The End of the Blue Frontierandand
The New Paradigm for Ocean Management
Elliott A. Norse
Marine Conservation
Biology Institute
The right to swing my fist ends where the other
man’s nose begins
US Supreme Court JusticeOliver Wendell Holmes
1841-1935
Americans also Insist on Laws and EffectiveGovernance to Protect the Public Good
What Killed Them Off?Our “frontier mentality” and 2 new technologies allowed us to become
roving banditsroving bandits
D. Blockstein (2002). Passenger pigeon inThe Birds of North America, # 611
A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.
What Does This Have to do with the Sea?
Passengerpigeon hunt
Orange roughytrawl catch
Bison skulls
Oystershells
1999:1999:NOAA calls the sea “The Last
Frontier”
1893:1893:Historian Frederick Jackson
Turner proclaims the closingof America’s (land) frontier
2003:2003:Pew Oceans Commission says
the “frontier mentality” leads to a hodgepodge of US laws &
programs
E.A. Norse (2005). Ending the range wars on the last frontier: Zoning
the sea
pp. 422-443 in:
E.A. Norse & L.B. Crowder
Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s
Biodiversity. Island Press
Factors Underlying Long-term Sustainability
1) The sea’s productive capacity was1) The sea’s productive capacity was undiminishedundiminished
2) Technological change was2) Technological change was very slowvery slow
3) Exploitation was3) Exploitation was localizedlocalized• Peoples’Peoples’ mobility was limitedmobility was limited• Users knew resource limitationsUsers knew resource limitations in their in their
placesplaces• Societies decidedSocieties decided who could fish wherewho could fish where
and enforced this privilege and enforced this privilege effectivelyeffectively
How Fishing Has Changed
> 1900> 1900
Limited mobility Limited mobility & fishing power& fishing power
Devastating mobilityDevastating mobility& fishing power& fishing power
TechnologTechnologyyHull
Propulsion
Gear
Navigation
Fish-finding
Preserving Few options
Wood
< 1900< 1900
On-board freezing& processing
Steel
Wind Fossil fuel
Synthetic fiberNatural fiber
Sun & stars GPS & radio
Trial & error Sonar & satellite
F. Berkes et al. (2006). Science 311: 1557-58
Globalization, roving bandits and marine resources
Spread of Sea Urchin Fishing for Japanese Market
Time
Consequences of Frontier Use
Resource Resource UsersUsers
““Renewable” Renewable” Resources Resources
Specific Consequences of Ocean Frontier Use
1) Fisheries are collapsing2) Megafauna are disappearing3) Habitat-formers are vanishing4) Noxious species are proliferating
1
2 3 4
Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean. R.A. Myers et al. (2007). Science 315:
1846-1850
Other Technologies Have Changed Too< 1900< 1900
• Ships• Telegraph cables
> 1900> 1900
• Much bigger ships• Oil & gas• Pipelines• Optical cables• Wind farms• Tidal power• Wave power• Aquaculture• LNG facilities
Intense CompetitionIntense Competitionfor Spacefor Space
Little Little competitioncompetition
for spacefor space
The Biggest Difference Between the Sea and the Land
• In the sea, different authorities govern sectors separately, even in the same place, while…
• On land, one authority governs all sectors
in each place
Sectors and Primary Management Agencies
• Fisheries: NOAA Fisheries• Aquaculture: ?NOAA Fisheries?• Oil & gas: Minerals Management Service (MMS)• Wind, wave and tidal power: MMS• Pipelines: MMS and Army Corps of Engineers• Dredging: Army Corps of Engineers• LNG: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission• Discharges: Environmental Protection Agency• Navigation: Coast Guard• Non-consumptive recreation: ???• Biodiversity conservation ???
Each Activity Can Affect the Others!Each Activity Can Affect the Others!
What’s Wrong With Sectoral Management?
As competition increases:• Sectors gain influence over agencies
and legislative committees responsible for overseeing them, which then champion “their” sectors instead of minimizing the harm they cause
• Each sector, agency and legislative committee ignores biodiversity andand the others’ resources and interests
• Biodiversity always loses
Resolving mismatches inU.S. ocean governanceScience 313: 617-618
L.B. Crowder, G. Osherenko, O.R. Young, S. Airamé, E.A. Norse, N. Baron,J.C. Day, F. Douvere, C.N. Ehler,B.S. Halpern, S.J. Langdon,K.L. McLeod, J.C. Ogden, R.E.
Peach,A.A. Rosenberg & J.A. Wilson
(2006)
A Recent Paper Offers a Workable Alternative to Sectoral Management
and Roving Banditry
Major Findings of Crowder et al. (2006)
1) Our oceans are in trouble because governance is not yet configured to manage them
a) Decision making is fragmentedfragmented, with majoroverlaps andand gaps in governing authority
b) Natural processes and governance happen on different spatialspatial scales
c) Natural processes and governance happen on different temporaltemporal scales
2) Comprehensive ecosystem-based management using zoning can alleviate these problems
Scientific Consensus on MarineEcosystem-based Management (2005)
www.compassonline.orgwww.compassonline.org
EBM:• protects ecosystem composition,
structure & functioning• is place-basedplace-based, focusing on specific
ecosystems• addresses connections among air, land &
sea• integrates ecological, social, economic &
institutional perspectives
Some Advocate an Ecosystem Approach
to Managing SectorsEcosystem-based fishery
management Science 305: 346-347
E.K. Pikitch, C. Santora, E.A. Babcock, A. Bakun, R. Bonfil, D.O. Conover,P. Dayton, P. Doukakis, D. Fluharty, B. Heneman, E.D. Houde, J. Link,P.A. Livingston, M. Mangel,M.K. McAllister, J. Pope &K.J. Sainsbury (2004)
NeitherNeither the Ecosystem Approach to Management nornor Spatial Management is
NecessarilyNecessarilyEcosystem-based Management
Ecosystem Approachto Management Spatial Management
Ecosystem-basedEcosystem-basedManagementManagement
Ecosystem Ecosystem Approach to Approach to
ManagementManagement •Sector-based unlike land
management•Brings ecosystem thinking to sectoral management•Each sectorsector has one management authority•Incremental improvement; not a paradigm shift• Can’t solve the problems
•Place-based likeland management
•Manages all sectors in each specified place (ecosystem)
•Each placeplace has one management authority•Fundamental improvement; a paradigm shift•Can solve the problems
Ecosystem-based Ecosystem-based ManagementManagement
Zoning
• Addresses the spatial heterogeneity spatial heterogeneity in ecosystems and human uses
• Dramatically reduces roving banditry, endless conflicts, uncertainty and high costs by separating incompatibleseparating incompatible usesuses
Basic Principles ofEcosystem-based Management
•Delineate ecoregions and zones within them, with one managing authority for each zone•Protect and recover biodiversity and
ecosystem functions•Use best available science•Educate the public•Acknowledge existing obligations and rights•Make planning open, inclusive and
accountable•Use adaptive management: learn, then use
what you learn to do things better
A Simple System for Zoning by Objective
• No-go zonesNo-go zones (e.g., seabird nesting colonies) so sensitive that humans (except permitted researchers) are prohibited (very limited)
• Marine reservesMarine reserves prohibit all extractive and other harmful uses
• Buffer zonesBuffer zones surround or adjoin marine reserves and allow extractive uses that don’t degrade habitats
• General use zonesGeneral use zones allow a wide range of permissible activities
The most dangerous phrase in the language is:
“We’ve always done it this way”
Admiral Grace Hopper
1906-1992
What a Very Wise Person Taught Us
Two Final Thoughts
• We know how to do this. Americans have been doing it on land, more or less, for many decades. The Australians have been doing it in the sea since the ’80s. The Germans, Dutch and Belgians are doing it now. If we ask nicely, they’ll show us how it’s done.
• If we don’t do this now, our children and grandchildren will curse us for our
inaction.
It’s time to make it happenIt’s time to make it happen