Scientific Basis for Goals and Management Options

Adaptive management offers a way to address the pressing need to take steps to manage for factors affecting hypoxia in the NGOM in the face of uncertainties. The authors of a recent study undertaken by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences identified six elements of adaptive management that are directly relevant to goal setting and research needs (National Research Council, 2004): (1) resources of concern are clearly defined; (2) conceptual models are developed during planning and assessment; (3) management questions are formulated as testable hypotheses to guide inquiry; (4) management actions are treated like experiments that test hypotheses to answer questions and provide future management guidance; (5) ongoing monitoring and evaluation is necessary to improve accuracy and completeness of knowledge; and (6) management actions are revised with new cycles of learning.