Posted on 06/04/2003 3:12:43 PM PDT by Rodsomnia
Top Stories - Reuters
Report Calls for New U.S. Oceans Agency Wed Jun 4, 9:33 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overfishing, invasive species, pollution and urban sprawl threaten the oceans off America, according to a report released on Wednesday that called for a new federal agency to manage the country's troubled waters.
In a review of U.S. ocean policy, the report by the Pew Oceans Commission said marine life and vital coastal habitats were straining under the pressure of increased use and that a "hodgepodge" of laws was doing little to protect them.
"For centuries we have viewed the oceans as beyond our ability to harm and their bounty beyond our ability to deplete. We now know that this is not true," said Leon Panetta, chair of the commission that produced the report and former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton (news - web sites).
The root cause of the crisis was government's failure to manage the oceans off America and to recognize how activities on land affect coastal ecosystems, said the commission, which was sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust.
The three-year study of 4.5 million square miles of ocean waters called for a new independent agency to oversee a national oceans policy.
"There needs to be a strong independent national agency," said Roger Rufe of the environmental group The Ocean Conservancy, who was one of the 18 commissioners.
Other recommendations included the creation of regional ocean ecosystem councils and a national system to fully protect marine reserves.
Rufe said one of the most pressing problems was the huge growth in industrialized fishing. "Fish are further out at sea and they (anglers) can use high-tech gear to locate fish. There's no place in the ocean for a fish to hide," he said.
Many species, including ground fish and salmon along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, faced overfishing and 30 percent of fish populations were assessed as being overfished or not sustainable at current fishing levels, it said.
Coastal development and associated sprawl were endangering coastal wetlands and estuaries, according to the report, which said that every eight months nearly 11 million gallons of oil ran off streets and driveways into U.S. waters.
In addition, more than 60 percent of coastal rivers and bays were moderately to severely degraded by nitrogen runoff from sources such as fertilizers.
One of the worst cases was in the Gulf of Mexico, where a "dead zone" the size of Massachusetts emerged each summer because of a lack of oxygen in the water.
Another problem cited was invasive species crowding out native species and altering habitat and food webs. One example was in the San Francisco Bay where more than 175 non-native species were thriving at the expense of local ones.
A presidential panel, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, is also expected to release a report later this year.
Why is it the environmentalists never go after the cause of most ocean pollution & harvesting when most of the harvesting & pollution of America's oceans are caused by massive immigration and growth of the population fueled by immigration?
Living near the coast is actually better for the environment because the weather is more moderate & requires less energy to heat & cool homes.
Pew should recommend all the millionaries of Malibu buy a sewage system instead of dumping their drug & disease laced sewage into the ocean. But NOOOOOOOO that would encourage other people to move to Malibu and that's not on the agenda. Keeping "other people" away from the beach is the real agenda of the PEW people.
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