Please update your links! Our new website url is http://masglp.olemiss.edu . This old website will soon cease to exist!

National Sea Grant Law Center Awarded to The University of Mississippi
Center Begins Service February 1, 2002

Kristen M. Fletcher, J.D., LL.M.

The National Sea Grant Office and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced that the Agency’s first National Sea Grant Law Center will be housed at The University of Mississippi. The Sea Grant Law Center is being established to “coordinate and enhance Sea Grant’s activities in legal scholarship and outreach related to coastal and ocean law issues.”

In recent years, as the development of marine resources has evolved and received greater attention, the importance of addressing the legal issues that pertain to marine resources has become more evident. As a result, the National Sea Grant Office proposed the creation of a Sea Grant Law Center to disseminate information about ocean and coastal laws and policies, coordinate ocean and coastal law researchers, and provide Sea Grant College Programs a source of critical analysis of proposed laws and policies.

At The University of Mississippi, the Sea Grant Law Center will integrate the efforts of ocean and coastal law research centers nationwide and provide outreach and advisory services to the National Sea Grant College Program and its constituents. The Law Center’s objectives are to:

• enable existing Sea Grant Legal Programs, Sea Grant-funded marine policy researchers, and marine law institutes across the country to coordinate and combine research and outreach efforts;
• establish an on-line marine law digest, quarterly legal reporter, and Internet site;
• conduct research on legal issues affecting the nation’s oceans and coasts and disseminate research results through publications, presentations, and on-line resources; and,
• answer law and policy questions of the National Sea Grant Office, OAR, NOAA, and the thirty state Sea Grant College Programs.

The Sea Grant Law Center will be operated in conjunction with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program, enhancing its outreach and research elements. However, the Mississippi-Alabama Program will continue to offer its traditional services including the legal advisory service, outreach efforts, and the Water Log Legal Reporter. We look forward to expanding the Legal Program’s efforts of the last thirty years to a national scope but remain committed to the constituents who have helped to develop the expertise of the Legal Program in Mississippi, Alabama, and the Gulf of Mexico region.
The Sea Grant Law Center will officially begin offering its services on February 1, 2002. Until then, we will be preparing for its establishment by constructing the website and conducting interviews for a Center Research Counsel. We will also be moving offices across campus to Kinard Hall to incorporate both the Legal Program and the Sea Grant Law Center. We welcome your visits, comments and questions.
Access our web site at Sea Grant Law Center
or e-mail us at sealaw@olemiss.edu .

University of Mississippi