Essential ecological insights for marine ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning

The abrupt decline in the sea's capacity to provide crucial ecosystem services requires a new ecosystem-based approach for maintaining and recovering biodiversity and integrity. Ecosystems are places, so marine spatial planners and managers must understand the heterogeneity of biological communities and their key components (especially apex predators and structure-forming species), and of key processes (e.g., population connectivity, interaction webs, biogeochemistry) that maintain them, as well as heterogeneity of human uses. Maintaining resistance and resilience to stressors is crucial. Because marine populations and ecosystems exhibit complex system behaviors, managers cannot safely assume they will recover when stressors are reduced, so prevention is a far more robust management strategy than seeking a cure for degraded systems.     

The Norwegian plan for integrated ecosystem-based management of the marine environment in the Norwegian Sea

A White Paper on a new integrated management plan for the Norwegian Sea was launched by the Norwegian government in May 2009. Following international guidelines for ecosystem-based management, the plan provides an overall framework for managing all human activities (mainly oil and gas industry, fishing, and shipping) in the area to ensure the continued production and function of the ecosystem. The plan is based on an assessment of the present and projected future impact of human activities and of the interactions between them, taking into account deficits in current knowledge of ecosystem state and dynamics. Areas of particular value in terms of biodiversity or biological production were identified. In each of these valuable areas, any access for substantial human activity is to be carefully managed. To monitor the overall development of the Norwegian Sea, a set of indicators with associated environmental quality objectives have been selected. The approach used builds upon experience gained from the first integrated Norwegian management plan for a marine area, the Barents Sea–Lofoten region, developed in 2002–2006. Work towards a Norwegian management plan for the North Sea, including Skagerrak, was initiated in 2009.     

The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management

During the past 10 years, the evolution of marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean zoning has become a crucial step in making ecosystem-based, sea use management a reality. The idea was initially stimulated by international and national interest in developing marine protected areas, e.g., the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. More recent attention has been placed on managing the multiple use of marine space, especially in areas where conflicts among users and the environment are already clear, e.g., in the North Sea. Even more recent concern has focused on the need to conserve nature, especially ecologically and biologically sensitive areas, in the context of multi-use planning of ocean space. Despite academic discussions and the fact that some countries already have started implementation, the scope of MSP has not been clearly defined. Terms such as integrated management, marine spatial management, and ocean zoning are all used inconsistently. This is one of the reasons why its importance is not more seriously reflected at the levels of policy and decision-making in most countries. This article attempts to deal with this problem. It describes why MSP is an essential step to achieve ecosystem-based sea use management, how it can be defined and what its core objectives are. The article concludes with an analysis of the use and achievements of MSP worldwide, with particular focus on new approaches in Europe.     

The perils and promise of futures analysis in marine ecosystem-based management

Ecosystem-based management is now widely accepted as the standard strategy for achieving sustainable delivery of marine and estuarine ecosystem services. The ubiquity and rate of change in marine ecosystems necessitate incorporating visions of future ecosystem states into ecosystem management strategies. Creating visions of the future enables policy makers to set realistic objectives and targets, and to explore the consequences of potential management decisions on ecosystems under multiple potential scenarios of change. Several classes of futures are used in marine ecosystem management program, and three are highlighted here: visioning, predictive models, and scenario analysis. Each approach is briefly described, and their use in current marine ecosystem management programs in North America is reviewed. In particular, the importance of using scenario analysis to identify and incorporate the influence of exogenous drivers into management strategies is highlighted. Then, some of the perils and promises associated with each approach are described, and a way forward is proposed that incorporates multiple types of future envisioning approaches into management programs. Key contributions of future analyses include highlighting connections and trade-offs among ecosystem components, setting realistic targets, and incorporating exogenous drivers, and their uncertainties, into ecosystem management programs.     

Guiding ecological principles for marine spatial planning

The declining health of marine ecosystems around the world is evidence that current piecemeal governance is inadequate to successfully support healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems and sustain human uses of the ocean. One proposed solution to this problem is ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP), which is a process that informs the spatial distribution of activities in the ocean so that existing and emerging uses can be maintained, use conflicts reduced, and ecosystem health and services protected and sustained for future generations. Because a key goal of ecosystem-based MSP is to maintain the delivery of ecosystem services that humans want and need, it must be based on ecological principles that articulate the scientifically recognized attributes of healthy, functioning ecosystems. These principles should be incorporated into a decision-making framework with clearly defined targets for these ecological attributes. This paper identifies ecological principles for MSP based on a synthesis of previously suggested and/or operationalized principles, along with recommendations generated by a group of twenty ecologists and marine scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives on MSP. The proposed four main ecological principles to guide MSP—maintaining or restoring: native species diversity, habitat diversity and heterogeneity, key species, and connectivity—and two additional guidelines, the need to account for context and uncertainty, must be explicitly taken into account in the planning process. When applied in concert with social, economic, and governance principles, these ecological principles can inform the designation and siting of ocean uses and the management of activities in the ocean to maintain or restore healthy ecosystems, allow delivery of marine ecosystem services, and ensure sustainable economic and social benefits.     

The Marine Planning Framework for South Australia: A new ecosystem-based zoning policy for marine management

The Marine Planning Framework for South Australia is a new large-scale, ecosystem-based zoning policy for management of development and use in the marine environment. Utilising the Geographic Information System (GIS), the model establishes four ecologically rated zones, derived from known ecological criteria. A series of goals, objectives and strategies represent the desired outcomes for each of the ecologically rated zones. A Performance Assessment System (PAS) will subsequently evaluate the success of the marine plans. Implementation will be supported by a collaborative whole-of-government approach. Marine plans will facilitate the delivery of long-term protection to the marine environment as a whole ecosystem, whilst enabling a broad range of activities to occur in a sustainable manner.     

The importance of data discovery and management in advancing ecosystem-based management

The aim of the Geospatial Assessment of Marine Ecosystems (GAME) project is to develop an inventory of habitat-related data within the Gulf of Mexico and East coast of Florida. This will serve as a foundation to develop a spatial framework for ecosystem-based management associated with regulatory and planning programs and areas of governmental coordination.     

Stakeholder perspectives on ecosystem-based management of the Antarctic krill fishery

Information about stakeholder aspirations is a fundamental requirement for ecosystem-based management, but the detail is often elusive, and debates may focus on simplistic opposing positions. This is exemplified by the Antarctic krill fishery, which, despite a current operational catch limit equivalent to just 1% of the estimated biomass and actual annual catches much lower than this, is the subject of a high-profile debate framed around ambiguous concepts such as sustainability. Q methodology was applied to explore the detailed views of representatives of three stakeholder sectors (the fishing industry, conservation-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and scientists from seven countries involved in research on the krill-based ecosystem). The analysis distinguished two clear groupings, one of which included the views of all NGO participants while the other included the views of fishing industry participants and a subset of the scientists. Key differences between the groups included the priority given to different management measures, and to continued commercial fishing. However, the results also revealed considerable overlap between viewpoints. Both groups prioritised the maintenance of ecosystem health and recognised the importance of defining management objectives. Also, neither group prioritised a decrease in catch limits. This suggests that most participants in the study agree that management should improve but do not perceive a major problem in the ecosystem's ability to support current catch levels. Cooperation to identify shared management objectives based on stakeholder aspirations for the ecosystem might enhance progress, whereas polarised discussions about preferred management measures or ambiguous concepts are likely to impede progress.     

The many faces of ecosystem-based management: Making the process work today in real places

Despite the widely accepted need for ecosystem-based management of coastal and marine systems, many managers struggle with how to put these principles into practice. Commonly voiced concerns include complicated and expensive implementation, prohibitive data requirements, and lack of testing with long-term applications. We address some of these perceived barriers by providing guidance on strategies and approaches that can be used for the steps of one ecosystem-based management process, the integrated ecosystem assessment framework, including scoping, defining indicators, setting thresholds, risk analysis, management strategy evaluation, monitoring and evaluation. Importantly, we demonstrate how an ecosystem-based management approach can be utilized in a variety of contexts which vary widely in data quality and availability, governance structure, and time frame. We then illustrate the suggested steps in the process by exploring two case studies that represent realistic ends of the data/governance/time frame spectrum: Puget Sound, Washington, USA and Raja Ampat, Indonesia. By providing concrete suggestions for how to move forward with key steps in an integrated management process, we show that ecosystem-based management is feasible from a range of starting points and that for any given starting point there are numerous productive paths forward.     

Key elements and steps in the process of developing ecosystem-based marine spatial planning

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an essential tool for delivering an Ecosystem Approach and should add value to existing management measures for the marine environment. It should be based on a clear set of principles with a sustainable development purpose. Developing MSP can draw selectively on extensive experiences in terrestrial land use planning. A nested approach with appropriate planning activity at different spatial scales is recommended. Defining appropriate management units is important and particular effort will be required where these do not align with ecosystem boundaries. The timeframe for plans is tending to increase from around 10 to 20+ years, but review periods are required which enable a balance between stability and relevance. This article focuses on the key steps in the planning process of developing ecosystem-based MSP. The importance of setting specific objectives, including as a context for the full range of relevant spatial data, and determining priorities is emphasised. It is also suggested that stakeholder engagement, including the way it is undertaken, is critical to different stages of the process.     

Structuring decision-making for ecosystem-based management

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been widely accepted as the new paradigm to manage marine ecosystems. Although various efforts have been made to define key components, guidelines, and principles, in support of its implementation, there is still a gap between theory and practice. To implement EBM, managers require a decision-making framework in which the values of constituents, objectives and performance measures are consistent and used to evaluate and choose between alternatives. Structured decision-making (SDM) is a systematic approach that can contribute to develop this framework for EBM. SDM was used for the on-going EBM process on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. This case study provides insights into how SDM can be implemented for EBM, as well as some challenges and opportunities encountered during the process.     

A roadmap for marine spatial planning: A critical examination of the European Commission's guiding principles based on their application in the Clyde MSP Pilot Project

The European Commission has developed a set of common principles for marine spatial planning in the European Union. A critical examination of these principles in practice is undertaken through an evaluation of the Clyde Marine Spatial Planning Pilot Project. The principles are found to be lacking in specificity and somewhat inconsistent with the ecosystem based approach, which they advocate. Lessons for new marine spatial planning initiatives, relating particularly to stakeholder participation, governance, data requirements, objective setting, and skills and knowledge needs, are derived from the Clyde Pilot.     

Assessing the feasibility of ecosystem-based fisheries management in tropical contexts

This analysis documents the reasons for emerging interest in ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and relates this management model to others. It highlights the central challenges to EBFM in the tropical context and examines an ongoing project, Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH), in the Philippines—likely the first EBFM project in the tropics. The Philippine legal and institutional context provides major governance challenges to EBFM, especially as management is scaled up. A monitoring framework with process and output criteria is applied to FISH to establish progress to date. Major institutional and governance challenges for EBFM will require monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation.     

Identifying marine pelagic ecosystem management objectives and indicators

International policy frameworks such as the Common Fisheries Policy and the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive define high-level strategic goals for marine ecosystems. Strategic goals are addressed via general and operational management objectives. To add credibility and legitimacy to the development of objectives, for this study stakeholders explored intermediate level ecological, economic and social management objectives for Northeast Atlantic pelagic ecosystems. Stakeholder workshops were undertaken with participants being free to identify objectives based on their own insights and needs. Overall 26 objectives were proposed, with 58% agreement in proposed objectives between two workshops. Based on published evidence for pressure-state links, examples of operational objectives and suitable indicators for each of the 26 objectives were then selected. It is argued that given the strong species-specific links of pelagic species with the environment and the large geographic scale of their life cycles, which contrast to demersal systems, pelagic indicators are needed at the level of species (or stocks) independent of legislative region. Pelagic community indicators may be set at regional scale in some cases. In the evidence-based approach used in this study, the selection of species or region specific operational objectives and indicators was based on demonstrated pressure-state links. Hence observed changes in indicators can reliably inform on appropriate management measures.     

Considering ecosystem-based fisheries management in the California Current

Recognizing that all management decisions have impacts on the ecosystem being exploited, an ecosystem-based approach to management seeks to better inform these decisions with knowledge of ecosystem structure, processes and functions. For marine fisheries in the California Current, along the West Coast of North America, such an approach must take into greater consideration the constantly changing climate-driven physical and biological interactions in the ecosystem, the trophic relationships between fished and unfished elements of the food web, the adaptation potential of life history diversity, and the role of humans as both predators and competitors. This paper reviews fisheries-based ecosystem tools, insights, and management concepts, and presents a transitional means of implementing an ecosystem-based approach to managing US fisheries in the California Current based on current scientific knowledge and interpretation of existing law.     

Confronting challenges to integrating Pacific salmon into ecosystem-based management policies

Ecosystem-based management is an increasingly prominent paradigm for the management of living marine resources with a focus on maintaining ecosystem level properties and processes. Although highly migratory marine and anadromous fish species often disproportionately contribute to the structure and function of ecosystems, incorporating these species into ecosystem-based management policies remains difficult because they spend a considerable portion of time outside the boundaries that define a particular management area. In this paper, two case studies are used to examine how the challenges of ecosystem openness, imperfect information, and ecosystem complexity can impede efforts to integrate highly migratory Pacific salmon into ecosystem-based management policies. This analysis highlights three main factors that hinder more effective integration: (1) uncertainties about impacts of human activities and ecological processes that occur in geographically distant jurisdictional areas or at spatial scales larger than the ecosystem-based management area, (2) spatial asymmetries in the distribution of costs and benefits associated with management decisions (i.e., positive or negative externalities), and (3) static management policies that prevent updating management decisions in a timely manner when ecosystem conditions change or new information becomes available. Given these factors, two potential strategies to address migratory challenges are suggested. First, the creation of an international ecosystem synthesis group is recommended to facilitate the collection, analysis, and dissemination of ecological, social, and policy information across national and other jurisdictional boundaries. Second, the expanded use of dynamic in-season management policies is recommended, which allow for rapid updating of management decisions based on evolving information about ecosystem conditions.     

The State of Rhode Island's pioneering marine spatial plan

The state of Rhode Island's Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) is the first marine spatial plan in the United States to be formally approved by the federal government as an element of a state's Coastal Management Program. The 3800 km² Ocean SAMP region includes waters under both state and federal jurisdiction. The Ocean SAMP applies the inclusive, ecosystem-based approach to marine spatial planning recommended by the National Ocean Commission in 2004 that is a feature of the National Ocean Policy promulgated in 2010. It places within a larger spatial planning context the impact assessment process that is the basis for the issuance of leases and permits requested by a developer for a specified activity at a defined marine site. The Ocean SAMP was prepared over a two and a half year period of information generation, analysis, consultation, planning and policy making prompted by the need to identify potentially suitable sites for anticipated offshore wind farms. Its highly consultative approach builds upon the 30 years of experience of the Rhode Island Coastal Program in developing and implementing special area management plans (SAMPs) for coastal and marine areas where conflicts over needs for both development and conservation demand special attention and negotiation among stakeholders with different interests. The phases in the development and approval of the Ocean SAMP, and the prospects for successful implementation are examined through frameworks suggested for the preparation of a governance baseline put forward by the international Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) program.     

Organizing coordination in a public marine research and management advice organization: The case of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research

Public organizations involved in marine management are increasingly confronted with coordination challenges in marine governance. This study examines why and how the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) reorganized its formal coordination structures between the areas of fisheries management and marine environmental management. The findings indicate that organizing efficient and, at the same time, legitimate coordination structures between different areas of marine governance is a “wicked” organizational problem with no ultimate and single optimal solution. In contrast to the assumptions of classical organization and management theory, the study finds that the reorganization of formal coordination structures is not necessarily driven for reasons of efficiency and perceived coordination problems. Instead, public marine management organizations also change their organizational structures to live up to external expectations to adopt modern management concepts, such as the Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM). However, the study indicates that the adoption of the EAM has stimulated coordination and integration efforts in the research and advisory activities of the IMR.     

The implementation of an ecosystem approach to management within a federal government agency

This study examined how the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has begun to implement and change its management strategy towards one of an ecosystem approach to management (EAM). In 2005, surveys were conducted with NOAA scientists and resource managers in nine NOAA programs in eight geographic regions across the United States. We quantitatively examined temporal and spatial trends in NOAA's EAM project implementation. Through a qualitative analysis of the data, we identified important lessons learned, best practices, and challenges of NOAA EAM projects. A content analysis identified three of the most frequently provided “success strategies” and include: (1) encouraging collaborations, (2) utilizing multidisciplinary approaches, and (3) identifying common priorities among constituents. We conclude with recommendations for initiatives that NOAA, and others interested in EAM, can undertake to facilitate further ecosystem management opportunities.