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Science 24 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5705, p. 2171
DOI: 10.1126/science.306.5705.2171b
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ScienceScope

Responding to calls from two blue-ribbon panels for better coordination and more resources, the White House last week created a Cabinet-level committee to oversee the management of U.S. marine resources.

The new committee is part of a 40-page action plan that addresses some of the 200 recommendations from a congressionally mandated commission, headed by retired Adm. James Watkins, that reported this fall (oceancommission.gov) and an earlier report by the Pew Oceans Commission (http://www.pewoceans.org/oceans/downloads/oceans_report.pdf). The multiagency body, coordinated by the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), has been asked to design a plan to set ocean-related research priorities, expand ocean buoy monitoring, fund new research vessels, deal with depleted fish stocks, protect coral reefs, and assess oil and gas resources.

The plan is a step in the right direction, says Lisa Speer of the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. "But it's not clear what they are going to be doing or how quickly."




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)