Is A New National Ocean Policy Enough to Save the Seas?

Yesterday, we told you about about the expansive challenges our oceans are facing today.

Today, we'll tell you about the Obama administration's plan to meet them. Yesterday two senior officials, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco and White House CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, outlined a National Ocean Policy in a report released today in the Policy Forum of Science.

There's a lot of good stuff in there, but I'm nervous about the reality of a policy that relies on coordination of a massive web of federal agencies, states and tribes for its success.

But first, let's start with the positives. What I do like is the policy's emphasis on an ecosystem management strategy, an approach that holistically considers all of the resources and activities in one area, and the interconnections among them.

In the past, most management strategies have had a narrow single-minded focus, such as rules to guide a single fishery. But this approach makes little sense, since someone's target species is usually the food for someone else's target fish.

What undercuts more rational approaches to ocean management is the mess of jurisdictions among different governing agencies. Thus, the Department of Interior's Mineral Management Service issues permits for drilling, while Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service has to deal with collapsed fisheries—which can be the result of a failed oil permitting process.

The new National Ocean Policy won't really change this structure—it just seeks to establish better communication by establishing coordinating bodies. Proposed regional planning bodies would be made of federal, state, and tribal agencies, and a proposed National Ocean Council composed of senior administrators from 24 departments and agencies would oversee the development of ocean management plans.

All this highlights a major concern that underlies all attempts to sustainably manage the environment: There is no one unified home for governing the natural resources of the country. And that is a big problem.

How flexible or responsive can a system be if it is governed by a mishmash of different agencies and, if, ultimately, the environment is merely the backdrop to other Department agendas? (For example, why are fisheries are housed under Commerce?)

I'm confident Obama's National Ocean Policy is a step we must take to have any chance at sustainable management of the sea.  But, it's going to be an enormous challenge to ensure that policies can be turned into meaningful action. And more than ever, the ocean needs us to act. Stat.

So, I can't help but wonder:  September 11th was a crisis that warranted development of the Department for Homeland Security; how many multiple crises—from the Gulf oil spill to climate change— devastating our environment and communities will lead to the creation of a Department of Natural Resources? And would it make a difference?

Photo Credit: Dumbledad/Flickr User