Implementing ecosystem-based marine management as a process of regionalisation: Some lessons from the Baltic Sea

This article deals with the implementation of ecosystem-based marine management in the Baltic Sea. It explores and documents in particular the preliminary lessons from environmental and fisheries management with reference to the Helsinki Commission Group for implementation of the ecosystem approach and the Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum, both examples of regionalisation processes in order to implement ecosystem-based marine management. The Helsinki Commission Group for mplementation of the ecosystem approach is a joint management body for the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum is a new governing body to facilitate regional cooperation in fisheries management. The aim of the article is twofold: a) to describe and discuss two different pathways of regionalisation in the Baltic Sea and b) to explore how these forms of regionalisation could contribute to the implementation of governance structures needed to implement ecosystem-based marine management at the level of a regional sea - efficiently, legitimately and effectively. We conclude that a nested governance structure could be developed by building upon existing institutions while learning from new initiatives to organise stakeholder involvement

Implementing ecosystem-based marine management as a process of regionalisation: Some lessons from the Baltic Sea

This article deals with the implementation of ecosystem-based marine management in the Baltic Sea. It explores and documents in particular the preliminary lessons from environmental and fisheries management with reference to the Helsinki Commission Group for implementation of the ecosystem approach and the Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum, both examples of regionalisation processes in order to implement ecosystem-based marine management. The Helsinki Commission Group for mplementation of the ecosystem approach is a joint management body for the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum is a new governing body to facilitate regional cooperation in fisheries management. The aim of the article is twofold: a) to describe and discuss two different pathways of regionalisation in the Baltic Sea and b) to explore how these forms of regionalisation could contribute to the implementation of governance structures needed to implement ecosystem-based marine management at the level of a regional sea - efficiently, legitimately and effectively. We conclude that a nested governance structure could be developed by building upon existing institutions while learning from new initiatives to organise stakeholder involvement

Fishing for opinions: Stakeholder views on MSFD implementation in European Seas

Stakeholder participation is vital when introducing and implementing ecosystem-based management (EBM) at any scale. This paper presents the results of a survey covering four European Regional Seas (Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean) aimed to collect stakeholders¿ perspectives on their Regional Sea governance to implement the European Union (EU) Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). In this survey, drivers of good governance including stakeholder involvement, willingness and capacity to cooperate, efficiency, institutional ambiguity and decision-making were explored. The results indicate a clear gap in perception between the current, the ideal and the foreseen situation regarding the implementation of the MSFD. The preferences for the future governance structures vary between stakeholders and across seas although some similarities can be found. Based on the results of the survey, this paper concludes that tailor-made rather than off-the-shelf solutions will be needed to accommodate regional cooperation in the European marine environment for implementing ecosystem-based management under the MSFD

Ecosystem-based marine management in European regional seas calls for nested governance structures and coordination—A policy brief

Marine governance in European seas is at a crossroad aiming towards implementation of eco-system based marine management (EBMM) through integration of different EU policies or directives to protect the environment, while at the same time expected to facilitate growth and employment in support of the blue economy. This article shows that the governance landscape at the regional sea level is very complex, fragmented and faced with several dilemmas. It examines the present governance structures in the four European seas (Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean Seas and North East Atlantic Ocean). It is argued that the implementation of EBMM at the regional sea level is characterized by a highly fragmented European governance system where there is lack of coordination between relevant DGs within the European Commission, between EU, International organisations, Regional Sea Conventions and the Member States and between sectoral governance arrangements that should provide sectoral management measures that support EBMM. The article develops suggestions for a nested governance system in which institutions, policies, laws and sectors are nested into a tiered, internally consistent and mutually re-enforcing planning and decision-making system. Developing institutional interaction and soft modes of governance between the EU, the Regional Sea Conventions, Member States and the governance arrangements of the different marine sectors will be crucial in evolving towards such a nested governance system for EBMM. Moreover, there is no one size fits all approach in implementing EBMM, which means that for each European Sea a context-dependent nested governance system should be developed

Regional cooperation for European seas: Governance models in support of the implementation of the MSFD

During the implementation process of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Member States are expected to cooperate and coordinate at the regional sea level as wells as arrange stakeholder involvement. However, the MSFD does not specify any governing structures to do so. The aim of this paper is to address these key challenges of the MSFD by developing four governance models for regional cooperation and assess their impact on governance performance. The four models are based on the building blocks of stakeholder involvement (low or high) and decision-making power (binding or non-binding decisions): (1) Cross-border platforms; (2) Regional Sea Convention-PLUS; (3) Advisory Alliance and (4) Regional Sea Assembly. Secondly, the paper will do an ex ante assessment on how the alternative models will have an impact on governance performance. The assessment criteria for governance performance are: (a) costs to set up and run a model; (b) capacity to cooperate; (c) policy coordination; (d) institutional ambiguity; and (e) implementation drift. In addition to this assessment of the performance based on expert judgement (i.e. scientists of WP7 of the ODEMM project), 4 roundtable discussions have been undertaken in which stakeholders from the four regional seas did an assessment of the four models. The main conclusion is that increasing stakeholder participation, a much desired development in regional organisation of marine management as expressed by the stakeholder community, will increase the costs of the policy making process. If stakeholder participation is not embedded in a wider institutional setting in which the participation of stakeholders is directly related to the policy process and the degree to which decisions taken are binding, the increase of costs does not lead to a more smoothly running model

Implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: A policy perspective on regulatory, institutional and stakeholder impediments to effective implementation

The implementation of the European Union (EU) Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU Member States to draft a program of measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES). Central argument of this paper, based on an analysis of the unique, holistic character of the MSFD, is that social and political factors are having a major influence on this MSFD implementation process. More specifically, four potential impediments have been identified that are curtailing the drive towards the effective implementation of the scheme advanced by the Directive. First, scientific uncertainty about aggregated ecological pressure and drivers in relation to the different sectors clouds the definition of national programmes of measures and this in turn may lead to implementation-drift in achieving GES. Second, the scale of the ecosystem is different from the political and socio-economic scales of individual, sectoral decision-making and activities. Third, policy coordination is required on several levels, i.e. at the EU level, within the Regional Sea Conventions, at national level and between these three levels. Finally, the coming together of both stakeholder involvement organized for the MSFD and those of existing, sectoral policy domains makes fair and efficient stakeholder involvement challenging. This paper concludes that more attention should be rendered to establishing appropriate coordination and communication structures, which facilitate greater engagement with the different Directorates-General in the European Commission, the European Council and the Parliament, the Member States, sectoral decision making institutions as well as stakeholder interest groups

Objectives of fisheries management: case studies from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark

The main objectives of fisheries management are generally similar throughout the world. These are often stated in policy documents such as the Common Fisheries Policy and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. However, at the local level often the key objectives of management are more detailed, characterised by both the overriding management structure and the status and type of fishery concerned. In this paper, we consider case study fisheries from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark to compare some of the various types of fisheries and fisheries management systems that exist in the European Union. From this, we define the key objectives for each management system.Objectives Fisheries management Common fisheries policy