'Healthy oceans are everyone's business'
Remarks by NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco during Capitol Hill Oceans Week
June 7, 2011
- Good morning everyone! Let me begin with some heartfelt thanks to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation — Jason Patlis, Jeb Berman and the foundation staff.
Your diligence and dedication have made Capitol Hill Oceans Week an important and informative June tradition.
- Everyone in this room, and those of you joining us by webcast, are part of our burgeoning ocean community. Each of you has been a vital force in making healthy oceans a priority for the nation.
- You are the people who understand and deliver the messages that healthy oceans matter, that healthy oceans are important for American prosperity, and that healthy oceans are everyone’s business. That is my theme today.
- As we come together to talk about the oceans’ role in global security and American prosperity, it is fitting that on Thursday, President Obama declared this month National Oceans Month.
- So … Just how much do the oceans contribute to the American economy?
- That inseparable connection between the health of the ocean, the health of the American economy, the health of the job market and the well-being of people emerged as an indelible message from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
- As an unprecedented environmental disaster, the Deepwater Horizon spill oiled over 1,000 miles of shoreline, 3/5 of them in Louisiana. Although the vast majority of the oil in the Gulf is now gone, oil remains close to shore in many of these Louisiana coastal areas, and the effects on Gulf ecosystems and communities will be felt for years. Communities and economies throughout the Gulf were devastated by the spill.
- While a cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment process is well underway, it will be some time yet before we have a clear picture of the full impact of the spill.
- On April 21, NOAA and the other federal and state Natural Resources Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill announced that BP will pay $1 billion as a down payment on restoration. These efforts will reap local, regional and national benefits and build on the major commitment to restoration already demonstrated in the Gulf. Trustees will use the funds for projects such as rebuilding coastal marshes, replenishing damaged beaches and conserving fish and wildlife habitat injured as a result of the spill. They are actively working with citizens, local officials, environmental organizations and others to develop a comprehensive list of projects to be considered for early restoration.
- The events of Deepwater Horizon call loudly to us for action. Deepwater Horizon says that we need to pay attention now to effectively manage and conserve oceans — or in Carl Safina’s words, we need to learn “to use oceans without using them up.”
- And we are paying attention, and acting. We are entering a new era in ocean governance.
- The Nation’s first ever National Ocean Policy established last July embodies these principles. This policy — the National Policy for Stewardship of the Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes — is about good governance – governance informed by sound science. This policy says “healthy oceans matter” in black and white.
- With its bold vision for more holistic, ecosystem-based management of our oceans, the National Ocean Policy fully recognizes the critical importance of partnerships — partnerships that collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate across the federal government, across state, local, regional and tribal levels, and within communities themselves.
- Ultimately, the goal is less waste and conflict, more efficiency, and savings for American taxpayers.
- The National Ocean Policy opens a critical window of opportunity. But, to move forward, we must:
- Since July, we’ve been working hard to get the National Ocean Policy up and running by getting the federal family in order.
- The Governance Coordinating Committee, a group of state, local and tribal representatives that will serve as a key coordinating body for the National Ocean Policy, has already convened and will be meeting again this month.
- We also are working to develop strategic action plans for each of the priorities we’ve set for the oceans. Topics range from water quality to ocean observations to improving coordination of the multiple diverse entities involved in ocean management.
- We released outlines for these strategic action plans for public review.
- A key upcoming event is the National Workshop on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, from June 21-23. Workshop participants can learn about Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning and help frame how it can be used to harmonize the often competing uses of ocean and Great Lake waters, such as national security, energy and economic security, and conservation.
- And soon — stay tuned! — we will begin to work with states and tribes to create the regional planning bodies that will work on CMSP.
- We realize the policy’s vision will not be easy, but I am hopeful. Those of us who worked hard on it are committed to having it succeed. For example, NOAA has realigned many of its working groups to be maximally supportive and effective and is developing memoranda of understanding with other agencies to ensure strong partnerships.
- Let me now turn to exploring some of the ways in which healthy oceans are indeed everyone’s business — not just coastal residents’, not just ocean champions’ — but EVERYONE’S. I will highlight four arenas in which this is true: seafood, habitat restoration, marine commerce and energy.
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Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because oceans have provided people with food since the origin of coastal civilizations.
- Prior to 1976 — the nation’s bicentennial — federal management of marine fisheries was almost nonexistent. That year, in 1976, the Magnuson-Stevens Act spurred a movement to end overfishing and rebuild depleted stocks.
- Today, fisheries harvested in the U.S. are scientifically monitored, regionally managed, and legally enforced under 10 strict national standards for sustainability.
- We must continue to invest in the science that diminishes uncertainty in fisheries and assures levels of harvest are monitored so that we maintain sustainable levels. Only then can we realize the potential of fully sustainable fisheries domestically and continue to pursue exporting these practices internationally where real challenges to our ocean’s living marine resources still exist.
- U.S. and worldwide demand for seafood will continue to grow as the population and consumer awareness of seafood’s health benefits grow. And, as we are ending overfishing we must simultaneously build a sustainable aquaculture industry here in the U.S.
- Already, aquaculture plays a far larger role in seafood supply than many people know:
- Driven by imports, the U.S. seafood trade deficit has grown to over $9 billion annually — the highest it’s ever been. There is clearly an opportunity for growth in this industry. If done wisely, aquaculture can complement wild fisheries while contributing to healthy oceans and coastal economies.
- In February of this year, the Department of Commerce and NOAA jointly released draft Aquaculture Policies for public comment. The public comment period ended on April 11. Once the policies are in place, NOAA will work with partners to create initiatives that encourage growth of sustainable aquaculture.
- We can see how sustainable aquaculture creates multiple benefits by taking a look at Perry Raso, an oyster farmer in Rhode Island.
- Perry Raso shows us one way that working waterfronts help rebuild America.
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Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because healthy coasts and oceans are the sine qua non for vibrant coastal communities.
- Habitat restoration presents another golden opportunity to create jobs and restore the plethora of benefits that come from healthy coastal habitats. Habitat restoration is stimulating the local economy in the small town of Bayou la Batre in Alabama.
- Though the town is small, this success is a big one for them. This small example shows that restoration creates jobs, sparks economic and ecosystem benefits, while making healthy oceans and resilience real for one waterfront community.
- Restoration is not only good for the oceans, coasts and Great Lakes, restoration is good for economic recovery.
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Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because the oceans are home to America’s ports, part of America’s core infrastructure.
Ports are the nation’s centers of marine transportation and commerce, and centers of the oil and gas industry and chemical facilities.
- According to U.S. Department of Transportation and Department of Energy, marine transportation is the engine of our economy. Ports move more than 77 percent of our overseas trade by weight and 48 percent by value in 2008. This includes 9 million barrels of oil a day or roughly 47 percent of the oil needed to meet our annual energy requirements.
- About 2/3 of the goods we buy come to us by ship. Marine transportation now contributes more than $1 trillion and 13 million jobs to the American economy. Maritime trade has doubled over the last 50 years, and the U.S. will see continued growth as we look to marine transportation as an energy-efficient alternative to land and air transport.
- Just outside of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish, the Huey P. Long Bridge crosses the Mississippi River.
- When stoppage itself costs upwards of $250 million per day, real-time data and round-the-clock availability are critical. NOAA’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems, or PORTS, does just that.
- When ports are hit by hurricanes, NOAA’s rapid response hydrographic survey ships often are the first to help survey and re-open damaged port areas.
- These same ships are part of NOAA’s charting program responsible for surveying and mapping the 3.4 million square nautical miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, the largest in the world.
- Navigation rights and freedoms are essential for the global economy and for security.
- We need accurate positioning for navigation, for flood risk determination, levee construction, emergency preparedness, air traffic control, building construction and land use planning. The grid that makes GPS work for us and accurate positioning possible is the National Spatial Reference System — a NOAA product.
- Navigation services data feed the decision support tools necessary for coastal communities, ports and commercial interests to plan for and negotiate use of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes resources and to prepare for climate impacts, such as sea level rise, like we’re seeing in Port Fourchon.
- Port Fourchon, Louisiana sees 13 to15 percent of all oil imported into the nation, while providing passage for crude oil to 50 percent of the nation's refineries.
- The coastal wetland where Port Fourchon sits is under severe stress. Regional land subsidence, erosion and inundation from coastal storms have taken their toll.
- These examples show some of the roles that port safety, navigation and mapping play in national security and energy security, while creating jobs and economic sustenance to the nation.
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Healthy oceans are everyone’s business because the nation’s energy security depends on them.
- As President Obama said, “The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out, and even before it runs out will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground. We can’t afford it when the costs to our economy, our country, and our planet are so high.”
- Wind, solar, and biomass/biofuels are the most rapidly growing renewable energy sectors in the U.S. They promise to be a significant portion of the total U.S. energy supply. We will rely on the ocean for siting for wind farms and as an alternative energy source.
- NOAA is responsible for assessing the potential effects of these ocean-based, energy-generating technologies on marine trust resources and existing coastal and ocean uses of concern, and response and restoration if trust resources are harmed.
- Coastal and marine spatial planning will be an important tool for regional planning for use of the ocean for this purpose.
- Renewable energy sources depend on improved weather and cloud forecasts to be economically viable and successfully integrated into the U.S. electrical grid system.
- Proposed ocean-based renewable energy technologies, including hydrokinetic energy and ocean thermal energy conversion, require research and information about ocean conditions and processes before they can be developed.
- We also need better atmospheric and oceanic observations, models, forecasts and analysis tools to reap the benefits of renewable energy.
- Clearly, these areas of research and technology development for energy production are ripe for innovation.
- We are making progress on renewable energy research. For example, to improve wind farm energy production, NOAA researchers and colleagues just launched a study to better understand and predict how gusts and rapid changes in wind direction affect turbine operations and how turbine wakes behave. This research will help improve design standards, increase efficiency, and reduce the cost of energy.
- NOAA and the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2011 to work together on enhancing the use of weather-dependent and oceanic renewable energy technologies and infrastructure.
- NOAA also just signed a landmark agreement with Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) to increase coordination and collaboration for environmentally sound offshore energy development.
- Now, it should be clear from my remarks thus far — looking across governance, seafood, habitat, commerce, and energy — that we have come a very long way.
- Yes, we have come a long way. But we still have a long way to go.
- The time has come to reach out, grow our ocean community, build on the great efforts to date, but make a quantum leap in the level of activity.
- The time has come to act now to make healthy oceans everyone’s business – EVERYONE’S business.
- Let’s ensure that healthy oceans stay a high priority on today’s agenda and on tomorrow’s.
- Healthy oceans are indeed everyone’s business, but keep in mind that they are much more. Healthy oceans matter in large part because they are an expression of our commitment to one another and to the rest of life on the planet.