicators, decision-ready products, and practical uptake pathways across management jurisdictions; and
- consolidate the Council’s outputs and identify ways to sustain coordination beyond the project’s completion.
This project was funded in August 2026 as part of the 2026 Ocean Biodiversity Program Regional Engagement Grants – Chesapeake Bay, Mobile Bay, and Puget Sound.
