Cantwell Praises New Report Outlining Ten Urgent Steps to Save Oceans
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) praised a report released Tuesday outlining ten steps Congress can to take to help save the world’s oceans. Cantwell and nine other Senators requested the report in a March 16th letter to the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI). The report distills 350 recommendations made by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission into ten urgent priorities to direct Congressional action on ocean policy.
“The ten actions announced today chart a clear course toward a national ocean policy that recognizes the tremendous benefit we derive from our oceans and coasts,” said Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Fisheries and Coast Guard. “It’s clear to scientists and ocean experts that our oceans and coasts are in trouble and that Congress needs to step up action before it is too late.”
Coastal development, depleted fisheries, pollution, wetland loss, and a lack of coordinated ocean policy are all problems cited by the new JOCI report. Our oceans are of immense ecological and economic value to the United States, serving as a source of food, transportation, and recreation. Coastal counties generate $6.1 trillion annually, and are home to 50 percent of the U.S. population. In 2003, ocean-related economic activity supported 2.2 million jobs and added $119 billion to the U.S. economy.
At a press conference Tuesday unveiling the report, Bill Ruckelshaus, former director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a commissioner on the United States Commission on Ocean Policy, underscored efforts currently taking place on the ground in Washington state. Ruckelshaus was hopeful that recent and ongoing Washington state initiatives, such as Governor Gregoire’s Puget Sound Partnership, will lead the way toward protecting and restoring the resources that are important to the economy and way of life in the Puget Sound region.
“Washington state is ahead of the curve in protecting our state waters,” said Cantwell, “but still there are more than 40 Puget Sound species on state and federal endangered species lists. That’s why I’ve been working on strong ocean legislation to provide the guidance and funding needed to achieve a healthy Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean. Many of the recommendations put forward today are achievable not in a matter of years, but in the current Congress.”
The JOCI specifically advocated passage of several bills cosponsored by Cantwell including the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act; the Tsunami Preparedness Act; and the Ocean and Coastal Observation System Act of 2005. Other recommendations supported by Cantwell include incorporation of comprehensive ecosystem understanding in laws guiding ocean resource management, and funding to strengthen ocean monitoring systems to improve our ability to predict ocean-generated hazards like tsunamis and climate change.
A strong, science-based reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation’s premier law governing fishing, is also among the recommendations set forth in Tuesday’s report. On November 15, 2005, the Commerce Committee approved legislation to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The bill currently awaits consideration by the full Senate. Cantwell is a cosponsor of the legislation and worked closely with Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) to develop sound, bipartisan legislation that includes provisions important to Washington state’s commercial fisheries and fishery managers.
The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative was formed in 2004 to coordinate and accelerate the adoption of recommendations by two blue panel commissions on ocean policy—The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission.
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