NE Lawmakers Mold Multistate Ocean Acidification Reduction Plan Around Maine's Model
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Associated Press] by Patrick Whittle - March 30, 2015
A group of state legislators in New England wants to form a multistate pact to counter increasing ocean acidity along the East Coast, a problem they believe will endanger multimillion-dollar fishing industries if left unchecked.
The legislators’ effort faces numerous hurdles: They are in the early stages of fostering cooperation between many layers of government, hope to push for potentially expensive research and mitigation projects, and want to use state laws to tackle a problem scientists say is the product of global environmental trends.
But the legislators believe they can gain a bigger voice at the federal and international levels by banding together, said Mick Devin, a Maine representative who has advocated for ocean research in his home state. The states can also push for research to determine the impact that local factors such as nutrient loading and fertilizer runoff have on ocean acidification and advocate for new controls, he said...
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