The report was delivered to governors and others for comment. Governors have until May 21 to respond to the draft. Eventually, it will be submitted to the White House and then to Congress for action.

Hawai'i ocean researchers and program managers generally were unwilling to comment, since none had seen the preliminary report.

"We're doing a lot of the things included in this report," said Ben Sherman, public affairs spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "In Hawai'i, you've got the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve as examples of multiple use areas managed under an ecosystem approach."

The commission calls for a $4 billion federal oceans trust fund, using revenues from oil and gas royalties. Federal programs would get $3 billion from the fund and another $1 billion would be shared among the states.

That is one of more than 250 recommendations in the 500-page report, which outlines the results of the first major review in 35 years of the nation’s approach to managing the oceans.

It suggests that the Ocean Policy Trust Fund — similar to the Highway Trust Fund for transportation projects — would come from $5 billion annually in bonus bid and royalty payments to the U.S. Treasury for offshore oil and gas drilling, and from "new uses of offshore waters," the commission said.

"Let's allocate them to this process so that we can pay for the recommendations of the ocean policy and get on with it. Will it be tough to sell? You better believe it. But we're going to go for it. Everybody wants to go after those revenues. Well, we do too. And we hope we can win it," said James Watkins, the retired admiral who chairs the commission created by Congress and the White House in 2000.

The panel also urged new "ecosystem-based" ways of managing that put the needs of nature ahead of political boundaries, while emphasizing that people's needs must also be considered.

It is recommending a Cabinet-level National Ocean Council and a Presidential Council on Ocean Policy, as well as new regional councils on oceans. It calls for reorganizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it wants improved data sharing among agencies and research groups working in the oceans.

The commission estimated the cost of all its recommended actions at $1.3 billion the first year, $2.4 billion the second year and $3.2 billion each year after that. But it pointed to annual ocean-related economic activity of $700 billion in goods that ports handle, $50 billion from fishing and trade, $11 billion from cruise ships and passengers — and $25 billion to $40 billion from offshore oil and gas production.

"If our report is adopted, the payoff will be great," Watkins said in a video accompanying the report. "It's now obvious that ocean resources are not limitless, nor are ocean waters capable of continual self-cleansing. The point is this: It's up to us to find ways to use and enjoy the oceans in a sustainable way."

The commission found exploited fish stocks and other depleted marine resources; the loss or declining resilience of habitat; and pervasive water contamination. It recommends more ocean-related education for schoolchildren, doubled federal research and increased emphasis on scientific-based decision-making.

The commission for two years studied the waters around the nation, The conclusion, Watkins said, was that the waters are murky.

"Fundamentally, the message we heard boiled down to this: The oceans and coasts are in trouble, and we need to change the way we manage them. Perhaps most important, people must grasp the vital role oceans play in their lives and livelihoods, and the profound impact they themselves have on the oceans and the coasts."

Advertiser science writer Jan TenBruggencate and Associated Press writer John Heilprin contributed to this report.