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U.S. Department of the Interior
Minerals Management Service
Office of Public Affairs
For Release: October 31, 2002
Contact: Nicolette Humphries (202) 208-3985
Studies Initiated On Benefits Of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems
Under the auspices of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program the Minerals Management Service is helping to support a series of studies to quantify potential benefits to the public of a sustained coastal ocean observing system focusing on nine U.S. coastal regions.
In September 2002, a contract was awarded to the
Marine Policy Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to produce an
inventory of the major users of ocean information and a set of region- and
sector-specific studies of likely benefits and costs of improving and
maintaining coastal observing systems.
Products derived from ocean data are used by many
sectors to make choices that affect the nation’s economic well-being. To determine the extent to which the nation
should invest in ocean data collection, it is important to know how new
products will alter decisions made by industry, government, and the public. These studies will be based on a common set
of assumptions and economic methodologies and results will be aggregated at the
national level to enable Federal agencies to determine the optimum budget for
coastal observing systems.
The new two-year project will be conducted jointly
with academic and private sector economists in the following areas:
Region Focus Sector Institution(s)
Gulf
of Maine/New England Search
and Rescue WHOI &
Univ. of Southern Maine
Mid-Atlantic Commercial
Fishing WHOI &
Univ.
of Southern Maine
Southeast Storm
Tracks UNC-
Chapel Hill
Florida Recreational
Boating Univ. of So.
Florida
Gulf
of Mexico Energy
Production LSU
California Recreational
Beach Use Univ. of Wyoming
Pacific
Northwest Shipping/Oil
Spill Response Univ. of Washington
Alaska Search
and Rescue WHOI &
Univ.
of Southern Maine
Great
Lakes Shipping Delta
Research Co.
The MMS Environmental Studies Program will fund the
sector in “energy production” in the Gulf of Mexico. Other agencies providing financial
support to this project include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Work done previously by WHOI and the University of
Southern Maine concluded that the potential annual economic benefits of such a
system for the Gulf of Maine could exceed $30 million alone. Sectors evaluated in the previous study were
Search and Rescue, Fisheries Management, Recreational Boating and Fishing,
Accident Prevention and Oil Spill Cleanup and Mitigation and Commercial
Shipping.
MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of
the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral
resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters. The agency
also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and
Indian leases. These revenues totaled nearly $10 billion in 2001 and more than
$120 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion
from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the
acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.
MMS 20 Years of Service to
America