In a video message to conference participants in Chile, Obama announced that the administration is taking steps to create two new marine sanctuaries – one in the tidal waters of Maryland and one in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters.
Advertisement
She called the plan “Chile’s contribution to the ocean, so that our children and grandchildren may enjoy what we are doing here”. The proposal should help rebuild depleted fisheries, conservationists said.
Marine national monuments differ from marine sanctuaries in that they can be established by presidential proclamation, whereas sanctuaries are designated by NOAA and require extensive public input – however, they can offer similar protections and human use restrictions over marine ecosystems. He cited greenhouse gas emissions contributing to ocean acidification, marine pollution, and illegal fishing as serious threats facing the oceans.
The Mallows Bay-Potomac River encompasses a 14-square mile section of the tidal Potomac River. It will be the largest marine sanctuary in the Americas. Marlow Bay, the proposed Maryland site, is home to the largest number of known shipwrecks in the Western Hemisphere, with almost 200 vessels from the Revolutionary War to present day. It’s also an area key to a variety of rare and endangered marine species. President Michelle Bachelet vowed last week that such action would come “shortly”, and campaigners said the statement Monday would create the third-biggest safe zone world-wide. Such concerns are shared by the USA, which imports 90 per cent of the fish it consumes, and Chile, whose coastline of nearly 2,500 miles is vital to the economy.
Secretary of State John Kerry, attending the conference, announced the launch of Sea Scout, a new global initiative that will unite governments and stakeholders worldwide in the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by focusing global assets and partnerships on identifying, interdicting, and prosecuting IUU fishing organizations and networks around the world.
The “traceability” initiative is supposed to start for the most commonly exported fish species such as tuna, cod, shrimp and crab in September 2016. Anyone who wants to export fish to the United States would have to adhere to the conditions.
The plan still needs final approval from lots of additional states and the Senate before entering into force.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Washington will make its own fishing industry and importers serving its huge market — Americans eat 4.6 billion pounds of seafood per year — track products from their origin.
