Human activity tends to excavate the natural capital and degrade the ecosystemservices on which civilization depends. For long-term sustainability a more proactiveresource management is needed.1 Since natural and social systems are complex,environmental impacts of new technologies can be very difficult to predictbeforehand, but once technical systems have spread and have become widelyaccepted they tend to be hard to control. Will ocean energy development be asafe path towards sustainable power production, or will it inflict additional burdenon already deprived marine life? In this chapter it will be argued that the answer ismuch dependent on adaptive engineering and prospective planning
