Chris Ostrander

The US National Ocean Policy: Priorities, Benefits, and Limitations in the Insular Pacific

We all share the ocean as a commons—the actions of any nation in the region directly impact the productivity and resource potential of every other nation. This is true with fisheries, with other marine natural resources, and even with security and maritime sovereignty. While the notion of ecosystem-based management within America is a noble goal, we must not forget the principal species of interest in the region, for commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries are highly migratory. Truly changing the paradigm with respect to fisheries, and ocean resource management as a whole, requires a collective effort of all parties. One nation can make a difference in how they interact with the environment, but the full Pacific community must work together to tackle our shared problems if we all expect to continue extracting benefit from the ocean for generations to come.

Contributions of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System to National and Regional Coastal Hazards and Resources Information, Tools, and Services

A changing climate, coupled with increasing development and population growth within the coastal margins of the United States, presents a growing threat to coastal populations, ecosystems, and infrastructure associated with chronic and catastrophic coastal hazards and a growing reliance on coastal resources. The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) provides a unique capability to observe the coastal and open ocean waters of the United States and provides value-added, customized data tools, products, and services to inform decisionmaking related to coastal hazards and resources management, assessment, and risk by individuals, resource managers, policymakers, and local agencies. Increasingly, the partnership of IOOS Regional Associations with the U.S. IOOS Program Office has the capacity to provide critical observational and scientific information needed to inform coastal planning and management efforts related to some of the most pressing problems facing coastal zones: namely, impacts of a changing climate on coastal communities and ecosystems, sea level rise, and the competing and often-times conflicting uses of the coastal zone that necessitate integrated Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning. Discussed herein are 3 examples of regional IOOS capacity to provide information related to beach safety, coastal inundation, and marine spatial planning.

IOOS® Contributions to the Decision-Making Process for Mariners and Coastal Managers

In 2009, the National Operational Wave Observation Plan, prepared for the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and led by the National Data Buoy Center and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), outlined a comprehensive plan that will serve as a basis for a nationwide, high-quality surface-wave monitoring network. One of the projects that the USACE and the California Department of Boating and Waterways cooperatively funds is the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP). The CDIP is based at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography with its main focus on high-resolution directional wave measurements. The CDIP serves as one of the USACEs contributions toward IOOS, thus promoting sustained and quality wave measurements throughout the United States. This article describes examples of how reliable, accurate wave data serve the maritime community and coastal managers. Several of the CDIP buoys are moored at the entrances to ports and harbors or close to the nearshore where waves impact the coastal zone. As evident, each port or harbor has unique conditions and therefore its own set of challenges. Specific examples are demonstrated as to how CDIP and IOOS have played a key role in the decisionmaking process, by contributing to the safety or economics of marine operations and coastal management. The real-time data is available on the Southern California Coastal Observing System and the corresponding Regional Associations Websites. The data is also transmitted hourly to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Data Buoy Center and the National Weather Service.