On June 4, the Pew Ocean's Commission released Charting a Course for Sea Change, a report on its 18-month study of the crisis facing America's oceans and a plan of action to restore and protect fisheries and other living resources. The 35-page summary report chronicles the causes of the crisis and the failure of the hodgepodge of existing regulatory authorities to halt the decline.

That our oceans and coastal waters are in serious trouble is indisputable. The sobering statistics presented in the report don't lie. And, while the commission's report correctly notes we have only scratched the surface in our understanding of the structure and dynamics of ocean and coastal ecosystems, scientists and resources managers agree on the root causes of the decline - declining water quality, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, and unsustainable and destructive fishing practices.

The tone of the summary report is vintage gloom and doom. The Pew Commission offers little hope that we can work our way out of this predicament. There is no mention, for example, of the significant improvements in water quality in many freshwater and coastal water bodies resulting largely from the clean up of domestic and industrial sources of pollution. We need look no further than Tampa Bay for evidence that major urban estuaries can be brought back to life, even in the face of explosive population growth in their watersheds. Tampa Bay's remarkable recovery was jumpstarted by command-and-control regulation of point sources in the mid-1970s and is sustained today by a coordinated group of community based and agency restoration programs, with a safety net of regulatory programs for point and non-point source pollution and habitat protection.

Conspicuously absent from the summary report is any mention of the vital role of freshwater inflow to estuaries in sustaining the biological productivity of America's oceans. Estuaries are known as the "cradle of the sea," providing food and shelter for more than 70% of commercially and recreationally significant fish at some stage of their lives. From Florida Bay to San Francisco Bay, estuaries in this country's three fastest-growing states - California, Texas, and Florida - are increasingly threatened by competition from expanding populations and agriculture for freshwater. Freshwater is the life blood of estuaries and inshore and offshore fisheries that depend on them. Overcoming the perception of policy makers and some water managers that water flowing into bays and the oceans is "wasted" is one of the greatest challenges facing the health of coastal and ocean ecosystems. Omission of the issue in the Commission report is puzzling, to say the least.

Using Florida as an example, the Pew Commission points to explosive population growth and urban sprawl as a major cause of water quality decline and habitat loss. Yet, population growth and development do not necessarily equate to irreversible decline and collapse of coastal ecosystems as suggested in the report. Between 1980 and 2000, population in the Tampa Bay region surged to over 2 million permanent residents, a 43% increase. In roughly the same period, water clarity improved as the concentration of suspended algae was cut almost in half (from 14 to 8 micrograms per liter of water) spurring the growth of 4,400 acres of new seagrasses in the bay - a 20% increase. How could that happen? The answer is that cleaning up point sources of nitrogen - sewage treatment plants and industries - has more than offset increases in nitrogen loading associated with land development in the bay's watershed.

This is not to say the job of restoring Tampa Bay and its watershed is finished, but it's a reminder that there is hope for even the most polluted water bodies. The Pew Commission offers some good advice to local governments, which if followed by communities in the Tampa Bay region, will help keep the bay on the road to recovery. Among its germane recommendations: reduce urban sprawl by promoting compact urban development; establish urban growth boundaries to protect agriculture and environmentally sensitive lands; and reduce impervious surfaces wherever possible.

The Pew Ocean Commission report and the final report of the U. S. Commission on Ocean Policy that will be submitted to Congress and the President later this year are certain to stimulate heated debate. Be a part of the discussion by reviewing and commenting on the issues at the Commissions' websites, www.pewoceans.org and www.oceancommission.gov.

- Richard Eckenrod

As executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Eckenrod oversees a unique federal, state and local partnership dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Florida's largest open-water estuary.

EDITOR'S DESK

My (computer) therapist Larry is a handy guy. Not only does he rescue me from frequent skirmishes with the computer, he also fights fires. Turns out Captain Larry Prieto was aboard fireboat 2 on August 10, 1993 as it raced to the scene of a fiery wreck that resulted in Tampa Bay's largest oil spill.

"The worst part was the wait," he says. Firefighters spent most of the day on the beach getting equipment into place until the decision was made to put the boats in the water. Afternoon thunderstorms further slowed a restless crew anxious to deploy. Finally, armed with foam, high-powered nozzles and fire trucks with elevated arms, it was "give it hell until it's gone and hope it's enough," Prieto said, describing the furious effort to snuff out the blaze by blasting massive quantities of foam on board the burning barge.

Ten years later, Bay Soundings revisits the event and efforts since then in order to assess our spill readiness today, while examining the enormous impact of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) in preventing spills and holding spillers accountable for their actions. But as long as humans are - well - human, accidents will happen.

Like the Scouts, we must "be prepared."

That means having sufficient equipment on hand or quickly available from oil response organizations. On that count we are far better off than in '93, except for deficiencies in on-water firefighting capabilities that remain unchanged a decade later despite significant growth in port and cruise activity. Tampa's two small fireboats were no match for the shipboard inferno that raged for more than 16 hours, and succumbed only after officials cobbled together enough equipment and barges to ferry powerful fire trucks to the scene. It's time for improvements.

Still, the best equipment in the world is a hollow shield without a strong game plan and the knowledgeable players to execute it. Area collaborators, including the Florida Marine Research Institute, U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Bureau of Emergency Response and NOAA, deserve credit for producing one of the first electronic spill contingency plans in the country, turning an unwieldy document into a flexible online planning tool that provides vital information for staging quick responses to a variety of spill scenarios.

Complacency may be the biggest threat as time marches on. Testing the plan - rigorously and regularly -will be critical.

- Mary Kelley Hoppe