Obama's Opportunities to Save Our Oceans

As the excitement of the election transitions into action, we must ensure that the new administration is focused on our nation’s most critical environmental issues –like saving our sick oceans.  Our oceans are a vital national and global resource.  They are an important source of food protein, absorb CO2 emissions, and give us rest and relaxation.  But the oceans are in critical condition from decades of mismanagement, overfishing, and pollution. 

Today two dozen of the most prominent environmental groups (in a coalition called the Green Group) call on President-elect Obama to prioritize restoring ocean health in the first 100 days of his administration.  The Green Group’s “Transition to Green” report offers the new president and his administration a roadmap to boldly tackle pressing environmental challenges while helping to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy. 

For the oceans, the Green Group says that there are three priorities.  The first is a call for a “whole ocean” approach for management, which is especially needed in the face of serious threats like climate change.  It is unbelievable, but we have no national ocean policy.  Just think of the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act.  Well, we need a comprehensive Oceans Act too.  We also need to protect special places in the ocean—the nurseries and neighborhoods for marine life—so that corals, fish, sharks and whales do not disappear from our oceans.  One way to accomplish this is with comprehensive marine spatial planning so the best places for protection can be identified, as can the best places for siting renewable energy devices. 

The second priority is protecting species in peril, like polar bears, belugas and bowhead whales, and long-lived, slow growing groundfish.  Specific recommendations include improving fisheries management measures by requiring devises to protect turtles from lethal hooks and rolling back Bush Administration’s efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

The third priority is to make sure our fisheries are healthy.  Stopping overfishing and rebuilding overfished species is especially important, not just for environmental reasons, but because it helps our economy.  A study done by researchers in Canada found that rebuilt fisheries are worth three times as much as ones that are depleted. To achieve this end, the Green Group recommends measures to enforce our national rules against overfishing and cracking down on illegal fishing (both nationally and internationally).

Fixing our oceans and restoring them to health won’t happen overnight, but the Obama administration has an historic opportunity for a fresh start that will lead to important progress.  

This post was co-authored by Laura Pagano, NRDC Ocean Attorney.