Sen. Brock Smith: Stop removal of ocean monitors

Oregon Legislative Coastal Caucus Calls on National Science Foundation to Halt Removal of Critical Ocean Monitoring Buoys
By Oregon State Senator Brock Smith,

SALEM, Ore. — Senator David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford), Vice Chair of the Oregon Legislative Coastal Caucus, announced today that the Coastal Caucus sent a letter formally urging the National Science Foundation (NSF) to immediately pause the removal of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) floating buoys and the Coastal Endurance Array, a vital ocean monitoring systems that support safety, science, and economic stability along the Pacific Northwest coast.

“These buoys provide real-time, publicly accessible data that our fishermen, mariners, scientists, and emergency managers rely on every single day,” said Senator David Brock Smith. “Removing them without adequate scientific review or stakeholder consultation is unacceptable and puts our coastal communities and their economies at risk.”

For more than a decade, the OOI has delivered continuous, year-round measurements of waves, winds, currents, temperature, salinity, and other key ocean conditions. The Coastal Endurance Array located off Oregon and Washington continues to be a vital data tool.

“The removal of these buoys is not an abstract policy decision,” said Senator Brock Smith. “It is a direct threat to safety, economic stability, and our ability to respond to rapidly changing ocean conditions. Oregon’s coastal residents and their crabbing, fishing and economic drivers deserve better.” The Oregon Legislative Coastal Caucus emphasized in their letter that these systems have been “indispensable to the safety, economy, and scientific resilience of our coastal communities.”

“The Coastal Caucus stands ready to work with NSF, our federal delegation, our fishermen and coastal stakeholders to ensure Oregon continues to benefit from robust, science-driven ocean observation the OOI provides,” concluded Senator Brock Smith.