Florida's Ocean Strategies: Final Report to the Governor

Florida Governor's Ocean Committee

A healthy, productive ocean is of utmost importance to Florida. Surrounded by three bodies of water, the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico, many of Florida's most important industries, including shipping, tourism, and fishing, rely upon the ocean. Increasing user populations, user conflicts, and a greater technological ability to recover both living and nonliving ocean resources is placing incredible stresses on these fragile and finite assets. To deal with the many critical management issues that have accompanied this growing pressure on Florida's ocean resources, the late Governor Lawton Chiles created the Florida Governor's Ocean Committee (FGOC) by Executive Order in January of 1998. After reviewing current ocean issues, the FGOC identified four "ocean management challenges" for which it recommended strategies and specific action steps. These are discussed on the following pages.