FRIENDSHIP

We as humans always extend ourselves and the things around us. It is not possible for us to do things and not limit them. It is done in our home every time a child wants more candy and we say no. What we do in life reflects our home training. The traditional focus of the ocean and costal policy has been targeted mainly on the marine fisheries and the living resources of the ocean itself. Ocean policy has not been apprehended by the U.S. since 1969 Stratton Commission. The laws which exist dealing with the oceans (internationally and domestically) are in need of inexhaustible are now stressed, depleted, polluted, threatened or overused. As said in the Ocean Policy A proposal for the 2003-2004 National High School Debate Topic; “Regulations aimed at solving this problem are easily circumvented, since ships can continue to fish with impunity simply by flying the flag of a different country with less strict regulations.” At this point we should extend ourselves to be knowledgeable about the exhaustion of our ocean resources and become weary of these problems.

So far, the main problems that face the oceans are over fishing, destruction of natural habitats such as coral reefs, and pollution. At the present time, many fish stocks are overexploited and cannot support catches. Those management systems that are in place now are having difficulties with establishing methods of allocating fishery resources amongst competitors. Over the past 40years the environmental laws that have been implemented have dealt with the pollution of that time. However with a new age at hand comes more pollution like of nitrogen and phosphorus. These runoffs are the largest pollution problem facing us. Some suggest that we should establish new policies to reverse the effects of this by 2010, as a solution. Addressing these issues may imply changes in the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act. This will and must have the assistance from the federal government, hence the implementation of new restrictive policies.

Another important fact is that under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act, submerged heritage resources are subjected to commercial exploitation. These resources are what may link us to historical events. It is our responsibility to protect this valuable resource through certain laws. As the coastal and marine waters become more polluted many species become diseased, with a combination of noise and air pollution. The number of species listed under the Endangered Species Act between 1975 and 1989 increased from 20 to 61 with another 42 being considered “candidates.” According to the “U.S. Ocean and Coastal Policy: Blueprint for the New Decade”:

The worst failure experienced in U.S. Ocean policy has been the serious decline in fisheries, even after the establishment of what appeared, in 1976, to be a very rationally designed system of regional fishery management councils.

Perchance there were policies that seriously restricted (limited) certain things like fishing, we would not have a problem today with over fishing. At this time fish stocks are overexploited. By over fishing we lose habitats and the certain fish populations are diminishing (e.g. swordfish, sea bass, shark, shrimp, blue fin tuna, Atlantic sea scallops). It is being seen that fishes in the U.S. waters are being depleted faster than they can replenish. This obviously means that in the next couple of years we won’t have a certain species of fish anymore since we over fished them and they didn’t have enough time to naturally replenish themselves. It is so common for our waters to be over fished that 70% of them are faced with this problem. We are sincerely losing a valuable source of protein and a tastier alternative to red meat and poultry. The depletions, if not controlled, will seriously affect the ocean’s ecosystems.

One may ask what happened to polices that have been around for so long that were made to deal with this situation. The policies are in actuality easy to avoid, since a ship can continue to fish by flying a flag of a country with less strict regulations. The key to managing fisheries is to implement a restrictive policy that will encourage fishermen to take fish in numbers that are safe and provide for human consumption without disintegrating the species. Apart from fisheries, pollution is a major contribution to the retardation some ocean resources. For one, oil spills like that of Exxon Valdez, cause irreplaceable damage to the habitants of the ocean. Mind you these effects are long termed. Oil is 100 more times toxic to fish that was thought before. Most oil pollution is not accidental. We need to reassess the policies that are supposed to help in this situation. Another type of pollution is Eutrophication also known as over enrichment. This is the pollution of our seas by nitrogen and phosphorous from farms etc. This type of pollution must be taken into consideration when writing this restrictive policy, since there aren’t any policies that deal with this now. These nutrients from non-point runoffs need to be limited.

Scientists have deduced that we do not know enough about our oceans. There is 95% of the oceans is left to be discovered. There is a lot more to be learned. If we take advantage of the little we have how can we conserve the rest? It would be assumed that we will do the same with the rest. Habitat destruction is considerably the reason for the loss of under studied marine organisms. For example, bottom trawling, shows large scale habitat destruction more so in less resilient seafloor communities. Trawling, dredging residential and commercial development all contribute to the alteration of valuable coastal wetlands. These things along with the mutant seaweed crisis that has hit France, Australia and California need to be controlled. Some urge that Federal Governments urgently redress loopholes in current regulations which allow people to continue to input hazardous marine species into alien waters. Essentially we ask that the governments of the world take a larger stand on this issue and conserve our seas. It is our right, obligation to keep what we have for our children and our grandchildren. Think of their future. One always wants the best for their offspring, so do not let them settle for second best of the sea, after we have overused it first.

Works Cited

Eckstein, Darren. “Ocean Policy. A proposal for the 2003-2004 National High School Debate Topic.” Conference on the National High School Debate Topic;August 2-4, 2002

Mangone, Gerard J. “U.S. Ocean and Coastal Policy: Blueprint for the New Decade.” Theme B. Essential Cross-Sectoral Processes and Approaches to Achieving Sustainable Development. Workshop IV. Session I. National Coastal and Ocean Policies and Strategies.

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