We have all grown up with the concept of land use planning or town planning to allocate areas of land for certain uses or activities such as business, industry, agriculture, residential, or nature conservation. The same concepts can be applied to marine areas.
Marine spatial planning focuses on planning where and when human activities take place in our oceans and seas. It is a tool for managing our oceans that ensures the most efficient current and future use of maritime space, while conserving the ecosystem.
According to UNESCO (2013), “Marine spatial planning is not an end in itself, but a practical way to create and establish a more rational use of marine space and the interactions between its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect the environment, and to achieve social and economic objectives in an open and planned way.”
A first step in marine spatial planning is identifying the area of ocean that will be managed and mapping existing ocean uses, such as marine conservation areas, shipping, oil and gas, renewable energy, tourism, and fishing. Following that, goals and objectives need to be developed for the area, based on input from ocean users and other stakeholders, including conservation authorities. This provides the foundation for developing future-use plans. Often these are based on priorities such as conservation of sensitive or representative marine ecosystems, or maintenance of shipping lanes, or development of renewable energy resources, while maintaining the fishing industry.
A final step may or may not include zoning the ocean for particular uses in particular areas. A good example of this is establishing regulated marine protected areas with “no-take zones” for fishing or “no development zones” for other industries. A step-by-step approach to marine spatial planning can be found in the guidebook developed by Fanny Douvere and Charles Ehler of UNESCO, Marine Spatial Planning: A Step-By-Step Approach Toward Ecosystem-Based Management.
This subject was discussed at the recent Sustainable Ocean Summit, hosted by the World Ocean Council (WOC), in Washington, DC. The World Ocean Council is an industry leadership alliance that represents a wide range of ocean businesses, i.e., oil and gas, shipping, fisheries, aquaculture, renewable energy, telecommunications, ocean technologies. There were over 200 delegates at the summit, representing all the sectors, from as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand.
The WOC has a particular interest in marine spatial planning, which is likely to affect most of its member organizations in the future, if not already. There is a general concern that, if ocean businesses do not get involved in the marine spatial planning process, the allocation of ocean space by government may limit industries’ access to resources.
In the session on marine spatial planning, an interview-style, informal debate was held on the statement, “The business community needs to be more involved in marine spatial planning in a constructive and systematic way.” Ian Voparil of Shell represented the business community, Sally Yozell of NOAA represented the government, and Sandra Whitehouse of the Ocean Conservancy represented NGO interests.
A key focus was on situation in the US, where delegates felt there was some confusion in the planning process. Historically, marine spatial planning has taken place in various states as early as the 1990s, including Oregon, the Florida Keys, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing federal agencies to implement the recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force under the guidance of a new National Ocean Council. This included the implementation of coastal and marine spatial planning and management in nine ocean regions: the Northeast; Mid-Atlantic; South Atlantic; Gulf of Mexico; Caribbean; West Coast; Alaska/Arctic; Pacific Islands; and the Great Lakes.
Two regional planning bodies have been established and are up and running: the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean. Although this process includes both state and tribal authorities, there is some concern that the federal process may not be aligned with what has already been undertaken by the states.
Industry already faces a large regulatory burden for any offshore developments, which require extensive front-loaded capital investment. Industry representatives expressed concern that the process to undertake marine spatial planning was cumbersome and that it would only add to the regulatory burden. Conversely, the government view was that marine spatial planning would lead to regulatory streamlining; by pre-determining where activities could and should take place, permitting processes would be less time-consuming for industry.
One summit participant pointed out that Europe had been very successful in the development and implementation of their marine spatial plans. The North and Baltic seas have seen considerable planning work by various members of the European Union. North Sea countries involved include Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, UK, and Denmark, while those interested countries bordering the Baltic Sea include Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Likewise, in the UK, marine spatial planning, which is legislated under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009), has been successful in several areas including the Irish Sea, the Shetland Islands (Scotland), and Pentland Firth and Orkeney Waters (Scotland). It has helped with the 10 marine planning areas around England, the seas around Wales, and remaining areas in Scotland.
What was clear from discussions at the summit was that ocean industries need to get involved in marine spatial planning in their local areas of interest. They could find out if there are marine spatial planning efforts underway in regions where they are most likely to develop projects, and then participate as a stakeholder in the planning process. If available, they could share data with the planning authorities.
As a starting point, to assist its members, the World Ocean Council will summarize the current regulatory regimes for each industry across the world, and identify the marine spatial planning initiatives that each industry could become actively involved in. In the meantime, members will continue towards working together to identify opportunities for engagement for all ocean business sectors.
Images courtesy of UNESCO
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Dr. Jay Walmsley is a Senior Environmental Analyst with Golder Associates in its Halifax, Nova Scotia, office. Dr Walmsley is highly respected in the field of environmental governance and policy, and has a specific interest in integrated coastal and ocean management. Over the past 10 years, she has been involved the development of the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management Initiative, led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She has a particular interest in marine spatial planning as a means to management of ocean space and resources in an integrated manner.
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