Ocean Zoning Discussion Forum

The European Union has released a “Communication from the Commission on Maritime Spatial Planning in the EU – achievements and future development” (attached below)

The EU’s MSP Initiative “is the continuation of the work on Maritime Spatial planning which is part of the Integrated Maritime Policy. It is the announced follow-up to the Commission Communication “Roadmap on Maritime Spatial Planning: Achieving Common Principles in the EU”, adopted in 2008, which identified 10 key principles on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and launched a stakeholder discussion on the development of a common approach among Member States on MSP.”

Among the Initiative’s Objectives are “Forming the basis for an online stakeholder consultation on future EU action on MSP.”

CRE recommends that the EU model on their online stakeholder consultation process on CRE’s Ocean Zoning Interactive Public Docket.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA — The U.S. is now making moves to get into the offshore wind business that the United Kingdom is currently leading in the number of installations and planned projects.

We all know NIMBY-ism played a big role in many offshore wind projects not being built in the United States. All that red tape, coupled with uncertainty over climate change legislation (although we now know there will not be anything in place in 2010) led to us falling behind the rest of the world. But it’s not too late to get in on the action!

With the Cape Wind project coming into fruition off the Massachusetts coast after a 10-year battle, other states say they now want to start offshore wind farms, especially with state mandated renewable portfolio standards looming. The Department of the Interior, the same department that approved Cape Wind, has signed an agreement with 10 East Coast states that establishes an Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium to promote the development of wind resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. The memorandum of understanding was signed between Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

Yale Daily News

Communication between marine planning agencies needs to be improved, expert Sandra Whitehouse ’81 told students and faculty Monday at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Whitehouse argued that communication is vital when dealing with disasters such as the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A 75-strong crowd gathered at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to listen to Whitehouse, who has worked in marine policy and environmental consulting for more than 20 years, emphasise the necessity of science-based decision making when forming effective marine policies.Whitehouse argued that interagency communication is vital when dealing with disasters like the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Our objective is a healthy ocean,” Whitehouse said. “We do that with ecosystem based management, and our tool for that is marine spatial planning.”

Whitehouse said that one of the problems with marine planning is the contradicting laws surrounding the issue and the fractured agencies involved.

The lack of communication between these agencies was highlighted, Whitehouse said, when a spike in shark finning in New England waters disrupted the balance between populations of Bullnose Rays and scallops. These population changes damaged the commercial fishing industry, but could have been avoided with increased marine planning, she said.