The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Commission on Ocean Policy (sometimes known as the Watkins Commission, after the chairman of the commission during its first gathering, James Watkins) was created by an act of the

106th United States Congress The 106th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

known as the

Oceans Act of 2000 The Oceans Act of 2000 established the United States Commission on Ocean Policy, a working group tasked with the development of what would be known as the ''National Oceans Report.'' The objective of the report is to promote the following: # Pro ...

. The commission's mandate was to establish findings and develop recommendations for a new and comprehensive national ocean policy. The final report was delivered in September 2004, and shortly afterwards the commission was terminated, as scheduled by the Oceans Act.

Working groups

In the course of its work, the Commission established four

working group A working group, or working party, is a group of experts working together to achieve specified goals. The groups are domain-specific and focus on discussion or activity around a specific subject area. The term can sometimes refer to an interdis ...

s to address the following issues: * Governance * Research, Education and Marine Operations * Stewardship * Investment and Implementation

History

The previous review of U.S. ocean policy had been conducted thirty-five years before by the Stratton Commission, published in 1969. To account for changes in the intervening years, the U.S. Congress decided to form the Commission on Ocean Policy to conduct a new review, and develop recommendations for future ocean policy. The Oceans Act of 2000 was passed in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

June 6, 2000, and become effective on January 20, 2001. The Commission is composed of 16 members. Per the Act, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and

Majority each nominated eight people, and the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

appointed four from each list. The Commission began its work in September 2001 with a series of nine regional meetings and 18 additional site visits in every coastal region of the

and the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. The Commission heard testimony from 445 experts, including many of the nation's top ocean scientists and researchers, environmental organizations, industry, citizens, and government officials, as well as receiving written testimony from countless others. The Commission released its Preliminary Report on April 20, 2004, for review by the nation's Governors and other stakeholders. On September 20, 2004, the Commission submitted its Final Report to the President and Congress, "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century". On December 19, 2004, the Commission officially expired, as called for under the Oceans Act of 2000.

External links

Archive of the Commission's web site

PDF version of the Oceans Act of 2000

*

Naval Institute The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds se ...

br>Proceedings 2001 Index

Don Walsh Don Walsh (born November 2, 1931) is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe ''Trieste'' when it made a record maximum descent into the Challenger Deep on January 2 ...

*
1965 Coastal Zone Information Center

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(35 pp) *
Tales of Not-so Ancient Mariners:
''A Marine Technology Review from the MTS Archives'' (Summer 2006) Ocean Policy Oceanography Environmental policy in the United States {{US-org-stub