National ocean policy act advocated
By Corey Lyons
Knight Ridder News Service
In the first comprehensive review of U.S. ocean policy in more than three decades, an independent commission yesterday urged stronger federal oversight, revised pollution laws and tighter fishing regulation to rescue America's troubled seas.
Top reasons for the decline in ocean wildlife increases in polluted beaches and collapse of commercial fishing in U.S. waters: Pollution: Oil runoff from streets and driveways, agricultural runoff, cruise ship sewage. Overfishing: Populations of cod, haddock, yellowtail, flounder at historic lows. Fishing damage: Longline nets catch about 2.3 billion pounds a year of unwanted fish and sea birds. Seafood farming: Non-native species escape, pose threat to fish in wild. Invasive species: More than 370 plant, animal invaders documented — 40 percent appearing since 1970. Climate change: Rising sea temperature may damage coral reef ecosystems. Coastal development: 20,000 acres of wetlands, estuaries lost each year.
In its 144-page report, the Pew Oceans Commission recommends sweeping changes to improve the flagging health of the United States' 4.5 million square miles of ocean waters.
U.S. coastal waters in crisis
The 18-member panel, finishing three years of work, called on Congress to enact a National Ocean Policy Act to "protect, maintain and restore the health ... and production of our oceans."
Commissioners also recommend the creation of regional ocean ecosystem councils, bringing together fishermen, scientists and government officials to hash out management plans.
In addition, they urged Congress to create an independent national oceans agency. It would help streamline a federal ocean management system weighed down by at least six agencies and 140 laws related to coasts and seas.
"We must treat our oceans as a public trust," the report said.
The landmark report, the first of its kind since 1969, highlights a fast-growing crisis in which America's oceans are plagued by pollution, over-fishing and a ballooning human population.
"Our activities, from those that release pollutants into rivers and bays to over-fishing in seas, are altering and threatening the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems — from which all marine life springs," the report said.
The bipartisan committee, made up of marine experts, fishermen and elected officials, was created and financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a leading philanthropic firm based in Philadelphia.
The panel, chaired by former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, set out in June 2000 to assess the condition of America's vast bodies of salted water and its fragile marine resources.
A similar top-to-bottom ocean analysis was carried out by the Stratton Commission in 1969, during which ocean resources were thought to be endless.
But a lot has changed over the decades. Half the nation's population now lives along coastal areas, advances in fishing equipment threaten fish populations and increases in pollutants disrupt fragile ecosystems.
In effect, the Pew commissioners concluded that the first review of ocean policy was badly outdated and shaped by a "hodgepodge of ocean laws and programs"—without strict policy and clear goals.
Dr. Randy Kochevar, a science communications manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif., said understanding of how the ocean works has changed dramatically.
"(The earlier study) was looking at policies of the ocean as an inexhaustible resource," he said. "Now we know that it's not inexhaustible; it is fragile."
Pew commissioners set out to identify the problems and find solutions to restore ocean wildlife, preserve coastal habitat, clean coastal waters and reform policy.
Among the findings:
- About every eight months, nearly 11 million gallons of oil run off streets and driveways into our waters—the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- More than 13,000 beaches were closed or under pollution advisories in 2001, up 20 percent from the previous year.
- Thirty percent of fish populations that have been assessed are over-fished or are being "fished unsustainably."
- Fishing gear that drags along or digs into the sea floor destroys habitat needed by marine wildlife.
"We can learn a lot about what we've done with conservation on land. It can teach us a lot about what we can do in oceans," said Janet Tennyson, spokeswoman for the American Sportfishing Association.
"We've learned the hard way that there are a lot of different policies and legislation that did not integrate well."
Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, called the report "terribly significant" because it sets a broad vision far beyond looking at specific fish issues.
"This looks at habitat, pollution and calls for an end to destructive fishing methods," he said. "It also (seeks) to create a national act looking at standards in American law ... I think it will get widespread support."
