U.S. ocean policy: a blueprint for the future

Abstract

The last comprehensive review of U.S. ocean policy took place more than 30 years ago in a report by the govern ment-appointed Stratton Commission. Since then, much has changed. Most notable among the changes is a recognition that the uses to which we put the oceans have limits and that we are stretching them. Whether from erudite scientific treatises on the fates and consequences of pollutants, from popular articles on the collapse of fish stocks, or from reports on coastal degra-dation, we cannot escape the conclusion that marine ecosystems are under threat. The author reviews the revised version of the US Ocean Policy.