9.3: Recovery Operations
Conduct maritime recovery operations in the aftermath of incidents of national signifi cance, including transportation security
incidents, to ensure the continuity of commerce and other critical port and waterway functions.
Other Information:
The Coast Guard will coordinate maritime recovery operations and rapidly restore the functionality of the ports and waterways
affected by an incident of national significance or other emergency that significantly impacts the MTS. Competing demands
in America’s ports and waterways– –commerce, national security, public health and safety, environmental concerns, recreation,
fisheries, and more––must be balanced. To achieve this balance, the Coast Guard provides services as well as coordination
and leadership among government and private sector partners. Through waterways information and infrastructure, vessel traffic
services, aids to navigation, domestic icebreaking, bridge administration, and waterways management activities the Coast Guard
helps ensure the nation’s waterways remain efficient and safe for commercial and recreational use. These same Coast Guard
capabilities are brought to bear in a disaster, natural or man-made, ensuring the quick recovery of waterways and the restoration
of essential commerce within U.S. ports. The Coast Guard works across multiple partners towards a common purpose: To ensure
that America has safe and reliable maritime gateways to the world. The Coast Guard, in coordination with other federal and
state agencies, enforces marine resource management and protection regimes that preserve healthy stocks of fish and other
living marine resources. Fisheries protection requires oversight and presence throughout and beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic
Zone. The Coast Guard patrols these ocean regions to uphold U.S. sovereignty and protect marine resources. The Coast Guard
also operates the nation’s only polar icebreakers, which provide U.S. capability to advance national interests in the polar
regions. The Coast Guard works to keep the nation’s waters free of oil, chemicals, other marine pollution, and invasive species.
Prevention strategies are foremost among the Coast Guard’s environmental initiatives, but stewardship of the marine environment
also requires education, surveillance, interception, inspection, investigation, enforcement, and contingency planning. In
the event of a spill, the Coast Guard coordinates response activities as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) for the Coastal
Zone. The Coast Guard has built strong partnerships with government agencies, academia, interest groups, private industry,
and international organizations to carry out all of these critical tasks.
Indicator(s):
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