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# New state council established to watch over the oceans
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-state-council-established-to-watch-over-the-oceans/
- Published: 2004-08-13T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:49:37.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Leading environmentalists unveil ocean proposal*

*By Daily Press staff*

A new, cabinet-level board may be needed to clean up the Pacific Ocean.

The state’s leading environmentalists have unveiled a long-term proposal to manage and care for the ocean, and are gathering public input before sending it on to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Santa Monica resident Terry Tamminen, the secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency, and California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman said their plan aims to nurture sea life, support sea-based businesses, and clean up California’s ocean, bays, estuaries and coastal wetlands.

Meeting those goals will require forming a cabinet-level Ocean Council, Chrisman said. The council will “conduct a top-to-bottom review of ocean protection laws, evaluate the economic contribution of the ocean and coast to the state, establish a state ocean research strategy, and coordinate California’s approach to protecting and managing marine resources, coastal water quality — and even the sand on our beaches.”

Both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission have identified an emerging national crisis situation regarding the nation’s ocean and coastal resources. Chrisman and Tamminen drafted their plan, called “California Ocean Resources Management: A Strategy for Action Plan,” in response to a June directive from Gov. Schwarzenegger for California to better manage its ocean and coastal resources.

“The governor’s directive specifies that this plan assess ocean strategy and indicate the important actions that can be taken by the Schwarzenegger administration and our partners in both the private sector and the environmental community,” said Tamminen, a long-time environmental leader in Santa Monica. “The final action plan to protect our precious coastal resources will be on the governor’s desk by Sept. 2.”

> “The final action plan to protect our precious coastal resources will be on the governor’s desk by Sept. 2.” — TERRY TAMMINEN Secretary, EPA

Gov. Schwarzenegger made his concerns known earlier this summer. While commenting on a preliminary report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, Schwarzenegger said this is a wake-up call, the oceans are in trouble and in need of help. Actions must take place at the international, national, state, regional and local levels, as the issues are just as important globally as they are locally, Schwarzenegger added.

California has been a leader in ocean and coastal management, and continues to lead initiatives for improving the management of fisheries, marine protected areas, water quality, shoreline erosion and coastal development, according to a press release prepared by Tamminen and Chrisman.

California’s ocean management mission is to ensure comprehensive and coor-dinated management, conservation and enhancement of California’s ocean resources for their intrinsic value and for the benefit of future generations.

“The need for enhanced ocean and coastal management measures is underscored by the demands of California’s growing population, both along the coast and inland,” the release says. “There is a clear need for action to address our current management challenges and those that will be faced by future generations of Californians.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 13, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081304.pdf?ref=smdp.com)