News Release Archive
ENVIRONMENT--TRUDY COXE NAMED GULF OF MAINE COUNCIL CHAIR
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The Gulf of Maine Council on Marine Environment is making
important progress in protecting the regional ecosystem,
Environment Minister Wayne Adams said today.
"The environmental links between New England and Nova Scotia are
just as strong as our economic ties," said Mr. Adams at the
conclusion of the biannual meeting of the council at Campobello
Island, N.B.
"Ecosystems transcend political boundaries. That is why the Gulf
of Maine council is so important to Nova Scotia. What happens in
New England has an impact on our environment at home."
Council members tackled several environmental issues of mutual
concern, including mercury impact on marine life, habitat
protection and increasing public education on environmental
matters.
Nova Scotia presented an overview of the economic and
environmental impacts of Nova Scotia natural gas reserves at the
conference.
The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment was
established in December 1989 through an agreement signed by the
governors of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, and the
premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The council works
toward protecting and conserving the resources and ecological
balance of the Gulf through promotion of research and monitoring,
reduction of marine debris, protection of habitat, management of
data and information, and production and distribution of
educational materials.
Trudy Coxe, secretary of Massachusetts' Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs, has confirmed that she will serve as chair
of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment for the
year beginning July 1997. Ms. Coxe stressed the importance of
regional co-operation at all levels in the Gulf of Maine area to
protect this vital environmental and economic resource.
"We can all benefit dramatically from information sharing on
initiatives under way to protect and restore habitats in the Bay
of Fundy and New England coastal waters as far south as Cape
Cod," said Ms. Coxe.
"Major progress has been made by the council in recent years in
advancing marine environmental research, monitoring the
ecological health of the Gulf system, and developing strategies
to ensure its long-term integrity. The council has now adopted a
detailed action plan establishing priorities for action and
incorporating measurable objectives by which the success of the
council's efforts can be evaluated."
On behalf of council members, Ms. Coxe thanked Bernard Theriault,
New Brunswick minister of fisheries and aquaculture, for what she
called a first-class job as chairman in the past year.
The 1997-98 period is the second time Massachusetts has chaired
the council; the first was in 1992-93. "I'm looking forward to
continuing our co-operative international efforts to protect the
Gulf of Maine," said Ms. Coxe.
The Gulf of Maine includes the waters of the Atlantic Ocean
bordering on the five jurisdictions, from the Cape Cod area in
Massachusetts, north along the eastern seaboard to the Yarmouth
area in Nova Scotia.
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Contact: Paul McEachern
Department of the Environment
902-424-2575
Cell: 902-499-5641
trp June 13, 1997 - 2:35 p.m.
