A draft of the Plan was released in October 2024 for a 45-day public comment period. The Open Ocean Trustees held public webinars on November 14 and November 20, 2024, to facilitate understanding of the plan. We received 19 public comments, and a summary of the comments and our responses are provided in Appendix G of the Final Restoration Plan. A summary of the changes made to the Restoration Plan based on public comments is provided in Chapter 1. All public comments received are available in the Administrative Record.
All ten projects proposed as preferred alternatives in the Draft Plan were selected for implementation in the Final Plan. Selected restoration projects for fish and water column invertebrates are:
- Return ‘Em Right: Species and Area Expansion
- Next Generation Fishing
- Communication Networks and Mapping Tools to Reduce Fish Mortality
- Reduction of Stressors to Fish and Water Column Invertebrates
- Education and Stewardship Partnerships with Charter Anglers
- Communication, Adaptive Management, Planning, and Integration
Selected restoration projects for sea turtles are:
- Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat Protection Expansion in Florida (Long Term Nesting Habitat Protection for Sea Turtles)
- Sea Turtle Bycatch Reduction
- Sea Turtle Vessel Strike Reduction
- Sea Turtle Stranding Network and Emergency Response Enhancements
The Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment is consistent with the Trustees’ Programmatic Restoration Plan and evaluates projects for restoring natural resources and services injured or lost in the open ocean as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. On June 6, 2025, the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group approved a Finding of No Significant Impact associated with the projects in the Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment. In addition to accessing information about the Final Plan below, the Executive Summary and Overview Factsheet are available at repositories across the Gulf.
