Florida Ocean Alliance: Florida Needs Better Ocean Management - NOW!

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Florida’s economic future depends on healthy oceans and coasts. It is imperative that the State move to protect and sustain these resources. Florida must address important issues arising from the mix of potentially conflicting ocean uses, such as offshore drilling, liquefied natural gas terminals, alternative energy facilities, beach nourishment, and fisheries. Our growing use of the sea must be balanced with stewardship for future generations.

Ocean management plans provide tools for smarter, sustainable use of our oceans and coasts. Comparable to land use planning, marine spatial planning will help manage and provide opportunity for balanced development in the oceans. Other coastal states are advancing their protection and sustainable use of marine resources by developing ocean management plans. A report -- “Moving Ahead: The Next Step in Ocean Management for Florida” –- was released today by the Florida Ocean Alliance. It proposes the development of an ocean management plan for Florida and describes the lessons learned by other states and the processes they used to develop ocean management plans. This plan is important for Florida, especially since the federal government is moving ahead in this area as are other coastal states.

President Obama recently proclaimed June as National Oceans Month, citing the oceans as “critical to supporting life” and essential to our nation’s economy. The President has also committed to developing “a systematic marine spatial planning framework for the conservation and sustainable use of ocean resources.” He has established an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force is charged with developing recommendations within 90 days that include a national policy on oceans and coasts and Great Lakes, a policy framework for coordinating efforts to improve stewardship of oceans and coasts, an implementation strategy for a national policy on oceans and coasts, and the development within 180 days of a recommended framework for coastal and marine spatial planning. This framework should be comprehensive, integrated, and an ecosystem-based approach to address conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable uses of the oceans and coasts and Great Lakes.

The Florida Ocean Alliance issued the report to initiate discussion and facilitate movement on developing an ocean management plan for Florida. An executive order or legislation could be used to begin the planning process. Timing is important due to the emerging issues in ocean use and current interest in ocean governance in many arenas, including the federal government, coastal states and regions, and academia and non-governmental organizations. The Florida Ocean Alliance welcomes responses to this document and hopes that it will lead to a thoughtful public discussion by Florida’s policymakers and citizens on an ocean management plan for the State. The report “Moving Ahead” is available online at http://www.floridaoceanalliance.org.

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