Planning & Assessment Framework

Management approaches function to support decision-making in regulatory processes by providing practices and policies that guide how information is gathered and analyzed.  A major change in management approaches for marine natural resources is the active shift from sector-based management to Ecosystem Based Management (EBM).  Sector-specific management is giving way to much more holistic and inclusive approaches.  For example, single species Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) are now being replaced by multispecies plans, most in the in the context of an overarching Fisheries Ecosystem Plan (FEP). Because of the complexity and scale of Large Marine Ecosystems, older management concepts and tools are being adapted, and new approaches are being developed.   Additionally, some Ecosystem Based Management Tools are evolving to serve the conceptual management approaches.

The evolving application of management approaches will require a rudimentary understanding by active participants in the context of ocean renewable energy development.  The EBM-type management approaches of particular interest for renewable ocean energy development are listed below.  To support stakeholder understanding of these approaches and how they are changing, each entry provides a description of the issue, a discussion of how the approach is presently being implemented, and a list of information resources.

Note: The management approaches included in this portion of the Framework focus on standards and practices for environmental quality with respect to natural resource management.  Please see Marine Spatial Planning for information about management of human resources in ocean and coastal areas.

 

The development of this section of the West Coast Framework was sponsored by OWET.