As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
Seattle—The U.S. Commission
on Ocean Policy (USCOP) report issued today should serve as a wake-up call to
Gov. Locke, Congress and to the Bush administration that immediate action is
needed to protect our oceans, according to the Washington Public Interest Research
Group (WashPIRG). USCOP, a congressionally mandated 16-member panel, has spent
the past three years surveying and studying America’s oceans. Today USCOP
revealed its comprehensive report and recommendations for a coordinated and
comprehensive national ocean policy to governors and select members of Congress.
"Washington’s
coastal communities depend on a healthy Pacific ocean," said WashPIRG Oceans
Associate Chris Wells. "In Washington we already know that parts of Puget
Sound are overwhelmed by pollution, and this threatens both the environment
and economy of our region. Gov. Locke should seize this opportunity to call
on the Commissioners, the President and Congress to pursue the most aggressive
recommendations set forth in the report."
The USCOP report concurred
with other recent oceans reports, including that of the Pew Oceans Commission,
released in June 2003: over-fishing, over-development of our coasts, habitat
destruction, and mismanagement are leading to the decline of ocean wildlife
and the collapse of entire ocean ecosystems. U.S. fisheries are managed in a
piecemeal fashion, and usually on a species-by-species basis. This approach
contributed to the rapid decline of the nation's seas. The Commissioners concluded
that the U.S. needs a new management model that will manage ocean resources
holistically, with an emphasis on the inter-relatedness of species within an
ecosystem.
The Commissioners recommended
that changes be made so that decisions on allowable ocean activities are based
on sound science and policy. They recommended, echoing the Pew Commission, that
conservation and allocation decisions be separated in oceans management. They
suggested that a scientific body assess fish stocks and determine how much fishing
an ecosystem can sustain before a political body decides how that catch is divided
up. Currently, the regional fishery management councils make both decisions.
The report also calls for
greater coordination of federally funded ocean activities. One proposed mechanism
would be the establishment of a national ocean council led by an assistant to
the President.
While WashPIRG welcomed
many of the recommended changes, the organization expressed concerned about
the implications of many of the offshore recommendations. For example, the Commission
failed to recommend the continuation of the bipartisan congressional offshore
oil and gas leasing moratorium that currently protects Washington’s coastal
waters. Gov. Locke, a supporter of the moratorium, will have an opportunity
to review and suggest policy recommendations to be included in the final USCOP
report.
"Continuation of the
moratorium against new oil and gas leases in the sensitive waters of Washington’s
oceans should be an integral part of any final Commission-recommended ocean
protection and restoration plan," said Wells. "Gov. Locke should advocate
in the strongest possible way that a moratorium against offshore drilling leasing
in waters off Washington be included in the final report presented to Congress
and the Bush administration."
The Commission has released
the draft copy of its report to governors and select congressional leaders for
a formal review. There will be a 30-day period during which governors and the
public will be able submit their comments (April 20 to May 21). The Commission
will examine the comments, finalize the report, and send it to the President,
who will then have three months to make policy recommendations to Congress.
"The science is clear—our
oceans are in trouble," concluded Wells. "Congress and the Bush administration
should heed this wake up call and implement the Commission’s recommendations
to protect our fragile and valuable oceans."
