New York Times
Lead Editorial
May 31, 2008
Troubled Oceans
Five years have elapsed since the Pew Oceans Commission's seminal report
urging prompt action to arrest the alarming decline of this country's ocean
resources. Four years have elapsed since a blue-ribbon presidential commission
said much the same thing, urging special attention to problems like overfishing
and the deterioration of coastal wetlands and estuaries. Despite an occasional
burst of energy, however, the Bush administration and Congress have left much to
be done. And time is running out.
As is true with many environmental issues - climate change comes
immediately to mind - the states have done a better job. New York, New Jersey
and Massachusetts have either passed legislation or established a regulatory
structure to better manage their coastal waters (states control the first three
miles, the federal government controls the rest until international waters begin
200 miles offshore). California, always at the leading edge, has begun setting
up a network of fully protected zones where fish can flourish with minimal
commercial intrusion.
These actions show that progress is possible and challenge the White House
and Congress to do better.
President Bush has expressed interest in leaving a positive "blue legacy."
Last year, he created one of the biggest protected marine reserves in the world
- 138,000 square miles of largely unspoiled reefs and shoals near Hawaii. He
should create at least one and possibly more such reserves elsewhere in American
waters before he leaves office - and should persuade other world leaders to do
the same
.
The president must also give teeth to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the basic
law governing fishing in federal waters. Congress reauthorized and strengthened
the law in 2006, establishing more ambitious timetables for rebuilding depleted
fish species and giving scientists greater say over how many fish can be taken
from the sea. Everything depends on whether the National Marine Fisheries
Service buttresses good law with strong rules and does not let the commercial
fisherman hijack the process.
For its part, Congress must give ocean issues greater priority, in part by
reorganizing the way the federal government deals with them. America's waters
are managed under 140 different laws spread across 20 different government
agencies. A bill known as Oceans 21 seeks to bring order out of chaos and give
ocean protection the prominence it deserves. The bill is slowly gaining traction
in the House but could use a strong push from Senate Democrats and the White
House.
Many experts believe that the biggest long-term threat to the oceans may be
global warming, which could disrupt ocean chemistry in ways that cause havoc
with the food chain. The science on this issue is still unclear, however, and in
any case, global warming is best addressed in broad legislation like the climate
change bill now before the Senate. In the meantime, there is much that
Washington can do to strengthen the resilience of the ocean and its inhabitants
so they can withstand whatever stresses the future may bring.
