Hawai'i Fisheries Initiative - The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs

and coastal science and policy. As part of
a new National Ocean Policy Framework,
the Commission recommends that Congress
establish a National Ocean Council (NOC)
within the executive office of the president,
chaired by an assistant to the president
and composed of cabinet secretaries
of departments and administrators of
independent agencies with relevant ocean
and coastal-related responsibilities. 385
To maintain the drive for ocean policy reform,
in early 2005, USCOP and the Pew Oceans
Commission created the collaborative
and bipartisan Joint Ocean Commission,
under the direction of retired Navy Admiral
James D. Watkins and the Honorable Leon
E. Panetta. In addition to working with
Congress and the presidential administration,
the Joint Ocean Commission works
with state governors, as well as the private
and nonprofit sectors, and educators to
encourage a regional approach to ocean
and coastal management. 386
Modernizing Ocean and
Coastal Policymaking
In March 2006, a bipartisan group of ten
senators, including Hawai‘i Senator Daniel
Inouye, asked the Joint Ocean Commission
to identify the top ten actions that Congress
should take to implement the recommendations
made by the two commissions; the
highest priorities for funding to support the
development and implementation of ocean
policy; and the priority changes to law and
the federal budgeting process needed to
establish a higher level of integration in
coastal and ocean governance. 387
The commission’s response:
1. Adopt a statement of national ocean
policy to protect, maintain, and restore
marine ecosystems
2. Establish the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in law
(the commission suggests a Congressional
act that would establish NOAA as the lead
ocean agency) and improve federal agency
coordination of ocean and coastal issues,
for example, between the National Science
Foundation and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, both of which
have ocean-related responsibilities and
science and research programs.
3. Foster ecosystem-based regional
governance, involving federal, state,
tribal, and local governments, as well
as the private sector, non-governmental
institutions, and academics.
4. Reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act. (President Bush signed
this act into law in January 2007; the MSA
is now reauthorized through 2013). 388
5. Enact legislation to support innovation
and competition in ocean-related research
and education, consistent with President
Bush’s Ocean Research Priorities Plan and
Implementation Strategy
6. Authorize and fund the Integrated
Ocean Observing System (IOOS),
part of the Global Ocean Observing
System, which involves using ground- and
space-based research (NASA, NSF) for
natural hazard prediction, new energy
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