Value Our Ocean

Why?
Our oceans are an integral part of the Bay State, but an onslaught of development proposals threatens the very nature of this resource. In addition to biodiversity, these waters provide the resources for several of Massachusetts' thriving industries including fishing, recreation, boating, and tourism. In recent years, proposals such as pipelines, deepwater aquacultures, telecommunications cables, and wind and hydro power facilities have raised concerns about competing uses. Ocean management has historically been spread among several different government agencies with public decisions about whether to allow certain activities made on a case-by-case, reactive and fragmented basis. This current system is ill equipped to deal with recent unanticipated uses, and there is a pressing need to unify ocean management under one system that can balance commercial use and personal recreation while still protecting Massachusetts' most valuable resource.

How?

If passed, the Massachusetts Ocean Act will would become the nation's first act to implement a comprehensive plan for ocean management and protection by:

Establishing clear authority for balanced ocean management by placing authority in the hands of the existing Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
Establishing a 16 member ocean management commission including state agency representatives, legislators, municipal officials and various stakeholders.
Ensuring designs are guided by the best available scientific understanding of marine and ocean resources via a 9 member ocean science advisory council composed of academic marine scientists, non-profit organizations, government agencies and fishing stakeholders.
Requiring consistency to avoid ad hoc ocean development decisions.

Advantages
Our fishing, tourism, and recreational resources depend on healthy oceans. The Oceans Act will allow us to better balance the need for economic and industrial growth without further pressuring our marine resources. The Oceans Act will allow the Commonwealth to efficiently handle all the competing challenges before them.

Status

Different versions of this bill have been passed in the House and the Senate and the bill is now in a Conference Committee to iron out the differences.

Contact
Jennifer Ryan, Mass Audubon, 617.523.8448