Oceans for the New Millennium:
Developing and Implementing Ocean Policy
A conference and reception co-sponsored by the
American Association for the Advancement of Science and the
American Geophysical Union.

Overview | Agenda | Speaker Bios | Abstracts
July 18, 2000, 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
House Cannon Caucus Room, U.S. House of Representatives

Abstracts

9:30 - 10:20 am, PANEL DISCUSSION ON BIOLOGY: MARINE PROTECTED ARES

Billy D. Causey, Superintendent, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The Role of Marine Protected Areas In Managing Ocean and Coastal Resources

The role of Marine Protection Areas in the Florida Keys has changed considerably from the designation of the Fort Jefferson National Monument in the Dry Tortugas in 1935 to the designation of the 2800 square nautical mile Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 1990. In this Congressional designation, a patchwork of State Parks, State Aquatic Preserves, National Wildlife Refuges, and two existing National Marine Sanctuaries were overlapped by the boundary of a single National Marine Sanctuary. This large MPA was made without usurping any of the existing local, state, or federal jurisdictions. Management of the biologically diverse coral reef resources of the Florida Keys, surrounding one of the most socially and economically diverse communities in North America requires an integrated approach that not only includes the various local, state, and federal agencies, but also the community that is in some way dependent upon the continued health of the marine resources. This presentation will emphasize the changes in marine protected area management and the effective role of various marine protected areas in providing a cohesive and integrated approach to management of ocean and coastal resources.

Vikki Spruill, Executive Director, SeaWeb
National Survey of Americans’ Attitudes Toward Protected Areas in the Ocean

The current U.S. policy discussion of protected ocean areas encompasses both changes to the National Marine Sanctuaries program and the establishment of new Marine Protected Areas. In fall 1999 SeaWeb, funded by the Goldman Fund, commissioned a public opinion poll to examine Americans’ attitudes toward protected areas in U.S. ocean waters. The survey was designed to test public support for establishing protected areas and strengthening protections within existing U.S. Marine Sanctuaries. The poll also measured perceptions of the condition of the ocean, perceived problems facing the ocean, and attitudes toward human activity and use of resources within protected areas. Finally the survey tested persuasive messaging to determine how to best to communicate about protected areas.

The survey found that Americans express affinity for and concern about the oceans, although they continue to hold misconceptions about threats to ocean health. Most view oil pollution as the most significant ocean threat, while fewer understand the impact of run-off and overexploitation of ocean resources. Despite some confusion as to how specific areas in the ocean can be distinguished for protection, Americans express strong support for establishing protected areas that limit or prohibit damaging human activities. Americans are largely unaware of the existing Marine Sanctuary program and believe this program should be modified to prohibit those commercial and recreational activities that are harmful to wildlife and habitat. The study shows that there is opportunity to create a new debate about ocean protected areas, but that a successful campaign must reconcile differences between Americans’ concerns and the science of protected areas. The survey suggests successful public communications will reinforce a theme of human dependence on the ocean and the damage already done.

The survey interviewed 802 adult Americans nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Zeke Grader, Executive Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a promising tool for marine research, the protection of habitats, and the conservation and management of some commercially and recreationally valuable fish stocks. MPAs can be used to protect sensitive habitats from damage from certain activities, can be used for the protection of resident or spawning stocks of fish and shellfish and, where take and other human activity is prohibited, for necessary baseline research. The purpose for the siting of an MPA, however, must be clear and the sites must be carefully picked. The amount of area needed will vary from site to site depending on its characteristics and the purpose for which the MPA is established. MPAs are not and should not be seen a substitute for other measures to protect living marine resources, such as fishing regulations (quotas, seasons, gear restrictions, size limits, etc.) or the protection of ecosystems (water quality standards, prohibitions on dumping and dredging, restrictions on diking and filling of coastal wetlands, etc.). Moreover, MPAs require a level of adaptive management for measuring effectiveness and, among other things, to determine whether changes in boundaries or uses within an MPA are necessary over the course of time as more information on the site is gathered.

11:00 - 11:50 am, PANEL DISCUSSION ON POLLUTION: IMPACTS OF NON-POINT-SOURCE POLLUTION ON THE COASTAL OCEAN

Donald F. Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Nutrient Over-enrichment of Coastal Waters: Overview of Recent Reports

The subject of over-enrichment (eutrophication) of coastal waters with land-derived nutrients is receiving increased attention around the world. It is arguably the marine pollution problem of the end of the 20^th century, having resulted in deleterious reductions of oxygen levels (hypoxia), loss of seagrass beds, and quite likely the increased distribution and frequency of harmful algal blooms. Three reports dealing with marine eutrophication have recently been or soon will be published that will undoubtedly have major policy implications in the United States:

These reports demonstrate that although waste disposal is a significant source of excess nutrients in some coastal waters, nonpoint sources from agriculture or atmospheric emissions of combustion products constitute the predominant and the most pervasive and difficult to control sources. To be successful in reversing marine eutrophication will take approaches that integrate: federal, regional, state and local programs; clean air and clean water solutions; landscape, wetland and coastal management; and the nation’s agricultural and environmental interests. Although federal mandates alone cannot "fix" the problem in the same sense as technology-based regulation of point sources, national goals, standards, regulations must play an appropriate part along with sustained regional efforts such as the Chesapeake Bay Program and programs implementing management plans developed under the National Estuary Program.

James T. Carlton, Director, Maritime Studies Program, Williams College -- Mystic Seaport
Coastal Eutrophication, Pollution, and the Invasions of Exotic Species

Disruptions, stresses, and degradations in coastal ecosystems provide numerous novel opportunities for exotic species invasions, with devastating economic, social, and environmental consequences. The majority of American estuaries now exhibit eutrophication, profoundly impacting natural community dynamics. Nutrient over-enrichment combines with other sources of pollution, habitat loss, over-extraction of fishery resources, and climate change, to fundamentally curve-ball sciences's abilities to predict the susceptibility of coastal ecosystems to exotic species invasions. Since 1961 one new exotic species has become established in San Francisco Bay on the average of once every 14 weeks. A constant flow of alien species continues to occur elsewhere in all of America's coastal waters. Ecological roulette begets economic roulette. Congress can establish jugular, sustained, integrated enviromanagement policy to mitigate roller-coast ecology and to stabilize coastal economies and resources for future generations.

Michael H. Bothner, Oceanographer, United States Geological Survey
Benefits of Regional, Multidisciplinary Research to Understanding Coastal Pollution: Lessons from Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay

Problem: In the late 1980s, the levels of contaminants in sediments of Boston Harbor were among the highest of any harbor in the nation. The environmental health of the harbor was poor. Fish were diseased, shellfish beds were closed, and swimming beaches were unsafe after heavy rains. These are common problems among urban coastal communities, worldwide. The lessons learned from our research during the ongoing harbor cleanup recommend a new emphasis in coastal legislation. On a national scale, we should apply a system-wide, multidisciplinary approach to pollution problems in the coastal ocean. Two new technologies should be systematically included: multibeam mapping of the sea floor and numerical modeling of circulation and sediment transport. This approach will provide an improved capability to predict the fate and effects of pollutants in the coastal ocean.

Three results of the USGS multidisciplinary research in Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay illustrate how science has contributed to environmental management issues associated with a $4 billion cleanup program:

These three disciplines, applied together (and with others), have improved our ability to predict the distribution and fate of contaminants introduced from point and non-point sources to a coastal system. The techniques and approaches are applicable anywhere.

Robert H. Wayland, Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, Environmental Protection Agency

Of the coastal and estuarine waters assessed in 1998, 38% were found to be impaired by serious pollution problems. The pressures that growing coastal populations place on these coastal and marine ecosystems are as diverse as the ecosystems impacted. Stressors range from urban runoff which may contain excess nutrients, pathogens, and toxics to contaminated sediments, air deposition, algal blooms, invasions of non-indigenous species, and habitat loss. Alone any one of these pollutants may degrade a coastal ecosystem; however, when combined they can be devastating, triggering hypoxic zones, harmful algal blooms, or other events. The diversity of issues facing coastal populations and ecosystems requires equally diverse and varied solutions. While there are many efforts underway to address some of these issues, the complexity of these systems and the number of challenges these coastal communities and ecosystems face leaves much to be done. Key to our future successes are such efforts as habitat restoration, implementation of National Estuary Program priority action plans, implementation of the Executive Order on Marine Protected Areas, and continuing to push forward with the Clean Water Action Plan.

Louis E. "Sandy" Sage, Executive Director, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

My intent is to highlight the issues of nonpoint runoff in the Gulf of Maine within the context of a global ocean problem. The Gulf of Maine is historically one of the richest commercial fisheries but is also facing some of the same population pressures previously identified with more densely populated coastal areas. This is contrasted with the pollution from even more unsuspected areas such as the Arctic Ocean and some of the deep ocean currents.

Some of the emerging nonpoint concerns on a global scale, is atmospheric pollution deposition from both man-made and natural sources that is funneled into the oceans. All of these sources make assessing the health of the worlds oceans a challenge. Even more difficult is the management of the living resources in these oceans without an adequate “real-time” information base. Thanks to the actions of Congress, the Gulf of Maine will receive the first of the large scale ocean observing systems that will make up the national integrated observing system. Elements of this system are scheduled to be in operation this year. When fully implemented, the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS) will be a vital tool in following pollution loading from most sources. Eventually, the flood of new technologies from the biomedical field will be introduced to probe the secrets of community ecology at all trophic levels including commercial fisheries.

Although the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) has recently publicly cited as a high priority in NSF, NOAA, NASA and Navy, there is no dedicated funding stream within the federal budget. These systems will only reach their full potential if a line item dedicated to the support of much of their operations and future development in each of these NOPP agencies. I believe the oceanographic research and education community and many in the commercial community stand ready to partner with the leaders in Congress to fully implement this powerful tool.

1:15 - 2:05 pm, PANEL DISCUSSION ON SECURITY: IMPORTANCE OF A SUSTAINED OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM AND CONSEQUENCES OF NOT RATIFYING THE U.N. LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION

Richard W. Spinrad, Technical Director, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy
Ocean Observing Systems in Support of National Security

Successful Naval operations require understanding of the complex maritime environment to maximize operational effectiveness and minimize impact on platforms, weapons, and sensors (e.g. through accurate forecasts of weather, sea conditions, and coastal morphology). This principle applies to all phases of military operations, from planning and surveillance to precision engagement and battle damage assessment. To ensure a robust understanding of our operating environment, ocean observations must:

• be integrated, to link all parts of the global observation network;
• include remotely sensed, in situ, and predictive data, from a multitude of sources;
• be sustained, to ensure observations and forecasts are available anytime, anywhere they are needed; and,
• be operational, with assured accuracy and robust communications for real-time utility.

The conference, therefore, will address the need for high quality ocean observations, taken more often and in more locations around the world. An integrated, sustained, global ocean observing system, such as that being developed under the aegis of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), is a critical component of national and global security.

3:15 - 4:20 pm, PANEL DISCUSSION ON GOVERNANCE: OCEAN GOVERNANCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY--ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMISSION ON OCEAN POLICY AND THE NATIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

William J. Merrell, President, The H. John Heinz III Center
Towards a National Oceans Commission

During The Year of The Ocean, The Heinz Center held a series of multi-sector workshops and produced the report, Our Ocean Future, which specifically identified critical ocean and coastal problems facing our nation and approaches to solving them.

I came away from this process with a strong conviction that the basis of our problems—both in the ocean and on the coasts—is not bad or incompetent people—but instead—failed or incomplete policies and institutional arrangements. I also came away from this process convinced of the critical need for a national Oceans Commission to address these issues.

Thirty years ago the Stratton Commission was specifically charged with using the oceans to expand our Nation’s economy. Their recommendations led to legislative actions and institutional arrangements that did just that—expand our economy. Now, 30 years later, see that this economic expansion came at some costs.

Using marine fisheries as an example, in 1976, The Magnuson Act nationalized our marine fisheries. Foreign fishing in the EEZ plummeted from 61% to 1% in a decade. The resource was ours to manage—or mismanage.

Other legislation and tax policies encouraged the building of more fishing vessels, with every ever increasing fishing capacity. NOAA was created in response to a direct recommendation of the Stratton Commission and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service was charged with the dual responsibilities of promoting and managing the Nation’s marine fisheries.

All of this has led to the identification of a species as underutilized—then its increasing use—and then, all too often, its overuse. We know now, 30 years after Stratton, that sustainability is a better paradigm than growth—that we must balance the use of a resource with the conversation of that resource.

But we will need fundamental changes in policy and institutional arrangements to embrace sustainability. To date that has not happened. We know ultimately where we want to go, but not exactly how to get there.

Continuing with the marine fisheries example, The Magnuson Act has been amended at least 19 times. During the latest reauthorization, it was re-titled the Magnuson-Stevens Sustainable Fisheries Act and did include stronger provisions for fishery management and conservation. But the Act does not adequately address excess fishing capacity. It assigns responsibility to protect essential fish habitat, but conveys no real authority. And the Act does not address the institutional arrangements set up many years ago. Despite its title, this act will not sustain our marine fisheries.

There are many other examples—The Coast Zone Management Act comes to mind, but the general lesson is clear.

Instead of continuing to make piecemeal change to policies and institutions established long ago, our Nation should pause and examine its fundamental relationship with the sea. It is time. It has been 30 years since Stratton.

Sustainability should be our goal and we should not shy away from fundamental change in our policies or our governance structures.

It is time to take the issues and approaches developed during the Year of the Ocean and form a set of comprehensive, yet specific, recommendations about marine sciences, marine policy, marine governance, and supporting institutions. This is the essential role of the new Commission.

The stakes are high. We need a national Oceans Commission. Without a Commission to develop a national vision and goals, the momentum generated by the Year of the Ocean will be lost.

VADM Roger T. Rufe, Jr., President, Center for Marine Conservation

The United States encompasses over 4 million square miles of ocean territory. Historically, decisions about how to manage this important resource have been made on an issue-by-issue basis. Different laws—often with very different purposes and objectives—have been created to manage marine sanctuaries, offshore oil and gas development, fisheries, pollution, marine mammals, maritime transportation, and other marine resource issues. This piecemeal governance has not only failed to provide lasting, effective solutions to conflicts among user groups but has contributed to inefficient allocations of resources, jurisdictional battles between government agencies, and mismanagement of marine resources.

CMC believes that the time has come to make our oceans and their precious resources a national priority. We need to move beyond the issue-by-issue, crisis-management approach that typifies U.S. ocean resource management policy to an integrated, ecosystem-level approach. To foster the development of a comprehensive, coherent national ocean policy, CMC published the Agenda for the Oceans. Released at the National Ocean Conference in June 1998, this report challenged the President and the Congress to work together to develop a national ocean policy by passing the Oceans Act of 1998. Since then, we have worked closely with members of Congress, including many members of this Caucus, to enact this important legislation.

Of course, significant improvements in how our oceans are managed will not be possible without the support of the public and other members of the ocean community. Towards that end, CMC has undertaken substantial outreach efforts, beginning with the attendees of the National Ocean Conference and expanding to include representatives of various ocean user groups, including ports, shipping companies, commercial and recreational fishing groups, coastal states, the oil and gas industry, and others. As part of these efforts, CMC has cosponsored, along with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, a series of forums on key issues affecting our oceans. In addition, earlier this month, CMC released its first annual Health of the Oceans report, a copy of which is included in your background materials for this meeting. This comprehensive report provides a baseline of the current condition of our oceans and is intended to serve as a barometer of our future progress in addressing water quality, marine wildlife, fisheries, and ocean ecosystems.

Today, with nearly every law governing our coasts and oceans due or overdue for reauthorization, it is more important than ever that key decision makers in Congress, the Administration, and the broader ocean community work together to develop and implement more effective strategies to protect and conserve our oceans. On behalf of the Center for Marine Conservation, I want to thank you for your continued support in achieving this goal.

Judith T. Kildow, University of Southern California
Oceans Governance With Economic Information to Make Rational Choices.

We must take policy making to the next level. We must make our judgments based on reliable and adequate information.

The coastal ocean and coastal zone are limited commodities, with almost unlimited demands. We make daily decisions among competing uses for this much coveted area without the necessary economic information to make rational choices. Are we doing what we should to ensure that the coastal and ocean assets that are the foundations for a large portion of the US economy are protected and sustained for future generations to derive their wealth?

Early results from a study of the Ocean Economy reveals that our current Federal expenditures for the oceans using constant dollars, are a third of what they were 30 years ago. If budgets reflect a nation’s priorities, then we have significantly diminished the oceans in the policy process.

The revitalization of interest in the oceans and the stress on more effective governance over this area must be accompanied by the critical information necessary for strategic planning and new initiatives. A first step is to determine the value of the ocean economy and determine whether our investments are appropriate and sufficient to support a rapidly changing and growing ocean economy. Currently that information is unavailable.

There is no baseline data on the ocean economy. There is no data on what portion of the labor force depends on the ocean and coastal zone, what value the ocean adds to many regions and sectors of the US economy.

Without this critical information, conservation and preservation decisions are difficult; waterfront development investments come with greater risk, and managing our coastal and ocean resources falls short of our goals.

We have never had the proper economic database and therefore understanding of the scale and scope of the ocean economy in the US. While other nations carry out such exercises, we have overlooked this important foundation to policy making.

A publicly available information system on the Internet containing a comprehensive database with estimated values for all economic activities that rely on our coastal ocean would contribute to a level playing field for all who want a voice in managing this highly valued area. The National Ocean Economics Project intends to provide this essential decisionmaking tool.

What is the value of our coastal and ocean natural resource stocks?

What is the demand for these Natural resources? Where does it come from?

What is the value of the market system that is dependent on the oceans and the coastal zone?

Viktor Sebek, Executive Director, Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS)

The Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) was most pleased to have organised, at the request of its first US Vice-President, Congressman Weldon, a major conference on "Ocean Security" in Congress in May 1997. It adopted the "Potomac Declaration" which encapsulated the concept of protection of our oceans and coasts within the doctrine of Ocean Security.

Indeed, stuardship of our seas, oceans and coasts, ensures long term food security, economic security, environmental security and even political and

military security. The setting up of the Ocean Caucus on the Hill was one of the ideas which Congressman Weldon advanced in the follow up to this Conference.

We note, however, that whilst resolutions are easy to pass, they are far more difficult to implement. ACOPS is therefore most proud to have instigated, first under Congressman Weldon, and now also with the assistance of its second US vice-president, Congressman Allen, a comprehensive programme of projects which implement in practice the concept of ocean security.

At a sequel to the Washington Conference, another meeting was organised in the Swedish Parliament in February 1998; it laid foundations for the "ocean security" pilot projects in the Russian Arctic and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The speaker will describe briefly how these two projects, where environmental degradation affected the very survival of population in coastal areas are now reaching a level where major investments in infrastructure will be sought at partnership conferences (formerly known as donor conferences) for Russia and Africa. Many US agencies have joined these programmes at the instigation of Congressmen Weldon and Allen. This was due to the fact that the US interests were also adversely affected by environmental degaradtion, especially in the Arctic. These programmes also attracted broad support from the UN agencies, other Western countries and now, increasingly, from the financial institutions. Political endorsement has been given at the highest levels, including the European Union, Organisation of African Unity, the Russian government, the State Duma, the Arctic Council and all circumpolar countries as well as the private sector.

The United States plays a leading role in the international global ocean policy, as well as in many regional seas programmes. We in ACOPS are therefore most proud that the Ocean Caucus will produce a better informed and hopefully more galvanised legislative chambers in order to make the best possible contribution to international order of the oceans.

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