As we near the end of 2013, many of us turn our attention to the start of the holiday season, the things are we are thankful for, and our family and friends. Last month, divers in the US showed Congress that they are thankful for the National Ocean Policy.

In fact, seventy four members of our nation’s vibrant dive community, including such members as her “Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle, explorer Philippe Cousteau, Jr. and renowned underwater photographer Brian Skerry, supported the National Ocean Policy and a National Endowment for the Oceans to the members of Congress who have an opportunity to show that they too care about our nation’s oceans, coasts and the economies that rely on them.

These are the members of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) Conference Committee, who are working to reconcile the versions of WRDA passed by the House and Senate. They will soon consider two provisions critically important to ensuring the long-term health of the nation’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. First is the damaging Flores rider, meant to undermine and impede the National Ocean Policy’s implementation by prohibiting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), a key coastal and ocean management agency, from coordinating with coastal states, other federal agencies, and the public as they engage in ocean planning and ecosystem-based management. We know that the National Ocean Policy improves our planning so that we protect important habitat and ocean wildlife, plan to address changing ocean ecosystems, build climate resilience and encourage sustainable use, and provide greater certainty for businesses and other ocean users, including divers. Imposing such an arbitrary restriction harms states, the Corps, and the ocean and coastal economy.

Second is the Senate’s National Endowment for the Oceans (NEO, Title XII to S. 601), a bi-partisan effort to ensure that present and future generations benefit from the ecological, economic, cultural and recreational resources of our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes through grants to states, tribes and others. NEO would support efforts to conserve and restore ocean resources and help develop the baseline science, monitoring, and observation data to facilitate long term healthy oceans. To ensure our nation has healthy oceans in the future, the letter urges the conferees to OPPOSE and STRIP out the Flores rider and EMBRACE and SUPPORT the provision establishing NEO.

While the dive community is certainly a diverse one, each member has one thing in common: they all benefit from healthy, productive oceans. Divers see firsthand the incredible beauty and, too often, the increasing burden our oceans face. That is why members from the dive community stood up last month to say, hey Congress, the dive community is full of people committed to ensuring our industry, sport and the nation have an ocean ethic. We want you to know that we give thanks that our Nation has an Ocean Policy … and so should you.

Find the letter here.

Source: www.healthyoceanscoalition.org

Top Photo credit: Wolcott Henry/Marine Photobank

Bottom Photo Credit: Greenpeace

Thanks to our friend John Hocevar from Greenpeace who passed this article on to us.