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Massachusetts Ocean Management Task Force June 17, 2003, Meeting Summary
Mariner's House The Massachusetts Ocean Management Task Force met June 17, 2003 at the Mariner's House in Boston, Massachusetts. A list of attendees is provided below. Charge to the Task Force from the Secretary Secretary Ellen Roy Herzfelder opened the meeting noting the talented people around the table and thanking the Environmental Trust for supporting the initiative with funding. The Secretary continued describing the charge to the newly formed Task Force. Citing recent articles in the media on ocean management, the studies by the Pew Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy she asked the Task Force to bring forth a vision describing a framework of uses for the Commonwealth's seas. The current management framework is an outdated, shortsighted approach using information that is sketchy at best. We work in a case-by-case reactive manner. The Secretary laid out four broad objectives for the Task Force:
The Secretary Introduced Sue Tierney as Chair of the Task Force Sue Tierney thanked everyone for their participation and noted what a great job the Task Force had before them for the next 6 - 9 months. She elaborated on the Task Force's role emanating from the Secretary's charge. She noted the Task Force's job was that of an advisory body to the Secretary that was going to review existing tools, their adequacy, examine the management structure for gaps, look at data management tools and the principles of ocean resource management. Sue Tierney went on to note that the Task Force members were advisors that were competent and expert. She noted she volunteered because she is a public policy junky, found this subject to be extraordinarily interesting and important for the Commonwealth. Secretary Roy Herzfelder then recognized Senator Bruce Tarr from Essex County and Representative Susan Gifford from Plymouth County who each noted the importance of the Task Force's work to their district, the Commonwealth and the future of Massachusetts. Task Force Ground Rules Everyone present introduced him or herself and noted their affiliation (See Appendix II). Sue laid out the rules of the road for the Task Force on working together, noting that there would be about one meeting per month. She asked that members come to the meeting informed by their interests and constituents and that if they are contacted by the media they were free to talk for themselves but not for the Task Force as an entity. Decisions would be made on a consensus basis when possible. Ex-officio members (federal agencies, legislators and adjacent state representatives) are encouraged to participate and inform the process. Susan Snow-Cotter was introduced as the point staff person for the Task Force with Deerin Babb-Brott as back up. E-mail would be the primary form of communication among and between Task Force members with the CZM website serving as a central outlet of information. Meetings are and will be always open to the public. Each Task Force member then presented a short statement on the reasons why they were interested in this effort. Meeting Schedule Susan Snow-Cotter presented to the group a proposed meeting schedule. The next meeting of the Task Force will be at an Ocean Management Workshop at the end of July. At this meeting, regional teams would make presentations on their regions, give characterizations of the resources present, the uses, the areas that are extraordinary and unique. Also at this meeting management approaches from other areas would be discussed followed by a facilitated discussion. Management approaches from other areas that may be presented include: the Canadian Scotian Shelf, Scandinavia, Oregon and the Florida Keys. The Task Force was in general agreement with the meeting agenda but noted that existing information on what is going on Massachusetts now must be gathered and distributed to Task Force members to bring them "up to speed". Suggestions to remedy this were a bibliography on the web site with suggested readings, and an overview of the current status of the Massachusetts marine ecosystem by region. Concerns were raised about the public's attendance so early in the process while members were still in the learning phase. It was decided that while the public would be welcome to attend this Workshop, public involvement would not be solicited. Post-meeting update: The Workshop will be expanded to two days and be held on July 30 and 31st. Public discussion and input throughout the entire process was further elaborated on. Seeking the best ways to get public input either by holding day and night meetings, seeking written comments as well as holding hearings, the use of the Internet, what means to access seasonal residents, and the prior experience of the state and federal agencies which hold many hearings were all discussed. The Chair noted that all the discussion was taken in and would be resolved. Post-meeting update: Four public scoping meetings will be scheduled during August and four during September. Task Force members will be asked to assist in chairing meetings. A draft meeting schedule will be circulated in mid-July. Future Task Force Meeting Dates After checking schedules the following meeting dates were finalized. The third meeting will be a 2-day retreat on September 4 and 5th on the North Shore. The fourth will be on October 16th on Cape Cod. The fifth meeting will be on November 24th in the South Shore. The sixth and last will be January 14th in New Bedford. Draft Principles Draft principles were distributed as a straw man document. The principles are organized into three tiers, foundation principles that are taken directly from state constitution, law or policy, the second tier are process principles to assist in decision making and the third tier are value principles that are a basis for establishing an ocean ethic. The Chair started discussion on the principles noting again that this is a straw man document up for discussion and that the group could add some or change others. Task Force members questioned whether these were principles or not and asked if the group was adopting them. They noted that any principles should have fluidity; flexibility; and those federal principles in law and policies should be examined as well. One member suggested we should do more than in the past and provided two principles as examples, do not harm, and if uses impact people impact as few as possible. Others noted principles that the Task force should incorporate such as biodiversity, protecting public access, working ports protection, minimizing impact, mitigation, avoidance, compensation, precautionary management and ecological integrity. Members suggested that the principle guiding northern forest use might be a good example that the Task Force should examine. The Chair established a subcommittee consisting of David O'Connor, Larry Wheatley, Paul Diodati, Greg Watson, Priscilla Brooks, and Robbin Peach (Randy Tucker joined after the meeting) to draft guiding principles and bring them back to the full Task Force at the next meeting for discussion and eventual adoption. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 4:35 pm thanking everyone.
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Boston, MA 02114