Marine policy of the Barack Obama administration

President Obama being shown map of the U.S. Pacific marine national monuments at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Aug. 31, 2016

The marine policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action, President Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control. Using the president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii and created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the Atlantic.^[1] Early in his presidency, he signed Executive Order 13547, Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, on July 19, 2010, creating a framework for regional marine spatial planning and an Ocean Council, a cabinet-level forum to coordinate the nation's regulatory and diplomatic responsibilities for the oceans.^[2] At the end of the president's second term, Obama approved rules implementing recommendations of the ocean council to combat global illegal fishing and seafood fraud through import monitoring and certification requirements.^[3]

Offshore oil drilling in the Arctic

High profile events during the Obama presidency focused attention on the safety of deepwater oil drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the U.S. The April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred shortly after the Interior Department released a five-year plan for oil and gas development of the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS).^[4] President Obama appointed a bipartisan committee to determine the causes of the blowout and to recommend policies to prevent future disasters.^[5] In 2015, hundreds of kayakers, led by a canoer from the Lummi Nation, protested plans to drill for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea. They surrounded a drilling rig in waters off Seattle, Washington and prevented its departure.^[6][7] In December, 2016, under the authority of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, a new Arctic policy of Barack Obama included actions to remove almost all U.S. Arctic waters (as well as large portions of the NW Atlantic continental shelf) from the offshore oil program.^[8] Ten days after the 2016 presidential election, the Interior Department released its 2017-2022 plan for offshore oil and gas leasing.^[9]

Global shark fin trade

To combat the unsustainable global trade in shark fins, President Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act of 2015.^[10] The U.S. Justice Department sparked controversy in 2013 when it filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit challenging the State of California's 2011 law banning the possession and sale of shark fins, which made it illegal to sell or serve shark fin soup.^[11] In upholding the California law, the U.S. court of appeals did not agree that the state shark fin ban interfered with the purposes of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended,^[12] under which a small commercial shark fishery is authorized in the NW Atlantic.^[13] The NOAA assistant administrator for fisheries later determined that state and territorial laws banning possession and trade in shark fins are consistent with, and not subject to federal preemption by, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which is designed to prevent overfishing and ensure a sustainable seafood supply.^[14]

Marine protected species and shipping

Major policy decisions enhancing the protection of marine mammals and endangered sea turtles in U.S. waters included the removal of sunset provision for vessel restrictions to reduce ship collisions with North Atlantic right whales and the listing of distinct population segments of threatened and endangered sea turtles. Loggerhead sea turtle policies of the Barack Obama Administration (2009-2017) included tightening of regulations to prevent by-catch or incidental takes in commercial fisheries. The speed restrictions were adopted previously under the U.S. Endangered Species Act to reduce death and injury by ship collision of endangered whales. This action made the restrictions permanent.^[15] The Coast Guard conducted a port access routing study (PARs) in the Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait and Bering Sea.^[16] The Administration's proposed expansion of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, however, was withdrawn due to opposition from the governor of Hawaii.^[17] After NOAA denied the Georgia Aquarium's application for a captive display permit for beluga whales, the State of California enacted the Orca Welfare and Safety Act. The ORCA effectively prohibited SeaWorld from continuing its killer whale captive breeding program.

Marine pollution and protected areas

Congress enacted and President Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act 2015, banning the use of micro-plastics in personal care products sold in the U.S.^[18] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approved a proposal by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to create the Senator Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area.^[19] By presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906, to protect Deep-water coral habitat in the NW Atlantic, President Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in September, 2016.^[20] He also created a Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area by executive order. Ballast water regulation in the United States was pursued by the EPA, to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species into ports and estuaries. Under the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Army Corps of Engineers denied permits for expansion of coal export facilities near and pipelines crossing Native American lands.

Climate action and ocean renewable energy development

As part of the Obama Administration's effort to combat global climate change (and climate change denial), the Department of Interior held an auction of wind energy leases off the State of New York in December, 2016.^[21] In April, 2016, President Obama and President Xi of China announced jointly that they were formally ratifying the Paris climate agreement, the first global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions.^[22]

International Law of the Sea

In marine-related foreign relations, President Obama authorized additional operations under the U.S. Navy's Freedom of Navigation Program. FONOPs during the Obama Administration focused on the South China Sea following release by the Permanent Court of Arbitration of the arbitral tribunal's decision in Philippines v. China^[23] regarding conflicting maritime rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.^[24]

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