July 28, 2010
Heather M. Leslie: Obama’s new ocean policy a boon for New Englanders
This month, President Obama signed the first policy to manage the nation’s oceans, coasts and lakes. The new national ocean policy establishes guiding principles for ocean management, ensures coordination among the wide array of federal agencies and departments with ocean-related responsibilities, and adopts a flexible framework for coastal and marine spatial planning to address conservation, economic activity, and sustainable use of the ocean, our coasts and the Great Lakes.
The new policy is a tremendous leap forward for all Americans and the 4.5 million square miles of oceans within our national boundaries. (That’s 23 percent larger than the U.S. land area.) By acknowledging that we need healthy ecosystems to produce abundant seafood, clean water and swimmable beaches, the policy will enable more proactive and holistic ocean stewardship from the local to the national level.
For far too long, ocean stewardship has been a reactive game, where policymakers and managers play catch up in response to the disparate actions of private corporations and interest groups. This fragmented approach has been illustrated vividly by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but many of the same ocean management challenges are evident closer to home. Read more…
