 Many of these sites coincide with the 1976-1978 EPA Mussel Watch sites, and new sites have been chosen after consulting with state officials and academic professionals about ideal placement.Criteria for site selection includes;
The Mussel Watch Program does not use caged mussels, instead it uses naturally occurring bivalves.Sites were distributed 10–100 km apart to better represent large coastal areas which enable NOAA to more accurately construct a nationwide assessment.