Coastal Georgia scored a B+ on its final exam for 2016 not exactly honor roll status, but a relatively overall clean bill of health for the vital ecosystems fisheries, wildlife and water quality.

So says the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which did all the data cramming for this test of the coasts ability to maintain ecological health amid its growing demands as a desired destination to live and visit. The DNRs actual score came to 76 percent, just above a middle B on the testing formats grade scale.

Blue crab spawning stock and the American oystercatcher shorebird populations declined in 2016, while red drum fish populations improved significantly and water quality indicators remained steady with respectable A scores, according to the results.

It speaks to our success at balancing development with natural resources protection, said Jan Mackinnon, the DNRs Coastal and Ocean Management Program Manager. We did have things change, as we do every year. But after everything is calculated it all seems to balance out. This report card is a way to provide the public with current information about the overall health of the ecosystem.

Folks can see the report card for themselves online at: http://www.CoastalGaDNR.org/ReportCard. The DNR began grading the Coastal Georgia ecosystem in 2014 as a means of evaluating its mandate to balance a healthy ecosystem with human development and demands on natural resources. The ecosystem earned B+ plus marks also in each of its two previous gradings.

Data is gathered from the DNRs Coastal Resources Division, the Environmental Protection Division and the Wildlife Resources Division at various points throughout the Georgia Coast. Information is entered and computed by a grading system developed by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Mackinnon said. The University of Maryland testing program is used by numerous government environmental and natural resources agencies nationwide, she said.

Georgias Coast scored a 93 percent in the overall human health index. That human health includes a grade of 92 (A) for fecal coliform measurements and 94 (A) for enterococcus measurements. The high scores indicate low content.

Essentially, this means that the water is safe for swimming; also, the regions oysters, shrimp, crab and fish are safe to eat.

The coasts fisheries index scored a low A, at 91 percent, Mackinnon said.

While the red drum fishery jumped from 69 percent (B) in 2015 to 100 percent in 2016, blue crab spawning stock went from 61 percent in 2015 to 47 percent (C) last year. Georgias ongoing drought conditions and subsequent decrease in fresh water to estuaries could have contributed to this drop, Mackinnon said. The shrimp fishery grade scored well at 97 percent (A).

The red drum grade is great news for the fishing community, she said. However, drought can have a significant impact on some of these resources.

The coastal wildlife index scored lowest overall at 53 percent, or a C. A lot of this had to do with the decline in American oystercatchers from 61 percent to 30 percent (D). Right whale populations dipped from 66 percent to 12 percent (F), but this could be due in part to new National Marine Fisheries Services standards for monitoring the species.

The annual report card gives the DNR a way to evaluate its efforts, while providing the public with a transparent view of the job it is doing, Mackinnon said.

It is meant to be an overall health assessment and that is why we selected the indicators that we did, she said. It gives us a snapshot of the health of the ecosystem, the fisheries, the wildlife, human health and water quality.

Read the rest here:

DNR: Georgia Coast ecosystem makes the grade - The News (subscription)