Feburary 15, 2002 News Release

St. Petersburg, Fla. – An expert presentation on sharks, a visit to a phosphate plant and a tour of the Port Manatee Hatchery highlight the Florida and Caribbean region meeting of the new presidential appointed U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, set for February 21 and 22, 2002, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Members of the Commission will be conducting site visits to key oceans-related facilities to view first hand the coastal-related issues of St. Petersburg/Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Puerto Rico on Thursday, February 21. A detailed schedule of these events will be available next week.

On Friday, February 22, the full Commission will gather at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg, to hold a public meeting on the wide range of ocean and coastal issues affecting Florida and Caribbean. Presentations and comments will be made by top ocean scientists, area businesses, environmental organizations, citizens and government officials.

The Florida and Caribbean meeting is the second of nine stops for the 16-member Commission, which is conducting similar site visits and public meetings in the nation’s coastal regions over the next eight months. Based on the information gathered at the public meetings and its in-depth analysis of U.S. coastal policies, the Commission will be compiling recommendations for the development of a comprehensive federal ocean policy to effectively preserve and utilize the world’s oceans and their resources. The Commission’s findings and recommendations will be presented to Congress and the President in a final report in the spring of 2003.

For more information on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy go to: http://oceancommission.gov

Contact:
Scott Treibitz
703-276-2772 x11

David Roscow
703-276-2772 x21

Kate Naughten
202-309-5476


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