Integrated marine management : managing multiple jurisdictions and the environment in the Exclusive Economic Zone

The 1992 international agreement known as Agenda 21 represents a paradigm shift away from sectoral management towards more comprehensive management approaches. A key tenet of Agenda 21 is the need for 'integrated management and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas, including exclusive economic zones' (Agenda 21, Programme Area A). Despite calls for integrated management at all levels of government, however, sectoral management prevails due to such factors as entrenched mind-sets, administrative fragmentation and political expediency. This thesis investigates the argument that sectoral management is unable to deal with complex, cross-linked issues and that integrated management is an appropriate, alternative method for approaching environmental management, particularly within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Comparative analysis is used to assess 17 case studies of integrated marine management within Australia, Canada and the United States of America. Comparison is structured on a series of ten common criteria distilled from the literature, and which in their entirety comprise a generic process of integrated management. Given these criteria, case studies are examined to determine whether management objectives and outcomes are really integrated, and whether the lessons of practice transcend the limitations of their unique (federal) contexts. Analysis demonstrates that despite structural differences, the concept of integrated management advocated by the three nations is very similar. Furthermore, aspects of integrated management have been pursued with some success, indicating that the process has the capacity to address cross-linked issues. However implementation of integrated marine management remains a significant hurdle and there are few marine management programs which can claim to be fully integrated in practice. Future application of integrated management within the federal EEZ requires policy and management to be approached from the perspective of issue aspects rather than isolated activities. It also requires: a consistent set of policy principles on which to base management; adequate and assured resources; a 'level playing field' for the reconciliation of sectoral interests; a 'two track' (top-down and bottom-up) approach to management; strategic planning; mechanisms for coordination and harmonisation; and explicit processes to allow for institutional learning. The thesis concludes that marine conservation may no longer be treated as a separate concern within itself but must be incorporated within comprehensive policy and management arrangements. Integrated marine management is one means for balancing environmental and development interests and presents a potentially feasible management option for resolving complex issues in the EEZ.