Chances are that at some time today you have talked on the telephone, checked your e-mail, or even looked up a Web site on the Internet. If your connection was quick, clear, and uninterrupted, then you may have fiber optic cables to thank.
Fiber optic cables transmit voice, video, and computer data through transparent fibers, usually made of glass. A single hair-thin strand can carry four million simultaneous phone conversations. As communities and businesses come to depend more and more on Internet connectivity, the pressure will be on telecommunications companies to expand their fiber optic networks.
Developing these new networks often means that thousands of miles of cables are laid on our ocean floors connecting countries and continents. As a result, many state coastal resource managers are receiving, sometimes for the first time, permit requests for million-dollar projects to bury cables in their territorial seas and land cables on one of their beaches. The economic and environmental impacts of these projects are still not well understood.
The cover story of this edition of Coastal Services takes a look at how Oregon and California have been addressing this issue. We also talked to representatives working in the industry and the most impacted group of users, fishermen. The consensus was that communication between all the parties is the key to addressing this issue.
Not only do coastal managers need to communicate the requirements and expectations for the laying of cable to the industry, but they need to ensure that the cable companies and fishermen are talking. It also is important for states to communicate with each other to share successes, impacts, and concerns.
The NOAA Coastal Programs Division and National Marine Sanctuaries System are working to establish a communication network of managers interested in this issue. A session was held at the Program Managers' Meeting in March, and a Listserv has been developed. For more information, contact Keelin Kuipers at (301) 713-3155, ext. 175, or Keelin.Kuipers@noaa.gov.
-- Margaret A. Davidson
