Restoration work in the Open Ocean Restoration Area focuses on restoring the living marine resources and their services that were injured by the spill. The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group, comprised of the federal trustees, works together to restore wide-ranging and migratory species, including birds, Gulf sturgeon, fish and water column invertebrates, sea turtles, marine mammals, and deep-sea coral communities.
We work to restore these species throughout their life stages and geographic ranges, including inland, coastal, and offshore areas. Therefore, we may use some funds for restoration outside of the Gulf of Mexico. We coordinate with state trustees, especially when proposed projects overlap their jurisdictions.
Together, we develop project-specific restoration plans that are consistent with the programmatic restoration plan (see chart below). As part of the restoration planning process, we accept restoration project ideas from the public. The public also has the opportunity to review and comment on proposed project-specific restoration plans for the Open Ocean Restoration Area. Once plans are approved, we begin implementation and monitoring of the selected projects.
Restoration Plans
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Draft Planon
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Final Planon
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Final Planon
Recent News
Looking for a particular news item or document related to the Open Ocean Restoration Page? View the story archive.

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group’s
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held
Nhóm Thực Hiện Được Ủy Thác về Biển Khơi đã phát
El 30 de octubre de 2024, el Grupo de
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group, in

El Grupo de Implementación del Fideicomiso de Open

Nhóm Thực hiện ủy thác Open Ocean (Open Ocean

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

The Louisiana and Open Ocean Trustee

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

Whales and dolphins (cetaceans) living in the Gulf
The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is
The Open Ocean Trustees have approved a Monitoring
Whales and dolphins (cetaceans) living in the
From May through October 2023, crews from NOAA
The Open Ocean Trustees are pleased to announce a

The Open Ocean Trustees have approved a new

Sea turtles were among the many marine species in

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

When common loons returned this year to their

The Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustee

The Gulf of Mexico has a vast and unique deep-sea

Setting sail from Mississippi in June into the

A new publication from the Open Ocean Trustees’

The Open Ocean Trustees have approved a new

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group marked
A new resource offering guidance on in-water sea

Xem câu chuyện này bằng tiếng Anh. ( Read this

Đọc tường thuật bằng tiếng Việt. (Read this

A new video from the Oceanic Fish Restoration

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

Through the cooperation and coordination of five

The Open Ocean Trustees invite you to learn more

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

To support restoration planning and evaluation of

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill damaged deep-sea

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

Gulf sturgeon were once common in river systems

To restore fish populations in the Gulf of Mexico

A project to develop a new type of turtle excluder
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted

Construction of the Open Ocean Trustee

Return 'Em Right, a coalition of organizations

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Open Ocean Trustees released their first

The Open Ocean Trustees are hosting a webinar on

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

The Open Ocean Trustees and partners are

After five successful years, the Open Ocean

The “ Developing Methods to Observe Sea Turtle

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The “ Reducing Impacts to Cetaceans during

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource

The Open Ocean Trustees are bringing together a

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

Return ‘Em Right is an angler-driven initiative

In July, the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation

Stakeholder and community feedback have

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

In what turned out to be an extremely challenging

The Trustee Council will hold its sixth annual

Are you interested in learning more about Open

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is

Update: Join us for a fish restoration strategy

After four successful years, the National Fish and

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

On behalf of the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

On July 22, 2020 the Open Ocean Restoration Area

Help is on the way for common loons thanks to a

The Trustee Council will hold its fifth annual

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

In 2019, the Deepwater Horizon Trustees continued

Many of our projects are designed to benefit

We are restoring resources in multiple locations

To make the most of our efforts, we work hard to

Today marks ten years since the Deepwater Horizon

After three successful project years, the National

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustee

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

Pelagic longline fishermen in the Gulf are invited

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

In response to both extenuating weather conditions

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

In 2018, the Deepwater Horizon Trustees continued

The Open Ocean Trustees will hold an outreach

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

These public engagement opportunities will happen

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

On February 4, 2019 the Open Ocean Restoration

The Deepwater Horizon Oceanic Fish Restoration

On February 4, 2019 the Open Ocean Restoration

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group held

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

The Trustees are committed to providing annual

In January, the Jeff Friend Trail at Bon Secour

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has

Many members of the Deepwater Horizon Trustee
The Deepwater Horizon Oceanic Fish Restoration

The Oceanic Fish Restoration Project is helping to

The Open Ocean Restoration Area webinar was held

Sailing towards Pensacola’s Plaza de Luna under a

It’s been one year since we settled with BP and

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is
Seven Louisiana fishers have volunteered to stop

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (TIG)

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is
Projects
Planning
The chart shows the restoration funding allocated to the Open Ocean Restoration Area for each restoration goal and the percentage of committed funds as of May 2024. For more information on the allocation of funds, please visit the Department of Justice Deepwater Horizon page.

Monitoring and Adaptive Management
The Open Ocean Trustees consider monitoring and adaptive management throughout their restoration efforts. To find project-related monitoring and adaptive management information, click on the projects listed in the table above, or view a project’s monitoring activities through our interactive project map.
In addition to project-specific monitoring, we developed a Monitoring and Adaptive Management Strategy (PDF, 23 pages) that provides a framework to inform restoration planning and evaluate the outcomes of Open Ocean restoration.
The Open Ocean Restoration area also has Monitoring and Adaptive Management Activity Implementation Plans.
- Vessel Surveys for Abundance and Distribution of Marine Mammals and Seabirds
- Informing Gulf Sturgeon Population Status and Trends as a Baseline to Evaluate Restoration
- Juvenile Gulf Sturgeon - Gulf-wide Population Dynamics and Habitat Use
- Evaluating the Cumulative Impacts of Multiple Stressors on Cetaceans
- Analysis of Open Ocean Habitat Use, Threats, and Animal Movement
- Conceptual Model to Inform Open Ocean Ecosystem Indicators
- Gulf-Wide Status of Nesting Sea Turtles and Beaches Data Inventory
- Evaluation Framework for Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Restoration
Trustee Implementation Group
The trustees for the Open Ocean Restoration Area are:
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Contact: openocean.TIG@noaa.gov