Both Ocean Commissions called for ecosystem-based

management … but offered few details

Core elements of ecosystem-based management

(1) Place-based approach

(2) Interactive and cumulative effects of human activities

(3) Explicit tradeoffs so as to maintain ecosystem services

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Marine EBM in practice

• Many places are implementing elements of EBM

• Few (if any) are implementing all elements

• Many are in planning phases of EBM

• Fewer have moved to implementation phases

• Few success stories (measured as a positive change in ecosystem health)

From McLeod and Leslie 2009 Ecosystem-Based Management of the Oceans

Science is vital to EBM implementation but not sufficient

1. Create incentives for stewardship & collaboration

2. Build on small successes

3. Employ area-based management tools

4. Make trade-offs explicit

5. Develop a new mandate

Morro Bay, CA Puget Sound, WA Chesapeake Bay

Concluding thoughts

1. There are many ways to move forward with EBM now.

2. EBM is not something extra, but rather a new way of managing human interactions with the sea.

3. EBM needs to be implemented over a range of spatial scales, from local to regional.

Land, coast, and ocean-based activities & impacts are changing marine systems

• Aquaculture• Climate change• Coastal development• Energy development• Fishing• Habitat alteration• Invasive species• Marine debris• Pollution• Shipping

No corner of the oceans remains untouched, and

40% affected by multiple drivers(Halpern et al. 2008)