Opportunities and Challenges for Coastal Management in Oregon

Marine & Coastal Management

A process by which decisions are taken for the development, conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal systems – biophysical, social, cultural and economic.

Challenges & Opportunities

• Challenges & opportunities in coastal management Include:• Biological & physical systems• Social, economic and political dimensions• Available human resources including education &

training of managers and stakeholders• Institutional & legal frameworks

• In the rest of the lecture we’ll explore some examples from Oregon

Are our management actions

• Achievable?

• Affordable (cost & time)?

• Popular with decision makers, stakeholders, public, voters?

Challenges: The Natural Environment

Challenges: The Natural Environment

• Our biggest challenge is understanding and adapting to environmental change whether natural or human induced

• Oregon’s coastal ecosystems - marine and terrestrial – are adapted for change.

• Our coastal communities and economy not be so resilient to change unless it is planned for.

Changing Beaches and Shorelines

Oregon’s beaches and shoreline are an important part of our identity.

Our coast is where we live, play and its generate tourism income for our communities and state.

Much of the shoreline is managed by the state for recreation.

Oregon’s Shoreline

Impacts on Beaches and Shorelineshttp://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/video/flash/oregon-climate/shoreline-effects.html

Changing Marine Ecosystems & Impacts on

Fisheries

Changing Ocean Ecosystems

Intensified upwelling? Increased ocean temperature?

Increased ocean acidity? Changes in plankton & food chains?

Harley et al. 2006

Ocean Acidificationhttp://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/video/flash/oregon-climate/broader-effects.html

Impacts on Ocean Fisheries

• California current ecosystem has changed often in the past

• Any changes due to predicted warming will be difficult to detect because of high natural variability

• Changes that do occur will affect commercial fisheries and recreational fisheriesNorton and Mason 2005

Sea Temperature Anomaly

Up

wellin

g an

om

aly

Changes in Upwellinghttp://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/video/flash/oregon-climate/broader-effects.html

Impacts on Salmon Fishing

Salmon - Loss of Habitat

• OR will lose more habitat than WA or ID • Trout habitat less impacted than salmon habitat because salmon are

restricted to warmer waters by dams and other barriers

Salmon Habitat Lost in OR, ID, WA

ISAB Climate Change Report 2007

• By 2030 OR could lose15% of its salmon habitat

• By 2090 OR could lose 45% of its salmon habitat

Salmon - Ocean survival

Source: Peterson et al. 2006

Warmer waters reduce salmon survival:• Decreased food

supply• Higher metabolic

rates and less growth• Increased migration

distances• Increased predation

by warm water species

Community and Social Challenges

On the ocean increased competition for space from the new industrialization of the ocean:• Offshore renewable energy • Marine farming• Dredging, dumping etc

In our communities:• Decline of resource industries• Tourism• Immigration• Retirees• Rise of the service industry and minimum wage jobs

Economic Change

Growth and development present both opportunities for and challenges to community economic prosperity and ecological sustainability.

We need to:

• Identify and create opportunities for economic and environmentally sustainable development of our coastal communities.

• Build the capability within coastal communities to create and take take advantages of new opportunities.

Coastal Development and Community Prosperity

Collective learning determines a community’s ability to take advantage of opportunities for sustainable economic and ecological development.

Informed individuals & communities are better able to maintain & improve the quality of the ecosystems and natural resources on which they depend.

How can we build human capital, developing new models for learning and engagement encompassing K-12, formal and informal learning strategies and opportunities?

Learning for Sustainable Communities

Changing Stakeholders: The Ocean Aware

There is unprecedented awareness among non-coastal residents of the state of our coastal and ocean resources.

Management, education and communication actions have to be increasingly aware of a new community of interest - the ocean aware.

We need to understand the motivations of this group and encourage initiatives that align the interests of both new and traditional stakeholders.

Changing Stakeholders: The NGO Community and a New Kind of Direct Action

Increasing outreach & research activities by non-governmental organizations & industry associations engaged in marine issues.

Stakeholder organizations and foundations do not necessarily represent the wider interests of coastal communities nor is their research always agenda free.

How can traditional agencies work with these organizations to leverage new research resources while giving decision makers and the public confidence in the integrity and quality of this research?

Responding to The Management Challenge

Decision-makers need to educate researchers by about the kinds of data and information they will need, and their time lines for decisions.

Researchers in the natural and social sciences need to educate decision-makers about what is at stake in the interactions of society and economy with the natural environment.

Two-way dialogue between researchers and decision-makers is critical.

Linking Research & Management

Ecosystem based management demands the collection and use of vast amount of data about our oceans and coasts.

For the first time we have the technology to collect, store and disseminate this data to specialists and citizenry alike.

To maximize the value of this data we need to transform it into useful information by:

• Understanding the needs of potential users of coastal and ocean information.

• Considering the skill levels of users and where necessary increasing these skill levels.

The Data Revolution

Unprecedented Change in Marine Governance

• Pew Commission & Ocean Commission early to mid 00s

• Bush Administration response 2005

• State responses 2005 -present:• E.g. California, Massachusetts, West Coast Governors

Agreement on Ocean Health etc.

• Obama Administration 2009 :• Catch Shares• Interim Ocean Policy Policy• Marine Spatial Planning

Emerging scientific consensus around ecosystem-based management as a conceptual model for managing marine systems.

It is about maintaining healthy marine & coastal ecosystems so that they can provide the services humans want and need for this and future generations.

It is place focused rather than sector focused.

EBM focused research and education explicitly integrates multiple disciplines and perspectives and emphasizes their interconnection.

Planning for the 21st Century Ocean Uses

Putting EBM into effect means giving greater attention to research that supports marine spatial planning by:

• Identifying management units based on biotic and abiotic characteristics and disturbance regimes.

• Establishing the value of the ecosystem services provided by these management units.

• Evaluating regulatory and non-regulatory management that align incentives for the sustainable use of resources within the zones.

• Encouraging adaptive management programs to monitor, review and adjust zones and their regulation as required.

Planning for the 21st Century Ocean Uses

State Planninghttp://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/video/flash/oregon-climate/government.html

Take Home Messages

• Coastal management is about change management

• Changes in marine & coastal ecosystems are unpredictable & are a result of both natural variability and human induced variability

• Oregon’s coastal ecosystems - marine and terrestrial - are adapted for change

• Coastal communities and their dependence on coastal services may not be so resilient to change unless it is planned for

• Change planning has to integrate both bio-physical and human dimensions of coastal systems

• We are only beginning to figure out how to do this.

Questions?