At present, Cockeast Pond is a highly nitrogen impaired salt pond, as seen in its high TN levels, large phytoplankton blooms, accumulations of macroalgae and severely impaired benthic animal habitat quality, in low salinity brackish waters.  The community has very low diversity and generally low evenness in addition to very low species numbers.  In the northern region of the pond, the number of individuals is so low that the contribution as a food source for fish is minimal, while the southern region supports similarly impaired habitat but with moderate numbers of individuals.  This trend parallels the distribution of sediment quality with the northern region supporting soft anoxic organic rich muds and the southern region having fine sands with oxic surface layer.  The higher numbers of animals in the southern basin are indicative of a moderate level of productivity, but the other metrics clearly indicate impaired habitat.  While the species were generally similar from the north to the south basins, the number of individuals in the north basin was very low, less than 1/10th of the southern basin.  Based on preliminary field observations, it appears that this difference in benthic animal communities may be related to sediment quality and the distribution of macroalgal accumulations within the Pond, which can smother benthic organisms,  Restoration of benthic habitat is a target for TMDL’s under the Clean Water Act and will require a lowering of the current level of nitrogen enrichment throughout the pond waters and if possible a modest increase in salinity.  As part of the management analysis, water sampling and phytoplankton productivity studies were conducted, which again confirmed that nitrogen is the nutrient controlling phytoplankton blooms and habitat quality in Cockeast Pond and therefore is the correct target nutrient for restoring the impaired habitats within the pond.