Contemporary ocean and coastal management issues in Australia and New Zealand: an overview

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of international treaties, conventions and agreements dealing with maritime issues and oceans governance. Most nations are attempting to cope with this expanding agenda at a time of fiscal constraint, competing environmental demands and the emergence of a new global strategic, political and economic order. However, similar issues do not always lead to similar outcomes. Australia and New Zealand share some common oceanic and coastal management problems, but variations in response arise from geographical differences, constitutional provisions, political style and administrative arrangements. This paper provides a brief overview of contemporary maritime issues and attempted solutions in both nations.     

Practices of participation in coastal area management: Experience from Kenya

This paper explores a development intervention, discourses involved and people's encounter at the interfaces during interaction and negotiation processes in everyday project life. It aims to get insight in the participatory intervention; how participatory is it and what is the intention behind the concept? This ethnography of an ongoing program in Kenya concludes that creation of participatory projects is a strategy of development practitioners to have high-rated evaluation of the project for donor funding but, in practice, the concept of participation is used by actors according to their interest and need.     

Legitimacy issues in public participation in coastal decision making processes: Case studies from Belgium and France

Public participation is one of the central principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). However, within current public participation practice in coastal decision making there remain questions regarding whether or not the project leaders or participation processes can be considered legitimate. The paper explores the issue of legitimacy, examining case studies of coastal decision making processes from Belgium and France, focusing on the legal constraints for public participation including degree of formality and government style. It reveals that there are legitimacy issues in public participation related to the legal and institutional framework of the project, as well as to the knowledge base, and characteristics of the stakeholders and their interests. This study concludes that legitimacy issues in an ICZM process cannot be solved entirely through an institutional framework and associated legislation.     

Integrated coastal resources management and community participation in a small island setting

The concept of integrated coastal zone management must be rethought to adapt it to the geography and social conditions of small islands. Because of their size, all small islands are in the coastal zone. Defining the whole of the island and its coastal waters as the management area may weaken a program's effectiveness. An alternative may be to adapt special area management planning to the socio-spatial organization found on small islands. Social conditions on islands, where people live in relatively small cohesive communities, makes resource user participation in planning and management particularly germane. This paper outlines an argument for small islands to use participation as a central strategy of coastal management based on experience with natural resource management efforts on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia.     

The diversity and abundance of polychaetes (Annelida) are altered in sediments impacted by alumina refinery discharge in the Northern Territory,Australia

We collected polychaete diversity and abundance data at a range of impacted and reference sites near an alumina refinery in Melville Bay, northern Australia. The aims were to measure the impact of sediment modified by the alumina refinery discharge on polychaete communities and secondly to gather baseline data from which to measure future changes. Polychaete communities in both soft-bottom habitats and subtidal areas adjacent to mangrove forests were studied. We also developed and deployed an artificial substratum device to sample polychaetes associated with hard-substrate habitats. For each habitat, polychaete community composition was different between impacted and reference sites and at multiple time points. The impact of future changes either from bioremediation or management practices can be measured against these baseline data. Indicator species analysis was used to identify polychaete species that were significantly different at the locations tested, and we discuss their potential as indicator species.     

Towards integrated coastal management in Solomon Islands: Identifying strategic issues for governance reform

This paper evaluates governance arrangements in Solomon Islands in terms of their ability to achieve the integrated management of coastal environments. The paper uses a modified version of the framework proposed by Ehler CN [Indicators in measure governance performance in integrated coastal management. Ocean & Coastal Management 2003; 46: 335–345] for evaluating governance performance. The results point to a systemic failure of coastal governance in Solomon Islands. The paper identifies the strategic issues for governance reform if the management of coastal environments and resources in Solomon Islands is to be improved.     

从“综合”角度看我国海岸带综合管理存在的问题

海岸带综合管理（Integrated Coastal Zone Management，ICZM）的核心在于“综合”二字，文章从“综合”角度出发，分析了我国当前海岸带综合管理在政府部门综合、科学参与、海陆间协调以及国家间区域合作等方面存在的问题，提出了完善管理体制、提倡科学参与、加强法律、法规及管理计划的制定和实施、推进国际合作的建议。     

Combining process and output indicators to evaluate participation and sustainability in integrated coastal zone management projects

Integrated coastal zone management has evolved in practice and in the literature to implicate and advocate for public participation. Public participation has been proposed to open debate, contribute to policy formulation, increase government accountability, build support for agency programs, reduce community tensions and increase the sustainability of the actions. This study analysed the success of three integrated coastal zone management projects based on 8 process and output indicators. Public participation does not seem to have had an impact on the overall project objective nor on the sustainability indicators. These results bring us back to the initial concept of ICZM based on horizontal and vertical integration, and suggest that projects promoting ICZM need to be adapted to each specific cultural and political context. Long-term sustainability and natural resource management will only be achieved when the projects and activities are adapted to meet the reality on the field.     

Valuing coastal water quality: Adelaide,South Australia metropolitan area

Coastal environments are increasingly under threat from multiple stressors and pressure from human activities across the land-sea interface. Managing these pressures from people requires, more than ever, understanding what is at stake in terms of the benefits and values associated with coastal waters. This article presents the results of a choice experiment which was designed to elicit society׳s willingness to pay in the context of economic and environmental trade-offs people to improve coastal water quality. The study site is a coastal Australian city, Adelaide, South Australia. The city discharges a large proportion of its stormwater and treated wastewater to the coastal waters of Gulf St Vincent. Willingness to pay for a package of improvements to urban water management is considerable. A mix of projects that restores 25 days per year of water clarity, seagrass area from 60% to 70% of the original area and five reef areas is worth $AUS67.1 M to households in the Adelaide metropolitan area. The results can inform public policy discussions including the cost-benefit analysis of different water management strategies including investments in urban infrastructure.     

Undular tidal bore dynamics in the Daly Estuary, Northern Australia

Measurements in the macro-tidal Daly Estuary show that the presence of an undular tidal bore contributed negligibly to the dissipation of tidal energy. No recirculation bubble was observed between a trough and the following wave crest in the lee waves following the undular bore. This differs to stationary undular bores in laboratory experiments at larger Froude numbers where a recirculation bubble exists. Secondary motions and the turbulence generated by the undular bore had no measurable influence on the sediment transport. This situation contrasts with the intense sediment resuspension observed in breaking tidal bores. The tidally averaged sediment budget in the Daly Estuary was controlled by the asymmetry of tidal currents. The undular bore may widen the river by breaking along the banks that it undercuts, leading to bank slippage. A patch of river-wide macro-turbulence of 3-min duration occurred about 20 min after the passage of the bore during accelerating tidal currents.     

Ocean and coastal issues and policy responses in the Caribbean

The Paper presents the regional perspective on the conditions and efforts for the integrated coastal management (ICM) that exist in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR).The Caribbean Action Plan was adopted in 1981 with an initial workplan of activities of evaluation and control of marine pollution, evaluation of impacts on the coastal area, fishing studies, watershed management, evaluation of natural hazard effects, energy accounting systems studies, urbanisation of the coastal area, building capacity and training. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the WCR is the only regional legal framework for the protection and sustainable development of marine resources.The Paper describes some region-wide ICM-related programme initiated or supported by the CEP as well as actions at the national level. Other ICM-related general activities and training programmes of CEP are also presented.Trends in national policies in ICM and current developments and issues are also highlighted and recommendations made.     

我国海岸带综合管理制度、实践及存在问题

海岸带综合管理作为沿海区域实现可持续发展目标的重要途径,对沿海地区科学有效地利用海岸带资源具有重要意义。本文从国家、省、市三个层面分析了我国当前海岸带综合管理制度现状和实践状况,提出了在海岸带综合管理立法缺失、权属不清、海陆统筹不能兼顾、海岸带规划与评价不足、管理技术亟待升级、海岸带基础数据尚不完备等制度方面存在的问题;基于国内外对海岸带综合管理的经验和实践,从加快海岸带立法、完善海岸带规划、协调综合管理、兼顾陆海统筹、提升管理技术、加强管理效果评价以及夯实基础信息等方面提出海岸带综合管理制度进一步完善的措施和建议,为进一步提升我国海岸带综合管理工作提供参考。     

Innovation in coastal risk management: An exploratory analysis of risk governance issues at eight THESEUS study sites

The nature of coastal risk management is changing, away from an engineering-dominated approach seeking to defend against the sea, to one where risks are managed using a portfolio of measures usually incorporating an acceptance of a finite standards of protection. Inherent in the modern approach is the use of new techniques and approaches, and the process of innovation is important to their adoption across Europe. This paper is based on the hypothesis that governance issues can constrain that process of innovation or enhance it, and that the focus of these governance issues concerns institutional arrangements, legal capabilities, funding regimes and stakeholder engagement. Over a period of three years, two questionnaire surveys have been undertaken of the ‘Stakeholders’ and the ‘Site Champions’ involved in THESEUS research sites, including in-depth interviews, seeking information on these matters across the wide range of circumstances in these different geographical locations. Our tentative conclusion is that technical issues concerned with risk assessment and risk reduction choices are not central to the process of innovation with regard to the practice of risk management, but that institutional culture, traditions and capabilities are of greater significance. This resonates with the literature on governance and innovation, which stresses the importance of the social context in which governance arrangements can be improved and in which innovation flourishes.     

North Atlantic fisheries: Trends, status and management issues

Despite the fact that the North Atlantic remains one of the most productive of oceanic regions, its importance has declined both relatively and absolutely. A key factor has been the steady erosion of stocks of some of the major food fish species, including the ubiquitous cod. The paper traces the main trends in catches since 1973 and outlines the development of fisheries management in the region from the formation of ICES in 1902, through the creation of coastal state management in the 1970s to the UN Agreement on high-seas fishing in 1995. Finally, the key issues for fisheries management are identified, and the invited papers are contextualised.     

Stakeholders’ participation in the fisheries management decision-making process: Fishers’ perceptions of participation

Public participation is a key ingredient of good governance and there are many advantages of involving stakeholders in the decision-making process. The European Commission identified the lack of stakeholder involvement as one of the major weaknesses of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). As such, the 2002 Reform of the CFP aimed to improve its system of governance by increasing the involvement of stakeholders in decision-making. Over the last decade, Scottish inshore waters have seen an increase in management measures focused on involving fishers, delegating responsibilities and decentralizing management. The present document investigates commercial inshore fishers’ perceptions of participation in the decision-making process and attitudes towards a new management regime – the Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) – which aims to increase participation in and decentralization of inshore fisheries management. A survey was conducted, through face-to-face interviews, and ordered logistic and multiple regression models created to identify which characteristics influence fishers’ perceptions and attitudes. The present analysis concluded that, 5 years subsequent to the reform of the CFP, the majority of inshore fishers perceive themselves not to be consulted or involved in the decision-making process. However, and despite the fact that fishers are not completely certain of the potential of the IFGs to increase their participation in the management process, they have an overall positive attitude towards their implementation.     

Strategic coastal governance issues in Fiji: The challenges of integration

This paper examines the governance of coastal environments in Fiji with a view to identifying the strategic issues that constrain the achievement of integrated coastal management. Integration has, in recent years, become a major focus of efforts to improve environmental management in many parts of the world. This issue is pursued by using governance as a framework. The dominant concepts and strategies being used around the world in environmental governance are then considered as a prelude into the identification and discussion of the major governance issues affecting coastal management in Fiji. These are identified as: (i) integration and coordination, (ii) the need for system-wide governance reform, (iii) the degree of centralisation, (iv) coastal planning, (v) information and (vi) the capacity of governance.