Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant works to protect, enhance and restore coastal ecosystems. Many of MASGC’s research projects and outreach activities include working with resource managers. MASGC provides them with the tools they need to make management decisions. Some of those tools include research, data, scientific models and best management practices.
MASGC is a leader in regional approaches to understanding and maintaining healthy ecosystems. Sea Grant uses regional planning to identify information gaps, define research priorities and facilitate delivery of information and technology to the people who need it.
Rapid coastal development, greater demands on fisheries resources, climate change and other human activities are leading to decreased water quality, changes to fish populations, wetlands loss and a host of other environmental impacts. MASGC promotes ecosystem-based management, which focuses on the whole ecosystem and not just one species at a time, to maintain vital habitats and inform restoration efforts.
Whether funding cutting-edge restoration techniques, identifying critical habitats, gathering baseline data or organizing volunteers, MASGC provides science-based information that continually brings new, relevant information to the field
Programs
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Clean Marina Program
The Clean Marina Initiative is a voluntary, incentive-based program promoted by NOAA and others that encourages marina operators and recreational boaters to protect coastal water quality by engaging in environmentally sound operating and maintenance procedures. While Clean Marina Programs vary...
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Gulf of Mexico Research Plan
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The effort to develop a regional research plan for the Gulf of Mexico began in 2007 and resulted in a plan that was released in 2009. The plan is currently being updated using input that has been collected since 2009. The mission of the Gulf of Mexico Research Plan (GMRP) is to identify priority... -
Hydrological Restoration
For decades, the natural hydrology and tidal flows of the Gulf of Mexico coast have been altered because of development. These alterations can take various forms such as installation of dikes, causeways, levees and other barriers, and inadequate culverts. These modifications result in reduced or...
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Living Shorelines
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The current trend in Mississippi and Alabama is to install hard structures, such as bulkheads, seawalls or rip-rap on the shoreline to protect waterfront coastal property from erosion. Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant supports the use of living shorelines, in many circumstances, instead of bulkheads... -
Mobile Bay Oyster Gardening
A volunteer based project which focuses on education, restoration/enhancement, and research by bringing the reef to the people. Now in its eleventh year of operation, Oyster Gardeners have produced nearly 500,000 oysters for restoration and enhancement efforts within Mobile Bay.
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Smart Yard, Healthy Gulf
Smart Yard, Healthy Gulf is a new public education campaign from the Gulf of Mexico Alliance that is designed to reduce fertilizers entering local waters by helping people make responsible lawn fertilizer decisions.
Applying the proper amount of fertilizer at the proper time(s) of the growing...
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COVID-19 Resources
Resources for the COVID-19 pandemic
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Sea Grant Water Resources
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