Exclusive Economic Zone Programs

Abstract

The vast seabed domain awaits new information and techniques that will allow its use for avariety of purposes. In 1983, the United States extended its "sovereign rights and jurisdiction' over the natural resources of the ocean out to 200 nautical miles through a Presidential proclamation of a U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone @EZ). With this proclamation came new opportunities as well as hallenges for exploring, understanding, developing, and preserving a geographically vast and diversefrontier region. The nation's interest in conservation and wise management of its ocean territory requires a sustained public investment in information gathering and management activities in this region, Since 1983, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have carried out a program to characterize the seafloor of the U.S. EEZ. In 1984, the two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate theirEEZ activities, establishing the Joint Office for Mapping and Research (.TOMAR)to carry out this coordination and provide leadership for the design and implementation of a national program. In 1988, the Director of the USGS and the Administrator of NOAA requested that the National Research Council establish a committee to advise them on the needs and priorities of nonfederal users for seabed information from a federal mapping and. esearch program, to assess the technical aspects of the national program with special attention to the adequacy of technology for meeting user information requirements, and to evaluate data management and dissemination aspects of EEZ activities. Because the committee's advice was directed to the USGS and NOAA in relation to ongoing mapping and research activities, the focus of this investigation is on the seabed of the EEZ and on physical resources. Through a series of questionnaires and workshops, the Committee on EEZ Information Needs sought information on user needs from the major nonfederal communities with an interest in the EEZ: the coastal states and territories, the offshore industries, and the ocean research community. The following findings, conclusions, and recommendations emerged from the study and represent a synthesis of the findings from all stages of the investigation. FINDINGS The coordinated USGS/NOAA effort to obtain reconnaissance information about the EEZ seabed in water depths greater than 200 m has been highly successful. Deep waters around the 50 states have been imaged with side scan sonar, and the production of maps, atlases, and electronic data disks is nearing completion for these regions. Plans are in place to complete the imaging of the seabed around the Pacific Islands by 1997, Availability of data from these activities has been communicated to potential users through biennial symposia and a regular newsletter. Surveying and mapping activities such as bathymetry, acoustic imaging, and reflection profiling are conducted by federal agencies (including the military), the states, academia, and various industries. There is little effort to coordinate such activities and organize and utilize complementary data sets