Marine Spatial Planning

Shipmates,

If you followed our posts this last week you will have seen a focus on Arctic issues. However, the larger context of the trip and our meetings was the President?s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. As the Department of Homeland Security's representative on this Task Force I have attended several meetings in Washington chaired by Ms. Nancy Sutley who also chairs the President?s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

The Task Force has three near term deliverables for the President: (1) a National Oceans Policy, (2) a governance structure for ocean issues, and (3) an implementation plan to implement the policy.

The purpose of this post is to begin to acquaint you with a longer term deliverable under the President?s tasking; that is 'Marine Spatial Planning.' MSP is a concept that has been developing in the last decade and focus on an integrated approach to how we use our oceans.

There are several definitions of MSP and an Internet query will yield numerous sites where the term is defined and discussed.

I pulled this definition from Wikipedia:

'Marine Spatial Planning is a planning tool that enables integrated, forward-looking and consistent decision-making on the use of the sea. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the United Kingdom have developed a commonly used definition:

'Strategic, forward-looking planning for regulating, managing and protecting the marine environment, including through allocation of space, that addresses the multiple, cumulative, and potentially conflicting uses of the sea'

The main elements of marine spatial planning include an interlinked system of plans, policies and regulations; the components of environmental management systems (e.g. setting objectives, initial assessment, implementation, monitoring, audit and review); and some of the many tools that are already used for land use planning. Whatever the building blocks, the essential consideration is that they need to work across sectors and give a geographic context in which to make decisions about the use of resources, development, conservation and the management of activities in the marine environment.'

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) has a shorter version:
?'Marine spatial planning is a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives that have been specified through a political process.'

On the plane ride back to Washington I was surveying the broad spectrum of activities that the Coast Guard carries out in the marine environment. All of them relate to the concept of marine spatial planning including waterways management, aids to navigation, living marine resources enforcement activities, offshore oil and gas exploration and production, and renewable energy.

As the Nation considers this concept and its application to our oceans the Coast Guard will be part of the conversation and the evolution of its application. One of our strong partners in the past has been the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Throughout the last week NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and I had the opportunity to talk about the many missions we execute jointly ? and with others. We have made a commitment to continue our close coordination and collaboration as the Task Force moves forward. The photo of the two of us attached to this post was taken at Shismareff, a coastal town subject to erosion.

I invite you to learn more about Marine Spatial Planning.

ADM A