NOAA’s 2008 Business Report has important information for the coastline of the whole country.

For the Atlantic coast, it mentions 5 points in particular:

1. Large ships must obey a 10-knot speed limit in times and areas where endangered right whales are likely to
   congregate. These areas include calving / nursery areas in waters off Georgia and Florida, and a number of ports in the Northeast.
2. East Coast trap and pot fishermen are also switching from floating to sinking ground-line to help reduce the risk of entangling large whales. A large number of North Atlantic right whales were sighted in the Gulf of Maine in December 2008, leading researchers to believe they have identified a wintering ground and potentially a breeding ground for this endangered species.
3. Scientists are analyzing underwater sounds within the Stellwagen Banks National Marine Sanctuary to support a global monitoring network for ocean noise, an important step in protecting marine mammals.
4. NOAA Fisheries Service completed a research cruise to evaluate five proposed Marine Protected Area sites off the U.S. South Atlantic coast. The survey areas included spawning habitat for five species of grouper and two species of tilefish.
5. The Habitat Mapping Camera System (Habcam) was developed in collaboration with the fishing industry and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute as a noninvasive sampling tool. When towed by a commercial scallop boat, it can collect 300,000 high resolution images per day without damaging underwater habitat.