Mission

The mission of CINAR is to conduct and coordinate cutting-edge research engaging both NOAA and academic scientists to enable informed decisions by NOAA for sustainable and beneficial management of the northwestern Atlantic shelf ecosystem.

Goals

Working within the geographic framework of the NES LME, the goals of CINAR are:

1. To establish CINAR as a leader in promoting "rational ocean stewardship" and serve as a model for development of similar ecosystem approaches to management in other regions;
2. To coordinate research, education and outreach with NOAA scientists in support of responsible stewardship of coastal and marine resources in the region;
3. To conduct research that identifies and evaluates linkages among productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution, climate change and ecosystem health;
4. To conduct research and develop decision-support tools for sustainable fisheries management;
5. To conduct research and develop tools to restore degraded habitats and support restoration and rebuilding of protected species to healthy population levels;
6. To improve integration and availability of ocean observations from global to local scales;
7. To provide mechanisms for transition of predictive/forecasting and monitoring tools into operational use for management;
8. To improve ability to distinguish shifts in marine resource status caused by human impact from those due to climate and other natural forcings; and,
9. To develop robust indicators of ecological health and socioeconomic benefits that can be utilized by resource managers.
10. To develop, carry out, and sustain key observational components of NOAA ocean observing missions.

CINAR Themes

1. Ecosystem Forecasting
2. Ecosystem Monitoring
3. Ecosystem Management
4. Protection and Restoration of Resources
5. Sustained Ocean Observations and Climate Research. 
6. Education and Outreach