State Ocean Management Plans And Policies

Author : Donna R. Christie
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

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Download or read book Lead, Follow Or Be Left Behind written by Donna R. Christie and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although coastal zone management certainly incorporates the adjacent seas, during the first decades of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) states directed most policy development and management efforts to the landward side of the coastal zone where the most immediate conflicts and needs arose. At the federal level, even extension of a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 1983 led to little or no change in ocean policy or ocean management. The seas were undoubtedly becoming more intensely used for both living and non-living resource development, but the United States dealt with these issues primarily through legal regimes addressing single sectors, such as offshore oil and gas development or fisheries management. Today ocean uses are intensifying, raising user conflicts and stressing ocean resources and ocean systems more than humanity was considered capable of doing a century ago. Tragedies like the BP oil spill demonstrate the widespread effects of a single ocean use across all sectors of ocean and coastal activities and on the ecosystems upon which these sectors rely. Management of today's oceans requires rational development of ocean policies, priorities, and governance structures. On July 19th, 2010, President Obama established the first United States national ocean policy, creating federal framework for implementing ocean policy and planning. For states that have taken significant steps toward planning and management of ocean waters within their boundaries, coastal and marine spatial plans potentially provide new opportunities for assuring that development and activities in the federal offshore will adequately considers state policies and priorities. For other states, like Florida, that have not developed comprehensive coastal and marine policy and planning, national ocean policy development may mean weak participation in the regional planning process, loss of state prerogative concerning major coastal planning issues and a fundamental failure in the governance of the states in regard to their coasts and waters. This article looks at the historical development of state ocean policy development, including the motivations of coastal states to take steps to develop comprehensive state ocean policy. Next the article addresses why “now” is the critical time for state ocean policy development. Finally, the article addresses the guiding principles for Florida's ocean policy development.