The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative's second annual report card on U.S. ocean policy underscores the need to change how the nation manages and protects its marine resources, a Duke University environmental policy expert says.
The report, released today in Washington, D.C., gives the U.S. "generally dismal" grades, said Raphael Sagarin, associate director for ocean and coastal policy at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
"As the report card makes clear, there are some positive signs of the United States taking leadership on ocean issues, but until we take a strong stance on climate change and address massive budget shortfalls for basic ocean research, we are failing to protect our oceans," Sagarin said.
The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission. Its annual report card is intended to draw attention to both problems and progress in the nation's ocean policy by assigning grades in areas such as funding, research and education, international leadership and fisheries management.
Sagarin said this year's grades reflect the fact that "the oceans are in serious crisis from a range of threats -- from overfishing and inland fertilizer runoff, to coastal development and climate change.
"This is an issue of vital importance to every American, whether or not they live at the coast," he said. "We all affect the oceans through our actions, and we all are affected by them through the food and critical ecological services they provide."
The Nicholas Institute is a nonpartisan academic institution established in 2005, in conjunction with Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, to bridge the gap between academic research and active policymaking. The institute's four areas of initial concentration are: climate change and the economics of limiting carbon pollution; ocean governance and coastal development; freshwater concerns; and emerging environmental markets. The institute maintains offices in Durham, N.C., and Washington, D.C.