Rapid Assessment Surveys of Marine Invasive Species

Find details on these periodic scientific surveys of invasives along the New England coast.
scientist participating in RAS
Scientists at Rowes Wharf in Boston during the 2018 Rapid Assessment Survey.

Since 2000, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) has helped coordinate teams of scientific experts to periodically conduct a rapid assessment of marine species, including invasive animals and plants that have been introduced by human activity and have the capacity to harm the environment, economy, and public health.

The goal of the Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS) is to monitor marine species, track trends in distribution, detect new marine species introductions, and document regional patterns of established invaders through time. Every three to five years, a team of scientists visits marinas along the New England coast to observe, identify, and record marine organisms living in the fouling community. (The marine fouling community includes the organisms that attach to hard, submerged surfaces and the other mobile species living among them, often found on pilings and other underwater structures.) Experts (including divers) spend an hour at each site examining as many surfaces under the water as possible, searching for native, non-native, and cryptogenic species (species with as yet unresolved origins). Samples are collected and brought back to a laboratory for accurate identification. The surveys have identified new marine invaders, such as the European Rock Shrimp (Palaemon elegans), which is native to the northeast Atlantic. Range shifts have also been documented, including the northward expansion of the red algae Grateloupia turuturu since its introduction to Narragansett Bay from the northwest Pacific.

The most recent RAS was conducted in the summer of 2023 (August 7-11) and is the seventh survey to sample Maine and Massachusetts sites since 2000. CZM staff and a team of scientific experts visited nine marinas from Casco Bay, Maine, to Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, to observe, identify, and record marine species found on floating docks and piers. See 2023 Rapid Assessment Survey: Non-Native, Native, and Cryptogenic Marine Species at Maine and Massachusetts Marinas (PDF, 20 MB).

Additional Information

For additional information and available reports on the results of the Rapid Assessment Surveys, see:

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