1998 Year of the Ocean Perspectives on Marine Environmental Quality 



incremental improvements in technology, resource reduction, equipment, pollution prevention, 

 and response strategies. Such improvements have resulted in new regulations and the transfer of 

 "state-of-the-art" technologies to other industries and sectors. Agencies have incorporated risk 

 analysis and cost benefit analysis into their programs to ensure they are "reality based." To offset 

 decreases in funding, agencies are exploring more opportunities to increase cooperation and 

 share resources while conducting research and developing management strategies in marine 

 environmental quality. The challenge for the future will be to continue this trend and to find new 

 ways for government, industry, academia and nonprofit organizations to cooperate. 



Government agencies and private industry in partnership have developed new 

 technologies to prevent and reduce the impacts of pollution. For example, there have been 

 significant improvements in ensuring that ports and waterways are safe for navigation, and 

 evolving technologies allow the collection and dissemination of near-real time tide and current 

 data to aid ship captains and port authorities. Traditional methods to contain, recover, and 

 remove oil from the marine environment have been refined and new ones developed to reduce 

 the environmental impacts of oil spills. Technologies in the oil and gas industry have contributed 

 to vast reductions in the volume of oil and hydrocarbons released into the marine environment 

 from these activities. Traditionally, research has focused on understanding the transport, fate, and 

 effects of various types of oil once a release has occurred. The prevention of spills is now a 

 priority, and risk prioritization studies assist government and industry in the identification of 

 potential sources and situations in which accidental releases might occur. This research may have 

 a high return as many spills have similar causes. Once identified, procedures can be modified, 

 technologies improved, and situations avoided to prevent, reduce, or to contain spills. 



To advance coastal environmental science and to manage coastal resources more 

 efficiently, an integrated understanding of fundamental physical, chemical, and biological 

 processes based on site-specific comparative studies of coastal ecosystems is needed. These 

 studies need to account for the impacts of activities in associated watersheds and airsheds. 

 Increased communication between researchers and policy makers, greater coordination among 

 the many organizations responsible for governance and management, and the application of 

 knowledge derived from one study to other systems, are necessary to address marine 

 environmental quality issues, determine the effectiveness of such measures, and assess the value 

 of healthy marine waters. 



Assessment of the Success of Environmental Protection Programs and Early Warning 



Systems: Research and Monitoring 



In the past, research has been stimulated by catastrophes such as fish kills in North 

 Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay caused by Pfieisteria piscicida or toxic algal blooms. Research 

 into the cause and prevention of such events has yielded technological advances and furthered 

 understanding of the ocean. For example, after the Exxon Valdez spill, government agencies, 

 industry, and the scientific community worked to develop methods to prevent oil spills and to 

 effectively clean up spills if they do occur. After the 1987 and 1988 beach closings in New York 

 and New Jersey, governments, industry and environmental organizations worked together to 



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