National ocean policy protects ocean health and benefit fishermen

In recent weeks, Republicans in Congress have once again taken aim at a comprehensive ocean management and protection plan. In misleading hearings and op-eds, their talking points mirror rumors that have long been exposed as false—that the National Ocean Policy (NOP) is somehow a direct assault on fishing.

Frankly, such an assertion is ridiculous. The National Ocean Policy, with proper stakeholder input, would actually protect habitat and access and result in the common sense management of marine resources. Current attempts to defund and delay implementation of the National Ocean Policy are a thinly veiled attack on the basic programs that protect, maintain and restore the health of our oceans and coasts.

The policy’s improved ocean management effort is designed to protect and create jobs, and grow our economy by ensuring all the multiple uses of the ocean don’t come crashing down on each other. It requires the more than 20 federal agencies that govern our seas—currently in an uncoordinated and ad hoc way—to finally work together, with input from local governments, ocean industries and, yes, fishermen. To some, this may appear as yet another layer of government intervention. But the truth is it will actually streamline the process, reduce bureaucratic red tape and perhaps more importantly, enlist local stakeholders in the decision-making process.

Recreational and commercial fishermen would indeed benefit from the National Ocean Policy. It would help us address all the factors that stand to jeopardize fish populations, from habitat destruction to water pollution. While ocean-use conflicts between industries like fishing and energy development continue to increase, the NOP will help us manage these conflicts by planning ahead to help keep, for example, energy plants off prime fishing grounds and unique habitat, so that all sectors can coexist. In fact, a recent Massachusetts case study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that planning ahead for ocean industry could generate more than $10 billion for the energy sector and prevent more than $1 million in losses to the fishery and whale watching sectors, compared to the status quo.

Relying on partisan politics and fear mongering, some members of Congress have repeatedly forecast economic disaster and demolished livelihoods for fishermen as a result of the National Ocean Policy. The current claims that fishing will be banned or even substantially restricted under the National Ocean Policy link back to a wildly inaccurate rumor circulated in 2010 by an ESPN writer, of all sources. Even ESPN has since admitted that the rumor was false and characterized the article that kicked off the insanity as an opinion piece. Why in the world our representatives continue to fuel national panic about this common sense policy is beyond me.

Let’s be clear. Comprehensive ocean planning isn’t a new idea, and it shouldn’t be a partisan issue. The idea of a National Ocean Policy was proposed by a 2004 commission, appointed by President George W. Bush. Fishermen have been involved in NOP discussions for years, with hundreds of recreational and commercial fishermen, and the organized sportfishing lobbies, issuing comments on the policy.   

With the explosion of interest and money in offshore energy, such an Ocean Policy is simply a necessity if fishermen want to maintain access to historical fishing grounds.  Fishermen have perhaps the most to lose if a minority in Congress succeed in defunding it.  A healthy fishing industry depends on a National Ocean Policy.  It will help us maintain access to historic fishing grounds, and address all those factors that harm commercial and recreational fishing, like habitat loss, coastal pollution and invasive species. Any attempts to defund or delay implementation of the National Ocean Policy are a dangerous political move that puts the health of our oceans, coastal communities, jobs and fishing industry at risk.

McMurray is a recreational fisherman and president of One More Cast Charters in Jamaica Bay, NY, and a Mid Atlantic Fishery Management council member.

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