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Feds plan to intensify
ocean research here

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By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii would have a key role in a national ocean exploration strategy endorsed by a science advisory panel recently in Honolulu.

The strategy has been hailed as a "21st-century Lewis and Clark Expedition."

It should be an integral part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and include undersea research, NOAA's Science Advisory Board agreed.

The board recommends that the undersecretary of the Department of Commerce obtain executive and congressional support for a NOAA undersea science program.

NOAA already operates the National Undersea Research Program, which includes the Hawaii Undersea Research Program. But it has never been authorized by law and has a spotty history of funding, leaders told the board.

Program officials noted the National Undersea Research Program's importance in learning about the ocean, its environment and resources for economic and research benefits.

Alex Malahoff, University of Hawaii oceanographer who directs the Hawaii program, cited new frontiers of research, with the program's submersible aiding fisheries and collecting organisms in extreme environments sought for commercial byproducts.

Also at the Honolulu meeting, Peter Douglas, California Coastal Commission executive director and NOAA Science Advisory Board member, reported on the president's 22-member ocean exploration panel.

The group of experts is recommending that the United States establish a program to explore the earth's last frontier, starting with a $75 million, 10-year mission, he said. Their report will advocate voyages of discovery and cutting-edge technology "to go out to where no one has been before and use new eyes," Douglas said.

He said an "ocean day" is being planned with the new president after the election to discuss the National Ocean Exploration Strategy -- a "bold undertaking" never before attempted.

Eight of 15 NOAA advisory board members and five agency representatives attended the Honolulu meetings, which ran Tuesday through Thursday. They reviewed activities on aquatic nuisance and invasive species and marine protected areas, among other issues.

To strengthen management of coral reefs, they recommended adding a social scientist to the advisory board for the coral reef program.

Alfred Beeton of the University of Michigan, NOAA advisory board chairman and adviser to the undersecretary of commerce, said he was impressed with the research going on in this region.

"It looks like in Hawaii there is a lot of coordination and cooperation among various parts," he said.

"This is not unique to Hawaii, but it seems to be more enhanced and further along."

NOAA is so diverse -- spanning weather, ocean, fisheries, satellite, endangered species, environmental and other operations -- "that it's difficult to deal with cross-cutting issues," Beeton said.

But many things the agency does "are very essential for the health and prosperity of the country."

For example, NOAA is moving more into climate service, telling the public what's ahead for six months or longer, he said. This affects transportation industries, crops and the stock market, Beeton said.

"I'm certain the new administration will be looking at these things. There has to be an agenda."