CharlieTuna
06-08-2008, 03:11 PM
Home Globe Boston.com
FOR GENERATIONS, Americans treated their coastal waters as an exploitable resource for everything from fishing to shipping to dumping. That began to change in the 20th century with fishing regulations and clean-water laws. Massachusetts recently took stewardship to a new level by passing the first-ever law to require a management plan for the sometimes conflicting uses of the state's ocean waters.
The need for such a plan grows more urgent with each new proposal to use the state's 3-mile band of coastal waters for wind power, sand-mining, natural gas pipelines, or undersea electric cables. The plan, which under the law is to be drafted within 12 months, would balance such uses with fisheries, recreation, conservation, and shipping. Control over commercial fishing would stay with the state Division of Marine Fisheries.
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will draw up the plan, with advice from a 17-member ocean advisory commission. Its members represent industries like fishing and offshore renewable energy, as well as local economic development commissions. The plan's architects will also get advice from a nine-member council of marine scientists. The law offers Massachusetts a chance to lead the nation in treating its water resource with the same care it affords its land.
FOR GENERATIONS, Americans treated their coastal waters as an exploitable resource for everything from fishing to shipping to dumping. That began to change in the 20th century with fishing regulations and clean-water laws. Massachusetts recently took stewardship to a new level by passing the first-ever law to require a management plan for the sometimes conflicting uses of the state's ocean waters.
The need for such a plan grows more urgent with each new proposal to use the state's 3-mile band of coastal waters for wind power, sand-mining, natural gas pipelines, or undersea electric cables. The plan, which under the law is to be drafted within 12 months, would balance such uses with fisheries, recreation, conservation, and shipping. Control over commercial fishing would stay with the state Division of Marine Fisheries.
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will draw up the plan, with advice from a 17-member ocean advisory commission. Its members represent industries like fishing and offshore renewable energy, as well as local economic development commissions. The plan's architects will also get advice from a nine-member council of marine scientists. The law offers Massachusetts a chance to lead the nation in treating its water resource with the same care it affords its land.