Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee: Regional Ocean Governance

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Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee Regional
Ocean Governance

• Mark C. Holliday, Ph.D.
• Office of Policy

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Objective/Purpose
The purpose of this session is to identify
discuss issues most important to NOAA in
anticipation of a future based on regional ocean
governance, and to identify the steps or actions
needed to prepare for those outcomes.
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Background/Context

• Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Report (April
  2009)
• - There is still work left undone
• - Recommendations to Obama Administration
• New NOAA Administrator
• - CEQ/White House leader for the Oceans
• - Goal Fulfill missing elements of ocean policy
  governance

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Summary of Ocean Priorities April 2009 JOCI
Recommendations

• Improved Governance
• President by Executive Order should establish a
  National Ocean Policy and a high level ocean
  advisor
• Congress should pass a comprehensive ocean policy
  and framework that
• Advances marine spatial planning
• Provides Federal support for regional governance
• Codify and strengthen NOAA
• Establish NOAA as lead civilian ocean agency
• Reorganize NOAA around core missions
• Regional collaboration, including science-based
  ecosystem assessments
• Bolster International Leadership
• Law of the Sea
• Arctic

Specific Management Challenges Strengthen and
reauthorize the CZMA Expedite implementation of
MSA Employ innovative, science-based approaches
to ecosystem-based management Strengthen Ocean
Science Reaffirm JSOST and bolster NOPP Codify
ORRAP Elevate ocean science coordination to WH
level (OSTP, CEQ . . .) Establish Ocean Policy
Trust Fund
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What are the Missing Elements?

• Statement of national ocean policy founded on
  ecosystem health
• An interagency strategy to execute policy
• Independent ocean advisor to President
• Comprehensive marine spatial planning
• Federal leadership implementing regional ocean
  governance

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Sample National Ocean Policy Statement

• Through Executive Order, legislation or
  otherwise
• It is the policy of the United States that
  maintaining a healthy, resilient and sustainable
  ocean ecosystem function is the guiding principle
  for all federal agency activities and actions
  affecting the ocean.

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Essential Characteristics Underlying the Policy

• Build ecosystem resilience
• Protect biodiversity
• Adopt a precautionary approach
• Balance passive and consumptive uses
• Chose ecologically relevant scales
• Adopt best science, technology and information

• Integrate ocean, land atmosphere
• Promote collaboration partnerships
• Ensure national security interests
• Ensure transparency stakeholder engagement

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Actions to Achieve Unmet Governance Needs

• A US ocean policy will rely heavily on
  collaboration and partnerships with states, other
  levels of government and stakeholders.
• How do we bring together in one place multiple
  management authorities, sectors and
  constituencies?

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Five Planning Regimes in use Worldwide

• Individual sectors w/out common ends
• Sectors w/agreed common ends
• Virtual organizations (partnerships, committee
  structures , co-management)
• An overall coordinating body
• An overall management agency
• Increasingly from soft (1) to hard (5)
  governance

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Current US situation

• State-organized regional collaboration alliances
• - Big 8 West Coast Governors Agreement, Great
  Lakes Commission, Gulf of Maine Council on the
  Marine Environment, Northeast Regional Ocean
  Council, Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Council,
  Governors' South Atlantic Alliance, Gulf of
  Mexico Program, Gulf of Mexico Alliance
• Regional Fishery Management Councils
• Regional Federal entities (EPA, FWS, MMS,
  military)
• - NOAA Regional Teams
• - NMFS Regional Offices

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Current Capacity for Regional Governance
Interviewed NOAA personnel serving on major
regional collaboration organizations NOAA
Regional Teams. How well are the regional
organizations positioned to help NOAA advance
regional ocean governance? Results Most
ecosystem-centered variable priorities, some
NOAA overlap. More collaboration vs. governance
--no authority to actually implement and enforce
policy. Varied public stakeholder participation
mixed transparency. Lacking Independent
scientific or judicial review of actions.
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Future Regional Ocean Governance Implementation

• New Regional Ocean Councils/Partnerships (e.g.,
  Pew Report, HR 21)?
• Modify roles for regional alliances, states,
  Fishery Management Councils, interstate
  commissions?
• Must Address
• Hard vs. soft governance
• Ability to resolve conflicting mandates
• Authority to implement, monitor enforce policy
• Transparency/public participation
• Judicial review?

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Integration, Conflict Resolution

• Issues and Considerations
• No existing mechanism exists to look at ocean
  policy decisions strategically in an integrated
  manner
• Limited ability to effectively resolve competing
  or conflicting uses or impacts
• Need to consider cumulative impacts among uses
• NOAA Fisheries/RFMC under MSA and ESA, and NOS
  under Sanctuaries Act, are the two principal
  regional ocean governance authorities outside the
  Territorial Sea broadest federal agency mandate
  to conserve ecosystems
• Options
• Identify interagency strategies/policy goals that
  cross jurisdictional lines
• Continue use of processes available under NEPA
  and other existing statutes
• Charge SIMOR or new entity with overarching duty
  to resolve conflicts
• Congressional action vs. Executive Order

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Lets Plan for Changing Roles and Responsibilities

• What changes need to occur in NOAA and NMFS in a
  future based on regional ocean governance?
• What responsibilities, authorities, research
  focus, oversight, accountability, provision of
  data and services, resources will need change?

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Data Process Requirements

• Integrated Ecosystem Assessments
• Data/models at regional level -- climate,
  habitat, social science and biological scales
• Means to engage public
• Appropriate venue
• Coordinated decision-making between federal
  (international), regional, state and local bodies
• Sufficient authority
• Competent leadership

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Regional Ocean Governance Possible Discussion
Questions

• What role(s) should NMFS and NOAA as a whole have
  and/or what responsibilities?
• How would potential Regional Ocean Councils
  interact with Regional Fishery Management
  Councils? NMFS Regional offices?
• What are NOAAs strengths related to this issue
  what services could we provide?

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Regional Ocean Governance Possible Discussion
Questions

• What should the roles be for NMFS regions,
  science centers, or HQ offices?
• How will these responsibilities impact current
  activities or future strategies for resource
  management (i.e., how do ecosystem based
  management, integrated ecosystem assessments and
  regional ocean governance fit in?)

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What is policy?