Ocean Zone News Blog

Expanding endangered animal’s critical habitat could cut into training and operating areas along coastlines
Having defeated the Japanese fleet and faced down the Soviets, the U.S. Navy faces a new obstacle, one that hides behind a deceptively gentle, seagrass-munching façade.

Manatees may rank lower than such traditional menaces as torpedoes and air-to-sea missiles. But a proposal to protect additional habitat for them, the Navy says, could end up reducing habitat for destroyers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service soon will make a decision on whether to expand what’s called critical habitat for the manatee in Florida and southern Georgia, in response to a petition from several environmental groups.

Ocean-zoning arguments often center on the biology of ocean species, the geography of fishing-use patterns, and the need for preventing use conflicts. Here we expand this discussion to the social and legal aspects of ocean zoning, focusing on comprehensive planning, segregation of activities into use-priority areas, and the allocation of user rights within each zone. The inclusion of all of these features within an ocean-zoning regime can be a catalyst for a variety of ancillary benefits, including opportunities for user groups to form informal or formal long-lived institutions and a reassessment of the focus and scope of the regulatory institutions involved in ocean management. Along with the ability of users to negotiate and trade within and between zones, both features will lead to improved conflict resolution, efficiency of use, and ecosystem stability – critical components for the production of ecosystem services and maintenance of biological and human economic benefits.

RFF Feature
December 11, 2009

An overarching policy to manage the many environmental and economic pressures threatening the use of ocean resources on which millions of Americans rely is being formulated by the Obama Administration. In an editorial in the December issue of Scientific American, editors endorse measures to rationalize the overlapping activities of federal agencies responsible for marine life and industrial uses, such as fishing and energy extraction. RFF Nonresident Fellow James N. Sanchirico has pioneered a widely heralded option known as “zoning the oceans,” which would allow fair and environmentally responsible competition while protecting the overall health of the world’s seas.

On December 9 and 10, 2009, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) hosted a 2-day stakeholders summit in New York City that brought together more than 135 participants from nongovernmental organizations, academia, industry, citizens and state and federal government. The goal was to raise public awareness of ocean issues and to provide the opportunity to create strong, lasting partnerships among stakeholder interests across the region.

“We have taken the first step toward improving the quality of the water in our Oceans,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Now we must continue to work together, taking actions based on science, to create a more sustainable future for our states, our coastline and the waters that surround us.”

Breaking Waves
Posted by: Pat Kight | December ite
7, 2009 Comments Off | A new Web site from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gives visitors tools to learn about marine spatial planning – the ocean equivalent of land-use planning.

The site, at www.msp.noaa.gov, not only lays out basic concepts, but helps visitors stay on top of current news and information about marine spatial planning initiatives in the U.S., at both the federal and state levels.

The site also provides access to the tools and data used by organizations involved in marine spatial planning, including mapping and modeling tools, downloadable software and direct access to relevant government databases.