Recognition of Threat to Maine’s Coastal Economy, Communities and Way of Life
Today the Maine Legislature passed SP599: A Resolution Recognizing Ocean Acidification as a Threat to Maine’s Coastal Economy, Communities and Way of Life. An increasingly acidic ocean has tremendous potential to impact traditional fishing communities that depend on shell-producing species such as clams, mussels, oysters and lobsters. Rob Snyder, president-elect of the Island Institute, applauded the leadership role that Maine lawmakers are taking on this critical issue. “Our coastal and island economies are increasingly fragile, with $1billion in economic activity derived from a few high-value species,” he said. “This move by Maine’s legislature sends an important message; that Maine is on the front line of ocean acidification, and that decision-makers in Washington need to take action so that we can better understand the long-term implications of this phenomenon for our coastal and island economies.”
State Senator Chris Johnson (D) of Senate District 20 in Lincoln County, took the floor last Friday to support the resolution’s passage. In a statement today, he reiterated the seriousness of this issue, saying, “Microorganisms in the oceans provide much of the oxygen we depend on for life. And they support all the marine life we rely on in so many ways. Ocean acidification is a serious threat to ocean health on the micro and shellfish scale, and therefore threatens coastal economies and ways of life we hold dear. The acidification problem must be solved before it becomes an irreversible crisis.”
Please see the attached resolution and the Institute’s one-page overview of ocean acidification. Click here to learn more about our work in the area of ocean acidification or contact Susie Arnold at sarnold@islandinstitute.org.
Island Institute, 10 June 2013. Article.
