Nine regional planning bodies would coordinate America's oceans under a task force recommendation recently released by the Obama administration.
The proposal mimics an ongoing state effort to zone Rhode Island's coastal waters and is praised by environmentalists.
"Solid," says John Torgan, Narragansett bay keeper for Save The Bay, describing the Ocean Policy Task Force report. "We need to do a better job effectively zoning coastal waters," he added.
A spokesperson for the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, however, worries the process will lead to excessive regulation of marine business. Although he has not read the report, Michael Keyworth, the group's leg- islative chairperson and general manager of Brewer Cove Haven Marina in Barrington, Rhode Island, comments, "We're mired in enough regulation as it is."