Its high time drastic actions to be taken to save the oceans of its natural contours. But, the administrations are not moving quickly enough to address hundreds of recommendations made by Leaders of two expert commissions that spent years examining the nation’s ocean policies. They gave the Congress, Bush administration and governors a near-failing grade for not taking actions at the necessary pace.
It was in September 2004, the presidential panel chaired by James Watkins, a retired Navy admiral and former energy secretary, recommended creating a new trust fund, boosting research, improving fisheries management and consolidating federal oversight among 212 recommendations in its 610-page final report, the first federal review of ocean policy in 35 years.