Four members of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, including Chairwoman Nancy Sutley, received testimony in Anchorage on August 21 from Alaskan stakeholders on a proposal to develop national ocean policy.
Anchorage’s hearing, the first public hearing for this task force, was highly attended, with about 60 people testifying. Nine expert witnesses provided testimony from oil and gas needs of the nation, to the wellness of Native peoples and economic concerns of coastal communities.
Many who testified expressed the need for increased Coast Guard presence in the Arctic for safety and homeland security, supplemental infrastructure development, as well as enhanced research in our oceans.
Alaska possesses more coastline than all other states in the U.S. combined. The ocean around Alaska, provides over half of the U.S. seafood landings, and is a significant employer in the state.
Impacts resulting from any ocean policy will affect Alaska significantly, and a national ocean policy must be cautiously developed, according to numerous people testifying at the hearing.
Ocean policy should coordinate with existing management programs and stakeholders, which have proven to protect and manage Alaska’s fishery, noted RDC in its testimony.
In her expert witness testimony, Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Fran Ulmer, requested the task force develop a strategy for gaining research in the oceans, Alaska’s Arctic waters in particular.
North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta explained that North Slope residents are trying to preserve traditional uses of the ocean, including subsistence activities for food and culture, while working with development projects to control and mitigate risks. Mayor Itta further endorsed the need for research and involvement of local organizations. “It’s important to remember that the Inupiat people are part of the Arctic environment,” Itta said.
Anchorage resident Dave Harbour said that the direction of national ocean policy “is a concept that must be fully – not partly – investigated to assure the avoidance of very bad, unintended consequences – including those which could unintentionally harm American citizens or the very oceans themselves.”
Marine Conservation Alliance Executive Director and RDC board member, David Benton, submitted testimony, urging the task force “to avoid developing a national policy that further complicates an already daunting array of laws, regulations and policies that currently govern ocean uses.” RDC also urged the task force to avoid redundancy and carefully consider whether or not another bureaucratic layer in the process is necessary. Read RDC’s complete testimony.
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