(NY) The New York Times - The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals.
The recommendation, outlined in an interim report by a panel appointed in June by President Obama, said regulators should consider marine regions as a whole when issuing rules rather than, say, regulating fishing one species at a time...
“In turn, we must commit to sustaining the oceans.”
Fishing and other shore-related tourism in those counties adds tens billions of dollars and millions of jobs to the economy, even as many coastal areas suffer overdevelopment, overfishing, habitat loss, pollution and other environmental woes.
“Sometimes we have competing economic, ecological, recreation or other interests,” Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O’Hara of the Coast Guard said at the news conference. “We welcome a comprehensive national approach.” ...read more from The New York Times
