Pacific coastal land margin ecosystem encompassing the coastlines of Washington, Oregon, and California (NASA / MODIS image). The U.S. National Ocean Policy (2010), the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (2004), and the Pew Ocean Commission (2003) recently identified that traditional single-species or single-sector approaches to management of ocean and coastal resources have failed to achieve long-term resource sustainability, effectively balance multiple uses and goals, or to resolve conflicting management decisions. These national-level reviews recommend that the United States adopt an Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM) for ocean and coastal resources. The EAM concept strives to provide a comprehensive framework for coastal resource decision-making, and to consider a wide range of ecological, environmental, and human factors that bear on diverse societal objectives regarding resource use and protection (NOAA, 2005). As a complement to EAM, Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is a multidisciplinary process that can integrate information and management decisions across multiple ecological, social, and economic goals, ensure recognition of humans as key components of the ecosystem, and give full consideration to ecological boundaries while acknowledging and working effectively across political borders. EBM requires wide- ranging cooperation among the federal, tribal, state, and local governments and regional stakeholders to progress beyond single-issue or single-species management. Several management and planning tools have emerged over the past few years to assist the transition toward EBM, including the California Current Cumulative Impacts Model (2009; and see Xxxxxxx et al., 2008), and the National Framework for Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (NOAA, 2010). Effective implementation of Ecosystem-Based Management is a priority under the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health. The EBM approach will allow the states of Washington, Oregon, and California to take a regional, holistic, and coast-wide view, and to adopt an adaptive approach to address emerging regional issues and uses such as renewable ocean energy. In addition, the EBM approach will also provide a regional perspective to address cumulative human impacts and the multiple manifestations of climate change that are anticipated throughout the nearshore areas of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
