By Arlo Hemphill
The Mid-Atlantic achieved another milestone this past month towards the development of a Regional Ocean Action Plan. On October 24th, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB) released a set of documents for public comment and offered a range of in-person and written opportunities for stakeholder response. The documents outlined a series of proposed options on how to move forward with a Regional Ocean Action Plan. They also provided a proposed outline for a Regional Ocean Assessment that would inform the Plan, as well as a proposal for sustained Stakeholder Engagement throughout the development of the Plan.
Representatives of the MidA RPB respond to questions from the public at the Marlin Club in Ocean City, Maryland. Photo: Jason B. Houston
The opportunities for public comment included an informative webinar on October 29th, followed by a series of Public Listening Sessions held in Lewes, Delaware; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Ocean City, Maryland; Stony Brook, New York and Long Branch, New Jersey. These informal Town Hall sessions were chaired by respective state hosts and federal partners, attracted an array of Mid-Atlantic ocean stakeholders and included lively dialogue over local concerns about ocean use, in-depth discussion about the concepts of regional ocean planning and insightful analysis of the potential options. Each of the state sessions was unique, providing local context to the process and a snapshot into the diversity of ocean uses and resources, as well as challenges the region faces.
The Public Listening Sessions also provided a backdrop of informative data planning and instruction offered through the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal kiosk at each event along with a documentary team capturing interviews and images for the creation of an upcoming multimedia production entitled “Voices of the Mid-Atlantic”.
The public comment period for the proposed options ended on November 20th and the results are now being compiled and will be considered by the MidA RPB. Comprehensive analysis and reporting of the public input will be announced on the MARCO website once made available by the MidA RPB. Decisions on how to proceed with a Regional Ocean Action Plan will be guided by the public feedback and made at the next full RPB meeting to be held in New York City on January 21-22, 2015 where the public will again be invited to attend and provide input.
Image at Top: Representatives of the MidA RPB and the MARCO Portal Team take questions from the public in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Photo: Jason B. Houston