Building ocean policy without frontiers

Australia, in 1998, was the first country to implement a comprehensive ocean policy. Its holistic approach and ecosystem-based management takes into account that ecosystems do not recognise national boundaries.

Australia also recognises the need for co-operation between different sectors that have interests in marine resources.

Several other nations have followed Australia's lead including Norway, Japan and Canada. Now, as the EU prepares its broad marine strategy, the European Commission has turned to these nations for guidance.

"European policies devoted to the sea have been carried out by and large on a purely sectoral basis," said Joe Borg, the European commissioner in charge of the maritime policy task force, at a conference in Canada. "The aim for me is therefore to foster dialogue with stakeholders and public authorities both within and outside Europe on the need to have an integrated maritime policy in Europe that will encompass all aspects related to the sea," Borg added.

The EU intends to form an umbrella policy covering fisheries, environment, tourism, industry, energy, research and regional development.

Australia has a similarly broad policy for its 11 million square kilometres of marine economic territory.

"With the fundamental objective of maintaining ecosystem integrity, ecosystem-based management requires development beyond the strictly sectoral focus, ensuring that connections across ecological dimensions (populations, species, habitats, regions) are taken into account, not just effects at one level," states Australia's maritime policy blueprint.

Nations undertaking these broad strategies try to balance economic needs with environmental impact. But implementation of these large-scale policies presents challenges when faced with shared marine borders. Australia's marine boundaries meet those of several other countries including New Zealand and Indonesia.

Europe will also have to consider its neighbours when drafting and implementing its maritime policy.

States with these types of policies do have some support in the form of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, which provides a legal framework for potential territorial disputes.

Canada, in 2002, was the second country to adopt a policy on oceans that cut across sectors. Commissioner Borg met Canadian representatives last May to discuss the country's experience in developing and implementing its sea-use policy. Canada's ocean strategy governs 244,000 kilometres of coastline and 5.6 million square kilometres of marine waters.

Part of the strategy was implementation of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The EEZ, part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, grants countries the right to exploit marine resources, typically extending 200 nautical miles, about 370 kilometres, into the sea.

While recognising the significance of Canada's marine industry, the ocean's policy acknowledges the balance between exploitation of resources and protection of the environment that provides those resources.

The policy focuses, therefore, on marine ecosystem research, the balance of inter-related sciences and how human activity affects that balance including pollution.

"An ever-increasing number of demands are being placed on our oceans and their resources," the Canadian government's ocean policy blueprint states. "Aquaculture, oil and gas exploration and development and eco-tourism have joined traditional fishing and marine transportation as significant ocean industries. The challenge is to support this growth in activity...with a strong commitment to maintaining and enhancing the well-being of our marine environment."

Portugal was the first country in the European Union to devise an integrated maritime policy.

The President of the European Commission, Jos�anuel Barroso, launched a Maritime Strategy Commission in Portugal in 2002, when he was the country's prime minister.

Article reports that when formulating its future integrated maritime policy the European Commission was looking at other countries as models. Australia was the first country to set up a cross-sector policy dedicated to the seas and oceans, followed by Norway, Japan and Canada. The European Commission was planning to present a Green Paper on an EU maritime policy in June 2006 launching a consultation on how to design an umbrella policy covering fisheries, environment, tourism, industry, energy, research and regional development.
Article is part of a European Voice Special Report, 'EU maritime policy'.

• Primary Source

European Commission: DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs: Maritime Affairs https://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/home_en

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