Obama Oceans Task Force Report: What Does It Mean for Ocean-Friendly Business?

I was always taught not to write a "question-mark headline" if the story I'm writing doesn't offer at least some answers to the question posed. Well, I'm going to break that rule. I just read the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and, though it clearly demonstrates an understanding of all the relevant issues, I don't know what to make of it from the perspective of someone who wants to launch or expand an ocean-friendly business.

It is promising to see that the Obama Administration recognizes the need for a comprehensive national oceans policy and that that policy must extend to the inland activities affecting ocean health(I read this to mean use of chemical fertilizers, plastics, and coal-fired power plants, which are responsible for most of the non-naturally occurring mercury in our oceans). And since this is the task force's first report, I fully expected it to be short on specifics. The task force's next step is to develop "a framework for coastal and marine spatial planning, due to the President by December 9, 2009."

From a business-planning perspective, the opportunities and risks associated with the ultimate plan will depend on the combination of incentives and penalities actually put into place. Will the Administration dare to take on the agri-business and chemical-industry lobbies by reducing or eliminating the explicit and implicit subsidies that protect and support them while encouraging ocean-damaging agricultural practices? What about a phased-in ban on certain uses of plastics? Wouldn't it be laudable to discourage the continuous creation of plastic packaging that consumes years' worth of non-renewable petroleum resources and will exist far longer than products whose freshness on the shelf they were created to ensure? Will the task force recommend seafood traceability standards? Support sustainable aquaculture practices?

I guess I'm hoping there are people out there who know a lot more about these issues than I do (God help us if there aren't) and that they'll be kind enough to share their insights. What opportunities will emerge? What risks? Let's share some likely scenarios.