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Trump calls for ocean mapping of EEZ and of Alaska coastline
Steve Sutherlin Petroleum News
President Donald J. Trump, in a memorandum issued Nov. 19, has directed federal agencies to develop a national strategy to map the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and a strategy to map the Alaska coastline.
Trump issued the Memorandum on Ocean Mapping of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska, which called on the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to coordinate EZZ mapping strategy development. The director and chairman serve as cochairs of the Ocean Policy Committee, established by executive order June 19, 2018.
In addition, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state of Alaska, and the Alaska Mapping Executive Committee are to develop a proposed strategy to map the shoreline and nearshore of Alaska.
The strategies are to be developed within 180 days of the memorandum date and submitted to the director and the chairman to inform actions of the Ocean Policy Committee and relevant agencies.
The effort will boost understanding the nation's vast ocean resources and advance U.S. economic, security and environmental interests, the memorandum said, adding, “It is the policy of the United States to support the conservation, management, and balanced use of America’s oceans by exploring, mapping, and characterizing the U.S. EEZ, including mapping the Arctic and Sub-Arctic shoreline and nearshore of Alaska.”
Systematic and efficient approach “Mapping, exploring, and characterizing the U.S. EEZ is necessary for a systematic and efficient approach to understanding our resources,” the memorandum said. “Mapping will reveal the terrain of the ocean floor and identify areas of particular interest; exploration and characterization will identify and evaluate natural and cultural resources within these areas.”
The memorandum said the EEZ contains underutilized or undiscovered natural resources, including critical minerals, marine-derived pharmaceuticals, energy and areas of significant ecological and conservation value, but just 40% has been mapped.
“Completed mapping is especially lacking for Alaska and for the Alaskan Arctic, which lack the comprehensive shoreline and nearshore maps available for much of the rest of the Nation,” it said.
“Maps and charts that present accurate and contemporary coastal elevation data support economic growth, resource management, and the safety and security of coastal residents.”
The EEZ was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
- STEVE SUTHERLIN
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