Abstract
Marine spatial planning (MSP) offers an operational framework to address sustainable and well-planned use of ocean space. Spatial allocation has traditionally been single-sector, which fails to account for multiple pressures on the marine environment and user conflicts. There is a need for integrated assessments of ocean space to advance quantitative tools and decision-making. Using the example of offshore wind energy, this article offers thoughts about how MSP has evolved in the United States and how the varying scales of MSP achieve different outcomes. Finally, a review of quantitative and qualitative studies that are needed to support MSP are presented.
Highlights
Marine spatial planning (MSP) offers an operational framework to address sustainable and well-planned use of ocean space
At least twenty federal agencies are involved in ocean governance in the United States (Crowder et al 2006) and further, each coastal state manages its coastal zone with associated regulations and state agencies
Single-sector management is ineffective in considering the multiple ocean uses by people, because it does not account for the outcomes of such interactions, cumulative effects over spatial and temporal scales, and how ecosystem services may be affected, nor does it allow for explicit consideration of tradeoffs among ocean users (Halpern et al 2008)
Summary
Single-sector management is ineffective in considering the multiple ocean uses by people, because it does not account for the outcomes of such interactions, cumulative effects over spatial and temporal scales, and how ecosystem services (provided to people) may be affected, nor does it allow for explicit consideration of tradeoffs among ocean users (Halpern et al 2008). These shore-based principles were part of the early framework of ecosystem based management (EBM), which both extends beyond to the coastal zone into the ocean, and explicitly considers ecological components (Douvere 2008) The novelty of this concept in ocean planning is the focus on place, rather than on species (Crowder et al 2006). More common in European MSP, includes spatially explicit goals and defined zones for economic activity (Collie et al 2013)
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