The Skimmer on Marine Ecosystems and Management

For ecosystem-based management (EBM) to be successful, science is needed to understand the natural system, social system, and governance system – as well as how each one interacts with the others. EBM, at its core, is policy based on scientific evidence and knowledge. The more robust the evidence and knowledge,…

Dear MEAM, Your August/September 2010 issue provides an excellent summary of the appropriate use of science in planning and management. It might surprise you that we used the methodologies so well described by Leanne Fernandes and Tundi Agardy in the original planning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Those…

By Tundi Agardy, MEAM Contributing Editor (tundiagardy@earthlink.net) Of all the principles that serve as the foundation for EBM, the precautionary approach may be the most inherently problematic. It presents several paradoxes: Its premise is pure logic…yet its articulation is often so complex as to be incomprehensible; It grows out of…

In July, President Obama signed an executive order establishing a national ocean policy for the US (www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans). The policy launches a process of coastal and marine spatial planning for the nation, carried out on a phased basis across nine regions (MEAM 4:1). Marine protected areas are often viewed as examples…

Editor's note: Jeff Ardron, author of the following essay, is director of the High Seas Program at MCBI (Marine Conservation Biology Institute) in the US. He is also president of the board for PacMARA (Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association) and an active member of the science board for the…

Marine Ecosystems and Global Change Edited by Manuel Barange, John Field, Roger Harris, Eileen Hofmann, Ian Perry, and Francisco Werner. 2010, Oxford University Press, 464 pages. US $150 at www.oup.com Environmental change in the ocean can take many forms. Climate change, biodiversity loss, intensive exploitation of natural resources – these…

New Canadian foreign policy on Arctic includes EBM The Canadian government has announced a new Arctic foreign policy to guide how the country works with its regional neighbors. The strategy, consisting of four pillars (exercising Arctic sovereignty, protecting environmental heritage, promoting socioeconomic development, and improving Northern governance), is designed to…

Editor’s note: The goal of The EBM Toolbox is to promote awareness of tools for facilitating EBM processes. It is brought to you by the EBM Tools Network, a voluntary alliance of tool users, developers, and training providers. By Sarah Carr Coastal hazard and climate change modeling and vulnerability assessment…