LEXIS-NEXIS® Congressional Universe-Document

Search Terms: "Lands Legacy Initiative", House or Senate or Joint

Document 10 of 118.

JUNE 30, 1999, WEDNESDAY

SECTION: IN THE NEWS

LENGTH: 773 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
DR. MICHAEL S. CONNOR
VICE PRESIDENT FOR PROGRAMS AND EXHIBITS, NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
OCEANS AND FISHERIES SUBCOMMITTEE
HEARING ON THE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ACT

BODY:

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify concerning the reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Senator Kerry for his tireless efforts on behalf of the National Marine Sanctuaries Program and particularly the designation of Stellwagen Bank as a marine sanctuary. I am here today representing the New England Aquarium. which greatly benefits by its proximity to the Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Our mission at the Aquarium is to present, promote, and protect the world of water, and each year we educate approximately 1.4 million visitors about the oceans. Next weekend we will open the nation's first digital, interactive, immersive computer theater. We have chosen to debut this theater with a program about Stellwagen Bank. The experience presents visitors with the environmental threats to Stellwagen Bank, allows them to choose from a variety of management actions to protect Stellwagen, and then predicts the future health of Stellwagen based on the individual and group decisions made by these visitors.
Stellwagen Bank, located 25 miles east of Boston Harbor was designated a national marine sanctuary by Congress in 1992 primarily to protect it from a proposal to construct a floating gambling casino and from sand-and-gravel mining and oil and gas development. Designation as a marine sanctuary protected Stellwagen Bank from those threats, which have since diminished in their importance. Since then, the public has come to value Stellwagen as the most important coastal underwater habitat in New England--a special place in which visitors can experience the marine realm, just as they might visit a national park to experience an old-growth forest or geological wonder at a national park..
Stellwagen Bank warrants its special designation as a marine sanctuary because of the unique characteristics of its geological history, topography and coastal circulation, that combine to encourage the formation of dense and abundant aggregations of baitfish and plankton. These aggregations make Stellwagen Bank a favorite feeding ground for humpback whales, right whales, and commercially-important fish. Stellwagen Bank has long been important to Massachusetts economy for its fishery resources, and lately as the favorite site for whale watching. Whale watching boats carry nearly 1 million passengers each year generating more than $20 million in revenues.
The comprehensive resource protection provided by the National Marine Sanctuaries Program is especially important to Stellwagen Bank, which is threatened by a variety of activities including over-fishing, habitat destruction, coastal pollution, atmospheric deposition, shipping, and ship strikes of whales. While each of these activities is regulated by other programs, only through the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary Program can the cumulative impacts of all these threats be addressed and managed.
The National Marine Sanctuaries Program (NMSP) has been seriously underfunded relative to its mission and importance to the nation. We support the Administration's NOAA Lands Legacy Initiative, which would increase funding for the program. Providing adequate resources for the NMSP is the most important issue that Congress should address in its reauthorization of the Act. To put the budget in perspective, the Aquarium has just spent about 50% more on its new immersive theater exhibit on Stellwagen Bank than this year's annual budget for the entire Stellwagen Bank sanctuary. There is a serious mismatch in funding and importance, and the mismatch is not restricted to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. At current funding levels, Stellwagen has only three full-time staff members to provide the management, resource protection, enforcement, research, and education activities for its 638 square miles.
Additional funding for the NMSP would allow NOAA to enhance conservation efforts by improving the mapping of critical habitats and other important resources within the sanctuaries, speeding the development of management plans, and monitoring the effectiveness of key management decisions. Perhaps most importantly, the additional funding would allow the expansion of environmental education programs that help people understand these critical habitats and what they can do to minimize the impacts of human activities. Armed with this information, the public would become effective advocates for these precious natural resources and insist upon appropriate levels of support to ensure their protection.
END

LOAD-DATE: July 1, 1999

Document 10 of 118.


Search Terms: "Lands Legacy Initiative", House or Senate or Joint
To narrow your search, please enter a word or phrase: