Christopher Mann, senior officer at the Pew Environment Group, today issued the following statement in response to proposed planning guidelines from President Obama's interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.
“The recommendations released by President Obama's task force strike the right balance between using the ocean's resources and protecting the sensitive marine environment.
“We are pleased that this national strategy, focused on conservation, will include sensible planning for the growing variety and volume of uses, as we do in our national forests and other public lands. This would mark a fundamental transformation in how we manage the oceans. Effective and timely implementation of these recommendations would move U.S. policy from ad hoc exploitation of individual resources to management that values the health of the entire ecosystem.”