Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: Order in the Ocean

Competing demands on ocean resources are growing rapidly and it's time for order in the ocean.

View the Presidential Memorandum that created the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and called for a unifying framework for the long-term conservation of the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes (pdf)

Protecting Ocean Resources

The ocean today faces an era of unprecedented activity. Wind farms and other energy facilities, commercial fishing, diverse recreational uses, offshore drilling, and shipping are all competing to stake their claims on the ocean.

We urgently need a plan for the many uses of our ocean. We must protect marine ecosystems that provide many critical services we need, as our demands on the ocean increase. We also need to balance commercial and recreational uses to avoid conflicts. For instance, a shipping lane could be placed in an ocean space that is best suited for a wind farm, or vice versa.

Patchwork management: A need for coordination

Responsibility for managing how we protect and use our coasts and ocean is fragmented among state and federal agencies. Designation of areas for specific uses has been handled in a piecemeal fashion, at best. In fact, the way the United States currently manages its ocean is fundamentally flawed. More than 20 federal agencies apply 140 laws in pursuit of their departmental mandates, often in isolation from each other. Most planning is neither proactive nor based on shared goals, but rather reactive and driven by single sectors without a comprehensive vision. Future demand will increase stress on ocean ecosystems and create new conflicts between development and existing human uses. Recreation, shipping and offshore wind are a few of the growing demands.

Comprehensive mapping is key to successful coastal and marine spatial planning. Maps can be overlaid to analyze competing and complementary uses, as well as opportunities to site future uses.

Coastal and marine spatial planning - Order in the ocean

Fortunately there is an approach that can bring order to the ocean and provide a way to balance competing interests. Coastal and marine spatial planning is being used effectively by other countries—and by states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island—to do just that. It puts a process in place to manage the ecosystem as a whole and to evaluate cumulative impacts of the many uses of the ocean. Coastal and marine spatial planning allows us to maximize the economic and social benefits the ocean provides, while protecting our marine ecosystems.

When implemented properly, coastal and marine spatial planning provides comprehensive and proactive planning, long-term environmental conservation, and sustainable economic development—and it's already working in some areas. In Belgium, coastal and marine spatial planning has been implemented as a tool for managing an area of the North Sea that is crowded with multiple, often conflicting uses. Belgium has been able to develop a sustainable Master Plan to protect ecosystems and avoid conflicts.

Presidential leadership, but work remains

Within his first six months in office, President Obama recognized the inadequacy of our current approach to ocean conservation. On June 12th, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum creating an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force (“Task Force”). He charged the Task Force with recommending policies for the long-term conservation of our nation's ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources. In his memorandum, President Obama recognized that we "have a stewardship responsibility to maintain healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes resources for the benefit of this and future generations." One of the Task Force's recommendations is the creation of a National Ocean Council to coordinate the actions of the various agencies that manage the ocean. The Task Force also proposed that coastal and marine spatial planning be implemented regionally with participation from federal, state, local and tribal entities.

Ocean Conservancy applauds the strong leadership demonstrated by the Obama administration. While the Task Force's recommendations are an important milestone and the groundwork for President Obama’s Blue Legacy, more steps are necessary. For the Task Force's policies to be binding and fully implementable, we now need an Executive Order. Congress also plays an essential role in the health of our coasts, ocean and Great Lakes. It should build on the work of the Task Force, by ensuring the durability of a national ocean policy and coastal and marine spatial planning. Congress must pursue legislation that supports this effort.

Case study: Massachusetts Oceans Act

Blessed with storied ocean resources, in 2008, Massachusetts passed the Oceans Act to develop a comprehensive management plan for its state waters. In 2010, the state issued its final management plan that allows for responsible development of renewable resources (wind and wave, in particular) and balances environmental protection with respect for the longstanding interests that share the state's coastal waters, from shipping to recreation. It is the first coastal and marine spatial plan to be completed in the United States. It is an illustration that planning can be done with transparency and participation from a range of ocean users and result in both sustainable development and conservation outcomes.

What leaders are saying

"The Task Force's work in improving coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) is critical to the Coast Guard's ability to perform our important work. For years, the Coast Guard has essentially performed a limited form of marine spatial planning in many different ways, especially in regard to vessel traffic separation. However, these actions are undertaken on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis. The Nation would greatly benefit from a framework to implement ocean management principles that takes into account the impact of the use of U.S. waters on all alternative uses and users, as well as the entire ecosystem"

— Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, testifying before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, November 4th, 2009.

"Coastal and marine spatial planning may sound like the stuff of policy wonks, but it is actually vital to anyone who works or plays on the oceans."…"In fact, coastal and marine spatial planning is an essential tool for anyone who depends on the oceans for sustainable jobs, healthy seafood, clean energy, recreation, or vibrant coastal communities."

— Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA administrator, White House Council on Environmental Quality press release, December 14th, 2009.

"The uses of our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes have expanded exponentially over time. These waters provide the United States with many commercial, recreational, cultural, energy, scientific, economic, conservation and national security benefits and they sustain diverse habitats and species. At the same time they are facing environmental challenges including pollution and habitat destruction that make them increasingly vulnerable."…"Without an improved, more thoughtful approach, we risk an increase in user conflicts and the potential loss of critical economic, ecosystem, social, and cultural benefits for present and future generations"

— Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, White House Council on Environmental Quality press release, December 14th, 2009.

"We will find the right balance … I would think that most people in America would want us to address the economic security, the national security and the environmental security issues that confront our country."

— Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, speaking at the Regional Offshore Drilling hearing, quoted in the Associated Press, April 8th, 2009.