Federal Advisory Committee Delivers Marine Protected Area Recommendations to Commerce and Interior Departments
The Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee delivered its
first set of recommendations for the creation of a national system of
marine protected areas to the Department of Commerce and the Department
of the Interior today.
The report, which is consistent with the Administration’s U.S. Ocean
Action Plan, recommends processes to establish a national system of
marine protected areas (MPAs) built upon existing sites and new areas
that meet specific criteria. The committee states that the system’s goal
should be “to enhance effective stewardship, lasting protection, and
sustainable use of the nation’s natural and cultural marine resources
with due consideration of the interests of and implications for all who
use and care about our marine environment.”
“This report offers recommendations that are in line with NOAA’s mission
to manage coastal and ocean resources,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral
Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for
oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The goal is to develop
MPAs as an important tool in the effort to produce benefits for the
environment and the economy.”
As called for in the committee’s charter, the report will go through
Admiral Lautenbacher to the Secretary of Commerce and through Rebecca W.
Watson, assistant secretary of the interior for land and minerals
management, to the Secretary of the Interior. The committee unanimously
approved the report at its meeting last month in Portland, Maine.
The committee recommendations include:
–Primary responsibility for the creation and management of MPAs must
lie with existing legal, statutory, and legislative authorities to the
extent feasible.
–The public, user groups, tribes and state and local governments must
be integral parts of the nomination, planning, implementation,
evaluation and adaptive management process.
–There must be awareness of and respect for the sovereignty of states,
territories, tribes and local jurisdictions. International commitments
must also be respected.
–Incentives for participation and cooperation by government agencies
and by existing and future stakeholders must be provided. Incentives
might include training, technical assistance, or funding to offset the
costs of participating in the national system.
“I am enormously pleased that the MPA Federal Advisory Committee has
managed to work together in a spirit of goodwill to produce this
document,” said Daniel Bromley, Ph. D., chairman of the committee and a
professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We
expect that our work will contribute to the enhanced management and
protection of our nation’s marine ecosystems.”
“I’m glad to see that the advisory committee emphasizes the need to
involve the public, user groups, tribes, state and local governments in
establishing and managing marine protected areas,” said Assistant
Secretary Watson. “I know that a lot of wisdom resides outside the
Washington Beltway. It’s right to invite these citizen stewards  folks
who live near the oceans and Great Lakes, earn their living with these
resources, or recreate in coastal areas  to work with us to protect and
conserve our marine resources for future generations.”
These recommendations come at the end of the inaugural advisory
committee’s two-year term, and are based on deliberations since the
committee first met in June 2003.
Over the course of two years, the federal advisory panel has invited
diverse MPA stakeholder groups to address the committee on issues of
concern. These groups included representatives from fishery management
councils, tribal and cultural panelists, recreational fishermen,
scientists, as well as federal and state MPA program officials.
Committee meetings were held in various regions to ensure broad public
comments.
Authorized in 2000 by Presidential Executive Order 13158 to provide
advice and recommendations to the Departments of Commerce and the
Interior, the 30-member advisory committee represents scientists,
academia, commercial and recreational fishermen, tourism, the oil and
gas industry, state and tribal resource managers, environmentalists, and
other resource users. Committee members are appointed by the Secretary
of the Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Department of
the Interior, and serve two-year terms. A new committee will be
appointed later this summer and will meet in November.
The Committee’s report is available on
presentations, and other documents from past meetings also are posted on
the Web site.
NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is dedicated to
enhancing economic security and national safety through research to
better understand weather and climate-related events and to manage
wisely the nation’s coastal and marine resources.
The Department of the Interior is the nation’s principal conservation
agency. Interior serves as the steward for approximately 426 million
acres of America’s public land, representing about 19 percent of the
U.S. land surface and 66 percent of all federally owned land. Interior
also manages mineral development on the 1.48 billion acre U.S. outer
continental shelf.
On the Web:
Department of Commerce: http://www.doc.gov
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
Department of the Interior: http://www.doi.gov
Marine Protected Areas Center: http://www.MPA.gov
Federal Advisory Committee Delivers Marine Protected Area Recommendations to Commerce and Interior Departments
The Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee delivered its
first set of recommendations for the creation of a national system of
marine protected areas to the Department of Commerce and the Department
of the Interior today.
The report, which is consistent with the Administration’s U.S. Ocean
Action Plan, recommends processes to establish a national system of
marine protected areas (MPAs) built upon existing sites and new areas
that meet specific criteria. The committee states that the system’s goal
should be “to enhance effective stewardship, lasting protection, and
sustainable use of the nation’s natural and cultural marine resources
with due consideration of the interests of and implications for all who
use and care about our marine environment.”
“This report offers recommendations that are in line with NOAA’s mission
to manage coastal and ocean resources,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral
Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for
oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The goal is to develop
MPAs as an important tool in the effort to produce benefits for the
environment and the economy.”
As called for in the committee’s charter, the report will go through
Admiral Lautenbacher to the Secretary of Commerce and through Rebecca W.
Watson, assistant secretary of the interior for land and minerals
management, to the Secretary of the Interior. The committee unanimously
approved the report at its meeting last month in Portland, Maine.
The committee recommendations include:
–Primary responsibility for the creation and management of MPAs must
lie with existing legal, statutory, and legislative authorities to the
extent feasible.
–The public, user groups, tribes and state and local governments must
be integral parts of the nomination, planning, implementation,
evaluation and adaptive management process.
–There must be awareness of and respect for the sovereignty of states,
territories, tribes and local jurisdictions. International commitments
must also be respected.
–Incentives for participation and cooperation by government agencies
and by existing and future stakeholders must be provided. Incentives
might include training, technical assistance, or funding to offset the
costs of participating in the national system.
“I am enormously pleased that the MPA Federal Advisory Committee has
managed to work together in a spirit of goodwill to produce this
document,” said Daniel Bromley, Ph. D., chairman of the committee and a
professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “We
expect that our work will contribute to the enhanced management and
protection of our nation’s marine ecosystems.”
“I’m glad to see that the advisory committee emphasizes the need to
involve the public, user groups, tribes, state and local governments in
establishing and managing marine protected areas,” said Assistant
Secretary Watson. “I know that a lot of wisdom resides outside the
Washington Beltway. It’s right to invite these citizen stewards  folks
who live near the oceans and Great Lakes, earn their living with these
resources, or recreate in coastal areas  to work with us to protect and
conserve our marine resources for future generations.”
These recommendations come at the end of the inaugural advisory
committee’s two-year term, and are based on deliberations since the
committee first met in June 2003.
Over the course of two years, the federal advisory panel has invited
diverse MPA stakeholder groups to address the committee on issues of
concern. These groups included representatives from fishery management
councils, tribal and cultural panelists, recreational fishermen,
scientists, as well as federal and state MPA program officials.
Committee meetings were held in various regions to ensure broad public
comments.
Authorized in 2000 by Presidential Executive Order 13158 to provide
advice and recommendations to the Departments of Commerce and the
Interior, the 30-member advisory committee represents scientists,
academia, commercial and recreational fishermen, tourism, the oil and
gas industry, state and tribal resource managers, environmentalists, and
other resource users. Committee members are appointed by the Secretary
of the Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Department of
the Interior, and serve two-year terms. A new committee will be
appointed later this summer and will meet in November.
The Committee’s report is available on
presentations, and other documents from past meetings also are posted on
the Web site.
NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is dedicated to
enhancing economic security and national safety through research to
better understand weather and climate-related events and to manage
wisely the nation’s coastal and marine resources.
The Department of the Interior is the nation’s principal conservation
agency. Interior serves as the steward for approximately 426 million
acres of America’s public land, representing about 19 percent of the
U.S. land surface and 66 percent of all federally owned land. Interior
also manages mineral development on the 1.48 billion acre U.S. outer
continental shelf.
On the Web:
Department of Commerce: http://www.doc.gov
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
Department of the Interior: http://www.doi.gov
Marine Protected Areas Center: http://www.MPA.gov