Integrated Ocean Management

Abstract

AbstractWith the unprecedented growth in economic activities relating to the ocean economy, the need for a sustainable concept where socioeconomic development can occur without environmental degradation is widely recognised. This is manifested at the global level by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides the basic global framework for ocean governance (United Nations 1982). Since then, the ocean economy has continued to grow alongside our need for food, energy, transportation and recreation from the ocean. Existing ocean industries expand while new ones appear. At the same time, new challenges are emerging as a result of climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution and extractive activities. Our ocean is now facing these pressures at unprecedented rates and magnitudes. The mismatch between the drive for short- term economic gain versus long-term prosperity and a healthy, resilient ocean is increasingly apparent. As a result, we see a pressing need for holistic, knowledge- based and ecosystem-based approaches to ocean management. Integrated ocean management (IOM) is such an approach.