[Senate Hearing 116-131]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-131
OUR BLUE ECONOMY:
SUCCESSES AND OPPORTUNITIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MARCH 27, 2019
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-142 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington,
ROY BLUNT, Missouri Ranking
TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
CORY GARDNER, Colorado TOM UDALL, New Mexico
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee GARY PETERS, Michigan
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin JON TESTER, Montana
TODD YOUNG, Indiana KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
RICK SCOTT, Florida JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
John Keast, Staff Director
Crystal Tully, Deputy Staff Director
Steven Wall, General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Renae Black, Senior Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on March 27, 2019................................... 1
Statement of Senator Wicker...................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 3
Statement of Senator Scott....................................... 80
Statement of Senator Peters...................................... 81
Statement of Senator Blackburn................................... 84
Statement of Senator Cruz........................................ 87
Statement of Senator Blumenthal.................................. 90
Witnesses
Hon. Phil Bryant, Governor, State of Mississippi................. 4
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Michael J. Conathan, Executive Director, Aspen High Seas
Initiative, The Aspen Institute................................ 59
Prepared statement........................................... 61
Scott Deal, President and Founder, Maverick Boat Group........... 72
Prepared statement........................................... 74
Appendix
Response to written question submitted by Hon. John Thune to
Scott Deal..................................................... 93
OUR BLUE ECONOMY:
SUCCESSES AND OPPORTUNITIES
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in room
SD-G50, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Roger Wicker,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Wicker [presiding], Cruz, Blackburn,
Cantwell, Blumenthal, Scott, and Peters.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker. This hearing of the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation will come to order.
This is our hearing on ``Our Blue Economy: Successes and
Opportunities.''
Glad to be here today with my colleague and friend, Ranking
Member Cantwell, to discuss the topic of a Blue Economy. This
is an issue that is vitally important to her state and my state
and to the rest of the United States.
I'm particularly pleased to have this panel of witnesses
today, including my dear friend of a number of decades,
Governor Phil Bryant of Mississippi. He and I began our service
together as state legislators back in the early 1990s. He has
served as state auditor since then, lieutenant Governor, and as
now in his eighth year as Governor of Mississippi. So, Phil, we
are delighted to have you here and thank you for your public
service.
We're also joined by Mr. Scott Deal, President and CEO of
Maverick Boats. Mr. Deal has not only built one of the premier
boat companies in the world, he's been recognized for his
leadership in marine conservation efforts.
And also we welcome Mr. Michael Conathan, Executive
Director of the Aspen Institute's High Seas Initiative. He's a
former staff member of the Commerce Committee under our friend
and former colleague, Senator Snowe.
The impact of the oceans on our economy is everywhere. In
Mississippi, we move 25 million tons of goods through the Port
of Gulfport every year and those goods end up throughout the
Nation and the world. A hurricane that hits the Gulf Coast can
have a crippling effect on energy prices, delayed freight, and
economic damage throughout the country.
I recently spent two nights in Seattle, the home state of
my colleague and Ranking Member, and it was wonderful and
impressive to look out over the Puget Sound and see all of that
commerce moving through there and it just continues to grow.
In the last Congress, my colleagues and I worked to grow
the Blue Economy by leading the Modern Fish Act and the
Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology Act or CENOTE,
both of which were enacted into law and signed by the
President.
Today, we will ask all of our witnesses to address what the
Federal Government can do to ensure our Federal waters work for
all sectors that use them.
Over the years, I've heard complaints from recreational
fishermen about how they had been an afterthought for Federal
fisheries managers. Our nation's fisheries law, the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, was established to manage commercial fisheries.
It's no surprise then that a management system designed for
commercial activity did not work for recreational fishermen who
want to spend more time on the water, not catch their quota as
quickly as possible.
The Modern Fish Act requires the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to be more responsive to the needs
of our recreational fisheries. It allows for the use of
additional management tools, like extraction rates, fishing,
mortality rates, and harvest control rules.
We'll certainly be providing oversight to the
Administration as they develop the ways to implement the Modern
Fish Act.
I hope Mr. Deal will address the Modern Fish Act and other
issues important to recreational fishermen in his testimony and
responses to questions.
In addition, our oceans are woefully under-observed. That's
why I've advocated for the strategic use of unmanned maritime
systems. These systems are a cost-effective way to bring about
a dramatic increase in the number of ocean observations NOAA
obtains.
Unmanned maritime systems serve a valuable role when the
mission is too dangerous, dull, or dirty for human crews. For
example, knowing the water temperature below the surface is
critical for predicting how quickly a hurricane will intensify.
Getting these measurements is a job for unmanned systems.
The CENOTE Act encourages NOAA to think strategically and
comprehensively about incorporating unmanned maritime systems.
I hope Governor Bryant and our other witnesses will address
how we can harness marine technology, particularly when it
comes to oceans, observations, and data collection.
Observations are also critically important for our Nation's
increasingly busy ports where aging infrastructure and frequent
changes in wind, tide level, and current make navigation a
tricky business.
I'd like to hear from our witnesses about what the Federal
Government can do to provide ports with real-time information
on weather and tides and to support the efficient movement of
freight.
We had some big successes last Congress and I can assure
you this is a topic that is vitally interesting to this
Chairman and this Ranking Member and we think there's more to
do.
I look forward to working with Senator Cantwell and the
rest of the members of this committee as we to continue to
develop legislation to advance the Blue Economy in the 116th
Congress.
So thank you to our witnesses, and I now turn to my friend
and Ranking Member, Senator Cantwell, for her opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
again for visiting the Pacific Northwest and seeing how
important the Blue Economy is in many complex ways.
Puget Sound is one of the busiest waterways in the Nation
when you look at the amount of cargo, marine transportation
system with our ferry system, and fishing and recreational
activities. So it is a very busy waterway. So thank you for
visiting.
Governor, very good to have you here before the Committee.
I look forward to visiting your state very soon. We've been
visited by many people already from your state who are very
interested in going back to the continuation of the Amtrak
service from New Orleans all the way across to Mobile and we
want to continue to work with the Chairman on that issue and
many others.
Mr. Conathan, very good to see you here again. Thank you
for being here and for your work at the Aspen Institute and
particularly for your global work on fisheries because I think
that is a conversation we've had a little bit before the
Committee and look forward to hearing your thoughts on that and
some other specificity related to the U.S.
And, Mr. Deal, thank you for representing the maritime
shipbuilding industry. I am very interested in what the United
States can do to continue to build our naval architecture and
technology framework in shipbuilding.
I think that the United States has many bright days ahead,
particularly as we look at the opening of the Arctic as a way
to move products and services to creating a shipbuilding fleet
in the United States that can accommodate that. So I look
forward to your comments.
The ocean represents not just a maritime industry but our
culture and our heritage. The Blue Economy supports 69,000 jobs
and indirectly supports a 191,000 jobs in the state of
Washington. So it is a very big part of our economy. It
includes shipbuilding, trade, transportation, fisheries,
tourism, and, as I mentioned, recreation.
Our maritime economy is incredibly diverse, from the Ports
of Seattle and Tacoma, which make up the fourth largest
container gateway in North America, to the fifth generation
shellfish growers at Hama Hama Oyster Company on Hood Canal.
It's a pretty broad spectrum.
Obviously our Northwest tribes, which we have 29 tribes,
are also very involved in the fishing fleet of our Nation. So
it is my pleasure to work with the Chairman on the diverse set
of maritime issues that come before this committee.
We must safeguard science-based fisheries management to
protect fishing for generations to come and we need to restore
habitats to support recreational and shellfish harvesting and
tourism, so all of these are challenges every day.
Last Sunday marked the 30th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez
spill which resulted in 1,300 miles of pristine Alaska
coastline being covered in oil. Billions of salmon eggs were
destroyed and 30 years later, a stock of Pacific herring is
nearly extinct. So we need to get these issues right and we
need to continue to focus on protecting our environment.
Oil spills aren't the only threat to the Blue Economy.
Commercial, recreational, and Alaska Native fishermen have
joined outfitters, tourism businesses, and the large seafood
industry to voice their concerns about the proposed Pebble Mine
and its impact on the livelihood of their communities.
The Pebble Mine is a proposed large open pit mine in the
headwaters of one of the most production salmon runs in the
entire world. Half of the sockeye salmon on the planet comes
from Bristol Bay. Last year, 60 million fish returned to
Bristol Bay to support 14,000 jobs and yet the Administration
is looking to fast forward a permit process for Pebble Mine
which we think would reach very hazardous impacts if any kind
of incident were to happen.
That's why I have supported calls to extend the public
comment period for the Army Corps of Engineers impact statement
and I've called for additional public hearings so that
fishermen can have their voices heard. Unfortunately, those
calls have been unanswered as of yet, but I hope that we will
get the Administration to understand that it is not worth
damaging future generations of salmon run to put an open-pit
gold mine there.
The ocean economy also provides high-quality protein and
countless riches and we need to continue, as I mentioned
earlier, to do science-based management. My colleague mentioned
the Magnuson-Stevens Act and I think the Pacific Northwest has
probably done some of the best implementation of fisheries
management in the entire world.
We need to continue to move forward but doing so means that
we have to have good resources for stock assessment, which we
need to make the investment in these things so that we can
propose those opportunities for the future.
So I look forward to asking the witnesses questions on
these important issues, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
scheduling this hearing.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell.
We will now begin with five-minute testimonies by our three
witnesses. Your entire statements will be accepted into the
record and we ask as close as possible for you to limit your
opening statement to five minutes.
And I'm delighted to recognize Governor Bryant first.
STATEMENT OF HON. PHIL BRYANT, GOVERNOR,
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
Mr. Bryant. Thank you, Senator Wicker.
It is an honor to be here. I will do my best as a Governor
to limit my comments to 5 minutes.
Senator Cantwell, thank you for having us. Ranking Member,
I will join, I'm sure, Senator Wicker in inviting you to come
to the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast and I will look forward
to coming back to your state. What a gorgeous state it is and
how much I enjoyed my visits there.
So we will begin by saying it's an honor and pleasure to
appear before the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss one of
my favorite topics, the Blue Economy.
According to the Center for the Blue Economy, the term has
three related and distinct meanings. First, the overall
contribution of the oceans to the economics of the world;
second, the need to address the environmental and ecological
sustainability of the oceans; and, finally, the ocean economy's
growing opportunity for developed and developing nations.
On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we have embraced the Blue
Economy with all our energy and ingenuity. Above all other
concerns, we care about our land, our air, and our water.
They're a part of our heritage and a part of our community.
Mississippians live, work, play, and learn on the beautiful
waters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The finest seafood in the
world comes from these waters. This industry provides thousands
of jobs along with high-quality and delicious fish, shrimp, and
oysters.
We work with the inspectors of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Seafood Inspection Services to
ensure the safety and high quality of the seafood industry. We
continue to grow this industry through research, innovation,
and conservation practices.
For example, the Mississippi Oyster Council was formed in
2015. It has provided a detailed plan to reach our goal of a
million sacks a year. The work of the Mississippi Department of
Marine Resources enhances the opportunity to protect and grow
the seafood industry in collaboration with our Federal partners
in Congress, NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the White House.
Shipbuilding has long been a part of the Blue Economy on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. For 80 years, Huntington Ingalls
has supplied the U.S. Navy and our allies with the most
advanced warships in the world.
Nearly 12,000 employees now work in the shipyard of the
future in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Hundreds more work at VT
Halter Marine and U.S. Marine, Incorporated. We like to say in
Mississippi that if it floats and fights, more than likely it
was built on the Gulf Coast.
The Port of Gulfport, Port of Pascagoula, and Port of
Bienville open the Gulf Coast and Mississippi to the world.
These deepwater ports in Jackson and Harrison County continue
to help increase exports by 259 percent in just the last 10
years.
The Port of Gulfport, which was totally destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, has been completely
restored and reopened officially in December 2018. It has been
designated as a strategic seaport by the U.S. Department of
Defense and is currently the third busiest container port in
the Gulf of Mexico. The $570 million restoration after Katrina
has been closely monitored by HUD since its conception.
The port has met and exceeded all requirements and we
believe it is a model of efficiency for future restoration
projects. The port also houses the University of Southern
Mississippi's Marine Resource Center and plans to construct an
ocean enterprise center in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and
NOAA.
These plans are currently underway in order to meet the
requirements of the CENOTE Act. As you know, the Act encourages
NOAA to partner with the Secretary of Navy on unmanned maritime
systems technology. At the Port of Gulfport, we have engaged
private, academic, and public sectors to achieve this goal.
Keesler Air Force Base, located in the City of Biloxi, is
headquarters to the 2nd Air Force, the 81st Training Wing of
Air Education, the training command of 403 Wing of the Air
Force Reserve, and the 85th Engineering Installation Squadron.
Since 1941, Keesler has trained some of the finest pilots
in the Air Force, to include the Tuskegee Airmen. Today, the
base is home to 11,000 civilian and military personnel who
serve in a variety of duties, including the 53rd Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron, known affectionately to us as ``The
Hurricane Hunters.''
Now I like to describe the Blue Economy as being the top of
the sky to the bottom of the ocean. No one knows the sky better
than NASA. The John S. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,
Mississippi, has tested the propulsion systems for every
spacecraft since Apollo.
Today, SpaceX and Aerojet Rocketdyne test their deep space
propulsion systems at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County.
Man may go to Mars 1 day and return safely to earth, but he's
going to have to pass through Hancock County to get there.
Mr. Chairman, my limited time will not allow me to present
all the exciting projects and benefits of the Blue Economy. If
time permitted, I would be delighted to tell you about a world-
class aquarium now under construction in Gulfport or the
creation of the National Oceanographic Application Research
Center, how we're restoring the Gulf after the disaster of the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and funding from the RESTORE Act
has saved hundreds of miles of living shoreline and marine life
and the habitats and their habitats along the Mississippi Gulf
Coast.
I would brag on the Naval Construction Battalion Center in
Gulfport and the great work of the two Coast Guard stations in
Gulfport and Pascagoula, but it seems I've run out of time.
I'm extremely grateful to speak before you today and look
forward to my fellow presenters' statements and answering any
questions you may have, and I request, Mr. Chairman, that you
include the following two reports into the record, the
Mississippi Defense Initiative Strategic Plan and the Ocean
Task Force Report.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bryant follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Phil Bryant, Governor, State of Mississippi
Blue Economy
Thank you, Senator Wicker. It is an honor and pleasure to appear
before the Senate commerce committee to discuss one of my favorite
topics, the Blue Economy.
According to the Center for the Blue Economy, the term has three
related but distinct meanings: first, the overall contribution of the
oceans to economics; second, the need to address the environmental and
ecological sustainability of the oceans; and finally, the ocean economy
as a growth opportunity for developed and developing countries.\1\ On
the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we have embraced the Blue Economy with all
our energy and ingenuity. Above all other concerns, we care about our
land, air and water. They are part of our heritage and community.
Mississippians live, work, play and learn on the beautiful waters of
the Gulf Coast. The finest seafood in the world comes from these
waters. This industry provides thousands of jobs \2\ along with high
quality and delicious fish, shrimp and oysters. We work with the
inspectors at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
(NOAA) Seafood Inspection Services to ensure the safety and high
standards of the seafood industry.\3\
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\1\ https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-
initiatives/center-blue-economy/about/history
\2\ http://coastal.msstate.edu/economic-impact-seafood-mississippi
\3\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/node/9736
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We continue to grow this industry through research, innovation and
conservation practices. For example, the Mississippi Oyster Council,
formed in 2015,\4\ has provided a detailed plan to reach our goal of a
million sacks a year.\5\ The work of the Mississippi Department of
Marine Resources enhances the opportunity to protect and grow the
seafood industry in collaboration with our Federal partners in
Congress, NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and The White House.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/index.php/aquaculture-home/oyster-
council
\5\ http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/images/dmr/Oyster-Council-report-
final.pdf
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Shipbuilding has long been a strong part of the Blue Economy on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast. For over 80 years, Huntington-Ingalls has
supplied the U.S. Navy and our allies with the most advanced warships
in the world.\6\ Nearly 12,000 employees now work at the shipyard of
the future in Pascagoula, Mississippi.\7\ Hundreds more work at V.T.
Halter Marine and U.S. Marine.\8\ We like to say, ``if it floats and
fights,'' it more than likely was built in Mississippi.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://ingalls.huntingtoningalls.com/who-we-are/
\7\ https://ingalls.huntingtoningalls.com/who-we-are/
\8\ https://www.linkedin.com/company/vt-halter-marine/
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The Port of Gulfport, Port of Pascagoula and Port Bienville open
the Gulf Coast and Mississippi to the world. The deepwater ports in
Jackson and Harrison counties have helped increase exports by 259
percent in the last ten years.\9\ The Port of Gulfport, which was
totally destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, has been
completely restored and re-opened officially in December of 2018.\10\
It has been designated as a strategic seaport by the U.S. Department of
Defense \11\ and is currently the third busiest container port in the
Gulf of Mexico.\12\ The $570 million restoration since Katrina has been
closely monitored by H.U.D. since its conception.\13\ The port has met
and exceeds all requirements, and we believe is a model of efficiency
for future restoration projects. The port also houses the University of
Southern Mississippi Marine Research Center, and plans to construct an
Ocean Enterprise Center, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and NOAA,
are currently underway in order to meet the requirements of the CENOTE
Act (Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology Act of 2018). As
you know, the Act encourages NOAA to partner with the secretary of the
Navy on unmanned maritime systems technology. At the Port of Gulfport,
we have engaged private, academic and public sectors to achieve this
goal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ MDA Powerpoint and Tammy Craft e-mail 12/4/18
\10\ Jonathan Daniels e-mail 1/4/19
\11\ http://shipmspa.com/port-of-gulfport-receives-strategic-
seaport-designation/
\12\ https://www.ms.gov/node/321
\13\ http://shipmspa.com/restoration-celebration-ceremony/
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Keesler Air Force Base, located in the City of Biloxi, is
headquarters to Second Air Force, the 81st Training Wing of the Air
Education and Training Command, the 403rd Wing of the Air Force
Reserve, and the 85th Engineering Installation Squadron.\14\ Since
1941, Keesler has trained some of the finest pilots in the air force,
including the Tuskegee Airmen.\15\ Today, the base is home to some
11,000 civilian and military personnel who serve in a variety of duties
including the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known
affectionately to us as ``Hurricane Hunters.'' \16\,\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ https://www.keesler.af.mil/Units/
\15\ http://www.keesler.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090203-
089.pdf
\16\ Mississippi Defense Initiative Strategic Plan 2019-2023
\17\ https://www.403wg.afrc.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/
Article/192529/53rd-weather-reconnaissance-squadron-hurricane-hunters/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like to describe the Blue Economy as the top of the sky to the
bottom of the ocean. No one knows the sky like NASA. The John C.
Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi, has tested the
propulsion systems for every spacecraft since Apollo.\18\ Today, Space-
X and Aerojet Rocketdyne test their deep space propulsion system at
Stennis Space Center.\19\ Man may go to Mars one day and return safely
to earth, but he will have to pass through Hancock County to get there.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ https://www.space.com/39498-stennis-space-center.html
\19\ https://aviationweek.com/awin/rolls-royce-selected-nasas-john-
c-stennis-space-center-mississippi and http://www.wlox.com/story/
23768172/spacex-signs-agreement-with-stennis-space-center/ and http://
www.rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne-announces-expansion-nasas-
stennis-space-center-mississippi
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Chairman, my limited time will not allow me to present all the
exciting projects and benefits of our Blue Economy. If time permitted,
I would be delighted to tell you about a world-class aquarium now under
construction in Gulfport or the National Oceanographic Application
Research Center; how we are restoring the Gulf after the disaster of
the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill; and how funding from the Restore Act
has saved hundreds of miles of living shoreline and marine life and
their habitats in the Gulf of Mexico.
I would brag on the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport
and the great work of the two coast guard stations in Gulfport and
Pascagoula, but it seems I have run out of time.
I am extremely grateful to speak before you today and look forward
to my fellow presenters' statements and answering any questions you may
have. Thank you.
Senator Wicker. Without objection, they'll be received.
[The information referred to follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
APPENDIX C: SUPPORTING COMPANIES, AGENCIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
______
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GOTF CHAIR:
Dr. Monty Graham, Director, School of Ocean Science and Technology, USM
GOTF FOCUS GROUP LEADS:
Education and Workforce: Dr. Mary Graham, President of MGCCC
Engineering Capacity: RDML Ken Barbor, Director of Hydrographic
Research Center, USM
Advanced Development and Testing: Dr. John Dane III, Chairman, United
States Marine, Inc.
Applications: Robbie Ingram, CEO MS Enterprise for Technology, USM
Accelerator Manager
Economic Development: Brian Useforge, Economic Development Director, MS
Power Company
Policy and Ethics: Hon. Steven Palazzo, United States House of
Representatives
GOTF MEMBERS:
Dr. Scott Alsobrooks, Vice President for Economic and Community
Development, PRCC
David Brannon, Executive Director, NOARC
Dr. Gordon Cannon, Vice President for Research and Economic
Development, USM
Bill Cork, CEO, Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission
Jonathan Daniels, CEO, Mississippi State Port Authority
Colonel Paul Drake, Commander, Combat Readiness Training Center
George Freeland, Executive Director, Jackson Economic Development
Foundation
Dr. Josh Gladden, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, UM
Bill Hessell, Executive Director, Harrison County Development
Commission
Guy Johnson, Vice President, Coast Electric Power Association
Mark McAndrews, Port Director, Port of Pascagoula
Glenn McCullough, Executive Director, MDA
Jim McIngvale, Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Ingalls
Ship Building
Colonel Greg Michel (Ret.), Mississippi National Guard
Jamie Miller, Executive Director, Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources
Dr. David Shaw, Vice President for Research and Economic Development,
MSU
______
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS AND ADVISORS:
Dr. Heather Annulis Joe Graben Bob McCummins
Don Beckmeyer Andrea Harrington Dr. Robert Moorhead
Laura Lee Burkett Andrew Hinkebein Stephanie Otts
Dr. Shannon Campbell Greg Hinkebein Helmut Portman
Thomas Chance Laurie Jugan Dr. LaDon Swann
Rus Cook Hunter Lipscomb Dr. Jerry Wiggert
Dr. Cyndi Gaudet Dr. Kelly Lucas
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Governor Phil Bryant established, by Executive Order 1401 on June
1, 2017, the Governor's Ocean Task Force (GOTF). The GOTF was expressly
created to provide expertise for the development of a comprehensive
economic development master plan to increase the maritime economy and
the synergistic relationship between the military and the government
assets positioned along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
A key underpinning to this Master Plan is a need to support the
U.S. Navy's requirement for competitive advantage in ocean science and
technology development as directed by the Chief of Naval Operations
through the Task Force Ocean (TFO). Mississippi's challenge is to
leverage this national TFO plan in a way that benefits the growing
maritime Blue Economy, including research, education and workforce
growth. This Master Plan recognizes the strong history of Mississippi's
place in the technological evolution of U.S. Naval warfare including
shipbuilding, Naval Oceanography and Meteorology, and Special
Operations. Mississippi has a unique opportunity to research, develop,
test, advance, and homeport the Nation's next generation of unmanned
maritime systems (UMS).
The Master Plan recommends investing in advanced facilities that
support engineering joint ventures for Public-Private Partnerships
(P3s) to accelerate technology development in months or weeks instead
of years; UMS operational range development for testing and integrating
these systems; warehousing and depot facilities to support Maintenance
and Repair Operations (MRO) on UMS; and a national UMS Policy Center.
The Master Plan further identifies key areas of potential
development that leverage the U.S. Navy's enormous buying power to
create a much stronger market pull along the Mississippi coast. This
market pull can be increased by coalescing our existing government,
industry, and academic partners within a coordinated course of action,
as well as by developing new partnerships with industry, technology-
oriented philanthropic organizations, and capital resource entities.
Strategic Federal and state investments, including oil spill recovery
funds, can create new infrastructure and technology-based programs and
jobs to further leverage this buying power.
The Master Plan also recognizes the unique geographic setting of
the Mississippi coast with respect to building our own capacity
throughout the state without losing capacity to neighboring states at
the edges. This creation of an inclusive plan with economic development
opportunities extending northward is critical to its success. The
Master Plan builds off the reality that much of Mississippi's overall
economy is tied to the Blue Economy. As the maritime technology sector
expands along the Coast, it will boost the State's economy with more
technology-oriented, higher-paying jobs. Moreover, this plan builds a
talent pipeline for a technology-based workforce to be trained at
Mississippi universities and community colleges with Mississippi
students from high performing Mississippi science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) K-12 programs.
The following nine recommendations constitute a tangible Roadmap
for implementing the Master Plan. The GOTF believes its work should
continue this effort by developing a series of proposals targeting
state, federal, and private resources. A set of ``Goals and Targeted
Actions'' are provided within the Master Plan to guide these proposal
activities.
THE ROADMAP
DISTINGUISH MISSISSIPPI
Present Mississippi as a well-positioned world leader in ocean science
and maritime technologies.
+ Recommendation 1: Establish a marketing and branding plan to
support a maritime technology corridor across the coastal counties with
reach and relevance to non-coastal counties.
+ Recommendation 2: Establish a capital resources program
supporting innovation, commercialization, and business development
activities to better foster government, industry, and academic
interactions leading to economic growth in the Blue Economy.
STRENGTHEN OUR MARKET PULL
Grow and expand attractors unique to Mississippi that create a
competitive advantage.
+ Recommendation 3: Establish a unique unmanned maritime systems
(UMS) operational range that is cohesive across air, land, riverine,
coastal, and shallow-to-deep ocean environments. The range will support
both defense and non-defense activities requiring the ability to test
and evaluate UMS and their interoperability across platforms and
domains.
+ Recommendation 4: Establish and operate a UMS warehouse and depot
to serve as a centralized facility to manage the range. The depot will
work with defense and non-defense stakeholders to establish
competencies and standards, conduct calibration and validation
exercises, maintain an inventory of UMS vehicles, provide maintenance
facilities, monitor field performance and communications, and conduct
inter-comparisons under controlled laboratory and field settings to
ensure performance and training requirements are met.
+ Recommendation 5: Establish a maritime systems innovation and
commercialization center to foster new systems and platforms--focused
on, but not limited to, UMS--within academic, industry, and business
development spaces.
+ Recommendation 6: Establish a federally-supported regional
engineering and development center, co-located with the innovation and
commercialization center, to support development and application of
maritime systems and platforms for ocean exploration, forecasting, and
data collection.
+ Recommendation 7: Provide high-performance and cloud computing
facilities (including data processing, integration, and archival
support) to allow industrial, government, and academic partners to test
autonomy, robotics, and artificial intelligence within maritime systems
and platforms.
INCREASE OUR CAPACITY
Utilize and enhance foundational assets that create and retain
Mississippi's competitive advantage.
+ Recommendation 8: Enhance high school, community college, and
university education and workforce training programs to create a
pipeline for success and retention of Mississippi students. These
programs should complement the education required for a solid
technology-based workforce and include technical career pathways,
university-based certification and degree programs, and traditional
STEM degrees. Build connections with local industry leaders to
understand their workforce needs and to establish internship programs
that provide hands-on experiences for students.
+ Recommendation 9: Establish a Mississippi-based national resource
for understanding existing laws and regulations as well as the
development of new policy and ethical considerations involving maritime
systems and platforms, specifically UMS.
INTRODUCTION
The traditional Maritime Economy sectors in Mississippi-
shipbuilding, oil & gas, transportation, fishing, and tourism-have long
been recognized as vital sectors of the coastal economy. But, the
impact of the greater Blue Economy has been largely underestimated, and
this issue is not unique to Mississippi. Over the past few years,
efforts to bring attention to Mississippi's Blue Economy have revealed
that this sector, including the traditional Maritime Economy, may in
fact represent the largest contributing economic sector in the State.
For a recent request submitted to the Mississippi Enterprise for
Technology (MSET), a cursory search for companies operating in the Blue
Economy along the Coast revealed as many as 109 organizations working
in the sector in the lower three counties--Hancock, Harrison, and
Jackson counties. Areas of focus in those organizations included
specializations in technology development, urban concerns/coastal
resiliency, observation and exploration, modeling/prediction/
forecasting, marine-based research, and unmanned maritime systems (UMS
\1\) development. Current and future efforts to quantify the Blue
Economy in Mississippi must focus on identifying and understanding
these organizations--federal, state, university, and private industry-
that support essentially poorly categorized industries, projects, and
programs related to water.
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\1\ In this document, UMS refers to Unmanned Maritime Systems--
whether surface, sub-surface, or seafloor. ``Autonomous'' systems are a
subset of these that incorporate decision-making algorithms within the
vehicle. UxS refers to all unmanned systems including maritime, aerial,
ground, or space-based systems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This initial GOTF Master Plan is meant to serve as a vision for the
future for establishing Mississippi as a national resource for
innovation, commercialization, policy, and talent development in ocean
technologies and UMS. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is strongly positioned
to attract and maintain maritime and ocean technology industries and,
specifically, the UMS subset of the industry. This assessment reveals a
clear opportunity to expand the economic base and add maritime and
ocean technology businesses across the coast and impact the economic
development of related businesses statewide.
One example is the larger opportunity to develop an operational
range for UMS that is cohesive across air, land, riverine, coastal, and
shallow-to-deep ocean environments exists across the Coast and would
create a new market pull from competitive states. The Blue Economy is
not limited to UMS, but includes all technology sectors relating to the
marine and coastal environments. A targeted branding, marketing, and
incentive strategy focused on the Blue Economy will attract new
maritime industries to south Mississippi and contributes to supply
chain growth throughout the State.
The GOTF Master Plan is intended to develop Mississippi-specific
activities that work in parallel with the Chief of Naval Research's
Task Force Ocean (TFO) initiatives to maintain U.S. Navy competitive
advantages maritime sensing and observation; modeling and prediction;
application and decision aids; and human capital and technical
workforce. As the TFO completes its recommendations, Mississippi will
be well-positioned to contribute to the national need while enhancing
our own economy through growth in the Blue Technology industries.
METHODOLOGY
On June 1, 2017, Governor Bryant signed Executive Order 1401
(EO1401) creating the Governor's Ocean Task Force (GOTF). The Governor
appointed 22 members, and named Dr. Monty Graham, Director of the
School of Ocean Science and Technology at The University of Southern
Mississippi, as Chairman of the GOTF. Key focus areas identified by
EO1401 include: growing existing research and development for
oceanography; unmanned maritime vehicles; technical workforce
development; marine science research; and private sector activity. The
GOTF was directed by Governor Bryant to develop a Master Plan for
Mississippi that would include:
a. Cataloging existing investments in the areas of ocean
technologies and unmanned maritime systems; understanding the
State's competitive position in these fields; and recommending
a strategy to bring the State into international
competitiveness in this area.
b. Establishing a tangible and achievable roadmap to build capacity
in maritime systems with an emphasis on national defense,
energy exploration, marine resources, environmental monitoring,
and aquaculture.
c. Proposing a strategy for working with state and Federal lawmakers
to develop a vibrant economy around these technologies that
includes a means for encouraging maritime technology companies
to locate in the state.
Task Force members were assigned to individual focus groups: Policy
and Ethics, Engineering Capacity, Applications, Economic Development,
Education and Workforce Training, and Advanced Development and Testing.
Each focus group was assigned one of the GOTF members as the focus
group lead, and each group recruited other advisors and subject matter
experts for support. From these additional advisors, a technical lead
was chosen to assist each focus group lead. Each focus group was
instructed to survey the State's current assets (related to their
specific areas), identify the capabilities and infrastructure, and
determine the gaps.
More specifically, this survey included ocean technologies and
maritime systems focused on national defense, energy exploration,
marine resources, environmental monitoring, and aquaculture. Specific
emphasis was focused on UMS manufacturers; the organizations that
support the development/enhancement of these systems; data acquisition
and handling; data analytics and product development; operations and
maintenance; and communications providers. The existing infrastructure
within the State to support UMS deployment, test, evaluation, and use
is also included in the survey.
Each group's efforts resulted in a synopsis of the current state of
their focus areas and recommendations on how the State should
strategically advance future development of ocean technologies and
maritime assets along the Gulf Coast. Recommendations from all six
groups were compiled into a list of Goals and Targeted Actions. These
Goals and Targeted Actions support the Roadmap by providing steps be
taken during implementation of the GOTF Master Plan.
AREAS OF FOCUS
The work of the focus groups is summarized here to provide a high-
level understanding of capacity, opportunities, and challenges within
these areas. Gaps are specifically identified as they lead to the
development of goals and targeted actions.
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
Mississippi has a long history of building collaborative
partnerships with government, academia, and the private sector to
develop the human capital needed for high-growth, high-demand,
technology-based industries. These relationships are poised to continue
to grow and develop with the ocean technology and unmanned maritime
systems focus, necessitating partnerships among educational
institutions ranging from K12 to community colleges to universities.
Unfortunately, Mississippi suffers from a chronic loss of Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) students after graduation,
which hinders growth in these sectors.
Education and Training Programs
The growing importance of STEM subjects to the workforce is
demonstrated in Mississippi's K12 schools with the existing STEM
related Career and Technical (CTE) Curricula and initiatives such as
Robotics programs and the Computer Science for Mississippi Initiative
(CS4MS). The purpose of CS4MS is to implement computer science courses
in all schools and grades by 2024. High schools are projected to
provide a four-course sequence to allow students to earn a CTE
endorsement in Computer Science at any comprehensive high school, not
just CTE Centers.
Most high schools recognize the importance of preparing students
for STEM-related careers. Lacking are programs that specifically
correlate those STEM classes to careers within the Blue Economy.
Examples of existing programs include ocean science classes or
participation of teams in competitions such as the National Ocean
Sciences Bowl. However, these programs do not necessarily inform
students of the types of STEM jobs available within the State for any
type of employer-federal or state government, large or small company,
university or nonprofit. High school programs also need more internship
opportunities for students that fit both need and schedule.
Post-secondary programs throughout the State offer fields of study
and practice valuable to ocean technology and UMS industries. Programs
include physical, life, and environmental sciences; engineering; earth,
atmosphere, and ocean sciences; mathematics; computer science;
cybersecurity; and other STEM related programs. The challenge is to
ensure marine technology and UMS-specific education matches the need
for alternative approaches to training based on progressive
technological and systems advancements. Education and training programs
must effectively blend theoretical and practical application, preparing
marine technology and UMS operators and developers to translate complex
information, patterns, and trends into usable data. Several research-
intensive Mississippi universities have existing certification and
degree programs as well as active oceanographic, hydrographic, or
unmanned systems research engineering programs that address these
issues.
The University of Southern Mississippi houses the School of Ocean
Science and Technology (SOST). Most of the SOST academic and research
programs are on the Coast, spanning from the Gulf Coast Research
Laboratory in Jackson County to the Division of Marine Science's
oceanographers and hydrographers at Stennis Space Center. The SOST will
expand into a new marine research facility at the Port of Gulfport,
where the Ocean Engineering program will be supported along with the
research vessel Point Sur's shore operations. The SOST offers degrees
ranging from undergraduate degrees in Marine Science and Ocean
Engineering, to master's degrees, including one of only two
Hydrographic Science degrees in the nation, and doctoral degrees. The
SOST currently manages over $90M in contracts and grants in ocean
engineering, oceanography, hydrography, fisheries, aquaculture and
other fields. USM also has research and education programs in Computer
Science and Engineering, and a world-renowned Polymer Science and
Engineering program.
USM recently offered the Nation's only university-sponsored
academic certification in UMS. This inaugural class of 15 Navy-
sponsored students represented a rigorous curriculum designed to give
decision-making skills to the Navy warfighter when using UMS as an
asset in ocean surveillance. USM and the Navy are developing a set of
competencies that will expand the current Tier 1 certification to more
advanced Tier 2 and 3 certifications and degrees.
In USM's School of Computing, advanced algorithms for big data
analytics are being developed which, once validated, can provide the
leading-edge technologies for handling the large amounts of data that
are anticipated to be collected, processed, and analyzed in the
implementation phase of the GOTF Master Plan.
Mississippi State University (MSU) leads a wide range of research,
service, and academic programs that support Mississippi's Blue Economy.
The Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) offers undergraduate,
master's, and doctoral degrees that support coastal industries,
including Chevron, Ingalls, and industries at Stennis Space Center, as
well as federal, state, and local government. Recently, the BCoE
started classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College so students
can earn either an electrical or a mechanical engineering degree from
Mississippi State without leaving the Coast.
MSU has many significant research programs on the Coast. The
Northern Gulf Institute, led by MSU and co-led by USM, has its program
office and 30 employees in the MSU Science and Technology Building at
Stennis Space Center. The building also houses the Associate Director
of the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence
(ASSURE) and the FAA Center of Excellence for UAS. MSU leads the
Mississippi-partnership recently chosen to direct the new Department of
Homeland Security Science and Technology Small Unmanned Aircraft
Systems Demonstration Range Facility.
The University of Mississippi (UM) National Center for Physical
Acoustics (NCPA) boasts a 30-year history in developing novel sensor
applications for a wide variety of problems, including underwater
acoustics. Interpreting the signals received from these sensors is an
active field of study, specifically sub-bottom profiling and
tomographic techniques for finding sub-surface features. NCPA works
closely with the Department of Physics and School of Engineering to
educate graduate students in cutting edge sensor and signal processing
technologies to produce the next generation of scientists and
engineers. Private sector partners have always played an important role
in project development at NCPA which strives to transition bench-top
research into deployable solutions.
UM also has a long history of partnering with the University of
Southern Mississippi in developing a variety of undersea vehicle
technologies including integration of sensor platforms in vehicles,
data storage, and exploration of the Gulf and beyond. Scientists from
the National Center for Natural Products Research at UM have used these
tools to explore undersea flora with unique, potentially therapeutic
compounds as a front line in novel drug development.
Both Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Pearl River
Community College play key roles in workforce training in technical
career pathways through their existing programs. New programs to
specifically address technical career opportunities in maritime systems
should be developed as the GOTF Master Plan is implemented.
Existing Skill Framework/Preliminary Workforce Analysis
Preliminary workforce analysis to determine current marine
technology and UMS education and workforce requirements revealed an
increased manpower need in support of the Navy Shipbuilding Plan. While
the increased manpower is not specifically for UMS, the increased
workforce includes the need for UMS and similarly-trained personnel.
Forty-one percent of the increased manpower will be in the civilian and
contractor workforce, with the remaining increase in Naval Operational
Oceanography (23 percent), enlisted personnel (26 percent) and officers
(7 percent). Further analysis indicated that two-thirds of the current
Stennis Space Center (SSC) Naval Oceanography (NAVO) workforce has at
least a Bachelor's degree.
Research suggests that the increased use and integration of remote
and cyber platforms will have a dramatic impact on the approach to
training and recruiting methodologies, creating the need to include not
only functional skills relevant to capabilities of marine technologies
and UMS, but also the fundamentals of communication and information
systems. Additionally, values such as integrity, teamwork, dedication
to strategic goals/mission, the ability to maintain confidentiality,
and creative problem solving under pressure are critical components of
new training programs. Interviews with Navy leadership and the UMS
Certification Program Directors revealed there is no recognized or
widely accepted set of UMS standards or skill frameworks. The lack of
historical experience in training and education specific for UMS, as
compared to other disciplines and fields of practice, makes preparing
the workforce with relevant skills to support UMS difficult.
A robust, research-based, practitioner-focused skills framework can
provide the foundation for recruiting, training, and developing a
marine technology and UMS workforce that closely aligns with the needs
of the future jobs.
The framework can identify the broad range of skills discussed
above, and the required level of education for various career paths.
Skillsets will drive the recruitment and enlistment criteria to more
closely reflect the needs of the jobs.
Gaps:
Need for plans and programs to grow and retain the top STEM-
performing high-school graduates in the Mississippi technology
workforce.
Need for more diverse STEM programs in high schools throughout the
state focused on target industry sectors--specifically maritime
technologies and UMS--within the context of the GOTF master plan.
Internship and earlier career path opportunities should be associated
with these programs.
Need for UMS Certification. Certification efforts are in their
infancy, and development to meet unknown workforce needs will require
close interaction among certification provider (USM), manufacturers,
and end-users (defense and non-defense).
Need for UMS operator training across domains of air-sea-space
currently exists due to the growing demand.
Need for established workforce competencies in UMS.
Need for a National Maritime Center for Policy and Ethics.
Currently, there is not one. The pedagogic mission suggests this
initiative should be university-based.
Need for workforce training and career technical specialists. The
workforce demand for career technical specialists in mechanics,
electronics, maintenance, and repair is expected to grow with the
marine technology and UMS industries, yet workforce training of career
technical specialists in marine technology and UMS is lagging.
ENGINEERING CAPACITY
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ENGINEERING CAPACITY
Blue Engineering in Mississippi
A robust Blue Economy based on research, development, augmentation,
validation, and application of unmanned maritime systems requires a
steady supply of engineers and ideas. Together these two, engineers and
ideas, are described as `Engineering Capacity'.
Recent efforts to catalogue existing maritime `blue' engineering
capacity across organizations--federal, state, university, and private
industry--indicate that Mississippi's blue engineering capacity is
mainly centered on ocean-based projects and programs that are loosely
organized at the project level. The tracking of engineers in the job
market is ill defined for maritime. For example, an engineering company
working on systems and sensors to understand nearshore waves is
categorized under the broad category of `professional engineering'. All
of the engineering companies in the State can be identified; however,
identifying those working specifically in the maritime sector is a much
more difficult task.
This engineering capacity requires a modern collaborative
environment, whether it be collaboration for science or collaboration
for development. This means that engineers and scientists must have
forums to communicate and collaborate. These forums may be a physical
location, a virtual space, or, preferably, a combination of the two.
Unmanned Systems
For the purposes of the Governor's Ocean Task Force, the
Engineering Capacity focus group targeted the UMS sector as an emerging
field that is extremely relevant to organizations in the State, such as
the Navy and NOAA, which represent existing, internal markets for these
systems and the information they provide. In understanding the
engineering capacity associated with UMS in the State, all
organizations that support the development/enhancement of the systems,
data acquisition and handling, data analytics and product development,
operations and maintenance, and communications providers must be
examined.
Existing Capacity
A catalog of Mississippi-based UMS assets was compiled. Using
customized Asset Sheets, organizations were cataloged according to how
they support UMS--associated with systems, services, or infrastructure.
These Asset Sheets provide details of how each asset supports UMS;
similar sheets were collected for organizations that are not currently
supporting UMS efforts, but have the capacity to do so. The information
on these sheets, combined with information gleaned from discussions
with UMS users, formed the basis for the information that follows.
The review of organizations that support UMS systems identified
twelve Federal agencies, eight state agencies and universities, and
thirty-six private companies. Based on the review, Mississippi has a
large number of assets--systems manufacturers, service providers,
operators, human capital, technology support, training programs, etc.--
that support UMS. Another thirty companies that currently do not
support UMS, but have the capability to do so, were identified.
Companies located in the State that are key participants in UMS, or
could support UMS, include the following:
Leidos
General Atomics
Lockheed Martin
Teledyne
Stark Aerospace
Insitu
Raytheon
Aurora Flight Sciences
Gaps:
Need for a method to assemble and track data on engineering
capacity. Currently, data is limited and largely held by industry at
the project level.
Need for physical or virtual spaces to develop an innovative
environment for collaborative research and development or engineering
prototyping among academia, government, industry and non-profit
organizations. These spaces should have capacity to handle both
classified and unclassified projects with appropriately cleared staff.
Need for a systems maintenance and repair operation (MRO) in
Mississippi. Without properly trained workforce and adequate MRO
facilities, unmanned vehicles and sensors will continue to be sent out
of state.
ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING
ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING
Current Capabilities in Mississippi
Advanced development and testing efforts related to the Blue
Economy are currently taking place throughout the State but are often
very specific to a system or technology, such as an aircraft with
sensors that look down at the ocean or a new ship launched along the
Coast. In some cases, an organization procures any needed equipment for
development and testing, which tends to be costly. This results in a
number of individual organizations spending project monies on the same
types of equipment. A better solution would be to contract the use of
another organization's development and test equipment, but this is
currently difficult for several reasons: 1) Some equipment is not
easily accessible (a Federal asset, for example); 2) There is a lack of
information on the assets available in the State and how to access
them; 3) Research, development, and testing elements are conducted out-
of-state, making personal interaction difficult, particularly during
technology creation and development.
Up-and-Coming Programs
There are various Mississippi-based organizations that are
currently working on efforts to grow the Blue Economy in terms of
technology advancement, reduced costs, increased accuracy, and
efficiency. These include Federal laboratories, private companies with
internal R&D efforts, and entrepreneurs. Recent efforts in Federal
programs like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Naval Research Lab (NRL), as well
as in companies such as Huntington Ingalls and Shell Oil Company, are
focused both on the development of new techniques or new applications
of existing techniques, and on the integration,interchangeability, and
extensibility of systems to provide customized solutions to a number of
scenarios. Challenges for these programs are all relatively consistent
and include:
Interoperability
Autonomy
Integration
Communications
Training
Propulsion & Power
Manned-Unmanned Issues
For example, long-term Navy goals are focused on Manned-Unmanned
(MUM) Teaming, where actions and reactions of all types of fleet forces
can be optimized based on the specifics of a scenario to be addressed.
This strategy requires forethought during system design, with attention
to open architectures in hardware and software components, interface
standards, and even materials used. Intricacies of how systems will
work together and development of rules of engagement are still a work-
in-progress. A number of Mississippi assets exist that can be applied
to the challenges facing these programs.
A need has emerged for a range that supports the operation of these
systems in environments that closely mimic the environments where
missions, whether military, humanitarian, or commercial, will be
carried out. To showcase the need for such an operational range, the
Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC) recently
held a demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico exhibiting how a range would
work in support of various Naval missions. There is growing support
within the Navy for a permanent location for an operational range, a
new concept in ranges.
The requirements for an operational range are anticipated to be far
less complicated than other types of Navy ranges. The operational range
will be well understood environmentally, but not require many expensive
in-water assets. The Navy anticipates the use of its own survey
systems, as well as those within NOAA, to gather in-situ measurements
and use them to refine computer models of the range area. The Navy
seeks to support a variety of training missions within an operational
range with access to both shallow and deep waters, brown water as well
as blue water, and riverine access and influences. The Mississippi
Coast is uniquely suited for this goal. The Navy has anticipated many
of the initiatives associated with the establishment of the operational
range. These include:
Environmental surveys/assessments
Mission impact studies on the environment and local marine
life
Permitting process/COAs
Inventory of systems (separate from NAVOCEANO)
Command and Control Centers (2 anticipated)
Expansion of CODAR on Singing River Island
Improvements to Navy models
Safety plans
Communications/power infrastructure (e.g., in-water docking
station)
The Navy is not currently equipped to handle each of these efforts,
so there will be opportunities for contractor support from companies
with relevant expertise. Additionally, there will be on-demand-type
requirements for support from dive teams, patrol/other small boats, and
other suppliers.
Gaps:
Need for an entity that addresses the combination of air and sea
UMS operations. Given the goals of the Navy and other organizations to
use a combination of satellite-, air-, and sea-based systems depending
on the ``mission'', future efforts will require a working knowledge of
which resources are best suited for which operations, uses, and
applications. As the Navy leads this effort, other agencies will
follow, and various industry uses will be identified.
Need for an incubator/accelerator focused on the development of new
ideas in the Blue Economy with dedicated space supporting academia,
government agencies, industry, and entrepreneurs and early stage
companies. The facility should provide shared equipment needed for
developing, prototyping, and testing; and should house organizations
with the expertise for developing not only the technology, but also the
business case for the technology. As a result, ideas for new sensors
and systems can be developed, prototyped, tested, and commercialized
from a single location.
Need for a location that the Navy, or any industry alliance, has
identified as the gold standard for an operational range supporting all
types of UMS. This range would need to be supported by adequate
warehousing and depot spaces needed to manage large fleets of UMS
vehicles and sensors while also providing the technical capacity to
maintain the fleet.
Need for a national cohesive air-water corridor from river to coast
to blue and deep water that is manageable as an operable range for
purposes of defense and non-defense development, validation,
verification and data acquisition testing across platforms.
APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS
Applications for Existing Industry
Several maritime-based industries within the State use remotely
operated and autonomous unmanned systems and other robotic
instrumentation and sensors. Industries such as oil and gas; ports and
transportation; commercial fishing; and aquaculture have recently
started to utilize autonomous and remotely operated systems. Many
industries are looking to expand their investments in these
technologies.
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are regularly used by the oil and
gas industry. Examples include mapping of pipelines or inspecting wells
and equipment. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are being used for
bathymetric data and sub-bottom profiling. The use of wave gliders has
been on the rise as battery life and propulsion systems improve. There
is potential for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to replace surface
ships as relays for tethered ROVs and AUVs. Ports, harbors, and
maritime transportation have benefited from unmanned technology and
sensor development. Technology that can benefit ports and harbors
includes unmanned systems for detecting, tracking, and assessing
threats. Vehicle automation can advance maritime transportation to
complete operations in environments that are geopolitically or
environmentally hazardous.
The commercial fishing industry has recently started to utilize
remotely operated technology. Fishermen often leverage the use of
vessel monitoring systems mandated for compliance and enforcement in
Federal fisheries for safety and data collection. Fish trackers and
unmanned aerial systems operate from vessels that help target schools
of fish and look for potential bycatch issues are used by commercial
fleets.
Robotic equipment in aquaculture can both increase production and
reduce diver intervention for routine maintenance. Augmented reality
technologies for diver operations can aid communication and improve
efficiency underwater.
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security (DHS) are
increasingly utilizing unmanned systems. The U.S. Navy operates the
largest fleet of unmanned systems in the world from Stennis Space
Center. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate recently selected
Mississippi as the new base of operations for small unmanned aircraft
systems.
Technology, Systems, and Systems Integration
Mississippi has significant assets for supporting UMS applications
including government, industry, and university resources and expertise
related to multi and hyperspectral, LIDAR, synthetic aperture radar
(SAR), and other similar remote sensing sensor systems; image
processing, data storage and processing; and decision support tools
development and validation. The State and its Federal partners have
established both land and sea UAV flight zones within the state.
Mississippi has prime sites along the Coast to manage operations of a
large operational range encompassing multiple domains (air, water,
space) requiring advances in:
Development of inter-operational programs to address
critical needs
Processes for verification and validation of novel
technologies leading to operational prototype (feedback to
engineering)
Valuation of data acquired through applications
Leading-edge technologies for big data analysis, on-board
processing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cyber
security in maritime technology and UMS markets are critical
capabilities that should be developed in the State.
Modern technological hardware is being designed as open and
extensible platforms capable of acquiring accurate data almost anytime
and anywhere. These hardware platforms have enormous application
potential. The market for data about the physical world and about
action occurring within the world is virtually limitless. UMS and other
marine technologies are often primarily associated with data
collection. The market for applications that transform that data into
usable information holds the potential for tremendous economic growth.
Mississippi has three separate entities that co-exist on a
continuum of moving basic engineering into the market place while
closing the loop on market needs as a means of informing basic
engineering and research: Mississippi Enterprise for Technology,
National Oceans and Applications Research Center, and the Marine
Industries Science and Technology Cluster. The Mississippi Enterprise
for Technology (MSET) operates the Mississippi Technology Transfer
Center--authorized by State statute and agreements with the Mississippi
Development Authority and NASA--at Stennis Space Center. The
Mississippi Technology Transfer Center houses many advanced technology
companies specializing in fields such as engineering, aerospace,
geospatial technology, defense solutions, environmental sciences,
marine technology, energy innovation, and IT. MSET is committed to
supporting existing industry and to establishing robust partnerships
with new businesses to promote entrepreneurship and technology-based
economic development within the State.
The National Oceans and Applications Research Center (NOARC) non-
profit organization chartered by the State of Mississippi to grow UMS
and marine technology companies in the State for ocean and coastal
applications. To that end NOARC exists to leverage public and private
capital resources, accelerate applications development through public/
private partnerships, and leverage the UMS operational range for
commercial and economic development.
The Marine Industries Science & Technology (MIST) Cluster is a
regional group of organizations involved in the development and
implementation of applied technologies for operating in, working
around, and monitoring the marine and coastal environments. The MIST
Cluster Program is where technology innovators come together with
industry end-users to understand each other's capabilities and needs
and collaborate to foster expanded business and address shared issues.
The MIST Cluster Program provides services to Mississippi blue tech
industries including helping government agencies and large businesses
identify local companies that can assist them in meeting small business
goals and to connect with the innovative culture within these small
high-tech companies. The MIST Cluster serves as a repository and
catalyst for understanding and advancing the Blue Economy in
Mississippi.
Gaps:
Need for the development of a marketing plan to highlight the
multiple sectors of marine technology and UMS development and
application in Mississippi based on a broad view of the potential
economic impact.
Need for trained accredited engineers in Mississippi to keep pace
with computational needs, systems calibration, platform or vehicle
validation, testing and advanced development needs of defense and non-
defense industry should Mississippi serve as the Nation's operational
range and depot.
Need for a fully developed strategy to pull together existing
critical investments. Three entities with linking missions that should
function collaboratively and seamlessly are: NOARC as the State's lead
program for application development, MSET as the State's lead agency
for technology-based economic development, and MIST Cluster as the
State's lead maritime technology cluster program.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Business Retention and Expansion Program
A thorough and comprehensive business retention and expansion
strategy will protect and grow Mississippi's existing ocean and
maritime technology industries. Robust data on marine technology
sectors need to be gathered using state of the art survey tools and
methods. Innovative methods to identify Blue Economy and UMS companies
may be necessary to combat the difficulties seen in using standardized
classification codes. Additionally, industry surveys must include
sectors not traditionally thought of as maritime specific. The initial
target company list should consist of major players within the ocean/
maritime industry, in addition to blue technology companies, and focus
on the Navy's Task Force Ocean Focus Areas: Sensing and observation;
modeling and prediction; application and decision aids; human capital
and technical workforce.
Emerging Markets
There are a number of emerging markets associated with the Blue
Economy sectors. Examples of these include the increased use of
unmanned systems for ocean sensing and forecasting, including handling
of increasingly large datasets and their real-time interpretation;
large unmanned transportation; floating ports; and defense-related
support. Enormous capacity exists within the State in Federal and state
agencies, and private organizations to support marine technology and
UMS development and testing, evaluation, utilization, and maintenance.
To be successful, continuous understanding of advances in select,
Mississippi-relevant markets is needed. Coordination of efforts across
all types of organizations to strategically push these markets forward
is essential to effectively capitalize on developing opportunities.
Efforts to identify and foster the development of emerging Blue
Economy markets need to be further developed and supported. Technology
incubators and accelerators provide physical environments where early-
stage companies can be co-located with subject matter experts and where
innovative thinkers can collaborate. The process of technology
commercialization requires knowledge and understanding of the
applications and market for the innovation. In Mississippi, there is a
wealth of technology being developed and used; however, there is little
to support entrepreneurs in terms of funding (angel and venture), or
for verification, validation, and modification of an invention. The
process should encourage partnering among government, industry, higher
education, non-profit and private sector entities to stimulate a strong
network of technology and innovation.
Cluster Branding and Sales Plan
A well-structured and consistent communication strategy is a key
component to the implementation of the GOTF Master Plan. For a cluster
management organization to stand out as a point of reference and be
recognized for its unique assets, it must be well-branded and marketed.
The marketing and branding strategy is a comprehensive process that
begins with gathering and analyzing data, understanding assets, and
clearly defining a strategic mission. After this process is completed,
the Governor's Ocean Task Force can begin to develop a communication
and branding strategy and identify tools to reach the target audience.
Gaps:
Need for a coastal region or state-wide business retention and
expansion plan aimed at industries operating in the Blue Economy.
Need for a business incubator environment on the coast capable of
supporting the engineering needs and expenses of small startup
companies or emerging collaborative technologies.
Need for a marketing and targeting strategy. Despite effort being
made to develop the MIST Cluster in Mississippi, there lacks a coherent
message that quality of life, workforce training, collaborative
engineering spaces and growth opportunities all exist in Mississippi.
POLICY AND ETHICS
POLICY AND ETHICS
Legal Environment
The legal and policy framework governing UMS activities is complex.
On the Federal level, more than 20 agencies administer over 140 laws
affecting ocean waters and resources. In Mississippi, three state
agencies (Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Mississippi
Secretary of State Office, and Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality) and associated Commissions implement a variety of coastal
management and permitting programs. UMS activities occur in both state
(0-3 nautical miles offshore) and Federal waters (3-200 nautical miles
offshore). Additional layers of legal complexity emerge as UMS seek
interoperability across platforms and domains.
Consider, for instance, the complexity surrounding the necessary
environmental reviews for an operational range. A review under the
Federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is required for any
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the
environment. The NEPA review, which may include the preparation of an
Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, is handled
by the Federal agency controlling the project. Where multiple Federal
agencies are involved--for example, where a project needs permits from
different agencies--the regulations require that a Lead Agency be
designated to prepare and issue the NEPA document. Federal agencies are
permitted to hire contractors to prepare the required environmental
documents, but the documents must be reviewed and issued by the Lead
Agency. Several Federal agencies are in a position to be designated the
lead agency, including the Navy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or
the U.S. Coast Guard.
On the state level, the Mississippi Coastal Program has not been
formally revised since 1988. The Mississippi Coastal Program was
legislatively mandated in Section 57-15-6 of the Mississippi Code and
approved by NOAA under the provisions of the Coastal Zone Management
Act (CZMA) on September 29, 1980. Implementation of the Mississippi
Coastal Program is the primary responsibility of the Office of Coastal
Resources within the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
Mississippi has submitted program changes to the NOAA Office of Coastal
Management since the last revision, but the Mississippi Coastal Program
document has not been updated and re-issued, making it difficult for
the regulated community to assess applicability to proposed activities.
Additionally, certain assets and proposed activities bring with
them additional regulatory policies and procedures as well as questions
of oversight, ownership, and liability. Marine Technology and UMS
assets must be clearly classified not only by use, but also by
applicable regulations and other navigational rules. These may include
the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
(COLREGS), as well as International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
flight procedures.
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Ethical Environment
In an effort to enhance the moral connectivity of remote operators,
the U.S. Army developed The Human Dimension training concept, which
posits the central importance of the moral, physical and cognitive
components of the soldier in order to provide a balance to the tactile
tools of war. The Human Dimension highlights the pre-eminent need for a
human element for ethical decision making in the face of increasingly
remote methods. Not only will future UMS training and education
initiatives need to teach functional knowledge and advanced
technologies, programs should include ethical considerations that
prepare participants to confront multi-dimensional problems.
There are also public policy and ethical issues surrounding the
increased use of UMS in the Gulf of Mexico. The waters of the Gulf of
Mexico are home to a variety of public and private activities including
oil and gas development, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and
boating, and aquaculture. The proposed assets and activities could
potentially negatively impact commercial fishing operations or state-
sponsored projects such as shellfish aquaculture efforts and oyster
mapping efforts in the western Mississippi Sound, so that impact must
be considered.
Gap:
Need for a national resource center that can be used to assist
Mississippi in developing a strategy that addresses existing or needed
laws. The suite of state and Federal laws that relate to marine
technologies and UMS testing and application are expansive. The center
would be a resource for ethical considerations of UMS development and
applications. The center would also serve as a base of knowledge as
various types of UMS are operated together.
GOALS AND TARGETED ACTIONS
The following goals and targeted actions have been synthesized from
GOTF Focus Group reports and are intended to address the gaps
identified in each area of focus. `Goals' are measureable targets with
specific `Actions' being recommended activities to achieve them. All
are relatable to at least one of the Roadmap's Key Recommendations. The
GOTF expects these Goals and Targeted Actions to be refined with time
as the Master Plan is implemented.
Education and Workforce
Goal: Grow and retain the top STEM-performing high-school and
university graduates for entrance into the Mississippi technology
workforce.
Action: Define career pathways and competencies in maritime
technologies from K12 through graduate studies. Implement high
velocity learning at every level, determine the best concepts,
techniques and technologies to accelerate learning at the
individual, team and organizational levels.
Goal: Expand UMS certification programs to meet unknown workforce
needs through collaboration between certification provider
(universities), technology domain, and potential employer (defense and
non-defense industries).
Action: Create a strategic plan for learning and development
of UMS to guide future training and formalize training skills
and standards in order to ensure a consistent level of
capability.
Goal: Establish universally acceptable marine technology and UMS
workforce competencies and develop training across domains of air-sea-
space to meet the growing demand of cross-domain operators.
Action: Build out local infrastructure and develop
collaborative opportunities to strategically integrate and
align the workforce with future growth and development in
maritime technologies.
Goal: Overcome the dearth of multidisciplinary technical
specialists in mechanics; electronics; and maintenance and repair
operations within marine technology industries in the State.
Action: Create a talent pipeline by accelerating the
training and reskilling that allows people and technology to
reach their full potential.
Engineering Capacity
Goal: Assemble and maintain data on engineering capacity and assets
in the engineering sector of the Blue Economy for the entire State.
Action: Catalogue organizations and assets by current
capabilities, avenues for growth, and emerging needs.
Goal: Grow the pool of accredited engineers in the Mississippi
workforce to keep pace with computational needs, systems calibration,
platform or vehicle validation, testing and advanced development needs
in marine technology industries.
Action: Leverage current educational programs to produce
more engineers graduating from Mississippi universities and
develop recruitment strategies to attract talent to the State.
Advanced Development and Testing
Goal: Provide complete end-to-end support for development of new
technologies and advanced capabilities in the marine technologies and
UMS sectors along the Mississippi Coast through a robust process of
verification and validation of novel products. The process will need to
begin in the design phase; address both digital and physical product
development and realization; and include complex system and network
design and development across an integrated range of product platforms
aimed at addressing customer needs.
Action: Identify commercializable Federal or university
technologies and create a mechanism for pairing those
technologies with entrepreneurs, small businesses, or large
corporations capable of productization of those technologies.
Action: Create an instrument that offsets costs associated
with assessing a technology for the commercial market.
Action: Develop a comprehensive test and evaluation
capability for marine technologies and UMS, whether aerial,
surface, or underwater.
Action: Reinforce existing infrastructure and build new
infrastructure that is conducive to Mississippi's intrinsic
strengths in systems engineering, polymer engineering, and
computational engineering.
Applications
Goal: Cultivate programs to develop new marine hardware platforms--
especially unmanned and autonomous systems--with a connected
architecture, specifically for data collection applications allowing
interface with cloud computing capabilities enabling seamless, real-
time analytics. Platforms across sea, air, and space technologies
domains should be developed with common architectures allowing for
seamless systems communication and data integration across the
platforms.
Action: Integrate hardware and software design to garner
their features from the software, allowing for updates with new
abilities and improved performance parameters over the life of
the hardware.
Action: Design hardware and software technologies with
integrated cyber security components; additional research and
development thrusts should be implemented to ensure systems
security.
Action: Develop advanced algorithms for big data analytics
to provide leading-edge technologies for handling the large
amounts of data garnered by new technological platforms.
Action: Develop high performance, real-time analytics
capabilities with dynamic sampling and critical feature
selection to evaluate the performance of various combinations
of feature ranking/selection algorithms, clustering algorithms,
sampling methods, and learning machines.
Goal: Build capacity within the State for development of new
battery technologies and novel power sources/generators for unmanned
systems; advanced vehicular automation technology development; and
augmented reality technologies development for integration into
existing and future applications.
Action: Create cross-over programs that provide both the
academic and industry expertise necessary to develop, test,
operate, and understand the functionality and applications of
developmental systems.
Goal: Expand capabilities and expertise in marine technologies
focused on fisheries management and aquaculture.
Action: Develop technologies to remotely monitor fishing and
help protect the marine environment by aiding in the reduction
of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing.
Action: Develop autonomous cages that follow optimal ocean
and atmospheric environmental conditions for aquaculture
research and industrial development.
Economic Development
Goal: Capitalize on Mississippi's vast potential for development of
multiple sectors of maritime technology and UMS development by
providing State and local economic development agencies the resources
to fully comprehend the economic impact of the Blue Economy which is
currently not well understood.
Action: Engage a highly-qualified consultant to conduct a
thorough analysis of Mississippi's ocean, maritime, and related
technology industries against competitive states to identify
Mississippi's advantages and its gaps (SWOT); analysis should
include workforce, available incentives, venture capital and
private funding sources, and state and Federal resources. The
study should include a comprehensive report on the Blue Economy
within the State.
Goal: Improve collaboration and a more seamless functioning of
existing tech-focused non-profit organizations and programs along the
Gulf Coast that have linking missions. Among these are NOARC as the
state's lead organization for marine technology applications
development, MSET as the state's lead organization for technology-based
economic development along the Gulf Coast, and USM's MIST Cluster
program as the state's lead program supporting the northern gulf coast
region's maritime technology cluster.
Action: Designate MSET as the lead project management agency
to carry forward the strategic actions of the GOTF Master plan.
Provide appropriate resources and funding to ensure MSET is
properly staffed and able to assist in attracting both external
and internal interest and resources that support development of
ocean science and maritime technologies along the Gulf Coast.
Action: Provide long-term funding to complement non-State
resources and ensure the sustainability of the MIST Cluster
program and investigate potential transfer to an independent,
state-chartered, non-profit organization for long-term
management.
Action: Develop R&D tax credits, applied R&D seed fund, and
similar programs that attract capital investment in marine-
related applied research to leverage in conjunction with
NOARC's development and validation capabilities. Provide long-
term funding to ensure that NOARC is properly staffed and able
to fulfill its mission.
Goal: Increase the focus and promote a shared vision among economic
development organization for the growth of the Blue Economy in the
State of Mississippi.
Action: Develop a comprehensive economic development
recruitment strategy targeting industry working in the Blue
Economy, specifically marine technologies and UMS sectors.
Action: Identify emerging markets in the Blue Economy and
target markets that are synergistic to Mississippi
capabilities.
Action: Create focused Blue Economy marketing materials and
incentives.
Action: Develop a GOTF-specific business retention and
expansion program.
Action: Partner with the MS Gulf Coast Alliance to survey
key industries and determine what policies and services will
support their long-term viability and growth. Utilize survey
results to identify current opportunities for growth, market
constraints, and local obstacles.
Action: Develop a coherent message that quality of life,
workforce training, collaborative engineering spaces, and
growth opportunities all exist in Mississippi.
Action: Target recruitment of MRO operations for marine
technologies and UMS systems for expansion into Mississippi.
Policy and Ethics
Goal: Position Mississippi as a leader in the development of policy
and law in the marine technology and UMS domains.
Action: Create a statewide resource center that can be used
to assist Mississippi in developing a strategy that addresses
existing or needed laws and ethical considerations for marine
technologies and UMS development and applications.
Action: Update the Mississippi Coastal Program to include
UMS operations and activities.
Action: Develop a comprehensive inventory of state, federal,
and international laws and regulations governing UMS activities
and operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Action: Develop a series of policy documents to support
future marine technology and UMS activities in the Gulf of
Mexico.
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APPENDIX B: FOCUS GROUP REPORTS
The following reports were compiled by each of the focus groups for
their respective areas of focus. Each focus group was assigned one of
the GOTF members as the focus group lead, and each group recruited
other advisors and subject matter experts for support. The groups were
instructed to survey the State's current assets (related to their
specific areas), catalogue the capabilities and infrastructure, and
identify the gaps. Each group's efforts resulted in a synopsis of the
current state of their target areas and recommendations on how the
state should strategically advance future development of ocean
technologies and maritime assets along the gulf coast. Recommendations
from all six groups were then synthesized to create the ``key
recommendations,'' as well as to identify goals and targeted actions.
EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
Mississippi has a long history of building collaborative
partnerships with government, academia, and the private sector to
develop the human capital needed for high-growth, high-demand
technology-based industries. These relationships are poised to continue
to grow and develop with the UMS focus, partnering with educational
institutions, from K12 to community colleges to universities, in areas
of mutual interest and mutual benefit.
Education and Training Programs
The growing importance of the STEM subjects to the workforce is
demonstrated in Mississippi's K12 schools with the existing STEM
related Career and Technical Curricula and initiatives such as the
Robotics and CS4MS Programs. The focus for CS4MS is to implement
computer science in all schools in all grades by 2024 or sooner. Middle
school implementation began this school year. High Schools are
projected to provide a 4-course sequence to allow students to earn a
CTE endorsement in Computer Science at any comprehensive high school,
not just CTE Centers.
Existing post-secondary programs throughout the State offer fields
of study and practice representing related domains to develop the human
capital for UMS. Programs include physical, life and environmental
sciences, engineering, earth/atmosphere/ocean sciences, mathematics,
computer science, cybersecurity and other STEM related programs. The
challenge is to ensure UMS-specific training is matched by training
advancements that reflect the need for alternative approaches to
education and training based on progressive UMS changes. Education and
training programs must effectively blend theoretical and practical
application, preparing UMS operators and developers with the training,
education, and experience to translate complex information, patterns,
and trends to make decisions.
The Navy supports a three-tier academic certification program for
civilians and Navy officers in response to their goal of ``integrating
manned and unmanned systems and developing trust.'' The inaugural first
tier certification had fifteen participants.
Several research-intensive Mississippi universities have existing
certification and degree programs as well as active oceanographic,
hydrographic, or unmanned systems research engineering programs.
The University of Southern Mississippi houses the School of Ocean
Science and Technology (SOST). Nearly all of the SOST academic and
research programs are on the coast spanning from Gulf Coast Research
Laboratory in Jackson County to the Division of Marine Science's
oceanographers and hydrographers at Stennis Space Center. The SOST will
expand into a new Marine Research Facility at the Port of Gulfport
where the Ocean Engineering program will be supported along with the
large research vessel Point Sur's shore operations. The SOST offers
degrees ranging from undergraduate degrees in Marine Science and Ocean
Engineering, to master's degrees, including one of only two
Hydrographic Science degrees in the nation, and doctoral degrees. The
SOST research enterprise currently manages over $90M in contracts and
grants in ocean engineering, oceanography, hydrography, fisheries,
aquaculture and other fields. USM also has research and education
programs in Computer Science and Engineering (Coast and Hattiesburg) as
well as a world-renowned Polymer Science program in Hattiesburg.
USM recently offered the Nation's only university-sponsored
academic certification in Unmanned Maritime Systems. This inaugural
class of 15 navy-sponsored students represented a rigorous curriculum
designed to give decision-making skills to the navy warfighter when
using UMS as an asset in ocean surveillance. USM and the Navy are
developing a set of competencies that will expand the current Tier 1
certification to more advanced Tier 2 and 3 certifications and degrees.
In USM's School of Computing, advanced algorithms for big data
analytics are being developed which, once validated, can provide the
leading-edge technologies for handling the large amounts of data that
are anticipated to be collected, processed, and analyzed in the
implementation phase of the GOTF Master Plan.
Mississippi State University (MSU) leads a wide range of research,
service, and academic programs that support Mississippi's Blue Economy.
The Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) offers undergraduate,
master's, and doctoral degrees that support coastal industries,
including Chevron, Ingalls, and industries at Stennis Space Center, as
well as federal, state, and local government. Recently, the BCoE
started classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College so students
can earn either an electrical or a mechanical engineering degree from
Mississippi State without leaving the Coast.
MSU has a plethora of significant research programs on the Coast.
The Northern Gulf Institute, led by MSU and co-led by USM, has its
program office and 30 employees in the MSU Science and Technology
Building at Stennis Space Center. The building also houses the
Associate Director of the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through
Research Excellence (ASSURE) and the FAA Center of Excellence for UAS.
MSU leads the Mississippi-partnership recently chosen to direct the new
Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Small Unmanned
Aircraft Systems Demonstration Range Facility.
The University of Mississippi is home to the National Center for
Physical Acoustics (NCPA) with a 30-year history in developing novel
sensor applications for a wide variety of problems, including
underwater acoustics. Interpreting the signals received from these
sensors is also an active field of study, specifically sub-bottom
profiling and tomographic techniques for finding sub-surface features.
NCPA works closely with the Department of Physics and School of
Engineering to educate graduate students in cutting edge sensor and
signal processing technologies to produce the next generation of
scientists and engineers. Private sector partners have always played an
important role in project development at NCPA which strives to
transition bench-top research into deployable solutions.
UM also has a long history of partnering with the University of
Southern Mississippi in developing a variety of undersea vehicle
technologies including integration of sensor platforms in vehicles,
data storage, and exploration of the Gulf and beyond. Scientists from
the National Center for Natural Products Research at UM have used these
tools to explore undersea flora with unique potentially therapeutic
compounds as a front line in novel drug development.
Both Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Pearl River
Community College play key roles in workforce training in technical
career pathways through their existing programs. New programs to
specifically address technical career opportunities in maritime systems
should be developed as the GOTF Master Plan is implemented.
+ Recommendation: Define career UMS pathways from K12 through
graduate studies.
+ Recommendation: Leverage NAVSEA lessons learned and best
practices and implement internship and apprenticeship opportunities for
UMS.
Existing Skill Framework/Preliminary Workforce Analysis
Interviews with NAVO CNMOC, NRL, and the UMS Certification Program
Director yielded no recognized or widely accepted set of UxS standards
or skill frameworks. The lack of historical experience in training and
education specific for unmanned maritime systems, as compared to other
disciplines and fields of practice, makes the task of preparing the
workforce to support UxS with the relevant skills difficult.
Some research suggests that the increased use and integration of
remote and cyber platforms will have a dramatic impact on the approach
to training and recruiting methodologies, which will need to include
not only functional skills relevant to capabilities of UxS, but also
the fundamentals of communication and information systems and values
such as integrity, teamwork, dedication to strategic goals/mission, the
ability to maintain confidentiality, and creative problem solving under
pressure.
In an effort to enhance the moral connectivity of remote operators,
the U.S. Army developed The Human Dimension training concept, which
posits the central importance of the moral, physical and cognitive
components of the soldier in order to provide a balance to the tactile
tools of war. The Human Dimension highlights the pre-eminent need for a
human element for ethical decision making in the face of increasingly
remote methods. Not only will future UxS training and education
initiatives need to teach functional knowledge and advanced
technologies, programs should include ethical considerations that
prepare participants to confront multi-dimensional problems.
Preliminary workforce analysis to determine current UxS education
and workforce requirements revealed an increased manpower need in
support of the Navy Shipbuilding Plan. While the increased manpower is
not specifically for UxS, the increased workforce includes the need for
UxS personnel. Forty-one percent of the increased manpower will be in
the civilian and contractor workforce, with the remaining increase in
Naval Operational Oceanography (23 percent), enlisted personnel (26
percent) and officers (7 percent). Further analysis indicated that two-
thirds of the current SSC NAVO workforce has at least a Bachelor's
degree.
A robust research-based, practitioner focused skill framework can
provide the foundation to recruit, train and develop a UxS workforce
that closely aligns with the needs of future jobs. The framework can
identify the broad range of skills discussed above, as well as the
required level of education and career paths. Skillsets will drive the
recruitment and enlistment criteria to more closely reflect the needs
of the jobs.
+ Recommendation: While the UxS field is growing with many self-
taught experts and practitioners, there is a need to formalize training
skills and standards in order to ensure a consistent level of
capability.
+ Recommendation: As the UxS field of practice grows, the Learning
& Development (L&D) function will play a critical role for industry
growth. L&D must help organizations and regions drive business.
Creation of a Strategy Map for Learning and Development of the UxS will
help guide the future efforts of the training function.
Gap:
Need to match the workforce demands and present state-of-the art
training and education for a growing range of applications.
+ Recommendation: Expand local infrastructure and develop
collaborative opportunities to integrate and align the workforce with
UMS future growth and development.
+ Recommendation: To achieve what the Navy references as high
velocity learning at every level, determine the best concepts,
techniques and technologies to accelerate learning at the individual,
team and organizational levels.
+ Recommendation: Create a talent pipeline that allows people and
technology to reach their full potential by accelerating the training
and reskilling of people. Labor productivity, talent acquisition and
retention, innovation, and creativity help to solidify a UxS talent
pipeline.
+ Recommendation: Clearly define the career pathways for UxS and
the competencies required along the career pathways.
ENGINEERING CAPACITY
Blue Economy in Mississippi
Efforts to quantify the Blue Economy in Mississippi must focus on
identifying and understanding those organizations--federal, state,
university, and private industry--that support poorly categorized
ocean-based projects and programs. For example, an engineering company
working on systems and sensors to understand nearshore waves is
categorized under ``professional engineering.'' All of the engineering
companies in the State can be identified; however, identifying those
working specifically in the maritime is a much harder task.
+ Recommendation: Form a diverse group of federal, state, academic,
and private companies to work on furthering the Blue Economy sector as
a whole. It will be important to know which organization is doing what,
where they plan to go in the future, and how internal Mississippi
assets can be applied to emerging needs. Sub-groups may be necessary to
address specific topics, for example unmanned systems.
For a recent request submitted to the Mississippi Enterprise for
Technology (MSET), a week-long task that involved prior knowledge of
local efforts and a cursory Internet search for companies revealed as
many as 109 organizations working in the Blue Economy in the lower
three counties.
+ Recommendation: An effort to fully compile similar information
for the entire State should be initiated.
Unmanned Systems
For the purposes of the Governor's Ocean Task Force, the
Engineering Capacity Work Group selected a promising sector as an
example of what already exists in Mississippi and resonates with local
federal, academic, and private entities--unmanned systems. This is an
emerging technology that is extremely relevant to organizations in the
State, such as the Navy and NOAA, which represent existing, internal
markets for these systems and the information they provide.
In understanding the engineering capacity associated with unmanned
systems (UxS) in the State, not only must the system builders be
considered, but also organizations that support the development/
enhancement of the systems, data acquisition and handling, data
analytics and product development, operations and maintenance, and
communications providers. Infrastructure within the State to assist in
UxS deployment, testing, evaluation, and use is also critical to
document.
Existing Capacity
A catalog of Mississippi-based assets was compiled that relate to
ocean-based UxS, whether the system is deployed underwater or on the
water's surface, or is looking at the water from airborne or space-
based platforms. Using customized ``Asset Sheets,'' organizations were
cataloged according to how they support UxS--associated with systems,
services, or infrastructure. Additionally, a list of Mississippi-based
suppliers supporting the industry was compiled. These Asset Sheets
provide details of how each asset is supporting UxS; similar sheets
were collected for organizations that are not currently supporting UxS
efforts, but have the capacity to do so. The information on these
sheets, combined with information gleaned from discussions with UxS
users, formed the basis for the information that follows.
The review of organizations that support underwater and surface UxS
systems identified the following:
15 Federal agencies
8 State agencies and universities
50 Private Companies
These 73 organizations provide the following types of support to
UxS:
Manufacture of space-based, airborne, and surface systems
Operation and use of UxS to characterize coastal, national,
and international waters
Deployment and recovery of UxS in support of contracted and/
or research projects
Manufacture of ships capable of easily deploying underwater
UxS
Program/project management support
Engineering expertise to design new UxS
Incorporation on new sensors onboard UxS
Research vessels and other ships available for UxS
deployment
Aircraft available for flying UxS
Drone deployment to support environmental programs/projects
Trainers to assist others in certification process for
proper drone operation
Expertise in the determination of drone use within
commercial airspace
Use of UxS during disaster response to re-survey shipping
channels/navigation routes
Restricted air space for the test of airborne systems
Remote operation of underwater and surface-based UxS
Programming of UxS for remote operation
Manufacture of communication systems supporting UxS
Laboratories to support post-deployment cleaning and prep of
underwater/surface UxS
Calibration of the instruments used in UxS repair and
maintenance
Manipulation of data received from UxS
Software development to manipulate UxS data to address
environmental characterizations and to prepare data for use in
forecast models/predictions
Quality assurance and metadata generation of UxS data
Creation of databases for UxS data
Data analysis to address various environmental issues and
monitoring
Creation of maps and other data products generated from UxS
data
Expertise in the use of UxS data collection to address
various scientific, environmental, and military purposes
Web-based access to data, maps and other data products
created from or including UxS data
Based on the review, Mississippi has a large number of assets--
systems manufacturers, service providers, operators, human capital,
technology support, training programs, etc.--that support UxS.
Eighteen companies that currently do not support UxS, but have the
capability to do so, were identified. Companies located in the State
that are key participants in UxS include the following:
BAE Systems
Lockheed Martin
Teledyne Marine
Tyonek
+ Recommendation: Conduct a focused study on quantifying the Blue
Economy in Mississippi. Results from this report indicated 73
organizations involved in one sector of the Blue Economy. A
comprehensive study of the Blue Economy is needed to understand its
total contribution to the Mississippi economy.
Gaps:
Based on the data collected, three gaps were identified in
Mississippi's UxS capacity. It is expected that similar gaps will be
determined within other sectors.
System maintenance and repair operations (MRO)--in general,
organizations with UxS systems had to either assign staff to
the repair and/or maintenance of hardware, or send them out to
the original manufacturers located out-of-state.
Sensor Calibration--many of the UxS are equipped with
sensors to collect environmental data. Following their use, or
a certain number of uses, they must be calibrated. Although the
NASA Laboratories at Stennis can provide some of this support,
most return their sensors to out-of-state manufacturers for
calibration.
Underwater/Surface System Test and Evaluation
Infrastructure--as systems progress through the development
process, they must be tested, verified, and validated.
Mississippi has the infrastructure for the test and evaluation
of airborne systems; however, no in-water infrastructure has
been established.
+ Recommendation: Create a program to identify and recruit
companies that would further advance Mississippi's Blue Economy. A
number of companies have or are looking to re-locate given the expenses
associated with traditional east and west coast areas.
+ Recommendation: Create focused marketing materials and incentives
associated with Mississippi sites. Begin efforts with existing industry
(BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Teledyne, Tyonek) or those that fill
gaps in the current capacity.
+ Recommendation: Leverage the existing UxS capability to expand
and create new assets. There is synergistic support for the creation of
a test range in the Gulf Coast area. Mississippi has distinct
advantages over other locations. For example, Mississippi is home to
the largest fleet of underwater UxS operated from Navy groups at
Stennis, and the coastal/nearshore environment provides access to all
types of scenarios for testing.
+ Recommendation: Create a plan to use Singing River Island as a
UxS Test Range Operating Station and designate rules and regulations
for using coastal Mississippi waters for UxS testing, research, and
operations.
ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING
Current Capabilities in Mississippi
Advanced development and testing efforts related to the Blue
Economy are currently taking place throughout the State, but are often
very specific to a system, such as an aircraft with sensors that look
down at the ocean or a new ship launched along the coast. In some
cases, an organization procures any needed equipment for development
and testing, which tends to be costly. It also results in a number of
individual organizations spending project monies on the same types of
equipment. Another solution to the problem is to contract the use of
another organization's development and test equipment. This is
currently difficult for several reasons--1., some equipment is not
easily assessable (a Federal asset, for example). 2. There is also a
lack of understanding on the assets available in the State and how to
use them. 3. And finally, and as a result 2, development and testing
elements are conducted out-of-State.
+ Recommendation: Form a diverse group of federal, state, academic,
and private companies to work on furthering the Blue Economy sector as
a whole. In addition to understanding which organization is doing what,
specific emphasis needs to be on the identification of internal
Mississippi assets and how they can be used by others.
Proposed efforts to bring an incubator/accelerator focused on the
development and test of new ideas in the Blue Economy have not been
successful. As a result, ideas for new sensors and systems cannot be
prototyped, modeled, or tested. In most areas where these sensors and
systems are being successfully developed (San Diego/Massachusetts/
Florida), there is a dedicated space supporting students,
entrepreneurs, and hi-tech companies where not only can the equipment
needed for prototyping and testing can be shared, but receive education
on developing the business aspects of their technology.
+ Recommendation: Create an incubator/accelerator that is
customized to support the hi-tech aspects of the Blue Economy. Ensure
the infrastructure is conducive to Mississippi strengths, such as
advanced materials and additive manufacturing. Accessibility by
students of Mississippi universities is essential for furthering the
productive development of small companies based on new and fresh ideas.
Up-and-Coming Programs
There are various types of Mississippi-based organizations that are
currently working on, or have proposed, efforts that will drive the
success of the Blue Economy in terms of technology advancement, reduced
costs, increased accuracy and understanding, and efficiency. Some of
these are Federal research laboratories, some are private companies
with internal research and development efforts, and others are start-
ups. Recent efforts in Federal programs such as DARPA, ONR, and NRL, as
well as larger companies such as Huntington Ingalls and Shell, are
focused on not only the development of new techniques or new
applications of existing techniques, but the integration,
interchangeability, and extensibility of systems to provide customized
solutions to a number of scenarios. Challenges for these programs are
all relatively consistent and are:
Interoperability
Autonomy
Integration
Communications
Training
Propulsion and Power
Manned-Unmanned Issues
For example, long-term Navy goals are focused on Manned-Unmanned
(MUM) Teaming, where actions and reactions of all types of fleet forces
can be optimized based on the specifics of a scenario to be addressed.
This strategy requires much forethought during system design, with
attention to open architectures in hardware and software components,
interface standards, and even materials used. Intricacies of how
systems will work together and developing rules of engagement are still
a work-in-progress. A number of Mississippi assets exist that can be
applied to the challenges facing programs like this.
+ Recommendation: Create programs that provide the expertise
necessary to develop, test, operate, and understand the functionality
of these systems and their use. In the case of the Navy's MUM Teaming
goals, Mississippi has two universities, each with specific and
relevant expertise of their own. Leveraging the curricula at the
University of Southern Mississippi in underwater systems and
Mississippi State University in aerial systems to form a cross-over
educational experience would create globally unique program and
position the State as a leader in the field.
+ Recommendation: Leverage current activities on Singing River
Island to develop a comprehensive test and evaluation capability for
UMS, whether aerial, surface, or underwater. Dedicate a building to
house standardized tools, equipment, software, control stations, and
other elements needed to fully support the deployment and assessment of
these systems in a very-well-understood environment and within
proximity to a variety of operational scenarios.
+ Recommendation: Using the previous two recommendations, position
Mississippi as a leader for developing policy, rules of engagement, and
operating procedures for interoperable UMS, including the use of
multiple systems and multiple types of systems.
+ Recommendation: Create a mechanism or group to identify other
examples of where Mississippi-based programs of excellence can be
leveraged for the expansion of the State's Blue Economy. This might
include shipbuilding, oil and gas, ocean monitoring/observing/
forecasting, and others.
Current Shortfalls
In the Engineering Capacity Section of this document, 73
organizations were identified that currently provide some type of
direct support to UMS. The shortfalls identified in that Section are
also relevant here, with emphasis on the need for an MRO capability.
Adding this to the recommendations in the previous section will then
provide a complete end-to-end support for UMS along the Mississippi
coast.
+ Recommendation: Identify private entities that provide MRO
services to aerial and underwater UMS and facilitate/expand their
offices in Mississippi.
+ Recommendation: Create a program to identify and recruit
companies that would further advance Mississippi's Blue Economy. A
number of companies have or are looking to re-locate given the expenses
associated with traditional east and west coast areas.
APPLICATIONS
To position the State of Mississippi as a leader in maritime
technologies and ocean-based unmanned systems applications, the GOTF
will develop a comprehensive assessment strategy and development plan
for applications for maritime technologies and ocean-based unmanned
systems within the State. The following focus areas have been
identified as key drivers for success in this field:
Technology, Systems, and Systems Integration
Mississippi has significant assets for supporting aerial and spaced
based remote sensing applications, as well as unmanned aerial, surface,
and submersible vehicles. This includes government, industry and
university assets and expertise related to multi and hyperspectral,
LIDAR, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and other similar remote sensing
sensor systems, image processing, data storage and processing, and
decision support tools development and validation. The State and its
Federal partners have also established both land and sea UAV flight
zones.
+ Recommendation: Expand and enhance current -and establish new-
aerial, surface, and subsea unmanned vehicle test ranges and their
supporting infrastructure.
+ Recommendation: Develop and implement a methodology for
identifying existing assets, expertise, and investments as well as
tracking new developments for cataloging and reporting.
Modern technology hardware is being designed as open and extensible
platforms capable of acquiring accurate data almost anytime and
anywhere. These hardware platforms have enormous application potential.
The market for data about the physical world and about action occurring
within the world is virtually limitless. Modern technology hardware is
oft primarily associated with data collection. The market for
applications that transform that data into usable information holds the
potential for tremendous economic growth.
+ Recommendation: The focus on assets and expertise for the
development of new technological hardware--especially unmanned and
autonomous systems--should be primarily on design of data collection
platforms with a ``connected'' architecture, allowing interface with
cloud computing capabilities.
+ Recommendation: Attention on existing and developmental assets
and capabilities should be focused on the integration between hardware
and software so that data collected can be uploaded to the cloud,
analyzed, and presented seamlessly in a usable format. Integrating the
hardware and software systems designs will enable devices to garner
their features from the software, allowing for updates with new
abilities and improved performance parameters over the life of the
hardware.
+ Recommendation: Effort should be made to ensure that hardware
platforms across sea, air, and space technologies are developed with
common architectures allowing for seamless systems communication and
data integration across the platforms.
+ Recommendation: Prioritize the design of hardware and software
technologies with integrated cyber security components. Additional
research and development thrusts should be implemented to ensure
systems security.
Target Agencies and Industries for Support
Mississippi has a robust ecosystem of existing industry and
governmental agencies operating in the fields of marine and ocean
sciences and technologies. To support this base, accelerate tech-based
innovation, and grow the high-tech economy, a concerted effort should
be undertaken to identify needed support and capabilities.
+ Recommendation: Conduct regular systematic reviews of agencies
and report on:
Technology Road Maps
SBIR/STTR and similar technology development solicitations
topic areas
Federal labs mission statements and associated research
focus areas.
+ Recommendation: Conduct regular systematic reviews of marine
related industries and report on:
Technology Road Maps where available
Conferences related to applied technologies
Trade journals and other publications
Industry research groups.
+ Recommendation: Conduct interviews with key agency and industry
leaders and technologists to better understand and verify problems and
opportunities that may be addressed by technology applications
development through state, federal, and industry joint partnerships.
Creation of operational programs within the state to help address
identified critical needs of target agencies and industries related to
marine technology applications should be considered. Existing models in
the high-performance materials (Mississippi Polymer Institute) and
automotive industries (CAVS-E) have been implemented and have shown
great success.
+ Recommendation: Establish joint agency/industry/state-university
applied research development programs.
+ Recommendation: Support tech-based incubator programs and
extension services aiding tech-startups and industry applied research
projects.
+ Recommendation: Conduct regular conferences and meetings among
agency/industry/state-university research and development
organizations.
+ Recommendation: Explore R&D tax credits, applied R&D seed fund,
and similar programs that may attract capital investment in marine-
related applied research.
Process for Verification and Validation of Novel Technologies for
Operational Prototype
To bring new technologies and advanced capabilities to fruition
within the State, public and private partnerships can address
identified applications themes in the marine and ocean sciences sectors
through a robust process of verification and validation of novel
products. The process will need to begin in the design phase; address
both digital and physical product development and realization; and
include complex system and network design and development across an
integrated range of product platforms.
+ Recommendation: Establish a product innovation, development, and
pilot production facility (such as USM's Accelerator) on the Gulf Coast
to facilitate new product design and prototyping.
+ Recommendation: Expand existing and establish new physical
environment test ranges in the gulf coast region.
+ Recommendation: Develop a digital proving ground of ultra-high
resolution, precisely characterized geospatial information/data based
on the physical test ranges for use in future systems prototype
development and performance verification testing.
+ Recommendation: Utilize a collaborative research framework that
leverages collective resources to accelerate development of new system
prototypes.
+ Recommendation: Orchestrate a collective integration of expertise
across university, industry, government, and non-profit (NOARC, MSET,
etc.) where stakeholders all participate and all benefit from results.
Valuation of Data Acquired through Applications
The rapid proliferation of connected devices, sensors, and
(Internet of) things has ushered in the era of big data, which holds
tremendous potential for problem solving and applications development
in various fields.
+ Recommendation: Identify university, state, and Federal resources
focused on development of advanced algorithms for big data analytics to
provide leading-edge technologies for handling the large amounts of
data garnered by new technological platforms.
+ Recommendation: Focus resources on developing a methodology for
high performance, real-time analytics with dynamic sampling and
critical feature selection to evaluate the performance of various
combinations of feature ranking/selection algorithms, clustering
algorithms, sampling methods, and learning machines.
+ Recommendation: Conduct a comprehensive literature review by an
interdisciplinary team that may lead to the finding of algorithms
suitable for specific tasks. Subsequently, software development teams
made up of university, industry, and Federal partners may be composed
to undertake customized development projects capitalizing on the
published algorithms and open-source software and leading to additional
education and R&D opportunities to Mississippi communities.
Applications for Existing Industry
Several maritime-based industries within the State use remotely
operated and autonomous unmanned systems, and other robotic
instrumentation and sensors. The defense industry uses autonomous
unmanned and remotely operated technology regularly. Other industries,
such as oil and gas; ports and transportation; commercial fishing; and
aquaculture have recently started to utilize autonomous and remotely
operated systems. Many industries are looking to expand their
investments in these technologies.
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are regularly used by the oil and
gas industry. Examples include mapping of pipelines or inspecting wells
and equipment. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are being used for
bathymetric data and sub bottom profiling. The use of waver gliders has
been on the rise as battery life and propulsion systems improve. There
is potential for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to replace surface
ships as relays for tethered ROVs and AUVs.
+ Recommendation: Assess capacity within the State for development
of new battery technologies and novel power sources/generators for
unmanned systems.
+ Recommendation: Position or develop assets and infrastructure
along the coast to encourage greater adoption of USVs for commercial
applications, and subsequently implement incentives and recruiting
strategies to grow the USV production capacity within the State.
Ports, harbors, and maritime transportation have benefited from
unmanned technology and sensor development. Technology that can benefit
ports and harbors includes unmanned systems for detecting, tracking,
and assessing threats. Vehicle automation can advance maritime
transportation to complete operations in environments that are
geopolitically or environmentally hazardous.
+ Recommendation: Assess capacity within the State for advanced
vehicular automation technology development.
+ Recommendation: Develop a test range for verifying capabilities
of ocean-based autonomous vehicles.
The commercial fishing industry has recently started to utilize
remotely operated technology. Fishermen often leverage the use of
vessel monitoring systems mandated for compliance and enforcement in
Federal fisheries for safety and data collection. Fish trackers and
unmanned aerial systems operated from vessels that help target schools
of fish and look for potential bycatch issues are used by commercial
fleets.
+ Recommendation: Assess capacity within the State to develop
technologies aiding selective fishing practices that help reduce
bycatch and environmental impacts related to the commercial fishing
industry.
+ Recommendation: Examine growth opportunities that include the
ability to remotely monitor fishing and help protect the marine
environment by aiding in the reduction of illegal, unregulated, and
unreported fishing.
Robotic equipment in aquaculture can both increase production and
reduce diver intervention for routine maintenance. Augmented reality
technologies for diver operations can aid communication and improve
efficiency underwater.
+ Recommendation: Assess capacity within the State to develop
autonomous cages that follow optimal ocean and atmospheric
environmental conditions for aquaculture research and industrial
development.
+ Recommendation: Determine existing capabilities related to
augmented reality technologies and examine the potential for
integration into existing and future applications.
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security (DHS)
increasingly utilize unmanned systems. The U.S. Navy operates the
largest fleet of unmanned systems in the country from Stennis Space
Center. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate recently selected
Mississippi as the new base of operations for small unmanned aircraft
systems.
+ Recommendation: Leverage existing and develop new assets and
capabilities in parallel with the directives generated by the Navy's
Task Force Ocean.
+ Recommendation: Leverage existing and develop new assets and
capabilities in parallel with the directives generated by DHS's
expanding need for drone technologies.
Identification of Relevant Ocean Applications
Commercial Industry
Commercial Exploration
Offshore Drilling
Survey and Seabed Mapping
Pipeline/Cabling/Inspection
Marine Fisheries
Commercial and recreational fishing
Commercial shellfish production/Mariculture--Offshore
and Onshore
Commercial shipping and Port and Harbor operations
Ocean weather monitoring and prediction
Security, Detection, and Inspection
Navigation and Accident Investigation
Coastal Restoration and Recovery
Environmental engineering
Coastal wetland plant production
Scientific Research
Seabed Mapping and Imaging
Oceanographic Studies
Environmental Research and Monitoring
Pharmaceutical Research
Defense
ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance)
Mine Countermeasures
Anti-Submarine Warfare
Defense logistics and Port and Harbor operations
Ocean weather monitoring and prediction
Security, Detection, and Inspection
Navigation and Accident Investigation
Miscellaneous
Search and Rescue
Marine Salvage and Debris Removal
Marine Archaeology
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Mississippi is home to 15 ports situated along waterways throughout
the state, including two deep-draft ocean ports along the Mississippi
Gulf Coast in Gulfport and Pascagoula, making Mississippi a major
competitor in ocean, maritime and marine-related technology industries.
Beyond the coastline, an array of suppliers and technology companies
support the maritime industry.
Business Retention and Expansion Program
A thorough and comprehensive business retention and expansion
strategy will protect and grow Mississippi's existing ocean and
maritime industries. Robust data on marine industry sectors needs to be
gathered using state of the art survey tools and methods. Industry
surveys must include sectors not traditionally thought of as maritime
specific. The initial target company list should consist of major
players within the ocean/maritime industry, in addition to blue
technology companies, and focus on the Navy's Task Force Ocean Focus
Areas: Sensing and observation; modeling and prediction; application
and decision aids; human capital and technical workforce.
+ Recommendation: Develop a GOTF-specific business retention and
expansion program:
Partner with the Gulf Alliance to survey key industries and
determine what policies and services will support their long-
term viability and growth.
Utilize survey results to identify current opportunities for
growth, market constraints, and local obstacles. Throughout the
process, the team will gather valuable insight into expansion
opportunities, skill gaps, and competitive advantages that can
be used in conjunction with real-life data.
Examples of survey topics: permitting, both state and local;
employment issues; utility issues; serving as a liaison to
local, state and Federal officials; workforce issues;
advocating on issues important to local industries and small
businesses in the areas of transportation, regulations, and
policy matters; identifying sites and buildings available for
expanding business and industry; and coordination with existing
businesses and industries to continue improving the business
environment.
Emerging Markets
There are a number of emerging markets associated with the blue
economy and blue-tech sectors. Examples of these include the increased
use of unmanned systems for ocean sensing and forecasting, including
handling of increasingly large datasets and their real-time
interpretation; transportation; floating ports; and defense-related
support. Enormous capacity exists in local federal, state, and private
organizations to support unmanned systems development and testing,
evaluation, utilization, and maintenance. To be successful, continuous
understanding of advances in select, Mississippi-relevant markets is
needed. Coordination of efforts across all types of organizations to
strategically push these markets forward is essential to effectively
capitalize on developing opportunities.
+ Recommendation: Identify emerging markets in the blue economy,
specifically those markets that are synergistic to Mississippi
capabilities.
The Blue Economy is encumbered by a lack of reporting mechanisms--
NAICS and SIC codes do not adequately separate organizations working in
the Blue Economy. Therefore, a clear understanding of which engineering
companies support maritime engineering, for example, is not going to be
easily determined unless direct connections are made and maintained.
The utilization of networking organizations (Innovate MS, MSET, MIST
Cluster, etc.) to understand the capabilities of their members and
their technological capabilities is essential to identifying
Mississippi-based companies best able to address emerging
opportunities. An organization such as this should also understand the
actions of similar organizations across the Nation and internationally.
+ Recommendation: Create, or designate an existing, networking
organization to facilitate interaction among blue economy/blue-tech
companies in the State and remain current with ever-changing
technologies.
Efforts to identify and foster the development of emerging blue
economy and blue-tech markets need to be further developed and
supported. Technology incubators and accelerators provide physical
environments where early-stage companies can be co-located with subject
matter experts and where innovative thinkers can collaborate. The
process of technology commercialization requires knowledge and
understanding of the applications and market for the innovation. In
Mississippi, there is a wealth of technology being developed and used;
however, there is little to support entrepreneurs in terms of funding
(angel and venture), or for verification, validation, and modification
of an invention. The process should encourage partnering among
government, industry, higher education, non-profit and private sector
entities to stimulate a strong network of technology and innovation.
+ Recommendation: Create mechanisms to support and fund emerging
markets, specifically using technology business incubators and
accelerators.
Competitive Advantage
Understanding the State's current market position as compared to
other states in the blue economy sector is essential to gaining and
maintaining a competitive advantage.
+ Recommendation: Conduct an initial self-analysis of Mississippi's
ocean, maritime, and related technology industries against competitive
states to identify Mississippi's advantages and its gaps (SWOT).
+ Recommendation: Benchmark Mississippi against the states of
Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, California, Washington,
Massachusetts, and Maryland--all of which constitute a heavy Navy base
and technology footprint, similar to Mississippi. This comparison would
give Mississippi an opportunity review programs and resources that are
publicly available against the State's offerings.
Analysis should include workforce, available incentives,
venture capital and private funding sources, state and Federal
resources.
+ Recommendation: Upon finalization of the strategic plan,
implementation should include funding sources to hire a consultant to
conduct an industry survey of these items against identified
competitive states.
Research and development, both university and industrial, can
create major advantages for the state. Research partnerships between
university and industry provide additional value.
+ Recommendation: Create a catalog of current and potential
partnerships to identify the impacts of those partnerships. This should
include R&D dollars, employment, and potential expansion opportunities
or new locations into the State.
+ Recommendation: Identify tax credit or incentive programs
specifically tied to research and development and catalog against
competing states.
+ Recommendation: Identify existing or create R&D tax credits
specifically for university and industry partnerships.
Testing
Mississippi has a unique position in evaluation and testing of
unmanned platforms including air, land, and marine--both surface and
subsurface in all environments. The South Mississippi Training Complex,
thanks to a huge military presence in Mississippi, is already ahead of
other areas, especially being the FAA's Center of Excellence for
unmanned integration into National Airspace. Mississippi State has now
been granted a Certificate of Authorization (COA) for unmanned access
to the Warning and Restricted Training areas over the Gulf of Mexico,
which provides unlimited test access for ocean-based programs as well
as air-to-surface testing.
+ Recommendation: Create, or designate an existing organization to
manage and expand current test ranges; develop new ranges, and market
the capabilities offered to national and international markets.
Cluster Branding and Sales Plan
A well-structured and consistent communication strategy is a key
component to the implementation of the Oceans Task Force final plan.
For a cluster management organization to stand out as a point of
reference and be recognized for its unique assets, it must be well-
branded and marketed. The marketing and branding strategy is a
comprehensive process that begins with gathering and analyzing data,
understanding assets and clearly defining a strategic mission. After
this process is completed, the Governor's Ocean Task Force can begin to
develop a communication and branding strategy and identify tools to
reach the target audience.
+ Recommendation: Develop a cluster branding and sales plan focused
on attracting both external and internal interest and resources that
will support the strategic development of ocean science and maritime
technologies along the Coast.
+ Recommendation: Add subject matter experts in cluster branding
and marketing to this effort. At a baseline, the strategy should
include the following elements:
Clearly define roles and responsibilities of various
agencies and organizations throughout the state.
Develop a branding process that will be based on final
vision of the study. This includes brand name, theme and
consistent messaging.
Develop a communications plan using multiple types of media
(website, social media, print) that is targeted to sectors
identified in the final plan.
Integrate branding and marketing into the existing economic
development infrastructure.
Develop an implementation and coordination plan for ongoing
sales activities.
Identify events and activities that will provide for
continuous dialogue from stakeholders, both internally and
externally, creating a broad recognition and acceptance of the
brand.
+ Recommendation: Leverage the extant SBA supported Marine
Industries Science & Technology Cluster (MIST Cluster) as a baseline
starting point for further cluster branding and development under an
independent non-profit organizational structure.
POLICY AND ETHICS
Mississippi has a unique opportunity to become the leader in
testing and advancing the Nation's next generation of Unmanned Maritime
Systems. While there are numerous unmanned systems efforts ongoing in
the United States, there is a lack of focus on underwater systems
development. Mississippi is uniquely positioned to fill this void;
however, as with any innovative technology there are legal and
regulatory barriers that must be addressed to achieve desired goals.
The legal and policy framework governing UMS activities is complex.
On the Federal level, more than 20 agencies administer over 140 laws
affecting ocean waters and resources. In Mississippi, three state
agencies (Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Mississippi
Secretary of State Office, and Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality) and associated Commissions implement a variety of coastal
management and permitting programs. UMS activities occur in both state
(0-3 nautical miles offshore) and Federal waters (3-200 nautical miles
offshore). Additional complexities emerge as UMS seek interoperability
across platforms and domains.
Consider, for instance, the complexity surrounding the necessary
environmental reviews for the Range. A review under the Federal
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is required for any major
Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the environment.
The NEPA review, which may include the preparation of an Environmental
Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, is handled by the Federal
agency controlling the project. Where multiple Federal agencies are
involved--for example, where a project needs permits from different
agencies--the regulations require that a Lead Agency be designated to
prepare and issue the NEPA document. Federal agencies are permitted to
hire contractors to prepare the required environmental documents, but
the documents must be reviewed and issued by the Lead Agency. Several
Federal agencies are in a position to be designated the lead agency,
including the Navy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or the U.S. Coast
Guard.
On the state level, the Mississippi Coastal Program has not been
formally revised since 1988. The Mississippi Coastal Program was
legislatively mandated in Section 57-15-6 of the Mississippi Code and
approved by NOAA under the provisions of the Coastal Zone Management
Act (CZMA) on September 29, 1980. Implementation of the Mississippi
Coastal Program is the primary responsibility of the Office of Coastal
Resources within the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
Mississippi has submitted program changes to the NOAA Office of Coastal
Management since the last revision, but the Mississippi Coastal Program
document has not been updated and re-issued, making it difficult for
the regulated community to assess applicability to proposed activities.
Furthermore, the legal status of UMS is unclear under both Federal
and international law. Unlike UAVs, which the Department of Defense has
classified as aircraft, UMS classification remains uncertain. Clear
guidance has yet to be developed regarding which UMS should be
considered vessels and additionally in the military context, warships
and weapons. The classification of an UMS will impact how that UMS is
treated under Federal and international law with respect to
navigational rights such as innocent passage, collision regulations,
and liability.
+ Recommendation: Update the Mississippi Coastal Program to include
UMS operations and activities.
There are also public policy and ethical issues surrounding the
increased use of UMS in the Gulf of Mexico. Ethics, as used within this
master plan, refers to standards of right and wrong in terms of the
obligations that UMS developers and operators have to their employers,
funders, partners, and the wider society. UMS activities may lead to
collaborations between military, scientific, and private industry
partners involving classified or confidential information, such as
trade secrets or propriety data. Surveillance activities can raise
privacy concerns. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are home to a
variety of public and private activities including oil and gas
development, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and boating, and
aquaculture. Proponents of UMS activities must consider the competing
uses of ocean space and the navigate a variety of user needs and
demands.
UMS activities should be undertaken in adherence to a maritime
industry codes of conducts and best practices, in additional to
applicable legal requirements. The UK Marine Industry Alliance, for
example, developed an industry code of conduct for maritime autonomous
systems. The U.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Safety Advisory Council
Resolution 16-0 provides best practices for UMS. Certification and
other educational programs for UMS should provide training on industry
codes of conduct, best practices, and other ethical consideration
related to scientific integrity, data management, and privacy
requirements.
Gap:
The suite of state and Federal laws that relate to Unmanned
Maritime Systems development, testing and application are expansive.
There is currently no national center focusing on the legal, policy,
and ethical issues surrounding the use of UMS, thereby limiting the
resources that are available to assist Mississippi in developing a
strategy that addresses existing or needed laws. There is a significant
need for legal research and outreach activities to inform UMS policy
development on the state, federal, and international levels. UMS legal
research and outreach would also directly support the development of
the UMS in industry by increasing stakeholder awareness of the existing
legal framework governing their activities, facilitating stakeholder
engagement, and informing law and policy reform efforts on the state
and Federal level.
+ Recommendation: Provide funding support to establish the
``Mississippi Unmanned Maritime System Policy Center'' within the
Mississippi Law Research Institute (MLRI) at the University of
Mississippi School of Law. MLRI, established under Miss. Code Ann.
Sec. 57-55-5, is the official advisory law revision, research, and
reform agency of the state of Mississippi. MLRI's Ocean, Coastal,
Natural Resources, and Environmental Research Group is a nationally
recognized resource for ocean and coastal law, and is well-positioned
to draw upon the diverse law and policy expertise of faculty and
programs at the University of Mississippi, including the National
Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law.
+ Recommendation: Develop a comprehensive inventory of state,
federal, and international laws and regulations governing UMS
activities and operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
+ Recommendation: Develop a series of policy documents to support
future UMS activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Bryant. Thank you, sir.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much, Governor Bryant.
Mr. Conathan, we're delighted to have your testimony.
Welcome.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL J. CONATHAN,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASPEN HIGH
SEAS INITIATIVE, THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
Mr. Conathan. Well, thank you very much, Senator Wicker.
Thank you, Senator Cantwell, and other Members of the
Committee, and other staff of the Committee, including some of
my former colleagues. It's a pleasure to be back. It's a bit of
a homecoming of types for me and particularly to come and talk
to you today on the topic of the Blue Economy.
Today's hearing does represent a bit of a homecoming for
me. I spent 5 years as a Republican staffer on this committee
and while my current role is Executive Director of the new
Aspen High Seas Initiative at the Aspen Institute, that means
that my work now focuses more on the distant and deep ocean
rather than on the domestic marine policy issues that were my
daily work here in the Senate. As a coastal resident of Maine,
where, by the way, Governor, we also have some pretty
exceptional seafood and shipbuilding, and as the husband of a
part-time commercial lobsterman, I remain deeply connected to
all aspects of America's Blue Economy.
The ocean is intimately connected to everyone on the
planet, whether hauling pots on Casco Bay, hiking the snowy
peaks of the Rocky Mountains, or traversing the Sahara Desert,
and while I appreciate the optimism inherent in today's hearing
title, before we can truly engage in a discussion of the
successes and opportunities found in our Blue Economy, we must
start first by establishing a common understanding of what it
is we're talking about.
In addition to my role at the Aspen Institute, I also chair
the Board of Advisors to the Center for the Blue Economy at the
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and
while there's no internationally-accepted definition of the
Blue Economy, the CBE defines it as ``comprising the economic
activities that create sustainable wealth from the world's
oceans and coasts.''
Other international organizations, such as the World Bank
and the United Nations Development Program, also define the
Blue Economy to include this critical component of
sustainability. They include this term because sustainability
is not just a buzzword. It's an imperative.
Humanity has set our climate on the precipice of a
catastrophic point of no return. We've decimated fish
populations and put countless species, from microscopic
plankton to the largest animals on the planet, like the North
Atlantic right whale, at risk of extinction.
We've turned the oceans' gyres into plastic soup and strewn
waste from the poles to the depths of the Marianna Trench. If
we continue this business as usual, if we fail to treat the
system with an abundance of precaution, it won't just be our
Blue Economy that will suffer in the long run, it will be our
entire planetary economy.
This is why we established the Aspen High Seas Initiative,
to address the existential threats currently facing even the
deepest remotest areas of the global ocean, our final
conservation frontier.
While people may conceptually understand that we live on an
ocean planet, the ocean remains primarily out of sight and out
of mind. Thus, our goals are to increase understanding of the
global ocean, cultivate a new diverse set of ocean champions,
and inspire world leaders and key decisionmakers to protect the
high seas and the ocean at a global scale.
To do this will require us to take advantage of an
exponential increase in our capacity to acquire data. A 2017
piece from the World Economic Forum asserted that we have
collected more data on our oceans in the past 2 years than in
the history of the planet.
A blog piece in Scientific American further reported that
NOAA's ocean sensors alone collect 20 million megabytes of data
daily.
But for this volume of information to actually mean
anything, we must ramp up our ability to process, analyze, and
understand what those data are telling us.
Fortunately, we have partners, such as the World Economic
Forum's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and XPRIZE,
who are diving in to assist, and the private sector's
involvement will be critical in this effort.
While there's sure to be a cost, the good news is there's
plenty of room for the budget to grow. Annual funding for
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration increased to $42 million
last year, yet that figure is still literally a rounding error
compared to the multiple billions of dollars we spend on NASA's
space exploration.
No knock on space exploration but unlike what we're likely
to find on our next space mission, I can give you a 100 percent
guarantee that our ocean is absolutely teeming with alien life
forms just waiting to be discovered.
So protecting this marine biodiversity is central to an
effort underway right now at the United Nations to negotiate a
new treaty aimed at protecting biodiversity beyond national
jurisdiction, that is, on the high seas. When complete, this
treaty will provide a mechanism for establishing marine-
protected areas on the high seas, among other key topics aimed
at safeguarding these critical components of our last global
commons.
Science has shown that protecting 30 to 40 percent of the
ocean will be necessary to safeguard biodiversity, preserve
ecosystem services, and achieve socioeconomic priorities.
Strongly protected areas allow fish to grow large and
reproduce, protect important habitats, and have spillover
effects that replenish fish stocks outside their boundaries.
And the same technological advances that have led to our
ocean data revolution can also provide the keys to enforcing
restrictions against industrial fishing and illegal activity in
these ocean parks.
The ocean acts as the planet's lungs, producing half the
oxygen we breathe and absorbing half the carbon dioxide we have
pumped into the atmosphere. It acts as the planet's heart,
circulating heat and nutrients around the globe, and it acts as
the planet's liver and kidneys, absorbing and filtering our
waste, and just like these internal organs and systems so
critical to our bodies, we must take great care not to overtax
these vital marine functions.
To protect the health of our ocean and in turn our Blue
Economy, we must, as the saying goes, first do no harm.
The signs carried by students, the young people with the
most to fear from the future of climate change, the signs they
carried during the climate strike earlier this month were wise
in their simplicity. There is no Planet B. There is no Ocean B.
First do no harm.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the invitation to
be here today, and I look forward to answering any questions
you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Conathan follows:]
Prepared Statement of Michael J. Conathan, Executive Director,
Aspen High Seas Initiative, The Aspen Institute
Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members of the
committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on this
critical topic. Having formerly served for five years on the Republican
staff of this committee's former subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere,
Fisheries, and Coast Guard, first as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow and then
as Professional Staff, it is my great pleasure to appear before you
today in my current capacity as Executive Director of the Aspen High
Seas Initiative,\1\ a new program of the Aspen Institute focused on
igniting awareness of the urgent need and inspiring action to protect
the health of the High Seas at a global scale.
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\1\ Aspen High Seas Initiative homepage, available at: https://
www.aspeninstitute.org/prog
rams/high-seasinitiative/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I also serve as Chair of the Advisory Council to the Center for the
Blue Economy (CBE), a program of the Middlebury Institute of
International Studies at Monterey, a graduate-level education and
research program with the mission to promote a sustainable ocean and
coastal economy through leadership in research, analysis, and
education. CBE defines the blue economy as distinct from the ocean
economy insofar as it includes sustainability as an inherent
principle.\2\ This makes the blue economy a subset of the ocean
economy--where the latter may include all economic activity on and in
the water as well as beneath the seabed, the former only accounts for
economic activity that is environmentally sustainable and either
benefits from or contributes to healthy oceans and coasts. For purposes
of this testimony, therefore, reference to the blue economy will mean
the portion of the ocean economy that meets these criteria.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Center for the Blue Economy homepage available at: https://
www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centersinitiatives/center-blue-
economy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much of my past work, here for the committee and subsequently in my
role as Director of Ocean Policy at the Center for American Progress,
focused on management of the United States' ocean resources and our own
blue economy. However, my current position with the Aspen High Seas
Initiative has widened my focus to cover the two thirds of the global
ocean--45 percent of Earth's surface--that comprises the High Seas, the
area of the ocean beyond any single nation's jurisdiction. And while I
recognize that this committee is primarily concerned with issues that
affect the coastal economy of the United States, any discussion of the
blue economy must begin by acknowledging that our ocean is singular,
global, and an inextricable component of the system that allows all
life to thrive here on Earth. In short, what happens in the ocean
doesn't stay in the ocean.
The ocean acts as the lungs of our planet, producing half the
oxygen we breathe and absorbing half of the carbon dioxide humans have
pumped into the atmosphere. It acts as the heart of our planet
circulating heat and nutrients around the globe and ensuring our
climate remains livable at all latitudes. And it acts as our liver and
kidneys, filtering and absorbing waste. Just like in our bodies, we
must take great care not to over tax these systems lest we put them at
risk of breaking down.
When we think about the blue economy, we must first think in
broader terms. If our respiratory, circulatory, and waste filtration
systems fail, our entire life support system fails. And so, to extend
the metaphor, we must think in terms of a Hippocratic Oath for the
ocean: First, do no harm.
Today's hearing title focuses our attention on the ``successes and
opportunities'' related to the blue economy. My testimony will be
divided into three sections. The first section will discuss the need to
define and measure the economic drivers and fundamental ecosystem
science in the ocean and our coastal regions. This knowledge gap is a
fundamental hurdle we must clear if we are to account for and
ultimately grow the blue economy. The second section will include an
overview of some of the threats to the health of our ocean and coasts
that we must minimize for the sake of our economic and existential
future. These threats must necessarily begin with carbon pollution and
our changing climate, proceed to the potential negative impacts of
offshore oil and gas development, and to overfishing and unsustainable
aquaculture. Then, with a fuller understanding of what we do and don't
know about these threats, we can move to a discussion of what we're
doing well and opportunities to maximize our return and minimize harm.
Ultimately, America's future, and indeed the world's, is
irrevocably tied to the health of our ocean. Fifty years ago this past
Christmas Eve, three American astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission became
the first humans to orbit the moon. As they circled back around from
the dark side, William Anders spotted our home planet seeming to
``rise'' above the moon's desolate gray surface. He scrambled for the
mission camera, loaded a roll of color film, and snapped what has been
called ``the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.''
That image, ``Earthrise'' (figure 1), showed the world two
fundamental truths that Anders and his fellow astronauts grasped
immediately. First, that Earth is a blue planet--it's one thing to
understand intellectually that 70 percent of its surface is covered
with seawater; it's another for us as creatures of the land to see it
captured on film. And second, the immense fragility of our existence on
this blue marble, wrapped delicately in an atmosphere as thin as the
skin on an apple.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 1: ``Earthrise'' Image credit: NASA.
Earth's ocean is unique in the known universe. It is the single
most vital building block for life and ensures that our planet remains
habitable. It is, quite simply irreplaceable and fundamental to our
very existence. The more we research and explore, the more we
understand how human activity is putting our planetary life support
system at risk. And now that we know, there is only one responsible
choice: We must reduce our footprint, wean ourselves off the
destructive behaviors. Humanity has set our climate on the verge of a
catastrophic point of no return, decimated fish populations and put
countless species--from microscopic plankton to the largest animals on
the planet--at risk of extinction and turned the ocean's gyres into
plastic soup and strewn waste from the poles to the depths of the
Marina Trench. If we fail to treat this system with an abundance of
precaution, it won't just be our blue economy that will suffer in the
long run; it will be our entire planetary economy.
As this discussion moves into what the blue economy is, how we
measure it, and the threats and ultimately opportunities it presents
for us, we must not lose our grip on this image, and what it represents
for all of humanity. Earth is our one functional spaceship in the
otherwise hostile lifelessness of space. Everything we do must be with
an eye toward protecting our planetary life support system. As
recognized in the one universal truth broadcast on signs held by
inspirational young climate protestors around the world just ten days
ago during the Youth Climate Strike: There is No Planet B.
Defining and Measuring the Blue Economy
This discussion must begin by calling out an important distinction
between two terms that are often used interchangeably: the ocean
economy and the blue economy. Both lack widely agreed upon and applied
definitions, but the most common distinction made is that the ocean
economy is comprised of all activities in the ocean that generate
economic activity. The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP)--which
was initially established under the auspices of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--measures ocean-related
employment, wages, and gross domestic product contributions from Bureau
of Labor Statistics data in the construction, living resources,
minerals, ship and boat building, tourism and recreation, and
transportation sectors.\3\ This database is now housed at the CBE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ National Ocean Economics Program. Available at: http://
www.oceaneconomics.org/Market/ocean/oceanEcon.asp
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile the blue economy includes an element of sustainability.
CBE defines the blue economy as comprising ``the economic activities
that create sustainable wealth from the world's oceans and coasts.''
\4\ Again, note the inclusion of principles of sustainability. Like the
Center for the Blue Economy, the World Bank defines the blue economy to
include an element of sustainability (see infographic below),
clarifying that it is ``sustainable use of ocean resources for economic
growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health''
(figure 2). The United Nations Development Program also adheres to this
sustainability element in its definition of the blue economy, calling
it ``the utilization of ocean resources for human benefit in a manner
that sustains the overall ocean resource base into perpetuity.'' \5\
Similar definitions with an inherent sustainability component can be
found in other UN bodies,\6\ and throughout the current scope of
literature on the topic. By these definitions, activities such as oil
and gas extraction or sand and gravel mining which are accounted for in
the ocean economy should not be thought of as part of the blue economy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Center for the Blue Economy homepage available at: https://
www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centersinitiatives/center-blue-
economy
\5\ Hudson, Andrew, ``Blue Economy: a sustainable ocean paradigm,''
United Nations Development Programme, 26 November 2018. Available at:
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/blog/2018/blue-
economysustainable-ocean-economic-paradigm.html
\6\ United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, ``Oceans
Economy and Fisheries.'' undated. Available at: https://unctad.org/en/
Pages/DITC/Trade-and-Environment/Oceans-Economy.aspx
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 2: Image credit: World Bank Group.
As such, when we talk about the blue economy, the focus should be
on industries that either contribute to or are dependent on healthy
ocean and coastal ecosystems. These include such sectors as sustainably
managed commercial and recreational fisheries, tourism and other low
impact forms of ocean and coastal recreation, offshore renewable energy
development, and coastal resilience and restoration activities. It
necessarily excludes such activities as offshore oil and gas
exploration and development, sand and gravel or deep seabed mining,
some higher-risk forms of open water aquaculture, and other extractive
industries.
With a definition of the blue economy in hand, the next step must
be accumulating enough tools and methodologies to measure its size,
scope, and influence. Yet our tools for carrying out this critical
mission remain woefully inadequate, even compared to other economic
sectors in the United States. For example, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture operates an Economic Research Service (ERS), with a stated
mission to ``anticipate trends and emerging issues in agriculture,
food, the environment, and rural America and to conduct high-quality,
objective economic research to inform and enhance public and private
decision making.'' \7\ ERS's annual budget has averaged approximately
$86 million over the past three years.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research
Service, ``About ERS,'' undated. Available at: https://
www.ers.usda.gov/about-ers/
\8\ FY2019 President's Budget Request: Economic Research Service,
see page 16-2. Available at: https://www.obpa.usda.gov/
16ers2019notes.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
By comparison, there is no entity charged with a similar mission
for the ocean or blue economy, and NOAA's total annual investment in
this area is estimated to be less than $1 million. Yet collectively,
the U.S. ocean economy, to the extent we are able to measure it, is
estimated to provide 3.1 million jobs, more than the crop production,
telecommunications, and building construction sectors combined (figure
3), and this is likely a lowball conjecture.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 3: Image credit--NOAA Office for Coastal Management
NOAA is currently amid a 2-year process to develop the first ocean
economy satellite account through a new program called Economics:
National Ocean Watch (ENOW).\9\ This program will track statistics
across six sectors of activity in the ocean economy, including living
resources, marine construction, marine transportation, offshore mineral
extraction, ship and boat building and tourism and recreation. While
this effort will begin to provide some foundational accounting for the
scope of the ocean economy, it still will fall short of analysis of the
blue economy with its inherent sustainability component. And if we fail
to measure sustainability in our blue economy today, we will inevitably
fail to predict what it will be tomorrow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for
Coastal Management, Digital Coast, ``Economics: National Ocean Watch,''
undated. Available at: https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/data/
enow.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chronic underinvestment in ocean science and economics hampers our
understanding
This lack of economic measure is critical, as we cannot manage what
we do not understand, nor can we understand what we do not measure.
This need for greater understanding extends beyond economics to the
world of ocean science as well. A common trope in ocean circles is the
truism that we have higher quality maps of the surface of Mars and the
moon than we do of the ocean floor. This is largely because we can map
celestial bodies without the pesky visual interference that seawater
presents to imaging, but it is also telling that we have invested far
more resources and effort into finding answers to the mysteries of our
nearest celestial neighbors than we have in solving the riddles of our
own deep ocean. This shortcoming is particularly notable in areas of
the High Seas, the ocean beyond any one nation's jurisdiction. NOAA
estimates that less than ten percent of the global ocean has been
mapped using modern sonar technology, while in U.S. waters, that number
is closer to 35 percent.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Ocean Service, ``How Much of the Ocean Have We Explored?'' undated.
Available at: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even as our industrial activity expands into the most remote and
unexplored regions of our ocean, we are spending exponentially more on
space exploration than investigation of the undiscovered regions of our
home planet. A 2013 analysis I conducted in my previous role as
Director of Ocean Policy at the Center for American progress found that
NASA's space exploration budget out-classed NOAA's ocean exploration
budget by a mind-boggling ratio of roughly 150 dollars to one.\11\
Twelve people have set foot on the surface of the moon while only three
have traveled to the Challenger Deep at the bottom of the ocean's
deepest point, the Mariana Trench. And while we have yet to find life
or other resources in our interstellar exploration that could prove
economically recoverable, our ocean continues to be a treasure trove of
new life and remarkable discoveries. Some estimates are that our ocean
could still hold millions of species that have never been seen or
catalogued.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Conathan, Michael, ``Rockets Top Submarines: Space Exploration
Dollars Dwarf Ocean Spending,'' Center for American Progress, 18 June
2013. Available at: https://www.ameri
canprogress.org/issues/green/news/2013/06/18/66956/rockets-top-
submarines-spaceexploration
-dollars-dwarf-ocean-spending/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The species discovered in these regions are not just scientific
curiosities. As they have in countless instances before, newly
discovered marine organisms will provide us with new products,
medicines, materials, or inspiration for technologies that could pay
unimaginable dividends in any number of ways that benefit human
wellbeing. They also may hold keys to greater understanding of the
ocean's role in the carbon cycle or prove to be pivotal links in the
ocean food web. This incredible marine genetic diversity can also
provide an insurance policy against environmental disruption, as it
offers pathways for evolution. And we need only imagine the great
technological and biomedical benefits of understanding how life has
adapted in millions of amazing ways to some of the harshest
environments on planet Earth. The more we know about the interplay of
life, the less likely we are to take yet another misstep and
inadvertently disrupt important ecosystem services.
Meanwhile, we do know enough already to understand that human
activities pose significant threats to the future health of the world's
ocean, the U.S. exclusive economic zone, and our coastal regions. We
must now take inventory of these threats before we can talk about our
successes or consider opportunities to mitigate and minimize them.
Threats to Ocean Health and the Blue Economy
There are numerous threats to ocean and coastal ecosystem health
that impact our blue economy, but I will focus on the top priorities:
climate change, offshore oil and gas development, overfishing and
illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, and poorly planned
aquaculture operations.
Climate change
We cannot have a conversation about the blue economy and the future
of our ocean without addressing the existential environmental challenge
of our time: global climate change. While a full accounting of the
irrefutable science establishing the reality of a changing climate is
beyond the scope of this testimony, we know that human-caused
greenhouse gas emissions are fueling increases in extreme weather
events, threatening coastal communities with sea-level rise and salt
water intrusion, harming marine life with warming and acidifying
waters, and bleaching coral reefs with alarming rapidity. To set the
economic tone for what climate change could cost the U.S. economy in
general, we can turn to the fourth National Climate Assessment that the
Trump administration released in November 2018. This report suggested
that climate change could reduce the overall economy by 10 percent by
the end of this century,\12\ including $140 billion from the loss of
recreational opportunities due to harm to coral reef ecosystems
alone.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II: Impacts, Risks,
and Adaptation in the United States, undated. Available at: https://
nca2018.globalchange.gov/
\13\ Fourth National Climate Assessment, Chapter 9: Oceans and
Marine Resources. Undated. Available at: https://
nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/9/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In its summary on the implications for oceans and coasts, the
report states in part:
Rising water temperatures, ocean acidification, retreating
arctic sea ice, sea level rise, high-tide flooding, coastal
erosion, higher storm surge, and heavier precipitation events
threaten our oceans and coasts. These effects are projected to
continue, putting ocean and marine species at risk, decreasing
the productivity of certain fisheries, and threatening
communities that rely on marine ecosystems for livelihoods and
recreation, with particular impacts on fishing communities in
Hawai`i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands, the U.S.
Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Lasting damage to coastal
property and infrastructure driven by sea level rise and storm
surge is expected to lead to financial losses for individuals,
businesses, and communities, with the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
facing above-average risks. Impacts on coastal energy and
transportation infrastructure driven by sea level rise and
storm surge have the potential for cascading costs and
disruptions across the country. Even if significant emissions
reductions occur, many of the effects from sea level rise over
this century--and particularly through mid-century--are already
locked in due to historical emissions, and many communities are
already dealing with the consequences.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II: Impacts, Risks,
and Adaptation in the United States, undated. Available at: https://
nca2018.globalchange.gov/
The implications of documented changes in ocean ecosystems are
already proving harmful. In 2012, for example, when the Gulf of Maine
was hit with an ``ocean heat wave.'' \15\ As a result, lobsters
migrated to inshore waters three weeks earlier than expected, leading
to a supply glut as processors were not prepared to buy product in the
volume that was available, and prices plummeted to their lowest level
in 18 years.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ Pershing, Andrew J., et al., ``Fisheries Management in a
Changing Climate: Lessons from the 2012 Ocean Heat Wave in the
Northwest Atlantic,'' Oceanography, 2 October 2015. Available at:
https://tos.org/oceanography/article/fisheries-management-in-a-
changing-climate-les
sonsfrom-the-2012-oceanheat-
\16\ Trotter, Bill, ``2012 Maine lobster catch increases by 18
percent, but price continues to decline,'' Bangor Daily News, 4 January
2013. Available at: https://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/04/news/
hancock/2012-maine-lobsterlandings-leap-18-percent-but-price-continues-
to-decline/
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No region of the country is immune from these effects. From heat
waves and drought to the hurricanes and unprecedented torrential
rainfall events like the 60 inches of rain that fell on parts of
Houston, Texas during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the effects of our
warming climate are wreaking havoc throughout our country and around
the globe, and the economic impacts are already adding up. And this is
only the beginning.
In the last five years, the frequency of extreme weather events
causing over $1 billion in damages has doubled. In 2018 alone, the U.S.
was hit with 14 separate billion-dollar disasters, fueled by climate
change, that took 247 lives and collectively inflicted $91 billion in
damages. Still, this figure is less than a third the cost of the prior
year, when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria combined to cause over
$300 billion in damages.\17\ The impacts are real, the causes are
becoming clearer with every new study, and it is without question the
number one threat to our blue economy.
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\17\ Dennis, Brady and Mooney, Chris, ``Wildfires, hurricanes, and
other extreme weather events cost the Nation 247 lives, nearly $100
billion in damages during 2018,'' The Washington Post, 6 February 2019.
Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/
02/06/wildfires-hurricanes-other-extremeweather-cost-nation-lives-
nearly-billion-damage-during/?utm_term=.840b8aacb120
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Offshore oil & gas development
Of course, the ultimate source of carbon and other greenhouse gas
emissions is the world's thirst for fossil fuels. And in addition to
carbon pollution, offshore oil and gas drilling also causes more direct
impacts to ocean and coastal ecosystems from drilling, extraction, and
transportation.
Thirty years ago this week, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground
in Alaska's Prince William Sound and dumped 11 million gallons of crude
oil into what had been one of our most unsullied marine wildernesses.
Though the direct costs of clean up and damages ran into the billions
of dollars, the economic ramifications of that one incident are still
being felt with toxic oil still spoiling areas of the Sound, and the
region's herring fishery has yet to return to commercial viability
following what was at the time the largest oil spill in American
history.
Of course, all records are made to be broken, and next year will
mark the 10-year anniversary of the tragedy that unseated the Exxon
Valdez for that infamous title, by gushing nearly 170 million gallons
of crude from beneath the seabed into the Gulf of Mexico. I was serving
as a Republican Professional Staff member on this committee at the time
of that disaster, and I toured the region with the U.S. Coast Guard in
the weeks after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon
drilling rig that cost 11 men their lives and started that gusher that
spewed oil unchecked into the Gulf for 87 days.
Often, industrial activities in our ocean suffer from an ``out of
sight, out of mind'' mentality: if we don't see it, it must not have a
negative effect. In this case, I saw the massive harm done by BP and
Halliburton's carelessness, and I will never forget the smell of oil
burning on the ocean surface, images of sludge sloshing in the
Louisiana marsh grasses, or the shrimp boats and other fishing vessels
pressed into duty as impromptu skimmers in a futile attempt to clean up
that unmitigated disaster.
These offshore oil and gas disasters harm commercial fisheries,
aquaculture, tourism, recreational fishing, boating, and numerous other
industries that, when carried out in a sustainable manner, contribute
immensely to our blue economy and can foster economic wellbeing
indefinitely. The irresponsible drilling and expansion of drilling into
new areas for short term economic gain puts into our principle in a way
that is unacceptable for long term wellbeing of our Nation.
While offshore energy development is obviously important to some
coastal regions, its harmful effect on other coastal industries must be
accounted for. Furthermore, some coastal areas are proving the value of
pivoting to offshore renewable energy development. In 2016, Rhode
Island began producing electricity at the Nation's first offshore wind
farm in state waters near Block Island. And Rhode Island and
Massachusetts are now poised to follow suit with plans to build an 800-
megawatt offshore wind farm south of Martha's Vineyard. This project
was approved following a lengthy negotiation with other stakeholders in
the region, including the commercial fishing industry proving that
these two uses of coastal space are not mutually exclusive.
Overfishing and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing
Thanks to the efforts of this committee and many others involved in
the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act in 2006, the United States is now viewed as a world
leader in fisheries sustainability. Under the auspices of this law, 44
stocks have been rebuilt and removed from the ``overfished'' list as of
2017, and overfishing was not occurring on 91 percent of U.S. fish
stocks.\18\ We should be proud of this achievement and maintain the
policies that have allowed us to take this leadership role.
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\18\ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Marine Fisheries Service, ``2017 Report to Congress on the Status of
U.S. Fisheries,'' undated. Available at: https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/2017-reportcongress-status-us-fisheries
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Yet, overfishing is still occurring in other parts of the world,
including in the EEZs of other nations with less stringent regulations
and enforcement regimes, often due to limited capacity. NOAA estimates
that roughly 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported
from other countries. That means if we want to support sustainable
seafood, we must promote consumption of domestic product and strive to
improve management among our trade partners. It will require a greater
global investment in fisheries monitoring, research, and reporting in
both the commercial and recreational sectors. It will also require an
increased commitment by this Nation and other great consumers of
seafood to import only verified sustainable seafood from abroad. Doing
so will ultimately pay dividends in the form of global fisheries that
continue to provide economic returns and food security in perpetuity.
Overfishing also continues on the High Seas, an area where the U.S.
can have significant influence. As individual nations have permitted
overfishing in their exclusive economic zones leading to precipitous
fish population declines, fishermen have been incentivized to travel
further from shore and in many cases have moved into the High Seas.
Here fisheries are managed by international agreement centered around
Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs). These RFMOs must
operate by consensus among countries whose delegations are often
heavily influenced by their industries, and their science branches are
often insufficiently funded to carry out the research necessary to set
sustainable catch limits. The U.S. can play a constructive role in
advocating for stronger science and stricter limits by RFMOs to prevent
overfishing.
In addition, the economics of most High Seas fishing operations
don't add up, pushing operators into illegal activity. To counter the
increased cost of operating further from shore and still turn a profit,
operators in some fisheries have taken advantage of the remote nature
of what is effectively a lawless Wild West, far from any enforcement
authority. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
estimates that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing activity
affects ``one in every five fish caught, with an annual cost of up to
$23 billion.'' \19\ And the illegal activity doesn't stop with fishing.
Operations from several countries have recently been found to rely on
forced labor (i.e., human slavery) and other egregious human rights
abuses, including murder. These activities are often carried out on
vessels that spend years on end at sea, out of sight or reach of
regulators and law enforcement, providing no opportunity for escape or
relief for enslaved workers. The vessels are resupplied by mother ships
that take on the catch from these modern-day slave ships and mingle it
with legally caught fish so that by the time the catch is brought in to
shore it's impossible to tell the clean fish from the dirty. Fishing
vessels provide easy vectors for human trafficking as well as trade in
drugs, arms, and other illegal activity, particularly in the remote
High Seas.
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\19\ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
``Growing Momentum to Close the Net on Illegal Fishing,'' 5 June 2018.
Available at: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1137863/icode/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding economic insult to environmental injury and this ongoing
abhorrent human rights tragedy, a 2018 report published in the journal
Science, found that ``54 percent of the present high seas fishing
grounds would be unprofitable at current fishing rates'' absent the
abundant government subsidies that many fishing nations provide to
their fleets operating on the High Seas. In effect, countries are
paying their fishermen to put future generations out of business rather
than investing in the research and knowledge that will allow this
natural system to function and continue to provide benefits for
generations to come.
The World Trade Organization has promised to make progress on the
issue of harmful fishing subsidies at their 2019 Ministerial Conference
with an eye toward achieving a key target of the UN Sustainable
Development Goal 14: on Life Below Water.\20\ Making progress on
subsidies would address a host of environmental and human rights issues
that harm our blue economy, and U.S. fishermen's ability to fish
sustainably in our own waters and beyond.
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\20\ World Trade Organization, ``Negotiations on Fisheries
Subsidies,'' undated. Available at: https://www.wto.org/english/
tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_e.htm
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Poorly planned aquaculture operations
Aquaculture is often regarded as an opportunity to reduce pressure
on wild capture fisheries, while continuing to provide healthy food to
a growing world population with a relatively smaller carbon footprint
than other forms of animal protein. However, all too often aquaculture
operations are subject to lax oversight and poor regulation,
particularly abroad, that inflict significant damage on ocean and
coastal ecosystems and economies. Furthermore, because many farmed fish
must subsist on a diet that includes wild-caught fish, it can
exacerbate the overfishing problem rather than relieving the pressure
on wild stocks.
For example, in 2017, as many as 263,000 Atlantic salmon escaped
from net pens legally permitted to operate in Washington's Puget Sound.
There is concern among some scientists that these fish, which are non-
native to the Pacific, could weaken the Pacific northwest's robust
wild, native populations, either by outcompeting native species for
resources or by transmission of disease. Several of the fish that were
recaptured and turned over to Washington Fish and Game officials have
tested positive for an ``exotic strain of piscine ortheovirus,''
according to a report from the Seattle Times.\21\
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\21\ Mapes, Linda V., ``800,000 More Farmed Atlantic Salmon Coming
to Puget Sound before industry's permits expire,'' Seattle Times, 29
August 2018. Available at: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/
environment/800000-more-farmed-atlantic-salmon-coming-to-puget-sound-
before-industrys-permitsexpire/
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Also of concern is the amount of wild capture fish that is required
to feed farmed carnivorous fish such as salmon and shrimp. Rates of
wild capture fish required to feed farmed fish are coming down in
general due to the incorporation of additional plant-based and
alternative feeds such as soy and algae. According to the international
Marine Ingredients Organization also known as IFFO, the so-called
``fish in/fish out'' ratio is now down to 0.22 meaning it takes on
average 0.22 kilograms of wild fish to produce 1 kilogram of farmed
fish. However, as aquaculture production increases, the overall amount
of wild fish required will necessarily increase.
The fish used in aquaculture feed are low economic value, high
volume fish such as menhaden, or even species lower down on the food
chain such as Antarctic krill. Yet when these creatures are removed
from the ocean food web in massive quantities, the cascading effects of
food scarcity on other ocean populations can be significant. As a
result, in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, many commercial fishing
groups have joined with environmental organizations in arguing for
reduced catch limits on menhaden because they rightly fear that
removing too many of these so-called ``forage fish'' from the ecosystem
will have negative long-term ramifications for their target species,
including high-value tuna and swordfish, among others.
Aquaculture can help solve both our seafood trade deficit and our
need to produce low-carbon intensive, healthy protein to feed a growing
global population, but it must be sited, permitted, and carried out in
a manner that does not inflict additional pressure on already stressed
and damaged ocean ecosystems. Multi-trophic aquaculture, where famers
grow seaweed, shellfish, and finfish together can help mitigate impacts
from fish farming, and actually include environmental benefits.
Likewise, closed loop aquaculture, primarily of fish that subsist on a
vegetarian diet, and which takes place in shoreside facilities where
inputs and outputs can be controlled also presents an opportunity for
aquaculture to be a net benefit.
Supporting a Healthy Ocean and a Robust Blue Economy
Even with these serious threats, the future for our blue economy
can indeed be full of successes and opportunities, and America is
poised to continue leading the world toward a future of healthy
productivity for our ocean and coasts. While some recent decisions and
actions by the current administration have halted progress we made
earlier in this century, it's not too late to reverse course and take
the necessary steps to protect our Nation's and the world's greatest
natural asset. Here is an agenda that can help set the tone for a new
era of ocean sustainability and strong growth of the blue economy.
Support strong United Nations action
Two days ago, the United Nations kicked off the second of four
planned rounds of negotiations on a new treaty to manage biodiversity
beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Once completed, this new
agreement, developed under the auspices of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), will for the first time
establish a mechanism for the international community to prioritize a
holistic approach to the world's deep and remote ocean ecosystems. It
contains four major components: 1) creating a mechanism to establish,
manage, and enforce marine protected areas on the High Seas; 2) set a
process for conducting environmental impact assessments for High Seas
activities; 3) develop a management regimen for marine genetic
resources of the High Seas; and 4) create an agreement on technology
transfer and intellectual property among developed and less developed
countries.
The first step the United States can take to ensure a positive
outcome from this process is to at long last ratify UNCLOS, the
seminal, non-controversial international agreement that forms the
foundation of international maritime law. However, recognizing that
such action is unlikely given the current makeup of the U.S. Senate,
short of full ratification, the U.S. delegation can still exert
significant influence over the ongoing negotiations, and help ensure
that the treaty includes strong protections against over-exploitation
of marine resources, and establishes a clear path for the world to
designate critical areas of the High Seas as fully-or highly-protected
marine protected areas (MPA).
In addition to supporting completion and ratification of a robust
BBNJ treaty, the U.S. should also support strong ocean protection
across a range of international bodies and decisions they will make
throughout 2020, a major year for international ocean action. By the
end of this decade, international bodies will make major decisions on a
suite of topics that will have lasting ramifications for our marine
resources. These include working to ensure achievement of key targets
in the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 14, ``Life Below Water,''
contains several targets for the international community to meet by
2020, including protecting 10 percent of the ocean; ending harmful
fishing subsidies such as those that promote fishing activity on the
High Seas; and bringing an end to global overfishing. \22\ The U.S.
delegation should support all international efforts to achieve these
goals.
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\22\ United Nations Development Programme, Sustainable Development
Goals, Goal 14: Life Below Water. Undated. Available at: https://
www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-
14-life-belowwater.html
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In addition, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is in the
process of revising its Mining Code \23\ in a manner that could result
in issuance of permits to extract minerals from fragile areas of the
deep seabed that are filled with marine life. Many of these ecosystems
have not yet been carefully studied and have never before been
disturbed by human activity. Although the U.S. does not have a formal
seat at the negotiating table due to our failure to ratify UNCLOS,
American statements and indications that it does not support High Seas
seabed mining would send a strong signal to negotiators. Specifically,
the U.S. should adopt the position that the ISA should issue a
moratorium on permits and regulations for the duration of the UN's
Decade of Ocean Science that will kick off in 2021. Setting aside
mining activities for this period will allow scientists to explore
these areas, take stock of the yet undiscovered resources that exist
there, and ensure that if mining is to proceed it will only move
forward with a full understanding of the implications for the health of
the deep ocean ecosystem and under a robust and precautionary
management regime.
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\23\ International Seabed Authority, ``The Mining Code,'' undated.
Available at: https://www.isa.org.jm/mining-code
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Establishment of Marine Protected Areas
In 2016, a group of scientists led by Bethan C. O'Leary published a
comprehensive review of over 140 studies and found that ``results
consistently indicate'' that protecting 30 to 40 percent of the ocean
would be necessary ``to protect biodiversity, preserve ecosystem
services, and achieve socioeconomic priorities.'' \24\
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\24\ O'Leary, Bethan C., et al., ``Effective Coverage Targets for
Ocean Conservation,'' Conservation Letters: a Journal for the Society
of Conservation Biology, 21 March 2016. Available at: https://
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12247
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In recent years, several nations including Chile, the United
Kingdom, Palau, the Cook Islands, and others have moved proactively to
establish large marine protected areas (MPA) in their waters, affording
varying degrees of protection to areas of the ocean comparable in size
to entire countries. The U.S. briefly held the title of world's largest
marine protected area following President Obama's 2016 action to expand
the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The largest is
currently the Cook Islands' Marae Moana area designated in 2017.\25\
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\25\ International Union for the Conservation of Nature, ``The
Journey of Cook Islands: Marae Moana,'' 26 June 2018. Available at:
https://www.iucn.org/news/oceania/201806/journey-cook-islands-marae-
moana
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However, as with so many things, size is not always the most
effective measure. Arguably the most critical factor to ensure MPAs
achieve their intended goals of increasing ocean health is the level of
protection they are afforded. And while Marae Moana includes 50 km no-
take zones around 15 islands, the remainder of the area has only
limited protections. Current estimates are that approximately 7 percent
of the world's ocean has some level of protection, but less than 3
percent is either fully or strongly protected.\26\
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\26\ Sala, Enric, et al., ``Assessing real progress towards
effective ocean protection,'' Marine Policy, vol. 91, May 2018, pp 11-
13. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0308597X17307686
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While we may yet be able to achieve the 10 percent by 2020 goal,
these will likely not be fully or strongly protected MPAs. And getting
to 30 percent or more by 2030 will certainly require a mechanism to
safeguard critical areas of the High Seas. For this reason, one of our
key goals at the Aspen High Seas Initiative is to work with scientists
and research organizations to create data-sharing mechanisms that will
enable us to identify the areas of the remote ocean that are most
critically in need of protection. Simultaneously, we work to advance
new and improved governance mechanisms, such as those proposed for the
BBNJ treaty, to create mechanisms for the establishment and enforcement
of strong High Seas MPAs.
Promoting sustainable, legal seafood at home and abroad
Thanks to the provisions included in the 2006 reauthorization of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the
U.S. is recognized as a global leader in ending overfishing and
producing sustainable seafood. The model has proven so successful that
major overhauls of management systems in the European Union, Indonesia,
and most recently Japan have used the MSA as a model.
Key provisions of the MSA include a requirement for strict annual
catch limits to be set in every U.S. fishery that cannot be set higher
than the level recommended by each Regional Fishery Management
Council's Science and Statistical Committee. With few exceptions,
stocks found to be overfished must be rebuild to sustainable levels
within ten years. While the act is proving to be successful at meeting
the arduous task of rebuilding our fish stocks, some of which had been
subject to extended periods of overfishing, because the U.S. imports
the vast majority of seafood it consumes, we must also work to
incentivize other fish producing nations to adopt similarly strict
standards.
While we of course have no jurisdiction over what happens in other
countries' waters, we do have some control over market demand and
individual consumer choice here at home. One powerful new tool is
NOAA's Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) which was established
in 2016 as a key measure to improve transparency and combat illegally
harvested seafood entering the U.S. market. Blocking entry of illegal,
unsustainable foreign seafood offers a more level playing field for our
domestic fishermen who play by the rules, and it puts pressure on other
countries to clean up their act if they wish to do business here. The
committee should support the ongoing improvement and expansion of that
program. Furthermore, ongoing efforts to educate American consumers
about the benefits of buying American seafood for its environmental,
health, and quality benefits can buoy the domestic fishing industry and
ensuring consumers are choosing sustainably-harvested fish that happens
to also have a smaller carbon footprint.
A United Nations treaty known as the Port States Agreement also
provides a critical enforcement method against illegal fishing
activity. Countries that have ratified this agreement, including the
United States, have agreed to place stronger restrictions on foreign
fishing vessels coming into their ports to offload fish, and if vessels
are known to have been involved in illegal fishing, party states can
refuse them entry to their ports. As additional countries ratify this
agreement, and illegal fishing identification methods increase, the bad
actors will be left with no markets into which they can sell their ill-
gotten product.\27\
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\27\ The Pew Charitable Trusts, ``The Port State Measures
Agreement: From Intention to Implementation,'' 12 April 2018. Available
at: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/
2018/04/the-port-statemeasures-agreement-from-intention-to-
implementation
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Another important opportunity we are seizing to address
unsustainable and illegal practices is our increasing ability to
identify fishing vessels operating illegally on the High Seas and in
remote areas of individual nations' EEZs, and provide information about
them to governments who can hold those actors responsible. Satellite
monitoring by organizations such as Global Fishing Watch are providing
eyes in the sky that use data from satellite tracking systems, are even
able to detect light from fishing operations at night, and combine that
raw data with groundbreaking algorithms to identify potential illegal
activity and even individual bad actors. We urge continued investment
in these technologies and in multi-sectoral partnerships between
government agencies, private industry, and not-for-profit organizations
like Global Fishing Watch that are leading the charge.
Improving scientific research capacity, data-sharing, and technology
The one thing each of these proposed opportunities has in common is
the need to rely on improvements in scientific research, data-sharing,
and technology. Fortunately, we are living in a time when opportunities
to gather data are increasing exponentially, as is our ability to
process that data. A piece published by the World Economic Forum in
August 2017 asserted boldly that ``we have collected more data on our
oceans in the past two years than in the history of the planet.'' \28\
A blog piece for Scientific American reported that NOAA's ocean sensors
collect 20 million megabytes of data daily.\29\
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\28\ Degnarain, Nishan and Adler, Steve, ``How data can heal our
oceans,'' World Economic Forum, 4 August 2017. Available at: https://
www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/how-data-can-heal-our-oceans/
\29\ Mulrennan, Matthew and Johnson, Ayana, ``7 Award-Winning Apps
Launch a Mobile Age for the Ocean Economy,'' Scientific American, 16
February 2018. Available at: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/
observations/7-award-winning-apps-launch-a-mobile-age-for-the-
oceaneconomy/
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While all the remote sensors, buoys, data tags, satellites,
autonomous underwater and sea surface gliders observing, measuring, and
reporting back their findings are giving us a better picture of how the
infinitely intricate interactions between various aspects of the
natural world might actually function, in order to truly unlock the
secrets they provide will require not just a data gathering revolution,
but a data management revolution. What good is your daily 20 terabytes
of data if you have no way to sort it and understand what it means?
This is why organizations like the World Economic Forum's Centre
for the 4th Industrial Revolution and XPRIZE are showing an interest in
solving this ocean data management puzzle. They recognize that ensuring
a fully functioning ocean system is fundamental not just to ocean life,
and not just to ensuring we do all in our power to avoid the worst
possible outcomes of the climate crisis, but to ensuring a viable
future for humanity as our population continues to soar towards 9
billion.
Conclusion
With our increased knowledge and opportunity comes increased
responsibility. When our predecessors made missteps with the natural
world, they could at least fall back on ignorance as an excuse for the
havoc they had unleashed. Few in Oklahoma in the 1930s could have
predicted that uprooting prairie grasses for wheat fields would have
led to the wholesale destruction of the Dust Bowl. While nuclear
scientists in the 1950s surely understood that radioactive fallout
wasn't exactly beneficial to remote Pacific atolls, they probably
failed to fully appreciate the scope and permanence of their actions.
Today we do know. We know what we could not have known before. We
know that the ocean is not too big to fail. If we turn away from
science and ignore the warnings in order to carry on with our business
as usual approach, chasing short-term economic gain at the expense of
longterm environmental health, we will be dooming future generations.
Fortunately, we also have the means to avoid the worst of these
possible outcomes. By tracking, measuring, understanding, and managing
our ocean and blue economy, and making the hard decisions that may cost
a little more today but promise a sustainable future for tomorrow we
can overcome the challenges that lay before us. The critical life-
support system that is the global ocean will support us as long as we
take care of it and hold to this one fundamental principle: First do no
harm.
Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell, and members and staff of
the committee, thank you once again for your invitation to testify here
today, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Senator Wicker. Thank you so much, Mr. Conathan. Welcome
back to the Committee.
Mr. Deal, you are recognized.
STATEMENT OF SCOTT DEAL, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, MAVERICK BOAT
GROUP
Mr. Deal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Cantwell. I appreciate the Committee Members inviting me here.
I'm a businessman from Florida and to stay on the seafood
theme, a fish caught is always tastier than a fish bought. So
I'm here to represent the recreational boating industry and how
it relates to the Blue Economy.
As you said, I'm a boat builder from Fort Pierce, Florida.
My family-owned and operated business which builds boats under
four different distinct brands that do different things:
Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder, and Cobia. Last year, we built and
distributed around 1,300 boats to our dealer partners all over
the country and we employ currently around 450 people building
those boats in Fort Pierce on our 45-acre campus.
While most people think of recreational boating and the
boating industry as just a fun business, the term
``recreation'' is a bit of a misnomer. Boating means business.
Recreational boating contributes $170 billion in economic
impact, supporting 691,000 U.S. jobs, and 35,000 separate
marine businesses.
Our industry is uniquely American. 95 percent of the boats
that are used in the United States are made in the United
States, made by boat builders like myself, but boat builders
all over the country, and it's not just the boat builders, it's
the workers who make the components and the raw materials that
go into the boats that we build.
So even though you may not be in a state that has a big
boat-building presence, like, for instance, propellers are made
in Indianapolis by Precision Propeller that go on the offshore
fishing boats that we build and many others build. So a lot of
people don't realize the depth of the tendrils that go through
the economy of the U.S. that's all related to the Blue Economy
as it relates to recreational fishing.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which we
didn't have this figure until just last year, 2.2 percent of
GDP is related to recreation, outdoor recreation. Boating and
fishing are a big part of that. Boating and fishing are growing
faster than the economy.
But the ability of my company to expand and manufacture
more products is directly tied to the ability of saltwater
anglers to get out on the water. Each year, 11 million
Americans travel to our Nation's coasts and take part in one of
America's favorite pastimes, of course, recreational fishing.
These saltwater anglers, many of which are Maverick
customers, support 472,000 jobs in saltwater fishing alone
across a variety of sectors, including 68 billion in economic
impact.
There are three basic requirements to support the
businesses and the jobs that I'm talking about. One is updated
and robust infrastructure. We've got to have boat ramps to get
on the water and if anybody doesn't believe there's a problem
with boat ramps, get up on a Saturday morning and go drive by
one and you'll see trailers and cars all over the side of the
road because we simply don't have enough.
Obviously echoing what everyone else has said, we've got to
have clean water. We've got to have a good environment for fish
to grow and to prosper and grow to abundance because, frankly,
our guys aren't particularly good at what they do. They just
like doing it. So we've got to have lots of fish. That means
abundance. So when we don't have clean water, we don't have
abundance and our jobs and everything else are threatened.
We need sound fisheries management policies that support
the efforts of recreational angling. It's critical to our
business, whether it's NOAA's fisheries, the actual councils
and appointments, or laws made right here in Congress. These
decisions directly impact my ability to hire people and put
more people to work and to grow the economy.
In 2014, I spearheaded, along with Johnny Morris of Bass
Pro Shops, the Morris-Deal Report. It was a visioning document
that led to many of the adopted points in the Modern Fish Act,
something that I thank Chairman Wicker very much for helping to
see through signature. Thank you very much, Chairman.
The Modern Fish Act did address many of the key
recommendations of the Morris-Deal Report but not all, and more
work needs to be done.
One particular area of concern that was in the report is
the Forge Fish Conservation. It's a critical component of the
report and fish, such as Menhaden, are under an unprecedented
amount of pressure, something that I hope can be addressed in
this next session because with that little fish, you don't have
big fish because the big fish have to have little fish to grow.
I look forward to seeing NOAA fully implement the Modern
Fish Act and despite some of the recent improvements, Federal
marine fisheries management still is not maximizing the needs
of the Blue Economy.
Whether it's seasons or equitable council representation or
recreational sectors, decisions by NOAA, the councils have a
real impact on jobs and business growth. For instance, the
simple decision to allow 39 days of red snapper instead of
three days.
I built a new facility and invested $15 million and created
200 more jobs just myself. The rest of the saltwater fishing
boat builders put in 46 million in CAPEX and hired another 615
people. So good fisheries policy management and access to good
fisheries for my people is a critical thing, but it pays off.
As you know, the recreational sector takes 2 percent of the
fin fish taken in America but we produce twice the number of
jobs that the other 98 percent take.
So back to the central theme, it's about jobs. The
recreational fishing community provides a lot of jobs, well-
paying jobs, and we will grow and we will continue to grow this
economy as long as you give us access and a reasonable shot at
the fishery.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Deal follows:]
Prepared Statement of Scott Deal, President and Founder,
Maverick Boat Group
Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Cantwell and Members of the
Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss
an issue important to my business and the recreational boating
industry: The Blue Economy.
My name is Scott Deal, and I am President and Founder of Maverick
Boat Group, a 34-year-old recreational boat manufacturing business in
Fort Piece, Florida. My family-owned and operated business builds boats
under four brands--Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia. Last year, we
built and distributed around 1,300 boats to our dealer business
partners all over the U.S. Our company currently employs 450 people and
recently finished a 155,000-square-foot factory expansion.
While most people think of the boating industry as a fun form of
recreation, the term ``recreation'' is a misnomer--boating means
business. Recreational boating contributes $170 billion in economic
impact supporting 690,000 U.S. jobs and 35,000 marine businesses. Our
industry is a uniquely American made product: 95 percent of boats sold
in the U.S. are made in the U.S. From boatbuilders like myself all the
way down to workers who produce raw materials we use to build those
boats--boating creates jobs, lots of them. According to the Bureau of
Economic Analysis, outdoor recreation accounts for 2.2 percent of GDP,
with boating and fishing growing at a faster rate than the overall
economy.
The ability of my company to expand sales, grow market share, and
manufacture more product is directly tied to the ability of saltwater
anglers to get out on the water. Each year, 11 million Americans travel
to our Nation's coasts to take part in one of America's favorite
pastimes--recreational fishing. These saltwater anglers, many of whom
are Maverick customers, support 472,000 U.S. jobs across a variety of
sectors and $68 billion in sales annually.
There are three basic tenants required to support the businesses
and jobs behind the recreational boating and fishing industry:
1. Updated and robust infrastructure is needed to ensure the 141
million American boaters and 46 million anglers have sufficient
access to get out on the water. Whether it's through public
boat ramps, fishing piers, or marinas--infrastructure is the
key gateway to the water. Once on the water, boaters and
anglers need infrastructure for safe and enjoyable operation,
including navigational markings, mooring buoys and properly
dredged channels.
2. A clean and healthy environment is critical for enjoyable
recreation. I've personally experienced the impacts of water
quality and quantity issues as my coastal home faced algae
blooms this past year. The side effects pose serious harm to
fish habitat, impede access, and raise human health concerns.
When our waters are not clean and our fisheries are not healthy
and abundant, the businesses and jobs supported by boaters and
anglers are threatened.
3. Sound fisheries management policy that support recreational
angling is critical to my business. Whether its NOAA Fisheries,
Fishery Management Councils or laws made right here in
Congress--these decisions directly impact my ability to hire
workers and contribute to the economy.
In 2014, I spearheaded, along with Johnny Morris of Bass Pro, the
Morris-Deal Report--the first-ever vision for managing America's
saltwater anglers. This report made six recommendations for the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA),
including allocating marine fisheries to the greatest benefit for the
nation; creating reasonable latitude in stock rebuilding timelines, and
codifying a process for cooperative management. Thanks to your
leadership Chairman Wicker and a bipartisan effort from those on this
Committee, the Modern Fish Act, which addressed many of the key report
recommendations was passed last Congress and signed into law. Yet there
is still more work to be done. Improved forage fish conservation was a
critical component of the Morris-Deal report and forage fish such as
menhaden are under intense pressure, something that I hope Congress
will address this session. I look forward to seeing NOAA fully
implement Modern Fish Act, because despite some recent improvements,
Federal marine fisheries management is still not maximizing the needs
of the blue economy.
Whether its seasons or equitable Council representation for the
recreational sector--decisions by NOAA and the Councils have a real
impact on jobs and business growth. For example, the announcement by
Secretary Ross to extend the 2017 Gulf red snapper fishing season by 39
days from only 3 days, was followed by my own factory expansion,
creating 200 jobs and investing $15 million in the local economy. A
survey by the National Marine Manufacturers Association and American
Sportfishing Association, estimates boat manufacturing companies have
invested $46.1 million in capital expenditures and hired 615 people due
to the extended seasons and retailers found a 20 percent increase in
tackle sales. While much progress has been made in recent years to
improve Gulf management and access, unfortunately, the South Atlantic
fishery lags behind. We hope many of the data collection and state-
based management solutions implemented in the Gulf can be replicated in
the South Atlantic as well. Doing so would generate investments from
boat manufacturing companies of another estimated $18.7 million and the
hiring of 312 more people.
These are real jobs and real contributions to the Blue Economy due
to the confidence by our industry and anglers in improving public
access and consistency in fisheries management.
I'll leave you with this--recreational fishing is more than a
family enjoying the water on a Saturday afternoon. It provides for
hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Anglers and boaters are good
stewards of the environment. We need clean water and sustainable
fisheries to enjoy our sport. We directly contribute to infrastructure
and conservation efforts, totaling $600 million annually through the
Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. Recreational anglers
take only two percent of the finfish in America's oceans, while
generating more than half the jobs in the entire fishing industry.
The boating and fishing community looks forward to continuing to
work with you, Mr. Chairman, the members of this committee and the
administration to maximize economic contributions to the Blue Economy
and keep our oceans sustainable for generations to come.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today, I look
forward to answering your questions.
Senator Wicker. Well, thank you to all three of our
witnesses for some very excellent and thought-provoking
testimony.
And, Mr. Deal, I have been to the Miami Boat Show, the
enormous economic impact that that has, I think it's greater
than the Super Bowl, and it's just amazing the number of jobs
created throughout the entire country, including in my home
state of Mississippi.
Mr. Conathan, thank you for mentioning shipbuilding in
Maine. I have witnessed shipbuilding in Maine and I've
experienced seafood in both the state of Maine and the state of
Florida and it's good to have you here.
Let me begin with Governor Bryant. Governor Bryant, you
might want to take a moment to introduce a special guest or two
that you brought along with you that you might have referred to
in your testimony.
Mr. Bryant. I have the President of the University of
Southern Mississippi, my alma mater, Dr. Rodney Bennett, and
Dr. Bennett.
Senator Wicker. Dr. Bennett, wave at the crowd. Good to
have you here. We're glad to have Southern Miss represented.
Mr. Bryant. And, Dr. Bennett, your staff, would you like to
introduce who you have? Could he introduce who he has here?
Senator Wicker. Please, absolutely.
Dr. Bennett. Mr. Chairman, we have with us from the
University of Southern Mississippi Dr. Gordon Cannon. Dr.
Cannon is our Vice President for Research and has more than 33
years of distinguished academic service to the university.
Also joining us is Dr. Monty Graham. Dr. Monty Graham works
on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and is in charge of our School of
Ocean Science and Engineering.
Senator Wicker. Well, good, and when he comes back, we'll
put him on the front row next time.
Mr. Bryant. I was going to say Mr. Chairman, if you asked
me a question, it would be so easy, and I would let Dr. Graham
answer it.
Senator Wicker. Well, but he won't have that opportunity,
but I know you probably wanted to elaborate, Governor Bryant,
on how you envision the universities working with you at state
government and also the private sector in creating
opportunities for new economic growth in the Blue Economy.
Mr. Bryant. Not only the University of Mississippi but all
our research universities, University of Southern Mississippi,
University of Mississippi, and Mississippi State University
have been a part of this, whether it's at NASA, whether it's
involved in our Oceanic Research Center with the University of
Southern Mississippi, Gulfport, or our planned new Ocean
Enterprise Center that we're working with, thanks to your help
with the CENOTE Act, that will be involving the research
universities, the private sector, NOAA, as well as the United
States Navy, bringing all of these elements together primarily
for the research, monitoring, observation, testing, mapping,
and protection of the Gulf of Mexico and the entire ocean by
extension.
So it's critical that we have that research component after
the spill, after we had one of the largest manmade disasters in
the nation, following one of the largest hurricanes known in
our time.
We had to take a really serious look at what that ocean
will look like not only now but a hundred years from now and
that includes sub-surface testing, not only for scientific
methods as we work with NOAA to see if there is any change in
temperature, what that ocean bottom is looking like, how
anything living in that water is progressing or changing, but
also for our protection, how we might be able to see what's
going on beneath the oceans around the world.
So the United States Navy is moving quickly into sub-
surface vessels. As I like to say, every general wants to know
what's over the next hill and every captain wants to know
what's out in front of his ship and sub-surface vessels are our
most efficient way of being able to gather information to be
able to protect the men and women that sail the seas for the
United States Navy and our allies.
So we look forward to working diligently with the United
States Navy. We are, as the University of Mississippi has had
interaction with NOAA, representatives of the United States
Navy, desperately working toward being able to achieve the
requirements of the CENOTE Act there on the Port of Gulfport.
Senator Wicker. Well, let me sneak in another question and
then make an observation.
I know you want to talk about ports, also, and I can assure
you that this is a topic that's near and dear to the heart of
Senator Cantwell as well as this member of the U.S. Senate.
So how do we need to help meet the demands of the 21st
Century with our ports and make our existing facilities better
prepared?
Mr. Bryant. As the economy of this great country is
growing, we're exporting now. Mississippi, as we said earlier,
has exponentially increased the amount of exports that we're
seeing move through our ports all over the state of Mississippi
but particularly along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but that's
infrastructure.
I just spoke to Secretary Chao in the hallway just a moment
ago. So as we're looking--as you are helping with Senator
Baldwin with the Port Operations Research and Technology Act,
as we look at infrastructure, so not only do we have a port
that's important but how do we get there and how do we do so,
quite honestly, in a safe and environmentally safe way?
So we've brought in, for example, three 60-ton electric
cranes to replace the old diesel-driven cranes that we had, so
our air quality is so important, access roads that are there,
our multimodal system with rail that is so important to us,
deepening the channel. The opening of the Panama Canal and the
widening of the Panama Canal will bring the Panamanian ships
in. So it's got to be deeper.
I am one that embraces the Corps of Engineers. There are
those that might say the Corps takes its time and they do, but
for a reason. When you have the responsibility of moving that
much ocean bottom, you want to do so in a safe and effective
manner, but we've got to deepen that port. We've got to have
multimodal opportunities to move products in and out of that in
a safe way and maintain the air quality in and around there and
provide jobs, particularly to low-and moderate-income
personnel.
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Governor Bryant.
Senator Cantwell.
Senator Cantwell. Well, thank you, Governor, for mentioning
port modernization and that's an impressive number you
mentioned in your testimony, 259 percent increase in exports.
We definitely, all up and down the Pacific Coast, feel the same
kind of pressure, particularly being a neighbor of Vancouver,
British Columbia, where product can be shipped to and from
there if we aren't competitive in Seattle or Tacoma or
elsewhere.
So your mentioning of the Panamax, which is the competition
that people need to realize that every day trade and getting
product to Asia is growing competition from other parts of the
world and so we need to keep making that infrastructure
investment.
So I think this is the second hearing we've had on this,
but I definitely want to work with the Chairman on making sure
that we make infrastructure investments in all of the aspects
that you're talking about, channel deepening, port
modernization, and I think you articulated very well what some
of the challenges that are already being met by West Coast
ports on that, Clean Air Act attainment levels, and there are
some really great technologies that are helping our ports
diversify and to get on to cleaner sources of fuel as it
relates to that.
So I appreciate your knowledge and depth on all of that.
Thank you for bringing your guests, too, because one of the
things that we're also working on jointly is the University of
Southern Mississippi's Ocean Weather Laboratory and the
University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory on all of
the NOAA's observing systems.
Could you comment a little further on this sector that
Mississippi is becoming such a knowledgeable place for on
gliders and radar system and buoys?
I mean, I ask you to do that just because as a state, you
understand very well the information that you get out of those
systems. So what are you hoping that this becomes?
Mr. Bryant. Information is critical to those of us that
live and work and play and learn on the ocean, particularly
when we talk about hurricane season, which is quickly
approaching.
So as we work with our universities to make sure that we
have the smart buoys that are in that water that are constantly
monitoring that, when the temperature change begins,
particularly below the ocean surface and below the seabed, you
can begin to predict when that storm may come in and be able to
give warnings to the people that are living there, evacuations,
if necessary.
So it's truly life and death, but to me, as much as we love
that ocean, we want to know if it's changing, if it's changing
at all, if the temperature is moving, if we see ocean life
being affected. It's amazing how they will talk to you if you
will listen, and if it begins to change, why is it changing?
We talked about ports. Not only can we modernize those
ports but we have new technology now that make them cleaner and
safer and more effective. In the old days when we were running
the gasoline and diesel constantly moving to and from, the air
quality in and around ports were very challenging.
So the opportunity to modernize and bring them in an
environmental-friendly way into a new age of exporting products
all around the world from the United States to and from but
monitoring that ocean must be done every day, 24/7, and to
determine if we are doing anything that we need to adjust to
better protect our oceans.
Senator Cantwell. Well, I thank you for that. Our two
colleagues, the late Senator Ted Stevens and late Senator Danny
Inouye, helped us start that buoy system and I can tell you for
our oyster industry and shellfish industry, it was critical to
giving data on when to do seeding because, as water temperature
changed, they were having a tough time maintaining that sector
and having that buoy information and the changes in conditions
was what helped save it. So thank you----
Mr. Bryant. Critical.
Senator Cantwell.--for that.
Mr. Conathan and Mr. Deal, what about science? I mean, you
both mentioned it in your testimony. Obviously the Fish
Modernization Act that my colleague, the Chairman, sponsored
was a little bit of a debate about how much science, but what
do we need to do to keep everybody understanding that there's
more science and data. More science and data helps us grow the
population of fish, thereby then having a larger pie as opposed
to just fighting over the current piece of pie? How do we do
that?
Mr. Conathan. Thank you, Senator Cantwell.
Briefly, so on that observation point, I think that's a
critical piece of what we need in order to keep this moving
forward.
As you know, my former boss, Senator Snowe, was also a
tremendous proponent of the Integrated Ocean Observing System.
We worked on that quite a bit while I was on the Committee, and
it's excellent to see how that process is advancing through
work with CENOTE and work at USM and obviously throughout the
country.
As I mentioned in my testimony, we are gathering a lot of
data now, more than we can possibly handle and digest, and I
think really one of the critical components to how we're going
to take this to the next level and really begin to understand
fundamentally what the ocean has, what it can produce and how
we can make it more productive for the future will be in
figuring out how to manage that data and how to process it so
that we can actually extract as much as possible and so that
means the data needs to come in in formats that are comparable,
so you're comparing apples to apples as opposed to apples to
oranges, so that it can all be integrated and put together, and
ultimately so that the collaboration among the data-gathering
entities has to be improved so that all the scientists are
talking to each other.
We're not duplicating efforts on data collection and we're
really being able to process it to the fullest.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you. I know my time has expired but
Mr. Deal.
Senator Wicker. Go ahead.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Deal. Thank you.
As it relates to recreational and commercial fishing in
Federal waters, I'd like to see better cooperation between the
states and the Federal Government, NMHS in particular, and the
actual measurement of the biomass of the fish. I think there's
general consensus that the data is very, very poor. The state
data is much better, but as is often the case, there are
pillars and fiefdoms that don't work together as well, you
know, much to your point.
So I think if we can make data collection of the fisheries
that we have a much higher priority within the budgeting of
NMHS and fast track that, I think there will be a lot of good
decisions made. I think if the science is not good and not
sound, then we're going to be making guesses and potentially
bad decisions.
Senator Cantwell. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much.
Now, Governor Bryant, it's my distinct honor to recognize
for the next set of questions your former colleague, the former
Governor of the State of Florida, Senator Rick Scott.
Senator Scott.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICK SCOTT,
U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
Senator Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Well, Governor Bryant, thank you for being here. You and
Rick Perry probably were the two best competitors at selling
your states. You've done an unbelievable job, always talking
about the success of the citizens of your state, and I just
want to commend you for what you've done over the last 7 years,
and I always liked to compete with you for jobs and you held
your own.
Mr. Bryant. You were quite a competitor, Senator. I
welcomed you to the U.S. Senate.
[Laughter.]
Senator Scott. The beautiful state, you did a great job.
And, Mr. Deal, thank you for all the jobs you've created in
Florida and congratulations on all of your different brands
selling so well. I see them all over our coast, so I'm sure
they're selling outside the state.
So, Mr. Deal, you said that the state and feds need to
cooperate better and share the data better. How would you do
that? We have a very good Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission in Florida. I'm sure Governor Bryant has the same
thing there.
It was a problem for us to get the Federal Government to
cooperate with us on the red snapper season, any of this stuff,
and the way we had to look at it was they must be looking at
different data than we're looking at.
Mr. Deal. Yes, and understand I'm a boat builder, a
business person, and not a fish squeezer or whatever you call
the biologists that are experts in this area. So I defer to
those guys.
I just know that, like you say, that it's an issue and that
they really need to follow the practices of cooperative
management and work together and use the best available data
and not fight over who gets to choose the data because
ultimately if the data is good and the science is good, the
facts present themselves.
Senator Scott. Governor Bryant, did you have the same
issue?
Mr. Bryant. Absolutely. The Modern Fish Act, Senator, has
helped so much. Our program, called Tails and Scales, where we
report the extraction rate of red snapper, has been wildly
successful. We are able to track the number of fish that are
being caught both recreationally and commercially.
We need to expand that, if we can, to other species of
fish. It is not difficult for any of us that are fishing on
that water to be able to catch and report, particularly
electronically now, that extraction rate, and it is a huge help
to those that look at how we are removing the fish from the
water, particularly on a commercial rate, and when we need to
adjust those seasons and just those catch rates.
So Tails and Scales has been a huge success with us and
we'd love to share it with any state that would like to have
that technology.
Senator Scott. Governor, were you able to get them to
change their red snapper season as a result of that, the feds?
Mr. Bryant. If I remember correctly, the Modern Fish Act
did so. I think it expanded it to about 36 days from about
three, so quite a number, and Mr. Deal can tell you more about
that, but when you buy one of Mr. Deal's great boats and you
fill it up and you get your friends out and you go out and you
get to catch three fish, that's quite a day.
So it will grow that economy tremendously being able to
expand the number of fish that you're able to catch that
particular day or the weekend.
Senator Scott. So, Mr. Conathan, is there ability for the
state and the feds to share better data to where we can make
better decisions?
Mr. Conathan. There absolutely is, and I think one critical
point to raise on this red snapper question in particular is
that, you know, as I alluded to in my answer to Senator
Cantwell's question, it's really about making sure that the
data that is coming in to each of these states comes in in a
form where they can compare effectively and measure effectively
what the total amount of fish being removed from the system
actually is.
As I understand it, the states have their own monitoring
systems which are all independent and different and the data
that comes into those systems isn't necessarily comparable or
easily shareable among them.
So I think an effort to bring those organizations together,
those state organizations together and resolve and get that
data into one particular format will be incredibly valuable
and, of course, we have to remember that red snapper is a
federally managed fish species and those fish don't stay in the
waters of whatever state they're caught in and they don't stay
in the state waters; they cross in and out of Federal waters,
as well.
And so at the end of the day, what's most important is that
the fish stays on its rebuilding trajectory and that we get
that population back to the healthy state so that these fish
are available in a larger size, that guys love to go out and
catch and women love to go out and catch so that they are
available for future generations there, as well.
Senator Scott. I had more complaints about how many days
you got to fish red snapper than anything probably I had in my
years as Governor and at the state, of course, we didn't have
any control over it. So it was controlled by the feds.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Senator Scott.
Senator Peters.
STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN
Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to
our witnesses for your testimony here today talking about the
Blue Economy and being from the state of Michigan, I can tell
you we have a blue economy, as well, a little different than
what you have been talking about and focusing on the oceans,
but we have inland seas surrounding my great state.
As you know, 20 percent of the world's fresh water and they
are pretty amazing bodies of water and if you look at our blue
economy, we have the fishing, we have the boating. In fact, I'm
not sure exactly where we are, Mr. Deal, we have been Number 1
in boat registrations. I think Florida now is ahead of us but
we're usually in the top three in terms of boating
registrations.
But the difference for the Great Lakes versus our oceans is
that you can actually drink the water which is a really pretty
remarkable thing. In fact, 40 million Americans drink their
water out of the Great Lakes.
So, Mr. Conathan, I wanted to pick up on your comments
about how we have to protect the oceans from environmental
problems. Certainly the Great Lakes are in that category, as
well.
One concern that I have is oil spills in the Great Lakes.
We have a very old pipeline, for example, through the Straits
of Mackinaw that has been labeled as perhaps the worst possible
place for an oil disaster anywhere in the Great Lakes Basin.
But I know you've had experience with the Deepwater Horizon
Gulf spill and have talked about that. I want to kind of pick
your brain a little bit about lessons learned there and what
you can tell us about Federal agencies coordinating for
cleanup, research that's done on cleanup, kind of what's your
reflection on how we deal with the disaster should it happen.
Mr. Conathan. Well, obviously the Deepwater Horizon
disaster, you know, we're talking about the worst case scenario
and the response that was there, I think the men and women on
the ground who were engaged in that cleanup effort certainly
did so to the best of their ability, but I think, you know,
large-scale what it really speaks to is, you know, similar to
the issue that this committee will be discussing this afternoon
with the Boeing concern, is that industry simply cannot be
trusted to regulate itself in these instances.
To this day, there has still not been legislation passed to
strengthen Federal requirements for oil spill response or to
raise the liability cap for these events as they occur and so I
think, you know, while the response was sort of as good as it
could have been under those circumstances, what we really have
is a failure to address the underlying principles and now, as
we see with the looming confirmation hearing of the next head
of the EPA, you know, it does appear that industry leaders will
be taking on additional positions of leadership in the Federal
Government agencies that are poised to regulate them and I
think that's one of the biggest challenges that we face across
the board here is ensuring that these industries actually get
the oversight that they require so that these mistakes don't
happen in the first place.
I also have a bit of experience with a local pipeline issue
myself. I sat on a committee that wrote a local ordinance in my
hometown of South Portland, Maine, to prevent the reversal of a
flow of oil through that pipeline that would have crude oil
coming down from Canada to be exported, and so as a result of
that and my experience in Deepwater Horizon and being on the
ground there as a staffer of this committee and talking to the
folks who were impacted by that on a daily basis, it really is
an issue that we need to hear the local voices and ensure that
the local voices are being heard in these questions, as well.
Senator Peters. Well, I appreciate those sentiments. I
think you're absolutely right and we have to hold people
accountable and we have to make sure that they're doing what
they have to and don't assume that it's being done because
that's when accidents happen and they can be catastrophic.
Speaking of a pipeline accident, we had the most expensive
pipeline accident in the country in the Kalamazoo River with
cleanup costs exceeding $1 billion. So it's something that is
simply unacceptable.
One thing that I'd also like you to comment on is that I am
working actually with Senator Young, a colleague of mine here
on the Committee, on legislation to update NOAA's Environmental
Sensitivity Indexes.
As we're looking at cleaning up a site or if a disaster
happens, you have to actually know the lay of the land and the
lay of the water and the currents and how you actually move
forward.
You know, I'm particularly disappointed in the fact that
most of the Great Lakes Sensitivity Indexes haven't been
updated in over 20 years and as I mentioned in my opening
comments, this is water that 40 million people drink and we
don't have the kind of analysis of sensitivity that we have
along our ocean coastlines.
Could you speak a little bit to the importance of having
these Sensitivity Indexes in your mind so that we can deal with
these accidents appropriately?
Mr. Conathan. I'm not familiar with the latest updates to
that program through NOAA.
As I mentioned, I've been focused a little more on deeper
ocean issues of late, but, in general, I mean, I think it's
pretty clear that drinking water in particular is a critical
part of our Nation's infrastructure that has significant
challenges.
We're seeing more reports of lead in drinking water in
schools. Obviously the issue in Flint is an ongoing problem and
concern and we don't want that replicated on a larger scale and
again, this is an area where acquiring additional environmental
sensitivity data and learning how to process that data and
understand what that actually means will pay significant
dividends.
A member of our Leadership Council on the Aspen High Seas
Initiative is a scientist, Barbara Block from Stanford, who's
done a tremendous amount of work on bluefin tuna, including in
the Gulf of Mexico, after Deepwater Horizon and determining
what the effect of that, the negative implications of that
disaster were on that species, and I think while that work is
still ongoing, I think it's clear that the natural world, as
well as our human health, is incredibly sensitive to these
issues and the better we know about what those thresholds need
to be, the better we'll manage them.
Senator Peters. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, the bill I was referring to passed out of our
committee last year; I appreciate your support. Hopefully we'll
be able to move it out again this year and get it through the
House. It's certainly a critical piece of legislation and I
look forward to continuing to work with Senator Young.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much, Senator Peters, and
thank you for your leadership there.
Senator Blackburn.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARSHA BLACKBURN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE
Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Governor, good to see you and welcome, and I am so happy
that you brought somebody from Hattiesburg.
Mr. Bryant. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Blackburn. That sounds like a good thing to me.
I've got a couple of questions kind of from a different
perspective. We're all for clean air, clean water, and we
appreciate the work that's been done for a healthy environment,
for growing, making certain that you do have the fish or, as
Governor Scott, Senator was saying, the red snapper there, that
you can have those good days when you go out to fish.
But I want to turn a little bit toward tariffs and trade
because you've got to have that good boat to get in and in
Tennessee, we have some mighty fine boat manufacturers and
they're doing good work and they talk with me sometimes about
sheet aluminum and steel and tariffs.
Mr. Deal, what I'd like to hear from you quickly is how it
has affected your business and the volume that you're able to
produce each year.
Then, Governor, if you'll talk a little bit about the Port
of Pascagoula and the exports, imports, exports, what you have
seen in the volume that is going through the port.
Mr. Deal.
Mr. Deal. Yes, understand I build fiberglass boats.
Senator Blackburn. OK.
Mr. Deal. So we don't, but I do work with the National
Marine Manufacturers Association and the subject of the
sheetmetal, sheet aluminum tariffs is a very unctuous one for
many, many, many builders in Tennessee and all over the
country.
You take the additional throughput costs of the materials,
some of which we are experiencing on our component parts on the
fiberglass side, as well, but primarily on the aluminum side,
and you couple that with the retaliatory tariffs of Canada and
the EU, it has been a real, real problem for a lot of builders.
You know, a 25 percent tariff is pretty much a death blow
to your export markets. So it has been a real bad thing for our
industry.
Senator Blackburn. OK, and I imagine the EPA with your
fiberglass finishing is probably more of a hazard for you.
Mr. Deal. Really, no. We manage. We work very closely with
in Florida the----
Senator Blackburn. Good.
Mr. Deal.--Department of Environmental Protection and we
actually are working our way toward a zero emission facility.
So we do a lot of closed molding and our industry is moving
toward that. So that our relationship with the EPA is very
cooperative.
Senator Blackburn. Good. Sounds good.
Governor?
Mr. Bryant. Yes, ma'am. Ports are so important. As I said
earlier, 259 percent increase in exports in 10 years. We are--
and that's after Katrina destroyed the Port of Gulfport,
heavily damaged the Port of Pascagoula and Port Bienville.
So we are seeing products that are now being manufactured
across the United States particularly going to South America,
that the emerging middle class that we see there is demanding
more consumer products, and we're all too happy to ship those
products to them, while at the same time we're bringing in
fresh fruit.
We're the largest fresh fruit distributor in the
Southeastern United States there at Port of Gulfport. I think
it has immeasurable opportunities for jobs, for growth.
I agree with you on the tariffs. As I've talked to my
farmers, as I've talked to our manufacturers, the tariffs are a
challenge to them, and I think if we can unbridle that at some
point and settle those disputes, if we can agree with Canada
and Mexico to get that free trade agreement ratified, you're
going to see more business at our ports. You're going to see
more blue economy and again if we're going to get to a 355-ship
Navy, it's going to take all of us working together.
Parts of the ships that are manufactured there at Ingalls
come from all over the United States and so we're all too happy
to be America's shipbuilder, but it will take hard work with
this committee to make sure that we have the leverage and the
opportunity and the flexibility in the states to grow those
economies.
Senator Blackburn. Excellent. Yield back.
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Senator Blackburn.
Mr. Deal and Mr. Conathan, the CENOTE Act and the Modern
Fish Act are new statutes. We are just now implementing them.
I want to give each of you an opportunity to give us
suggestions about how to exercise our oversight responsibility
and what we might need to look out for as we work with the
agencies in getting these up and running.
Mr. Conathan. Very well. Thank you, Senator.
So I would say that, first of all, the outcome of the
Modern Fish Act I think was a very good compromise. I know
there were concerns about the bill as initially introduced and
some of the efforts to potentially weaken some of the building
requirements that are fundamental to the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
which is, you know, not just a model for how we manage
fisheries here in the United States but one that's been
replicated around the world and one that we should be
incredibly proud of for the positive outcomes that it has had
for our fisheries.
So I think for me, the most critical piece to pay attention
to there, and I alluded to it earlier in the response to
Senator Scott's question, is that we really ensure that our
ultimate goal remains rebuilding these fish stocks to their
maximum sustainable yield as the law requires and that we get
to that point as quickly as feasible because of the economic
benefits that it will pay and the long-term returns to the
recreational and the commercial sectors.
So I think the provisions of the Act that will be
implemented in terms of the reports that NOAA is going through
now and the returns from those reports, you know, we need to
wait to see what the outcomes of those are, but they will
likely produce results that I think will have positive outcomes
for the future of the fisheries down there.
On the CENOTE bill, I would just say that I think that is a
tremendously positive piece and I think that it's going to pay
significant dividends in terms of how we acquire data and how
we bring more data into the system to ultimately understand
more about the ocean that frankly we know very little about
still to this day. So solving that mystery will pay dividends
in itself.
Senator Wicker. Mr. Deal, anything to add?
Mr. Deal. Yes. I do actually. Mr. Conathan's reference to
maximum sustainable yield is sort of emblematic of the whole
dichotomy between recreational and commercial take. Maximum
sustainable yield is take, you know.
One fewer fish than will collapse the stock and it's all
about biomass and pounds, whereas recreational anglers want to
catch fewer trophy fish that are bigger, and so it's just an
example of how we need to work together in the implementation
process to recognize these differences and develop management
strategies that are unique to each subset and that we
prioritize the data collection so that we really understand
what the biomass is, what the health of the resource is, and
don't just make guesses based on bad data. We really need to
prioritize data collection.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much.
Mr. Conathan, I've certainly enjoyed my association with
the Aspen Institute over time. Your aspect of it is a
relatively new shop. So tell us a little bit about it.
I understand in your written testimony, there's a website
that our viewers can go to to find out about it, but where
you're located, how big is your shop, and will you be
recommending legislation and governmental practices?
Mr. Conathan. Well, thank you, Senator Wicker. I certainly
appreciate the opportunity to talk about the exciting work
we're moving into at the High Seas Initiative.
So, yes, you're correct, it is a new program of the Aspen
Institute, and it's really focused on protecting the health of
the high seas and the ocean at a global scale.
So really our primary goals are to help develop additional
data, to facilitate the science that's going to help us
understand better what is in the ocean and communicate that to
the public in a way that gets the people more excited and
energized about ocean issues in general, and then use that
outcome to influence policy.
So really the goal of the program in general is to inspire
new champions for the ocean and for the high seas that
ultimately lead to the protections for the ocean that we're
going to need going forward at a global scale.
Senator Wicker. When you go to work, where do you go?
Mr. Conathan. Well, mostly I go downstairs and I work in my
home office in South Portland, Maine, but when I come down here
to D.C., that's where the home office of the Aspen Institute
and then, of course, we have our campus out in Colorado, as
well, and so I'm out there, you know, as much as I'm able. It's
a beautiful spot to be and, frankly, it's a great place to talk
about the ocean because it's a place where, you know, when
you're high in the Rocky Mountains, people are not typically
thinking about the oceans and the coasts, but again as I
mentioned in my earlier remarks, no matter where you are in the
world, the ocean is affecting everything that's occurring to
you, whether it's producing the snow that you're skiing on or
the air that you're breathing. It's integral to everything that
we do and it is a fundamental system for the planet and one
that we need to protect.
Senator Wicker. Well, I will tell you Senator Gardner was
here for part of the testimony today and he wanted to assure me
as the Senator from Colorado that he is interested in the Blue
Economy, also.
Senator Cruz.
STATEMENT OF HON. TED CRUZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to each of
the witnesses. Governor, good to see you. Welcome.
Mr. Bryant. Good to see you, Senator.
Senator Cruz. Sorry to bring you to Washington, D.C.
Mr. Bryant. It's all right. It's only temporary.
[Laughter.]
Senator Cruz. I hope you survive the travels and return
home safely and quickly.
Mr. Bryant. Thank you, sir.
Senator Cruz. In 2017, in Texas, our commercial fishing
landings pulled in nearly $224 million in fisheries landings,
an increase of more than $30 million over 2016 levels, and our
recreational anglers took more than 1,100 trips and harvested
more than two million pounds.
As we look to expand the economic output of the U.S.
Exclusive Economic Zone, how can we protect these existing
industries which make such substantial economic impacts in
Texas and more generally, in our Nation's coastal communities?
I would welcome thoughts from any of the witnesses on that.
Mr. Bryant. Well, if----
Mr. Conathan. It speaks----
Mr. Bryant. Go ahead.
Mr. Conathan. It speaks to the data collection issue. I
mean, we have to have better science to manage these fisheries
and we have to have better data collection on the health of the
fisheries and real-time understanding of where the biomass is.
Mr. Bryant. I think if we look at the program with the
Modern Fish Act now, as we have in Mississippi, the Tails and
Scales Act, where we are monitoring the red snapper, no angler
minds doing that because we know it is helping future
fishermen. We know our children will benefit from what we're
looking at with the extraction rates and mortality rates of the
fish.
So it is about monitoring. It is about making sure that we
have a uniform opportunity across this Nation to be able to
report those.
Now the government doesn't need to know every fish that you
catch but as we, as fishermen, understand that if it's helping
that great sport and that economy, we don't mind doing that,
particularly in a commercial level.
Eighty-four percent of the seafood we consume in the United
States is imported. Imagine if we were to give the flexibility
and opportunity, within guidelines, of our commercial fishermen
and anglers to be able to share that catch. We might be able to
reduce the import and, quite honestly, there's all types of
concerns from mercury to other concerns of imported seafood
that have supplanted the seafood industry here in the United
States and that's something we desperately need to look at.
Mr. Conathan. Sorry. I would just add quickly that the
other piece of that, and I agree with both of the statements,
but the other piece of that is communicating those messages to
the people who are using that resource, both on the consumer
side and on the producer side and the recreational angler side.
The importance of communicating that data and getting that into
the system is critical, as well.
Senator Cruz. OK.
Mr. Deal. Can I also add the logical thing, if you look at
the import numbers, the vast majority of that food that's
imported, seafood that's imported is grown through aquaculture,
and we need to take a serious look at our aquaculture
opportunities and manage them in ways that make sense, that are
environmentally safe and friendly and to increase our domestic
aquaculture so we don't have to import so much from overseas.
Senator Cruz. Well, when you say a serious look, what would
you recommend? What makes sense in that regard?
Mr. Deal. Well, I think Senator Wicker's got some thoughts
on that that he might be able to share with you, as I
understand.
Senator Wicker. Indeed, I don't want to take Senator Cruz's
time, but I've introduced the Aqua Act. We're probably going to
need some help from our witnesses about that and particularly
Mr. Conathan. I hope your institute is going to work with us
because indeed the Governor's correct.
We ought to be growing a lot of this aquaculture in the
sort of controlled safe environments that we can be sure of
here in the United States rather than some fairly sketchy
places around the world where you've got antibiotics and
mercury and other contaminants.
Mr. Conathan. Yes. I think there's a tremendous opportunity
to develop--again, Senator Cruz, I apologize for this
diversion, but I think there's a tremendous opportunity to
develop an aquaculture industry in the United States, but there
are also a lot of pitfalls that we need to watch out for.
Those include issues that Senator Cantwell recognized with
the farming of non-native fish species and the large release of
Atlantic salmon that occurred in the Pacific Northwest. There
are also issues of feed and how you produce food for
particularly carnivorous aquaculture species and what the ratio
of fish, wild capture fish, often forage fish, which is
important to all aspects of the environment and the fisheries,
as well, that has to be ground into meal to feed the farmed
fish when they are carnivorous.
But certainly there are opportunities in aquaculture,
particularly in multitrophic aquaculture or multispecies
aquaculture where you're farming seaweed and shellfish and fin
fish together in a single site that allows some of those
natural cycles to really take full advantage of the nutrient
load that's being put in.
Again, we have to be very careful about how those nutrients
are distributed throughout the rest of the ecosystem.
And, second, in closed loop onshore aquaculture facilities
where we can really be producing these seafood, particularly
again vegetarian fish that do not require wild capture fish as
part of their diet and can grow in systems that are easy to
control, where you can control the inputs and the outputs and
treat the affluent from those facilities, so that it doesn?t
cause the environmental impacts of open ocean aquaculture.
So lots of things to be aware of but, indeed, you know, if
we can control a sustainable, truly sustainable aquaculture
industry in this country, that's certainly better than some of
the fish that are coming from places where we have extremely
little control over what goes into those facilities.
Senator Wicker. And, of course, farm-raised catfish would
be an excellent example of that, which we do more of in
Mississippi than any other state.
I hope Aspen will help us develop a good aquaculture
program and I want Senator Cruz to take as much time as he
needs to get his questions in.
Senator Cruz. Just briefly, Governor. As you're aware, last
year, NOAA announced a 2-year pilot program that gives more
power to five Gulf states, including Mississippi and my home
state of Texas, to manage recreational fishing for red snapper
and I wanted to ask what conclusions do you think are likely to
result from that program?
Mr. Bryant. I think you're going to see that industry grow.
It was the former Governor from Florida who was just talking
about how he probably got more phone calls about that than
anything else and I understand that remark completely.
So it has given the states some flexibility to be able to
expand that recreational fishing primarily in these Gulf of
Mexico states and so you see more people investing. People are
coming from all over the United States to fish in Texas and
Mississippi. The economy has grown. So it has been wildly
successful in my mind.
And again, the industry will monitor itself but there's
always an opportunity, particularly as we look at the Modern
Fish Act, to help with that, but they understand their industry
depends on how they go about the proper management of those red
snappers and they're doing a very good job of that. That was a
wonderful piece of legislation and has relieved a great deal of
tension and stress on administrators and Governors and
senators. Thank you for it.
Senator Cruz. Well, very good. Thank you.
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Senator Cruz.
Gentlemen, you've come all this way. Is there anything that
we really need to cover? Any final remarks from any of you?
Governor Bryant?
Mr. Bryant. You know, Senator, better than to ask me that.
I just think the CENOTE Act is one that has probably been
underrated at this point. I equate it to the creation of NASA.
CENOTE will help us map the ocean floor. It will help us
explore and find new species that were unknown to man. This is
going to be a remarkable opportunity for us to find out what's
really in that ocean and how we can go about preserving it and
utilizing it for our economy throughout the world.
Senator Wicker. Thank you. Mr. Conathan.
Mr. Conathan. Thank you, Senator Wicker.
I would just also add that, of course, the Blue Economy is
not just an American phenomenon. It's an international
phenomenon. The ocean is planetary in scale and there are on
the international front tremendous opportunities coming to the
fore in the international policy world over the next 2 years.
We talk about 2020 as being an oceans super year where
there will be decisions made through the various bodies of the
United Nations on issues as diverse as the Biodiversity Beyond
National Jurisdiction Treaty that I mentioned as currently
negotiations are underway in second session there. That treaty
will be out hopefully by 2020.
The International Seabed Authority is developing new
regulations for the future of potential industry in the deep
seabed mining space which is something that we have significant
concerns about in terms of how that will affect these deep
ocean ecosystems.
The Convention on Biodiversity is talking about protecting
hopefully 30 percent of the planet by 2030. So I would also
urge the Committee to continue to be aware of these
international opportunities as they arise and ensure that your
voices are heard there and happy to provide you more
information on those opportunities as they're coming up.
So thank you for the time.
Senator Wicker. Very good. Mr. Deal, anything else to add?
Mr. Deal. Very briefly, just let's make sure that the
intent of the Modern Fish Act is carried through the
implementation process, all the way to the end, and I think
we'll be much better off for that.
Senator Wicker. Thank you very much.
Senator Blumenthal.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT
Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
I know that Senator Cantwell asked about the importance of
science in fisheries management and I wonder if you have, any
of you, suggestions for us in how to change, because
undoubtedly, there will be change the current fisheries
management structure, that is, how facts and science are used
because right now in Connecticut, the system essentially is not
working for either recreational or commercial fishing.
The quotas are off because of the migration of fish
populations and so I see a need for reforming the management
system to be more responsive more quickly to the changes in the
fish populations and management that result from changes in
climate and other factors.
Perhaps I can open that for you.
Mr. Conathan. Sure. Thank you, Senator Blumenthal.
I think you hit on it at the end there. I mean, the
critical factor is, and as a New Englander myself, I mean, I've
seen over the last, you know, 40 years now, I've watched the
changes in fish populations and they're increasing obviously
extremely rapidly over the last decade or so in particular and,
you know, we've talked about the issue of Black Sea bass in the
past and that migrating up from the Mid-Atlantic into the New
England region.
Obviously significant changes in the lobster fishery in
your part of the world, and I think becoming more responsive
more quickly to these changes is going to be a critical part of
the system, and I think we're really at a point in our ability
as a result of technological advances and data management
advances where we should be able to incorporate these changes
and these shifts more quickly and part of that will come from
increasing access to data, particularly from commercial fishing
vessels.
I think electronic monitoring systems will be critical in
this and those data can then be incorporated much more rapidly
into, for example, stock assessments or management models that
are required to set some of those levels.
I also think greater collaboration between the regional
fishery management councils is critical in ensuring that, for
example, the New England Council and the Mid-Atlantic Council
are managing perhaps more collectively than they have in the
past. I don't know exactly what that needs to look like and
certainly there are complications and history and personalities
and everything else that goes into that, but that will be
critical to making sure that we make better decisions for our
fisheries, as well.
Senator Blumenthal. Do you think that structure of councils
organized regionally should be changed?
Mr. Conathan. That's a good question. I think that there
needs, at the very least, to be a more formalized mechanism for
that inter-council communication to occur, and over the last
couple of years, I have not been as deeply involved and my
knowledge of the intricacies of the Magnuson Act is a little
rustier than it has been in the past, but I think that's
definitely something worth looking at.
Senator Blumenthal. I mean, we wouldn't--for example, you
analogized space to the seas, and I agree with you that, Number
1, we're far more likely to find new forms of life at sea but
also probably more payback on investment in the sense of
resources and so forth, but we wouldn't divide different areas
of space into different councils and the sea is likewise
difficult to divide in terms of boundaries and geography
because fish have no respect for the councils that we just
pretty arbitrarily establish.
Mr. Conathan. Yes. No, we do draw those lines based on
political boundaries that certainly have no or at least very
little, in many cases, overlap with the biological realities of
the regions.
However, I do think there's also a place for local
knowledge in fisheries management and I would want to make sure
that that aspect is not lost as things are, you know,
potentially shifting in that direction.
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, and thank you to all the
witnesses for being here today.
This has been a very useful hearing. I apologize. I had an
Armed Services Committee meeting, as well, and I know
Mississippi cares a lot about shipbuilding.
Mr. Bryant. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you.
Senator Blumenthal. Happy you're here and thank you so
much.
Mr. Bryant. We were glad you were in that meeting, Senator.
Thank you.
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you.
Senator Wicker. And who knows, I may be able to run over
and get in on the tail end of that hearing.
Gentlemen, we thank you very much for your participation,
for your testimony, and, Governor, thank you for bringing our
friends from USM.
Mr. Bryant. Thank you.
Senator Wicker. And we will now close the hearing, and I
think I've got some words I'm supposed to read into the record.
The record will remain open for two weeks. During this
time, Senators are asked to submit any questions for the
record. Upon receipt, witnesses are requested to submit their
written answers to the Committee as soon as possible but no
later than Wednesday, April 10, 2019, if that's all right.
So thank you very much.
We'll conclude the hearing and thank the witnesses.
[Whereupon, at 11:21 a.m., the hearing was concluded.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. John Thune to
Scott Deal
Question. In my home state of South Dakota, hunting and fishing are
not just hobbies, but major drivers of our economy. In the 114th
Congress, I sponsored S. 834, the Sport Fish Restoration and
Recreational Boating Safety Act, which became law as part of the FAST
Act, reauthorizing a popular program that has benefitted anglers and
fishermen since 1950.
This program generates nearly $600 million dollars per year which
are set aside in a Trust Fund for distribution among the states for
coastal wetlands conservation, fisheries restoration programs, and a
national boating safety program. The States decide where the money
goes, which means those dollars get spent on the projects that matter
the most to our States.
a. Mr. Deal, can you talk about the benefits of a program like the
Sportfish Restoration Program?
Answer. Senator Thune, thank you for your continued support of and
interest in the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (Trust
Fund). As you know, the Trust Fund, which was created in 1950 at the
behest of the boating and angling community, is a user fee-public
benefit system funded through motorboat fuel, import duties, and excise
taxes on small engines, electric motors, and fishing equipment. The
Trust Fund provides nearly $650 million annually for aquatic
conservation, infrastructure projects, and boating safety programs in
all 50 states.
Not only is the Trust Fund the main source of funding for the
Nation's fisheries conservation efforts, but it serves as the backbone
to state fish and wildlife agencies throughout the country--including
South Dakota, which was apportioned through the Trust Fund more than
$4.7 million in Fiscal Year 2019. Since 2010, the Trust Fund has
accounted for nearly 27,000 sites constructed to improve the public's
access to waterways; more than 2 billion fish stocked in lakes, rivers,
and streams; and 3.5 million students educated about the benefits of
conservation, boating, and fishing. These are just a few examples of
how the Trust Fund is a model for how users of our natural resources
can ensure that we--and future generations--can continue enjoying clean
waters, abundant fisheries, and plentiful access.
With the Trust Fund set to expire in 2020, not only is it crucial
that Congress protect and reauthorize the Trust Fund, but with
participation rates increasing--especially in the form of paddle craft
users--it is important that we identify solutions to help grow the
Trust Fund to help reduce user-conflicts and ensure the safety of those
that take to our waters each day. Again, I thank you for your
leadership on this important issue, and please let me know if you have
additional questions.
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