Radio Script
1998

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Saving the Oceans
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STORY: On the edge of the Arctic, between Alaska and Russia, is the Bering Sea. A vast and frigid waterscape, the Bering Sea has for centuries been home to animals like walrus, sea lions and whales. And while few people have ever heard of the Bering Sea, it is America's most productive ocean ecosystem. Last year, fishermen hauled two billion pounds of salmon, crab, halibut and other seafood from its waters. But as productive as the Bering Sea is, it is also an ocean in deep trouble.

Deborah Williams is Alaska's special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt.

DEBORAH WILLIAMS: "Several species unfortunately have had to be placed on the endangered or threatened species list. Steller sea lions, for example, have declined in abundance by over 80 percent. Fur seal populations have declined by over 50 percent since the 1950s. The Adak sea otter population has experienced an annual decline of 40 percent. Common murres, thick billed murres, red-legged and black-legged kittiwakes have declined as much as 50 percent. Spectacled eiders have declined from 50,000 pairs in 1971 to about 1,700 pairs today. These are blinking yellow lights."

Such blinking yellow lights have attracted the attention of environmental organizations including the World Wildlife Fund. Recently the WWF designated the Bering Sea as one of five critical "eco-regions" within the United States. In campaigns that will begin later this year, the wildlife fund hopes to raise ten million dollars for research and outreach projects for the five regions. Two million dollars would be spent on the Bering Sea. Margaret Williams directs the wildlife fund's Bering Sea program.

MARGARET WILLIAMS: "We're in the early stages of working in the Bering Sea. We're very much newcomers and we very much hope to work with local partners, not just environmental groups, but with coastal communities, governmental agencies. One of the areas where we think we can be useful is environmental education and public outreach. Maybe not conducting scare-campaigns, but highlighting some of the values of the Bering Sea. What are the many diverse habitats along the coast? What are the important cultural and historical ties people have to the Bering Sea? Why should we care about the future status and health of the Bering Sea?"

Greenpeace, known for its high-profile protests of industrial-scale fishing and for chronicling the effects of a warming Arctic climate on Alaska's Natives, plans to step up its involvement in the Bering Sea during the Year of the Ocean. Spokesperson Gerry Leape says Greenpeace hopes to bring national attention to the plight of the Bering Sea.

LEAPE: "As you might be aware, we can't divulge the nature, the time or the place, but suffice it to say that we'll be using the traditional bag of tricks and bringing all our traditional tools to bear on these various issues as they pertain to Alaska and the North Pacific."

In that bag of tricks, he says, are protests, political rallies and media campaigns designed to win public support for their cause. But in this case the cause is the Bering Sea, a place so remote, so far removed from America's conscience, that most couldn't locate it on a map. Leape hints that he has a plan to overcome this obstacle.

LEAPE: "You have to put it into terms that make sense to people in their everyday lives. The fish sandwiches that people eat in Kansas eat at Burger King are primarily from the Bering Sea pollock fishery. For example two of the largest purchasers are Long John Silver's and Burger King. So with those two outlets, there is a direct connection between the Bering Sea Pollock fishery and the American public."

Raising public awareness is also among the goals of the U.S. Congress. Led by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, Congress late last year established the North Pacific Marine Research Board. Scientists and representatives from Alaska, Washington and Oregon will identify the long-term research needs of the region and direct the spending of millions of new federal research dollars. Nineteen-ninety-eight may be the Year of the Ocean, but saving the world's oceans--and the Bering Sea--likely will take far longer. Greenpeace's Gerry Leape hopes this environmental cause won't be just another passing fad.

LEAPE: "Hopefully this will not be the same phenomenon that we've experienced before with Earth Day. This should not be the year for the ocean. Every year should be the year of the ocean. So hopefully this renewed interest in the plight of the ocean will be maintained and continued beyond 1998. They're not problems that can be solved in just one year."

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Robert Hannon reporting from Fairbanks, Alaska.