The latest
In recent months, a series of studies from the Pew Oceans Commission,
the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, the Marine Conservation Biology
Institute, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have
documented serious threats to ocean health. These studies should
encourage politicians to design policies to solve the problems plaguing
our oceans.
A grim picture
Off every U.S. coast, our oceans are threatened by overfishing,
pollution, offshore drilling, climate change, cruise ships and more. Of
the myriad threats to our oceans, the most serious are overfishing, the
catch of non-target species and habitat destruction. For example, as
industrialized commercial fishing replaced subsistence harvests around
the world, overfishing has steadily worsened. Equipped with government
subsidized, high-tech fishing fleets, fishing industry conglomerates
have become so efficient that some fish populations have disappeared
within just a few years.
Environmental Action believes the key components of a national oceans policy are:
- banning bottom trawling;
- restricting the fishery council's role to allocating a scientifically
determined catch-level among fishing interests, not doctoring the
science to suit their short-term gains; and
- establishing marine reserves to restore fragile areas and protect the biodiversity of our oceans.
Fisheries Management Reform Act of 2004
In a 2003 report to Congress, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), evaluated the status of U.S. fisheries.
Researcher Boris Worm's study, published in Nature magazine May 2003, found that in the absence of sound management, populations of large predatory ocean fish have declined by 90 percent since the introduction of commercial fishing.
On June 24, 2004, Representatives Nick Rahall (WV) and Sam Farr (CA) introduced H.R. 4706, the Fisheries Management Reform Act of 2004. Over 14 other Members of Congress joined Representatives Rahall and Farr in support of the need to improve governance and management of the nation's oceans.
