Healthy oceans are essential to our survival. They provide food, jobs, and recreation that we rely on. They create the very air we breathe. But our oceans and coasts are facing innumerable threats—from overexploitation and pollution to ocean acidification and invasive species—and need urgent attention. The National Ocean Policy, adopted by President Obama in July 2010, improves the way we manage our oceans, reducing duplicative efforts and conflicting government actions, and focusing attention on the most serious issues jeopardizing ocean health. We must ensure that sufficient funding is dedicated to the National Ocean Policy to protect our oceans and coasts, and the communities and economies they support, for generations to come.
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