NOAA Fisheries developed social indicators to characterize well-being for coastal communities engaged in fishing activities. Climate Change Indicators contribute to the assessment of ecosystems, whose conditions are increasingly driven by a changing climate and its impact on the marine environment. These impacts affect the relationship between fishing communities and the marine- and land-based resources on which they depend.
NOAA Fisheries Social Indicators Tools
There are more than 4,600 coastal communities in the United States, some of which are involved in commercial and recreational fishing activities. We have developed two complementary web tools to help managers, researchers, and the public to understand the well-being of these communities and their resilience to the impacts of change. Both tools use a place-based approach, which informs research and management that serves the people most affected by change.
Community Environmental Justice Explorer Tool
This new dashboard tool allows users to query and explore detailed community information, including:
- Indicator categories (fishing dependence, environmental justice concerns, gentrification pressure, and economic)
- Overall community risk score
- Comparison against national averages
- Reference to climate change indicator.
Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool
This mapping and graphing tool allows users to explore and analyze coastal community well-being. This allows for broad community comparisons across 14 individual indicators covering:
- Fishing dependence
- Environmental justice
- Gentrification pressure
- Economic
- Climate change
Environmental Justice Concerns in Coastal Communities
Addressing National Equity and Environmental Justice Goals
In May 2023, we unveiled the first-ever NOAA Fisheries Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy. The Strategy highlights core goals, including:
- Identifying underserved communities
- Characterizing fishing communities
- Developing ways to measure and assess the impact of science and management activities on fishing communities
Our ongoing social indicators work supports these goals. Understanding the social conditions in coastal fishing communities helps us identify and engage with underserved and underrepresented communities in the fishery management process.
Additionally, in December 2023, the White House unveiled the first-ever U.S. Ocean Justice Strategy. It calls for updates to existing tools and development of new indicators to support specific ocean justice concerns for underserved communities. The Community Environmental Justice Explorer tool directly supports this Strategy by expanding upon the Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool and developing a new Overall Community Risk Score. Additionally, both tools support the goals of NOAA Fisheries’ Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy. They can be used to inform mandated analyses and assessments, including environmental justice uses.
Social Indicator Tool Comparison
Our social indicator tools both draw from the same core Census data. There are notable differences in how the information is packaged and presented, which directly influences the strengths and utility of each tool.
Key Features of Social Indicator Tools
The Community Environmental Justice Explorer Tool
The Community Environmental Justice Explorer is a Tableau dashboard tool that was released in 2024. The tool presents data in layers, including through a new Overall Community Risk Score, four indicator categories, and individual variables. Features include that it:
- Allows users to explore detailed data for individual communities
- Supports environmental justice analysis
- Provides information to identify specific environmental justice dimensions for a given community
- Provides information to compare communities across one Overall Community Risk Score
- Provides information to compare variables against national averages
The Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool
The Community Social Vulnerability Indicators Tool is a GIS mapping and graphing tool released in 2013. The tool splits data out into 14 individual indicators and five indicator categories. Features include that it:
- Allows users to compare communities across single indicators
- Provides information to compare communities geographically across single indicators
- Provides information to compare communities over time
- Provides information to identify vulnerable coastal communities (for example, communities more highly engaged in fishing activities may be more vulnerable to fishery and ecosystem changes)
Shared Features of Social Indicator Tools
Our social indicators tools provide community-level information for over 4,600 coastal communities in 24 states and the data is updated annually. Users include managers, constituents, and NOAA Fisheries professionals. The tool can be can be used to:
- Support national and NOAA Fisheries’ equity and environmental justice goals
- Describe and assess community vulnerability in response to the potential impacts of change
- Inform mandated analyses and assessments
Social Indicators and Contact Information
- Visit supporting information and publications
- Contact the Social Indicators Team at nmfs.social.indicators@noaa.gov
Mandates and Drivers
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), National Standards 4 and 8
- Executive Orders for Environmental Justice (E.O. 14096 and E.O. 12898)
- Executive Orders for Racial Equity (E.O. 13985 and E.O. 14091)
- Executive Order for Climate Change (E.O. 14008)
- NOAA Fisheries Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy
- U.S. Ocean Justice Strategy
