CHOW_Day1

For the latest ocean news,
subscribe to Ocean Update
and our other free newsletters.

Need a source or more
information? Contact us at
media@seaweb.org or
301.495.9570.

Capitol Hill Ocean Week Highlights Cultural and Economic Ties to the Ocean

CHOW logo 2012 Capitol Hill Ocean Week, an annual event hosted by the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation to encourage discussion among ocean stakeholders, began June 5 with a unique “crowdsourced” presentation that drew on the vivid stories of many coastal stakeholders describing places and activities that anchored their lives to the ocean.

In a talk titled “Oceans and Growth in America,” Dr. Linwood Pendleton of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University walked audiences through several key relationships Americans have cultivated with oceans over the course of the nation’s history.

Pendleton began by discussing the extractive uses of American ocean resources, including glimpses into early abalone fishing by Chinese immigrants in California, the windmills used to extract salt on Cape Cod, and Ed Rickett’s intertidal organisms that became learning tools for schoolchildren across the country.

Dr. Linwood Pendleton of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions discusses a variety of ocean activities in his “Oceans and Growth in America” presentation.

Photo credit: National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation

He examined our cultural connection to oceans citing the Native American tradition of salmon smoking in Alaska, the rise of shrimp to cultural identity through the African American slave community in Charleston, and the success of varied ethnic groups who rely on the coastal resources of the Louisiana bayou. Finally, the recreational relationship to oceans and coasts formed through activities such as surfing, scuba diving, and beach volleyball was emphasized as a legitimate way for people to connect with and enjoy nature.

To be resilient and sustainable in tough economic times, coastal and regional communities must support a robust variety of ocean uses, Pendleton said. Without a balance between different ocean uses economies of coastal communities will struggle, as will the entire U.S. economy. Each ocean use, whether extraction for profit or subsistence, or recreational use for pure enjoyment, plays a role in strengthening the U.S. economy and creating the types of communities Americans want to live in.

The combined role of extractive, cultural, and recreational uses of the waters off the U.S. coastline is important to remember in the context of America’s fisheries and seafood supply. The presentation reminds us that there is room for all stakeholders at the table to advance sustainable seafood and ensure healthy, productive oceans that Americans can continue to use for a variety of purposes. Managed sustainably, the balance of small scale and large scale commercial fisheries, aquaculture, and recreational fishing, as well as the many other ocean uses outlined by Dr. Pendleton, will create economic opportunities for future generations of Americans, and further our profound relationship with our oceans and coasts.

Read previous Just In articles in the archive >>