The Congress creates our federal laws. The Administrative branch creates regulations. The National Ocean Policy has yet to change either. Of course, you wouldn’t have learned this if you had sat through the House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing on the National Ocean Policy this morning. The rhetoric from Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) and the Republican members – who tried really hard to follow the current GOP playbook by depicting any effort by the Obama Administration as a “job-killing regulation” – claimed that the National Ocean Policy is “…ocean zoning (which) could place huge sections of the ocean off limits to activities not ‘zoned’ as government-approved.” The argument was less than convincing.

Massachusetts’ Representative Ed Markey (D-Malden) knows what many of us have learned from the value of the Massachusetts Ocean Plan: “Just like other plans, comprehensive ocean planning would allow everyone with an interest in our coasts and oceans to participate in a transparent, decision-making process to determine how to best utilize an increasingly busy, productive and important national resource.  This would increase predictability and certainty for existing and new users of these areas and improve ocean health. Opposing ocean planning is like opposing air traffic control. You can do it but it will cause a mess or lead to dire consequences.”

Well said, Ed. John Bullard, former mayor of New Bedford and someone with real experience in ocean planning, also did an excellent job making the case for rational thought and comprehensive ocean planning.

Still, the overall lesson from today’s hearing is that smart ocean planning has yet to inflame Congressional passions. We’re still hoping that the seductive merits of interagency coordination, collaboration and cooperation between ocean users, a productive and inclusive approach to public involvement and an increased ability to make science-based policy decisions will catch the eye of elected officials in Congress, the states and in communities across the nation. We are forced to admit, however, that the solid work of working together is bland stuff compared to the sex appeal of outlandish claims that the federal government is going to take away your fishing pole.

The Mass Ocean Plan is already showing the promise of good planning and cooperation. Rhode Island’s Ocean SAMP will be integral to creating a new industry of clean renewable energy. The National Ocean Policy can do the same for communities across the country. We need the Congress to stay calm and move it forward.

With the record setting temperatures this past July, thousands of New Englanders decided to make their escape to the beach. Unfortunately, these relief-seekers were met with an unpleasant surprise: many found that their favorite spot was closed due to high pollution levels.

A place to escape is one of the numerous ways that New England’s ocean improves our quality of life: From fresh local seafood to over $60 billion a year of economic benefit in fishing and tourism to the promise of clean energy from offshore wind, our oceans provide us with ample bounty. However, this summer’s pollution problems are a stark reminder that we can’t take a healthy ocean for granted.

Today, we’re asking you to stand up for our oceans by standing up for the National Ocean Policy.

Thousands of miles away from New England, a freshman congressman from Texas is mounting a sneak attack on our ocean’s health. This congressman is threatening to cut funding for the National Ocean Policy – a policy designed to clean up our beaches and coastal waters, protect habitat for marine life, restore our fisheries and fishing industry, and promote responsible development of clean, renewable ocean energy.

Click here to urge your Representative in Congress to stop this sneak attack on our ocean.

Thankfully, Congress adjourned for the summer, but a vote could take place as soon as they return! So make sure your concerns are at the top of their list. Urge your reps to stand up for clean, healthy oceans and thriving coastal communities by supporting the National Ocean Policy today!

This is the fifth and last post in our Shark Week Series. Happy Shark Week, everyone!

Many rational people are very afraid of sharks. We can tell ourselves that the odds of attack are extremely low, especially in New England, but the primal image of the gaping maw and jagged teeth is hard to drive away with logic. As David Ropeik points out in his thought-provoking book, How Risky Is It, Really?, a risk feels bigger if you think it can happen to you, regardless of the odds. Sharks attacks are easy to imagine. However, if you look at the numbers, you should be way more worried about the drive to the beach, or lightning. The odds of death by shark each year in the U.S. are 1 in 3,748,067. You are way more likely to die from a dog attack. Here are some other things that are deadlier than a shark:

• Car accident – you have a 1 in 84 chance of dying in a car crash each year
• Death by sun/heat exposure – 1 in 13,729 per year
• Death by fireworks – 1 in 340,733 per year

I do worry about sharks. Almost anyone who spends time in the ocean thinks about them. But I worry a lot more about getting sick from polluted water.

Potentially harmful bacterial pollution enters our coastal environment in partially or untreated wastewater and stormwater, in septic and cesspool waste, and from animal waste on or near beaches. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, illnesses caused by recreational use of contaminated water are on the increase. For the fifth year in a row, beach closure or advisory days in 2010 topped 24,000 nationally, the majority which are due to bacterial contamination. Swimming in pathogen-contaminated water can result in respiratory infections, pink eye, stomach flu and many other health problems.

Many popular beaches have water-testing programs to help keep swimmers safe, but the testing is generally not daily, and the results are not “real time.” It’s a good idea to avoid the water during or after a storm, when bacteria levels are likely to be higher, since some of our stormwater is untreated. Worse still, many towns and cities in New England have antiquated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) systems that are designed to release untreated sewage and stormwater into our rivers and oceans during storms. Some beaches close down as a result of storms, without even being tested, if it is known that CSOs will be flowing into the water. Fortunately, some CSOs are being upgraded and eliminated. But for now, there is still a very real risk of illness from swimming in contaminated water.

There is risk in everything we do. I’m willing to risk an encounter with one of the “Men in Gray Suits” if it means I get to keep surfing. But I’m going to be very careful about swimming in polluted water.

My point is not that we should be too afraid to enjoy our amazing beaches and ocean life. But, that we should work to protect them. Join CLF in advocating for our National Ocean Policy, in protecting the Clean Water Act, and in ensuring we leave a legacy of protecting these special places.

Great white sharks off the coast of Massachusetts. (Photo credit: Green Massachusetts)

Let’s be honest. When we talk about great white sharks, we are usually talking about their appetites. White sharks have been found with a number of thought-provoking objects in their stomachs, including a partial suit of armor and an engine block. But what they really like is large, fatty ocean going animals: tuna, seals and sea lions, rays, whale carcasses. These are not always easy to catch, so sharks employ a number of hunting strategies, including a sneak attack from behind (shudder) and rushing up from the depths (double shudder). So, while their feeding style can be quite lively, and more than a little intimidating, scientists believe it is usually a case of “mistaken identity” when a shark bites a human, not mindless, malicious predation. White sharks are visual predators, and sometimes we humans do a fairly good seal impersonation. Often, once the shark realizes there has been a misunderstanding, it will move on to something tastier. Don’t get me wrong; I am not recommending anyone take their chances in the water with these big fish. If there is a shark sighting at your favorite beach, please stay out until you hear it’s safe again. I know they’re out there, but it gives me a bit of comfort to think that if they REALLY wanted to eat us then we’d know about it by now.

Shark survival, and hopefully I’ve convinced you by now that this is a good thing, is dependent on a robust, thriving food chain. Overfishing, coastal pollution (especially nutrient pollution), and the byproducts of power generation are severely impairing our near shore and blue water ecosystems. Coastal areas function as nurseries for ocean going fish, birds, and other marine life. So a small area of degradation can have a big effect out to sea. Protecting sensitive coastal ecosystems is protecting the bottom of the food chain. The things at the bottom feeds the things we like to eat (shellfish, cod, striped bass), the things we like to see (seals, whales), and things we maybe don’t want around, but are good anyway (sharks). CLF is working to protect these important ecosystems. From supporting our National Ocean Policy, to fighting dirty emissions that create unhealthy acidic water, to promoting healthy estuaries, CLF is on the forefront of efforts to protect our oceans and keep their waters clean and productive for generations to come.

A shortfin mako shark, one of the very few warm-blooded fish. (Photo credit: Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Service)

Great whites, makos, porbeagles, and salmon sharks are among the very few warm-blooded fish. I’m not going to hug them, though, since it makes them more efficient predators. Their ability to thermoregulate makes them more tolerant of cool water and allows their muscles to respond more quickly than their cold-blooded relatives. This is just one of traits that make sharks such a diverse and interesting group of animals. Here are some others:

• Most sharks don’t have tongues, but they have taste buds lining their mouths and throats
• Some sharks give birth to live young, but some lay eggs
• Sharks live in saltwater, but some species are able to spend a significant amount of time in freshwater, and have been found as far inland as Illinois (Illinois!), in the Mississippi River
• While they do develop cancer (there is a myth that they do not), it is at a much lower rate than other kinds of fish
• Among the varieties of sharks found in New England waters are basking sharks, spiny dogfish, shortfin makos, blacktip sharks, porbeagle sharks, thresher sharks, sandbar sharks, smooth dogfish, and, of course white sharks

This may seem like a lot of sharks to be swimming around with, but most of them are found much farther offshore than us. A rich diversity of species is a great thing. In ecological terms, diversity can be a sign of the robustness of an ecosystem. If one population is struck down by disease or predation then another can fill the role of top predator. Considering the complexities of species diversity and interactions among them is important when managing the multiple uses of our ocean. This is another great example of why Ecosystem Based Management, one of the core strategies in our National Ocean Policy, is the right tool for the job. Click here to write your Governor today to urge them to support this policy, and healthy oceans for all.

New England Deserves A Healthy Ocean

A healthy ocean provides New England with so much—a place to relax with our families, a good living for those in the fishing and tourism industries, and habitat for an amazing array of sea life.  With the right planning, they could also provide us with clean renewable energy from offshore wind and solar power, and create thousands of new jobs for New Englanders–the health of our coastal waters and the habitat they provide for ocean wildlife sustainably brings $16.5 billion to our region’s tourism and fishing economy every year.

In order to sustain healthy coasts and oceans, and the economies of coastal communities that depend on them, we need your help to encourage our New England Governors to work together with federal, tribal and state agencies to implement a National Ocean Policy.

The National Ocean Policy (NOP) builds on the success of ocean management plans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by bringing together coastal business owners, fishermen, scientists, the shipping industry, conservationists and other ocean users and the many government agencies charged with managing our ocean resources to create a sustainable plan for our ocean’s future. The NOP calls for immediate steps to protect critical marine habitats, ensure a sustainable future for our fishing industry and coastal communities, reduce coastal pollution and promote the responsible development of offshore renewable energy.

If we are going to preserve our beaches and coastline, protect marine life and promote the growth of our sustainable ocean economy, we need a strong National Ocean Policy. That is why it is so important that you write your Governor today to urge them to support this policy, and healthy oceans for all.

Fun fact: Great white sharks (or white sharks, as scientists prefer) are migratory.

(Photo credit: kqedquest, flickr)

Scientists are just beginning to learn how far ranging an individual shark can be, and they are still puzzling over what motivates them to travel. In Devil’s Teeth, Susan Casey’s fascinating book about white sharks off the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, she describes some of their wanderings. The sharks completely disappear for several months, then return, thin and hungry, to fatten up on local seal and sea lion populations. Some of the Farallon sharks have been tracked to an area off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

What are they doing down there? Nobody knows, but researchers are working hard to find out.  Elsewhere in the book, Casey gives an account of orcas killing and eating one of the sharks. Almost immediately after the killing, dozens of other sharks fled the area. Researchers had been observing them daily, and were very surprised when they all disappeared. One of the sharks had a radio tag on; he turned up in Hawaii.

Our “local” white sharks migrate as well. Like many New Englanders, they head south when the temperature drops, and have been found off the southeast coastal states, and in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is a lot we don’t know about white sharks. But we do know that their numbers are declining throughout the world’s ocean. The average size of the animals is shrinking as well.

This is not good news. Sharks are an important part of a healthy, functioning ocean ecosystem. As we learn more about these mysterious animals, we will need flexible, ecosystem-based management strategies to ensure their survival.

Coastal Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) is one tool that can help. It is a strategy that is paying off for the endangered North Atlantic right whales. There are very few of these animals left, but they are showing signs of recovery. Recently, shipping lanes were re-routed in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary to avoid right whale feeding grounds, allowing for fewer whale/boat collisions. This is just one example of how a strong National Ocean Policy can help provide creative solutions for species conservation.

(Photo credit: NOAA Photo Library)

It’s more of an obsession, really. I spend a lot of time in the water: surfing, boogie boarding with my kids, or just cooling off. I think about sharks every time I get in the ocean. If I haven’t had a good long think about them before I get in, then I ponder their existence as soon as I’ve made it out past the break and I’m dangling my feet off the sides of my seal shaped surfboard. If you meet a surfer who says they don’t think about sharks, they are lying.

So, why the love? Well, I love the ocean. I love a balanced ecosystem. I love eating fish and shellfish. Sharks are one of our more exciting apex predators. An apex predator is the one at the top of the food chain that keeps the populations in check all the way down the line. Recent studies on shark populations have found that a drop in shark numbers leads to plummeting shellfish populations. Sharks eat other predatory fish, as well as rays and other animals that feed on shellfish. Once the sharks are gone, the clams, scallops and oyster populations are preyed on heavily by animals that would normally not be so abundant.  Unfortunately, sharks are declining precipitously around the world. Sharks are taken intentionally for “finning” (the removal of fins for shark fin soup), and unintentionally as bycatch during the fishing of other species. Marine scientists aren’t exactly sure how things would play out if sharks were gone, but none of the scenarios are good.

In “A Sand County Almanac,” Aldo Leopold wrote about one of the apex predators of the west. In his days with the Forest Service there was a mass kill policy for wolves. As a result, deer populations exploded. This led to major overgrazing of mountain vegetation. Erosion and river-choking sedimentation are a couple of the problems associated with overgrazing. Leopold wrote: “I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.” This was a formative part of his land ethic. Simply put “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

The release last year of our National Ocean Policy (NOP) was a big step in promoting a saltwater version of this ethic. CLF’s Priscilla Brooks had this to say about the newly created NOP: “For the first time in this country’s history, we will have a national policy that aligns the great promise of our oceans with the great responsibility for managing them in a coordinated, thoughtful and sustainable fashion. New England has led the charge to balance the ever-increasing interest in our state waters … with the need to protect wildlife and critical habitat areas so that our region’s oceans will continue to be productive for generations to come. From Massachusetts to Rhode Island to Maine, we are developing ocean management plans that will serve as guides for better protection and management in federal waters across the nation.”

Ecosystem-based management is at the heart of the NOP. Healthy shark populations are just one facet of a balanced ecosystem. Seal populations have been recovering after near decimation from hunting (and a thriving shark population will keep the seals in check). Some commercial fish populations are now recovering from decades of overfishing. Shellfish, seals, sharks, commercial fish – all are linked. We can’t “manage” one without the effects cascading through the others. Ecosystem-based ocean management plans will consider these connections.

So, even as I picture just what it would look like if a great white shark came rushing from the depths for a neoprene-wrapped snack (me), I still love sharks.  I try to be sensible. I avoid the water at dawn and dusk (unless the waves are really good). I stay in shallow water. I get out of the areas where seabirds are working – evidence of major food chain activity. And I’ll take a shark sighting as seriously as anyone. But, since sharks are essential for thriving, productive oceans, they are good to have around. Even if I don’t want them around me.

In 2009, President Obama started a process that established our Nation’s first National Ocean Policy in order to protect, maintain, and restore our ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes natural resources for present and future generations. Implementation of the National Ocean Policy will help our nation move toward better ocean management and protection and restoration of our ocean, coasts, islands and Great Lakes. Just when the NOP is getting up and running some Members of Congress are attempting to stop the National Ocean Policy with a backdoor attack through the FY12 Interior Appropriations Bill. The Interior Appropriations bill has already been deemed the “Worst. Bill. Ever.” for its attacks on bedrock conservation laws and the destruction it would wreak on environmental programs that keep our air breathable and our water drinkable. Now a well-oiled Texas Tea Partyer wants to take out the National Ocean Policy.

Reducing or eliminating federal funds for the development and implementation of the National Ocean Policy would be a “penny wise and pound foolish” approach to managing and sustaining our nation’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes and should be opposed. The National Ocean Policy is being implemented now with existing resources. Halting implementation of the National Ocean Policy would throw away two years worth of work, investment and commitment by state governments, commercial and industrial ocean users, universities and scientists, 25 federal agencies and departments and tens of thousands of citizens across the country.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island now have complete ocean management plans for their states’ waters. These states recognize that building a sustainable clean energy economy will bring more jobs and economic benefits that in turn will attract new businesses and help create a thriving New England. The key to building a new industry based on clean, renewable offshore wind energy turbines is a comprehensive management plan that involves current ocean users, maintains existing jobs, and is based on solid scientific data and the best information — so MA and RI created an open process to establish ocean management plans. Both of these plans are supported overwhelmingly both citizens and businesses in each state.

This is why we need a National Ocean Policy. Let’s just say Congressional leadership has been a little slow on what President George H.W. Bush called ‘The Vision Thing.” Planning for better, coordinated and more efficient management eludes Congress’ planning horizon. A backdoor attempt to stop the NOP deserves to be opposed. We are fortunate to have a number of Representatives in New England who get it, but they need friends. Please call your Member of Congress through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 or find your Rep’s webpage and send an e-mail at http://www.house.gov/representatives/#state The votes might be this evening or early tomorrow – -don’t delay!

Urge your Representative to SUPPORT THE NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY AND OPPOSE ANY ATTEMPTS TO HALT ITS IMPLEMENTATION.