Marine policy of the Barack Obama administration

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, US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control, setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic, Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.^[2]

In the second year of his presidency, on July 19, 2010, Obama signed an executive order entitled "Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes."^[3] This order created a policy framework for integrated marine spatial planning at the sub-national (regional) level. It also created a council of cabinet-level officials to coordinate policy under the nation's domestic and international rules for the oceans.^[3] This executive order reflected many of the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy in its 2004 report to Congress.^[4] In 2014, the Obama administration inaugurated the "Our Ocean" series of annual conferences to build and promote international cooperation to protect the world's oceans. Members of the Obama administration testified on behalf of U.S. accession to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, to strengthen international norms respecting the freedom of navigation and for the sustainable development and use of marine resources. At the end of his second term in office, President Obama approved rules recommended by the National Ocean Council to combat illegal fishing on the high seas^[5] and seafood mislabeling through import traceability and catch certification requirements.^[6]

For fish stocks within the U.S. EEZ, administrators at NOAA Fisheries (also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service) oversaw implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act amendments of 2007 that required overfished or depleted stocks to be rebuilt to population levels that could provide a sustainable yield. By 2013, a number of important fish stocks within the eight fishery management regions had been rebuilt. Several regional fishery management councils began developing ecosystem-based plans in response to renewed emphasis on the ecosystem approach to fisheries. The Obama administration advanced a precautionary approach to marine resource development in the Arctic Ocean by leading the successful negotiation of an agreement upon a 16-year moratorium on industrial fishing in the Central Arctic Ocean as it becomes ice-free due to global warming. U.S. ocean diplomats also participated in preparatory conferences on a new United Nations agreement for the conservation of and sharing of benefits from marine biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. At the International Maritime Organization, the U.S. delegation successfully negotiated a new set of international rules governing shipping in polar regions.