Contact: Greg Hernandez FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/20/96
A nationwide survey finds that Americans look to the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a resource for accurate information about the world's oceans. The poll, conducted by a Washington-based research firm, shows forty-nine percent of those surveyed regard NOAA as among the most trusted messengers on ocean protection. Other resources include National Geographic, local zoos and aquariums, and ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.
Eighty-one percent of Americans believe the oceans are threatened by human activity such as overfishing, destruction of coastal habitat, overdevelopment and pollution.
Additionally the survey found that forty-nine percent of Americans say the condition of the ocean is very important to them personally, and sixty-four percent of respondents from coastal communities say the condition of the ocean is very important to them.
The telephone survey is based on the responses of 1,300 adults nationwide, including a base sample of 900 and an oversample of 400 Americans living in coastal communities. The margin of error for the base sample is plus/minus 3.3 percent and plus/minus 4.9 percent for the coastal oversample.
The poll was commissioned by SeaWeb, a multimedia, multi-year campaign that aims to focus public attention on the protection the world's oceans from further decline. SeaWeb's public education effort was created by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a national environmental protection, philanthropic organization.
NOAA is the government agency primarily responsible for the protection of the nation's vast coastal and ocean areas. NOAA's National Ocean Service provides world-class information products and services to aid domestic and global commerce and to promote safe and efficient marine and air transportation. The National Marine Fisheries Service provides scientific expertise and stock assessments used to manage the nation's multi-billion-dollar marine fisheries, rebuilds and maintains sustainable marine fisheries, promotes the recovery of protected species, and protects the nation's coastal habitats. The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research conducts vital research and observations of natural phenomena such as El Niño events, fisheries productivity and coastal ecosystem health.
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