batch_auto_20260713 202607131256465730 BOEM ESP geoESPIS ESPIS@boem.gov Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Development of a Decision Support Tool to Reduce Sea Turtle Dredging Entrainment Risk National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration; Office for Coastal Management National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration; Office for Coastal Management The ASTER DST is a standardized geographically and temporally based decision support tool for use by practitioners in the US Atlantic and Gulf regions to assess project-specific dredging entrainment risk for sea turtles within a common framework. ASTER DST users can define biological and environmental parameters for candidate dredging areas, including suitable benthic habitat, bottom type, bathymetry, and sea turtle presence/density. The final output of the ASTER DST includes a report informing the user of the relative risk of sites within the selected area of interest, thus providing resource managers a documented process of the mitigation factors considered for site specific projects. The ASTER DST will be used to guide future mitigation planning decisions within marine mineral resource areas, so that better informed decisions may minimize impacts to sea turtle species. In addition, the ASTER DST would help resource managers understand the best way to decrease dredging costs through reduced downtime associated with entrainment incidents and potentially allow more flexibility of environmental windows in areas perceived to have less risk. 500000 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program https://doi.org/10.13039/100012475 M15PG00019 10.67297/9A1D82 https://boem.gov/awardpages/100098