Strategic Advice on Designing and Implementing Coastal and Marine Spatial Plans A Report from the NOAA Science Advisory Board

Marine spatial planning is developing rapidly in many regions and countries in response to increases in ocean uses and user conflicts, growing environmental degradation and loss of ecosystem services, and awareness of the shortcomings of single-sector management. Marine spatial planning attempts to reduce spatial use conflicts and environmental stressors by comprehensively planning for multiple uses and objectives in an ecosystem-and place-based manner (Beck et al. 2009, CEQ 2010). In July 2010 President Obama issued an executive order adopting the recommendations of the U.S. Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force; Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) is a priority objective (CEQ 2010). In response to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force's final recommendations, NOAA has created a CMSP program. The NOAA CSMP program will develop regional and national workshops, establish nine regional planning bodies to facilitate regional plans, and develop a strategic action plan. To advise NOAA in the development of CMSP, a working group of NOAAs Science Advisory Board formed a CMSP-focused subcommittee to review and assess a representative set of 17 MSP examples from around the world (including plans and national frameworks). Our aim was to offer findings and recommendations from these efforts to assist NOAA (and the NOC) in the development of CMSP regionally and nationally. We developed a survey for these planning efforts and evaluated them based on published literature, interviews with plan leaders, and experiences from our direct involvement in planning efforts. We also examined the broader body of published works on MSP in the evaluation of evidence, findings and recommendations. Our review, findings and recommendations are focused on seven key categories central to the development of CMSP: (i) objectives, (ii) scope, (iii) authority, (iv) participants, (v) data, (vi) decision support and (vii) measures. Across these categories, we identified 23 recommendations for NOAAs consideration. Some of the key findings and recommendations are identified below. A. Objectives Findings: The majority of plans started with largely conceptual objectives (e.g., conserve marine biodiversity, sustain fisheries). During the planning process, these objectives were made more operational and spatially explicit, often with the help of an independent panel of experts. Recommendations: NOAA and the NOC should support the development of regional science and stakeholder teams that can help develop operational objectives (with indicators and reference levels) early in the CMSP process. B. Scope Findings: The spatial scale of the plans varied greatly. The majority of plans are at scales smaller than the …