Seafloor Mapping Initiative

The seafloor of Long Island Sound is diverse in its features and habitats—from the shallow, sandy bottom in the Narrows near New York City, to the deep and rocky recession in the Race near Fishers Island. Mapping the seafloor provides the necessary data to better understand and manage the resources dependent on these diverse habitats.

The Long Island Sound Research and Restoration Fund was established in 2004 by a Memorandum of Understanding of the Long Island Sound Partnership Policy Committee to provide funding for research and restoration projects to enhance the waters and related natural resources of Long Island Sound. This fund was the result of a $6 million settlement between the states of Connecticut and New York, two power companies, and a cable company, which resolved a permitting dispute relating to two electric transmission cables crossing Long Island Sound.

In 2006, the Long Island Sound Partnership Policy Committee signed a second MOU formally establishing a framework for the fund’s use. The Policy Committee agreed that the Fund be used to:

• Support new projects and activities that enhance Long Island Sound.
• Promote improved scientific understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical effects of existing or potential cable and pipeline crossings and mitigation of their impacts.
• Emphasize seafloor (or “benthic”) mapping as a priority need, essential to an improved scientific basis for management and mitigation decisions

This MOU also established the Cable Fund Steering Committee, comprised of representatives of the EPA Region 1 and Region 2 offices, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of State, and both Connecticut and New York Sea Grant Programs to administer the fund.

The Long Island Sound Seafloor Habitat Mapping Initiative

In an effort to characterize these benthic environments, federal and state agencies, regional organizations, and academic institutions use high resolution underwater acoustic and imaging techniques and evaluation of collected seafloor sediments to describe and map specific regions of Long Island Sound.

Long Island Sound Seafloor Habitat Mapping Initiative Program References

Learn more about the history of the Long Island Sound Seafloor Habitat Mapping Initiative and about seafloor mapping in general:

Seafloor Workshop Summaries

• Report of the Long Island Sound Seafloor Habitat Mapping Initiative Workshop, April 4, 2024
• Summary of the Long Island Sound Spatial Prioritization Workshop, Aug. 3-Aug. 4, 2011.
• Summary of the Long Island Sound Seafloor Mapping Workshop, Nov. 30, 2007.

Long Island Sound Mapping References

• The Long Island Sound Seafloor Story Map
• Final Report of the Assessment of Ecological Change and Resilience in Long Island Sound (July 3, 2024)
• Final Report  and Appendices of Phase II Project (January 2023 -note these are large files)
• Final Report and Appendices of Phase I Pilot Project (June 2015 -note these are large files)
• Final Report and Appendices of Phase I Pilot Project (June 2015 -note these are large files)
• Seafloor Mapping of Long Island Sound: Scope of Work – Phase I Pilot Project Feb. 24, 2012
• A Habitat Classification Scheme for the Long Island Sound Region, National Undersea Research Center & Department of Marine Sciences, Prepared for the Long Island Sound Partnership, EPA Long Island Sound Office, June 2009.
• Summary of the Long Island Sound Seafloor Mapping Workshop Nov. 30, 2007
• Long Island Sound Symposium: A Study of Benthic Habitats, the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering for the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board, Nov. 2004.
• Comprehensive Assessment and Report, Part II, Environmental Resource and Energy Infrastructure of Long Island Sound, Taskforce on Long Island Sound, Pursuant to State of Connecticut Public Act No. 02-95 and Executive Order No. 26, June 3, 2003.