The Miami Herald - July 29, 2010

Throw Our Oceans A Lifeline

by Gregory Stone
and William Wrigley, Jr.
g.stone@conservation.org

The American migration to the beach is one of the greatest traditions of summer, as millions of us seek respite from the heat, recreation for our families, and fresh seafood for our tables.  The ocean’s gifts are so plentiful, that it can be easy to assume they will always be there.

But this summer, the ocean is visibly buckling under the strain of irresponsible use.  We may not know the full impacts of the disastrous BP oil spill for many years, but it is already clear to the Americans who live there how much we depend on the ocean’s well being for our own.

This is not just a problem in the Gulf or for the United States.  The world’s oceans are under continuous assault from less dramatic but equally devastating long-term threats that include the depletion of fish and other ocean wildlife, habitat destruction, toxic pollution, and rising temperatures.  These threats may be less visible than oil slicks blanketing a beach, but collectively, are more harmful.

In the midst of all this challenge, the recent creation of a new National Policy for Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes (National Policy) by President Obama represents the first step in a long, overdue overhaul of the nation’s ocean management.  U.S. ocean governance has developed slowly over time, with more than 140 different laws, and 20 different agencies involved.  That, we believe, has led to disjointed oversight and short-term, reactive thinking.

It is, effectively, a new administrative framework to encourage the management of large areas of America’s coasts that consider the multitude of different ways that we use them.  This makes absolute sense.  Why?  Imagine if our cities and towns were built with no regard for the competing needs of our residents.  Schools might be next to freeways, parks might be forgotten in the rush to build, and traffic would be impossible.  In the same way that we need city planners to look at the big picture, and design the cooperative use and development of land - we need holistic, long-term marine planning to provide the vision and occasionally, the brakes, for all of the activities we pursue in our oceans.

Science-based planning

At Conservation International, we have been successfully demonstrating similar science-based ocean planning strategies through our global Seascapes program.  We recognize that fishers need to fish.  Developers need to build.  Governments may decide to drill.  What we cannot do is allow all of this competing activity to advance blindly and at breakneck speed, with no regard for their interactions and potential consequences for the natural ocean ecosystems upon which we all depend.

It is critically important that the United States now look beyond its own shorelines, and engage more cooperatively with other nations in the shared use of the high seas.  One way for the United States to bring the president’s new ocean policy into the international arena is a simple step - accede to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This international agreement has governed access to and stewardship of the world’s great common waters since 1994.  It has the ratified support of 160 countries, including every major ocean-going nation, but the United States has failed to join the international community in formally acceding to it.  That puts us in company with countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and Libya and a small number of other non-parties.

Ratification was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations committee overwhelmingly in 2007, by a 17 to 4 margin.  The U.S. Navy testified in support, and ratification is supported by the many others in the military and marine business establishment.  Yet the full Senate has neglected to even take it up for debate.

Ratify the law

If the United States is truly serious about becoming responsible stewards of the seas for the long-term benefit of people, it is time for this nation of laws to ratify the Law of the Sea and follow policy with meaningful, tangible action that builds on the architecture put into place with the President’s Executive Order.  Our oceans, and indeed our own well being, depend on it.

Gregory Stone, is chief ocean scientist and co-chair , Ocean health Council, Conservation International.  William Wrigley, Jr., is co-chair of the council and a trustee of Conservation International.