Who We Are

The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program—the NEP for all of Coastal Alabama—has been restoring and protecting our coastal waters since its establishment in 1995.

Like all NEPs, the MBNEP is non-regulatory and works collaboratively with stakeholders to protect and restore Alabama’s bays and estuaries for our people, fish, and wildlife.

We don’t tell people what to do. We offer plans and solutions and promote the wise stewardship of our natural resources.

We’re locally run. The MBNEP is a Division of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium and functions under a unique governance structure called a Management Conference. It provides local partners a principal voice in the decision-making process.

We’re grounded in science and best practices. Each National Estuary Program develops and implements its own Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), a scientific blueprint or long-term plan prescribing specific actions to address water quality and living resource challenges according to the priorities of each NEP program area.

We deliver for our State and our communities. We manage large-scale restorations, eradicate invasive species, improve ecosystem health, protect vulnerable shorelines, and help keep waterways free of litter.