Ten myths concerning ecosystem approaches to marine resource management

Ecosystem approaches to marine resource management (EAM) offer comprehensive decision making based on rationalization of currently fragmented ocean policies and their implementation. However, despite the apparent utility in addressing these problems, EAM has also been criticized as being nonspecific, immature, invalid as a basis for decision making, and not fully supported by science. While it is commonly perceived that a paradigm shift in governance and science institutions awaits implementation to address these criticisms, in fact, ecosystem considerations are being incorporated more frequently, employing existing authorities as the basis for mitigation of sectoral impacts and for resource allocation. Management ‘best practices’ for EAM are emerging based on these experiences. Ten common criticisms of EAM, which I believe to be myths propagated primarily to maintain the status quo among sectoral interests, are discussed. Accelerated evolution of EAM will occur as science better articulates feedbacks, cumulative ecological effects and economic consequences framing policy choices, and more formal “rules of engagement” among sectors (e.g., fishing, coastal development, water quality, and energy) are negotiated. These operating procedures would be established under informal arrangements, in national law, and by international agreement. The management paradigm for marine resources is shifting and EAM will eventually be considered redundant with established practice.     

Ecosystem-based management institutional design: Balance between federal,state, and local governments within the Gulf of Mexico Alliance

We present a case study of the organizational framework of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA), which was implemented to promote the use of ecosystem-based management (EBM) at a regional level. GOMA is a state-led initiative formed to protect and restore coastal and marine resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Representatives of the US Gulf States, together with their federal partners, clearly defined ecological, social, and economic short- and long-term objectives to be reached through regional collaborations. The aim of this paper is to show how GOMA, and particularly the Ecosystem Integration and Assessment Priority Issue Team, in its attempt to apply ecosystem approaches to manage marine resources, modified the common organizational scheme by implementing partnerships at various governmental (federal, state, local) and nongovernmental levels. We address the following major points considered to be of importance for EBM implementation: (1) multilevel cooperation, (2) stakeholders’ involvement, (3) sharing of information, (4) bridging science and policy, and (5) consensus-based decision making.     

Innocent passage —past and present

The regime of innocent passage was developed to accommodate conflicting State interests in the territorial sea. Security and, more recently, environmental interests of coastal States, are opposed to the interests of maritime States in minimizing interference with navigation. This article discusses the regime of innocent passage in international law through the analysis of relevant treaty rules, including recent developments at IMO, and state practice. Specific attention is given to passage by warships and to coastal state jurisdiction over pollution by vessels in general and over ships carrying hazardous cargoes in particular.     

Use of Federal Sand for Beach Nourishment and Shore Protection Projects

Coastal shoreline protection and beach nourishment are significant issues for coastal states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In some areas, there is a critical need to identify suitable sources of sand for possible use in public works projects for coastal protection. The continental shelf contains large resources of sand and gravel that could be used to support such projects. The U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Minerals Management Service (MMS) provides policy direction and guidance for development of the resources located on the federal portion of the continental shelf. This article highlights the MMS's Sand Program, focusing on its cooperative resource and environmental studies with several coastal states, significant milestones and accomplishments, and anticipated activities in 1998 and beyond. Management of sand resources on the federal portion of the continental shelf has been made easier by a federal state partnership concept. Using this cooperative concept, joint projects are being conducted to investigate offshore sand resources, potential sites, extraction methods, and related environmental conditions. The MMS has procedures for negotiating sand agreements under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and ensuring that the resources are developed in an environ mentally sound manner. The authority to negotiate with project sponsors, an important recent change in the OCSLA, also resides with the MMS. This 1992 change in OCSLA facilitates the use of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)resources for public projects. Further, the MMS is authorized to assess a fee based on the value of the resource and the public interest served. The MMS has worked with local sponsors and authorized the use of OCS sand for two projects. However, additional resource and environmental projects, as well as negotiated agreements, are anticipated within the near future with states and local governments along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.     

Jurisdiction and offshore petroleum in Australia: creating symmetry between the Commonwealth and states by sharing benefits and avoiding costs

This article examines the federal legislative regime for governing offshore oil development in Australia. Adopting an evolutionary perspective, the article considers how the Australian petroleum regime has been able to avoid the ‘asymmetry of costs and benefits’ which have shut down the offshore oil leasing program on the US west coast. To this end, it is shown that the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act has overcome jurisdictional issues by creating a partnership between the federal and state governments, enabling both to share in the benefits of policy making. This joint decision-making structure is narrowly focused upon exploitation, though, and does not deal with environmental issues outside of its original scope. The absence of a complementary regime to fill this policy gap permits environmental costs to go unaccounted in petroleum development. This shortcoming notwithstanding, the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act provides a useful model by which federal/state jurisdictional limitations can be overcome. Ocean and coastal issues are currently receiving political attention in Australia, and it is timely for the cooperative governance model to be revisited and also extended to other marine policy sectors. Moreover, joint authority approaches could be considered by other federations struggling with offshore jurisdiction issues.     

Use of Federal Sand for Beach Nourishment and Shore Protection Projects

Coastal shoreline protection and beach nourishment are significant issues for coastal states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In some areas, there is a critical need to identify suitable sources of sand for possible use in public works projects for coastal protection. The continental shelf contains large resources of sand and gravel that could be used to support such projects. The U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Minerals Management Service (MMS) provides policy direction and guidance for development of the resources located on the federal portion of the continental shelf. This article highlights the MMS's Sand Program, focusing on its cooperative resource and environmental studies with several coastal states, significant milestones and accomplishments, and anticipated activities in 1998 and beyond. Management of sand resources on the federal portion of the continental shelf has been made easier by a federal state partnership concept. Using this cooperative concept, joint projects are being conducted to investigate offshore sand resources, potential sites, extraction methods, and related environmental conditions. The MMS has procedures for negotiating sand agreements under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and ensuring that the resources are developed in an environ mentally sound manner. The authority to negotiate with project sponsors, an important recent change in the OCSLA, also resides with the MMS. This 1992 change in OCSLA facilitates the use of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)resources for public projects. Further, the MMS is authorized to assess a fee based on the value of the resource and the public interest served. The MMS has worked with local sponsors and authorized the use of OCS sand for two projects. However, additional resource and environmental projects, as well as negotiated agreements, are anticipated within the near future with states and local governments along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.     

天津海岸基本功能划分初探

随着我国外向型经济战略深入实施,海洋资源及其区位优势成为了决定工业化进程的重要因素.重化工布局和人口进一步向沿海地区聚集成为经济发展必然趋势,而海岸地区是生态环境的脆弱区域,因此,必须通过确定海岸区域的基本功能,来引导海岸区域保护与开发活动,以实现经济、社会和生态效益最大化.以天津市为例,分析了海岸开发利用存在问题.在...     

Managing coastal evolution in a more sustainable manner. The Conscience approach

This paper summarises the main findings of the Conscience research project, whose primary objective was to define and validate, through pilot applications, a methodology to support the implementation, for European coasts, of concepts such as coastal resilience, favorable sediment status, strategic sediment reservoirs and coastal sediment cells. The Conscience conceptual framework to managing coastal erosion has proved to be an efficient tool, because it provides a consistent approach where objective (data) and subjective (desired status) information are analyzed and compared from the standpoint of a consensus target (objective). Moreover, this is done using the best available knowledge and observations, considering always their level of uncertainty, to conduct a sustainable management policy for coastal erosion. The methodology has been tested in field cases from The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland, to cover different time and space scales, together with a wide range of processes and different management objectives.     

Implementation of coastal erosion management in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is a low-lying country, in which 9 million people are living below sea level and 70% of the gross domestic product is being earned in areas below sea level. Therefore, protection against flooding is traditionally the primary focus of coastal policy in the Netherlands. Analysis shows that characteristics of Dutch coastal management very well comply with the recommendations and key concepts to support sustainable coastal management as issued by the EU in 2004 (EUROSION). Sediment management represents the core of erosion management in the Netherlands; key concepts like resilience, coastal sediment cells, favorable sediment status and strategic sediment reservoirs, are important building stones. Development and implementation of coastal erosion management in the Netherlands, has implicitly been guided by a systematic Frame-of-Reference. Characteristics of this approach are the definition of clear objectives at different levels (i.e. strategic, tactical and operational) and an operational decision recipe related to policy development and implementation. Application of the Frame-of-Reference to current problems and challenges in Dutch coastal management indicates its ability to reveal shortcomings of the existing approach, and to explore potential solutions. Where EUROSION offers important concepts to define coastal erosion management, the Frame-of-Reference offers a tool to discern different objectives and responsibilities. The combination of both strongly supports implementation of coastal erosion management.     

基于管治理念的区域海岸带综合管理模式探究

海岸带综合管理(Integrated Coastal Zone Management,即ICZM)是一种能够协调多方利益冲突,并以实现海岸带资源配置最优化和公共利益最大化为目标的管理方法。以区域海岸带综合管理模式为研究对象,在分析地方海岸带综合管理存在问题的基础上,通过对西方管治理念的引介,构建了一个强调协调和融合的区域海岸带综合管理新模式,并对该模式的组织构成、管理计划的制定、冲突的解决、计划的实施和反馈以及管理模式有效运作的保障机制作了系统的阐述,以期推动海岸带地区的可持续发展。     

EcoPlata: an Uruguayan multi-institutional approach to integrated coastal zone management

We present here the essential elements which describe the genesis, development, results and status of an initiative known as EcoPlata. EcoPlata is a long-term joint venture between Uruguay and Canada in the area of marine science. Its preliminary goal was to develop a strategy to improve Uruguayan national capacity in integrated coastal management through the application of good scientific principles, while the ultimate goal was to influence ongoing national policy discussions related to scientific research. The EcoPlata program was designed in two successive phases: the first was devoted to planning; during the second, a work strategy to promote institutional research was implemented using well-defined scientific objectives. A future phase will advance activities to a more sophisticated level in order to involve a broader array of institutional participants, as well as move the decision process into the realm of integrated management. As a consequence of these impending changes, every effort will be made to maximize budgetary resources available to EcoPlata from all sources.     

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.     

Changes in fisheries management in Mexico: Effects of increasing scientific input and public participation

In this article, we analyze a change in the role of federal institutions in charge of managing Mexican fisheries during the mid-1990s. During 30 years, the fishery policy in Mexico began by promoting an accelerated fishing effort. This worked through 1981, when the country recorded its highest landings (1.6 million metric tons), but landings have not increased subsequently whereas the number of fishermen has continued to increase. In 1995, the federal administration acknowledged the problems: biological over-exploitation; over-capitalization; monopoly in commercialization; failures in loan payments; failures in controlling effort; obsolete vessels and equipment; and social conflicts for the resources. In an attempt to resolve some of these problems, the administration implemented structural changes in management, science and enforcement institutions. This arrangement established goals and introduced instruments in fisheries management: it determined the biological status of most of the fisheries; applied the precautionary approach for those fully exploited or over-exploited fisheries; gave scientific advice an important role in decision making; and involved the users in decision making. This article evaluates these changes in management policy by document review, participation and interviewing management and scientists who participated in this process. We analyze, in particular, the use of science-based categorization of fisheries status, and the introduction of public participation. The interview data demonstrate that sustainable Mexican fisheries require an evolution to a more public participatory policy, in order to strengthen local institutions and fishermen over federal institutions, which should lead to a re-definition of regulation of fisheries resources.     

1989 Exclusive economic zone symposium: Summary and recommendations

Abstract

The fourth in a series of biennial national Exclusive Economic Zone symposia was held on November 14–16, 1989. The purpose of the meeting was to examine ongoing and planned mapping and research activities in the ocean waters of the United States. Approximately 220 individuals attended the meeting. Issues discussed related to digital seafloor mapping projects, cooperative federal‐state programs, and requirements for additional data and information. Symposium recommendations included the need for increased surveying in coastal waters, development of standards for digital data dissemination, increased coordination with coastal states and federal agencies, and additional geophysical measurement systems abroad all mapping ships.     

Regulatory setting for very large floating platforms in Hawaii

This paper provides an overview of the regulatory regimes pertinent to operating very large floating platforms (VLFPs) in Hawaii. Coastal and offshore jurisdictions are defined and key county, state and federal authorities and responsibilities are described. Forty applicable state and federal laws are cited. Special consideration is given to marine management areas, state claims for extended jurisdiction, native Hawaiian entitlements, submerged lands, ocean leasing, water quality areas and the humpback whale national marine sanctuary. VLFPs in Hawaii probably will have to be deployed offshore, out of sight of scenic coastal viewplanes, to assure public acceptance. However, offshore positioning is coincident with a simpler regulatory regime (federal) and lowered regulatory uncertainty and risk. The unambiguous delimitation of the seaward extent of state jurisdiction may well be the paramount regulatory issue requiring resolution for deciding where to site a VLFP in Hawaii.     

Sea Grant in Latin America?: Adapting the US Sea Grant model of linked applied research,extension, and education to a Latin American Context—Is there a fit?

This paper explores the application of the US Sea Grant model of applied research, extension, and education to two case studies in Latin America: Coastal Ecuador and the Gulf of Fonseca. The analysis is based on a series of meetings and roundtables with in-country partners and leaders of the US Sea Grant program. We conclude that the Sea Grant model provides an institutional structure that Latin America lacks and the model's features would improve governance of marine and coastal resources through more effective linkages between coastal communities, universities, and policy/decision makers at local, national, and international levels.     

The evolution of coastal management in South Africa: Why blood is thicker than water

This is the first of two articles exploring coastal management in South Africa. Decades of coastal management effort culminated in a Cabinet-approved coastal policy in December 1999. Based on a Government–civil society partnership, the policy aims to promote sustainable coastal development through integrated coastal management. It represents a marked shift from an earlier approach that virtually ignored justice, democracy and poverty. In recent years, attention has focused on empowering poor coastal communities to build sustainable livelihoods. This paper traces the evolution of coastal management in South Africa, and reflects on the challenges of fostering coastal sustainability. The following article explores the sustainable coastal livelihoods approach in more detail.     

Coastal and marine ecosystem services valuation for policy and management: Managed realignment case studies in England

The recognition of the economic value of nature and the services it provides to humanity has become increasingly essential in the context of coastal zone management. In this paper we review the progress to date on both the necessary conceptual framework and empirical valuation studies required to bolster decision support systems (DSS) targeted at integrated coastal zone management goals. We highlight the importance of using an ecosystem services approach and recommend some basic sequential, although overlapping, analytical steps for appropriate environmental valuation and policy assessment: spatial explicitness; marginal changes; double counting; non-linearities; and threshold effects. We illustrate the practical use of the DSS by reviewing an existing UK case study on managed coastal realignment along the Eastern coast of England, and a new UK case study on managed realignment implemented in a southern area on the same coast. Comparing the two studies, the importance of spatial explicitness and the need for a sequential decision support system when dealing with ecosystem services valuation and project policy appraisal become particularly evident.     

Environmental evaluation and development problems of the Mexican Coastal Zone

The coastal zone is the main source of foreign currency for Mexico so that federal policies are adjusting to try to improve its conditions. To that end, a large and comprehensive study was financed by the government to assess the state of knowledge of the water quality of coastal waters and the environmental status of the whole coastal area in Mexico. Based on the existing literature found in the most important research institutions of the country, as well as on field visits to 42 coastal cities from 1996 to 1998, and complemented with interviews of more than 80 persons (“key informants”) involved in the different key activities of the sites visited, the main environmental parameters useful to assess water and environmental quality were selected. All the sites where data existed and in particular the 42 main coastal cities were then analyzed according to the different categories of stress to which they are subjected and the degree of damage observed and reported. As a result, an environmental diagnosis of the Mexican coastal zone is outlined, divided by type of activity. The oil and related petrochemical industries as well as the big tourist resorts were identified as the largest contributors to the degradation of the natural ecosystems in the Mexican Coastal Zone.     

Coastal and marine resource use conflicts and sustainable development in Tanzania

A survey of coastal and marine resource use conflicts in Tanzania was carried out to highlight them, investigate their origin and finally, suggest ways of minimizing them. Although Tanzania is putting emphasis on environmental issues, including coastal zone management, integrated coastal area management has not yet been integrated into the government management structure/approach. Many conflicts are the result of sectoral approach to coastal and marine resources management, and improper or poor implementation of government policies. Additionally, the local coastal community, who are the foremost stakeholder, were most often not involved in the planning, decision and implementation of many projects and policies even those that affect them directly. Ignorance about the linkages of coastal and marine ecosystems and resources is also an important factor. I suggest that integrated coastal area management which is the foundation for sustainable development, as far as coastal and marine resources are concerned, should be integrated into the government administrative structure. A lead agency with full authority on all activities on the coastal area, including issuance of permits for environmental sensitive businesses/activities, should be nominated or established. This will reduce conflicts by bringing about national coordination of coastal area management.