To promote sustainable ocean management and governance, planning for marine areas is being created worldwide, from coastal to open-ocean regions. During the past few decades, governments have made major advancements in how they view marine spatial planning (MSP). MSP spans six continents and four ocean basins and is now being developed in nearly 70 nations (Santos et al., 2019). MSP development and implementation still confront various current and future conceptual and practical obstacles, some of which are more pronounced and pervasive, despite its adoption and use.
International ocean governance focuses on using and managing the seas and their resources to keep them resilient, safe, safe, and productive. MSP has been recognized as an important integrated planning framework to promote sustainable ocean governance as our ocean environments get busier and more spatial conflicts must be resolved. The MSP approach departs from sectoral management to consider several economic, ecological, and social goals, to minimize disputes and foster cohabitation and synergies in the marine domain (Ehler, 2021). Therefore, MSP directly contributes to the development of ocean governance by pursuing the same goals and creating programs that aid in regulating the marine environment.
Ensure long-term protection and sustainable use of highly migratory fish stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean by joining the WCPFC, an intergovernmental organization. WCPFC manages the largest tuna fishery in the world. Around 55% of the world’s yearly tuna catch is produced in the Western and Central Pacific Oceans (Haas, 2020). Pacific island nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) account for around half of this catch. The advantages of the WCPFC’s formal rules include using scientific data to develop a strategy for tuna and other species’ preservation. The organization involves 26 members who contribute to the fair and just regional fishing (Haas, 2020). Among the disadvantages, the commission was involved in several controversies, where countries avoided their responsibilities and commitment to sustainable fishing (Haas, 2020). In addition, in 2015, the blockage of Tuvalu’s initiatives to develop and sustain their fishery (Aqorau, 2019). Hence, there are cases of violations of the commission’s regulations that point to the need for more strict supervision in WCPFC.
References
Aqorau, T. (2019). The Pitfalls of Regionalism: The Participation of Pacific Island Countries in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
Ehler, C. N. (2021). Two decades of progress in Marine Spatial Planning. Marine Policy, 132, 104134.
Haas, B. (2020). Tuna management in action: assessing the contribution of the WCPFC to the SDGs. Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs, 12(1), 42-47.
Santos, C. F., Ehler, C. N., Agardy, T., Andrade, F., Orbach, M. K., & Crowder, L. B. (2019). Marine spatial planning. In World seas: An environmental evaluation (pp. 571-592). Academic Press.