www.floridaoceanalliance.org
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www.floridaoceanalliance.org |
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The Miami Herald Posted on Wed. April 21, 2004
ENVIRONMENT WASHINGTON - The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy released a massive and dismal report Tuesday detailing the degradation of the world's oceans, saying they're polluted, overfished and inattentively managed. The report offered more than 200 recommendations for improvement. ''Our oceans and our coasts are in trouble, and we as a nation have a historic opportunity to make a positive and lasting change in the way we manage them before it's too late,'' said retired Adm. James D. Watkins, the commission's chairman. Congress created the panel in 2000 to focus attention on ocean issues and management. The study, the most comprehensive ocean survey in 35 years, notes that more than 37 million people and 19 million homes have been added to U.S. coastlines since the late 1960s. More than 40,000 acres of U.S. coastal wetlands a year are lost to development, according to the report, and more than half of the world's coral reefs may be gone in the next three decades. While most environmental groups hailed the report for its comprehensiveness and practicality, several said that the commission could have been even tougher. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group voiced concern over the commissioners' ``omissions.'' ''They have chosen to ignore such key issues as the bipartisan congressional offshore oil and gas leasing moratorium that currently protects most of our fragile coastal waters,'' said Buffy Baumann, the group's oceans advocate. ``The commission's glaring lack of support for the maintenance of this moratorium is alarming.'' The commissioners said they're proud of the various recommendations, which can be undertaken separately. They said they're not asking Congress or state governments to do too much too quickly, and so they hope that the report will be taken more seriously than past studies. The commissioners are asking the nation's governors -- and the American public -- to comment on the study by May 21. They plan to release their final report at the end of the year. Though the report focuses on issues common to most coastal areas, those problems are particularly acute for Florida. ''I can tell you that just about all of it applies to Florida perhaps more than anywhere else because of the huge population growth in Florida,'' said David White, director of The Ocean Conservancy's regional office in St. Petersburg. Commercial and recreational fishing pressure has multipled, along with farm and urban pollution. Toxic algae blooms continue to erupt off Southwest Florida and in Florida Bay, killing seagrass and sponges and juvenile fish. A housing explosion has chewed up mangroves and marshes. A growing number of fish, including coastal species, poses health threats from high mercury. Scientists are studying die-offs of dolphin in the Panhandle, as well as lesions on dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon and on turtles in the Keys. And beach closures from sewage contamination hit a record 1,745 in 2002. To improve declining fisheries, the commission's report supports ''ecosystem-based'' protections rather than just traditional regulations on individual species. That, said White, bolsters environmentalists' arguments that controversial marine reserves, or no-fishing zones, like the one in the Dry Tortugas should be expanded to places such as Biscayne Bay. Gov. Jeb Bush will address the issues today in Tallahassee during a ceremony to mark Florida Oceans Day, said spokesman Jacob DiPietre.
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