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Marine Spatial Planning

Ariel view of the Savu Sea

2. On the Savu Sea in Indonesia there are large coral reef systems, but they are being impacted through destructive fishing and overfishing . There is also the illegal harvesting of cetaceans and turtles that is making those species populations decrease rapidly. The last main action that impacts this marine environment is the disposal of mine tailings into the Savu Sea. The Savu Sea was declared a Marine National Park in 2008 by Indonesia . This park spans over 3.5 million-hectares and was put in place in hopes that it would help combat these issues threatening this marine environment. The Nature Conservancy and Institut Teknologi Bandung were the main two organizations that helped establish marine spatial planning in Indonesia . The Marine National Park is still in place and there are efforts to implement more marine spatial planning in Indonesia to further protect the delicate ecosystems it has .

3. The Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) is a tool used for coastal management and regulation for Rhode Island's ocean-based resources. The Vineyard Wind turbine development was expected to put 206 wind turbines off of the coast of Hyannis, Massachusetts . The wind turbines have many impacts on the Rhode Island-based commercial fisheries. The main issue is that the wind turbines would be spaced too close together for the fishing boats to be able to pass through . The Rhode Island Ocean-SAMP helped minimize the conflict by allowing the Vineyard Wind turbine to only develop 84 turbines that are one nautical mile apart . This then allows the fishermen to have space to pass through the wind farm.

1. Marine and Coastal Conflicts

There are many drivers of change that then contribute to a competition of resources with the addition of exacerbating factors, which all together causes conflict (Alexander). This is happening globally with marine and coastal resources. There are many drivers of change, but there were 5 main ones discussed by Alexander. The first driver is the increasing human population. When there is an increase of people there is an increase of the resources needed. The second is the security of supply, which is the availability of resources to sustain the increase of human population. The third is the economic imperative that is the economic impacts when using the marine environment. The forth is an institutional failure where mistakes are repeated overtime. The last one being a changing marine and coastal environment due to an increase in human populations and an increase in the resources needed (Alexander).  These drivers of change cannot be changed, and cause a competition for resources.

In addition to the drivers of change that cause a competition for resources there is the exacerbation factors that can be changed through human action. The human perceptions that also contribute to conflicts over marine resources are don't take or alter what is ours (or no ones), don't treat us unfairly, don't threaten our wellbeing, and don't govern poorly. When one of these perceptions are threatened or broken this is what leads to the conflict for marine and coastal resources.

There was a marine and coastal conflict in Seadrift, TX in 1979 that was lead by some of these influences discussed by Alexander. There was a Vietnamese refugee that shot and killed a white crab fisherman due to a dispute over fishing territory. There was not a security of supply for the white crabs, which caused a competition for resources. This competition then drove the exacerbating factors taking what is ours and resulted in the conflict that unfortunately lead to violence.

2. The “Grey Zone”

There is a 72km (45mi) space in the ocean between Canada and The United States. This was referred to as the “grey zone”. It was designated in 1977 (Cook), but it was never clear if Canada or The United States had ownership of the space. Both countries activity fished that area for lobsters. There was then the issue of overfishing of the lobster populations because both countries were fishing to support their local economies (Lobster War). The main issue was that the two different countries put different regulations in place to combat this issue, but they were different regulations so neither was effective (Lobster Wars). The rights to this “grey zone” are controlled by the countries different political systems and the different social factors (Cook), which then lead to conflict (Alexander). For the governing of the Canadian lobster fisheries it is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), while for the governing of The United States it is the federal and state in charge (Cook). For the area within the 4.8 km (3mi) it is controlled by the state government, but for the area past the 4.8 km (3mi) the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission governs this federal zone (Cook).

Both governments having different regulations in place makes the supply less reliable for both economies and is benefiting either. This relates to the perception of don't govern poorly (Alexander). In Canada they cannot lobster during the summer season and in the U.S. they cannot get lobsters smaller than 5 inches. Both are lobstering in the same areas with different regulations meaning Americans can fish all year long while the Canadians can get whatever size lobster they want meaning neither of the regulations are being effective (Lobster Wars). This problem regarding the “grey zone” becomes worse when there are different regulations causing there to be a decrease of lobsters for everyone and hurting both economies in the long run (Cook).

3. Punctuated Equilibrium in Social Theory

Oil is a highly demanded natural resource, but there is a limited supply of it. This causes conflict, one example being the oil tanker traffic in Alaskan waters. In Alaska there is the largest oil field in the United States, but there is the ongoing issue of this industry impacting the local environment (Busenberg). This is accompanied by security of supply, institutional failure, and the economic imperative (Alexander). First is that there is not endless oil and it is in high demand, so there is not a security of supply causing a competition of resources. Second is institutional failure, where this system has been set up for failure through the government and societies actions. Then there is the economic imperative. Yes, the oil is benefiting the economy and the nation as a whole because we are decreasing our reliance on other nations for this resource, but at what cost? That cost is the environment (Busenberg).

These “drivers of change” is what cause the competition of resources (Alexander). Then exacerbating factors are introduced. In this instance that factor would be poor governance. One example of a critical policy reform was the development of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which allowed these large volumes to be transported to the oil tankers and set the tone for future actions. This started a domino effect of policies that allowed the oil industry in Alaska to get so large. This was the exacerbating factor then lead to the conflict being the oil tanker traffic in Alaskan waters. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is also one example of the punctuated equilibrium theory. This predicts certain policy periods have distinct critical periods and equilibrium periods (Busenberg). The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System would be a distinct critical period in this case because it was putting in place long-enduring institutional changes, that make a large impact for the future.

Alexander, Karen A. (9 July 2019). Conflicts over Marine and Coastal Common

        Resources. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-20642-4.

Cook, Beverly (2005-09). "Lobster boat diplomacy: the Canada–US grey zone". Marine

        Policy. 29 (5): 385–390. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2004.05.010. ISSN 0308-597X

J., Busenberg, George. Oil and wilderness in Alaska : natural resources, environmental

        protection, and national policy dynamics. ISBN 1-58901-663-7. OCLC 858896934.

"Seadrift | Kanopy". hawaii.kanopy.com. Retrieved 8 April 2021.