The National Marine Sanctuary Program

Moving America: Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

in Olympic Coast National Marine SanctuaryGeorge Galasso NOAA Olympic Coast National NMSPort Angeles, WA

Ensure that the transportation of Ensure that the transportation of commodities through the commodities through the sanctuaries sanctuaries remains compatible with the protection of sanctuary resources!

The Challenge

Presentation Overview• Marine Transportation in

National Marine Sanctuaries– Authority– Confluence of shipping

lanes and sanctuaries

• Olympic Coast Example

• Future Efforts

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

National Marine Sanctuary Act• provides authority for

conservation and management of sanctuaries, and activities affecting them

• facilitate to the extent compatible with the primary objective of resource protection, all uses of sanctuary resources not prohibited by other authorities

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

• Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act of 1990

• Created an Area to be Avoided (ATBA)

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

• National Marine Sanctuary Program Amendments Act of 1992

• Required NOAA and the Coast Guard to report to Congress on the necessity of regulating vessel traffic in the Monterey Bay NMS

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation

• 3,300 miles2 of diverse habitats• high biological productivity• 29 species marine mammals• large seabird colonies• cultural and historic resources• protected status of coastline

and islands• valuable commercial fisheries• U&A tribal fishing areas • Pacific Rim Trade

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Major Marine Safety Initiatives• Area to be Avoided (ATBA) designation • Neah Bay Rescue Tug• North Puget Sound Long-term Oil Spill

Risk Management Panel• Port Access Route Study (PARS)• ATBA & Traffic Lanes reconfigured

Entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca

TSS and ATBAPrior to December 2002

TSS and ATBACurrent Configuration

• lanes moved 10 nm offshore• inbound lane moved to North• sea room between ATBA and traffic lanes• ATBA applies to more vessels

Entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Area to be Avoided (ATBA)

• 1994-2002– ATBA applied to tank

vessels

• Effective 12/2002– ATBA applies to tank

vessels– ATBA applied to all

vessels over 1600 GT

• OCNMS ATBA Goals

• Education/Outreach

• Monitoring

OCNMS Vessel Traffic Monitoring

OCNMS Vessel Traffic Monitoring

OCNMS Vessel Traffic Monitoring

• Automated Information System (AIS)

• Carriage requirements

• Development of a national infrastructure-USCG

• NMSP efforts

• USCG - National Data Buoy Center

Future Efforts

• Vessel traffic monitoring

• Law enforcement• Evaluate wildlife

and shipping interactions

• Evaluate user conflicts

NMS Uses of AIS Data

Fishing vessel density

Tug/Barge density

Summary

• Authority and responsibility

• Advances in technology

• Monitoring improves safety

• Partnerships are vital

Ensuring Safe Marine Transportation