The crew that brought us Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship and Ocean Frontiers II: A New England Story for Sustaining the Sea is back with a third installment. This newest documentary showcases the progress of ocean management in the context of what it means to be responsible stewards of ocean resources as the ‘blue economy’ grows.
This spring, a number of venues will host screenings of Ocean Frontiers III: Leaders in Ocean Stewardship & the New Blue Economy to allow New Englanders to learn more about the recently approved Northeast Ocean Plan (and its Mid-Atlantic counterpart).
The film rides the waves of the plans’ final approval by the National Ocean Council late last year. It’s a powerful recap of the years-long effort to plan for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
According to Green Fire Productions, which produced the film, it “explores the intersection of national security, maritime commerce, fishing, and recreation, plus expanding industries such as offshore wind energy and aquaculture, coupled with scientific discovery. The film tells the story of how ocean planning helps us manage and balance all the uses of our ocean to keep it thriving for generations to come.”
While the first two installments focused largely on the concept of ocean management and how it applies in New England, the third film explores the effects of larger vessels and heavier maritime traffic coming through our port cities at a time when climate change is impacting the ocean’s ecosystems (and science is rushing to keep up). All of this, paired with new forays into offshore wind, aquaculture, and other emerging industries – and the activities of the armed forces charged with keeping our coasts safe – makes for an increasingly busy ocean.
In this context, coordinated ocean planning couldn’t have come at a better time. From Maine to Connecticut (and down to Virginia), an unprecedented collaboration of state and federal agencies and Native American tribes are working with new, publicly accessible ocean data and listening to the voices of local individuals and groups to keep national security strong, the economy growing, and to protect important ocean habitat.
The accessibility of the best available science and data is crucial, because it means that anyone can explore the intersection of various ocean uses and activities. (See for yourself at northeastoceandata.org how fishing, energy, recreational data and more can be layered to provide a basis for decision making.) This also means that local stakeholder voices play an important role in making sure the ocean plans are implemented in a way that honors our region’s storied and important ocean resources.
Screenings of the new film will take place throughout New England this spring. A March 9 screening is already sold out, so reserve your spot for another upcoming screening today: in Groton, Conn. (3/17 and 4/25), Belfast, Maine (3/21), Salem, Mass. (4/11), Chilmark, Mass. (4/20), Rockland, Maine (5/4), or Portland, Maine (5/18).
Ocean Frontiers celebrates the implementation of the Northeast Ocean Plan, and we encourage all New Englanders to attend a screening and to learn more about our region’s national leadership in smart ocean management.
Learn more about CLF’s work in pioneering ocean planning here.
