Ocean Zone News Blog

Published: October 05
News Blaze

Today legendary underwater explorer and ocean ambassador Sylvia Earle teamed up with IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas to send individual letters to 106 world leaders inviting them to join Sylvia in her wish to better protect the world’s oceans. Watch exclusive coverage of this event online at The Underwater Channel.

Sylvia Earle is one of three recipients of the coveted 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Award which grants awardees a ‘wish to change the world’. Sylvia’s one wish is to establish more ‘hope spots’ – Marine Protected Areas – to support ocean life, people and the natural unseen systems on which our day-to-day lives depend.

The following is a statement from Sally Yozell, Director of Marine Conservation, East Coast at The Nature Conservancy, on today’s announcement by the Obama Administration to establish an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force:

“The Nature Conservancy applauds today’s announcement from the Obama Administration to establish an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that will lead an effort to better protect the health of our oceans with a focus on more efficient ocean planning. This is a critical step in ensuring that as demands on our oceans continue to grow, all stakeholders in the ocean – from industry and energy to conservation and recreation – have a seat at the table. This coordinated process increases transparency and accountability as decision-makers come together to proactively discuss and plan for how to use our oceans’ resources in a sustainable way.

By Thomas Gounley Friday, October 2, 2009

Andrew Rosenbergy has been tapped by NOAA to help advise the White House.
University of New Hampshire Professor Andrew Rosenberg has been tapped by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to advise the White House on marine spatial planning over the next 90 days.
Rosenberg is a professor in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, as well as UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space.
“I am advising the President’s Council on Environmental (CEQ),” said Rosenberg. “They are responsible for coordinating the Ocean Policy Task Force.”

By Robert Montgomery
Special to ESPNOutdoors.com
Archive

A new task force poses a serious threat to close fishing to recreational fishermen.WASHINGTON, D.C. — Until recently, threats to fishing access have been so diverse and so scattered that they have not raised collective concern among anglers.

Why should fishermen in Maine worry that the state of California has closed waters around the Channel Islands? Why should Texans be upset that the National Park Service blocked surf casters from reaching the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina?