A Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan will support shared regional objectives for a healthy ocean ecosystem. The ecosystem supports abundant life such as this humpback whale surfacing off of Manhattan, an occurrence that researchers from Gotham Whale report is becoming increasingly frequent. Photo by Artie Raslich / Getty Images
By Arlo Hemphill
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RPB) is moving forward with a strategy to complete a Regional Ocean Action Plan by 2016. The RPB met on January 21-22nd in New York City to reach agreement amongst the member bodies on an approach for reaching this goal.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body met at a public session in New York City on 21-22 January 2015. The session resulted in an agreed upon approach for pursuing a Regional Ocean Action Plan by 2016.
This meeting also advanced other areas of RPB work, including a framework for a Regional Ocean Assessment (ROA) and strategies for Interjurisdictional Coordination, Data Synthesis and Stakeholder Engagement. MARCO plays a support role in this process through the development and use of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal as a planning tool and the facilitation of stakeholder engagement.
The RPB began conceptualizing the Plan’s approach in May of 2014 when it formed an internal workgroup to consider options for the type of Regional Ocean Action Plan that might best be developed for the Mid-Atlantic.
Stakeholders, such as Brent Greenfield of the National Ocean Policy Coalition (pictured here on right), provided comments to the Regional Planning Body.
In October 2014, a series of proposed options were circulated for public comment. These options outlined various strategies, ranging from a big picture Issue-Triggered Coordination Process to a series of high resolution Comprehensive Optimal Use Maps. These options were vetted publically at a series of Public Listening Sessions held in five Mid-Atlantic states, in addition to a public webinar and considerable contributions of written comment from ocean stakeholders from across the Mid-Atlantic region.
A Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal kiosk was available to provide participants and members of the public an opportunity to view ocean data and learn how to use the portal’s many features.
The agreed upon approach is a hybrid of previously outlined options, allowing for collaborative actions to be developed to address both region-wide opportunities and those associated with specific geographic areas of the Mid-Atlantic. This approach was decided upon both through consideration of public comment and analysis of the practical realities of delivering such a plan by the 2016 deadline, as requested by the National Ocean Council.
The newly agreed upon approach to the plan will support the goals and objectives in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Planning Framework, including:
- A Healthy Ocean Ecosystem
Promoting ocean ecosystem health, functionality, and integrity through conservation, protection, enhancement, and restoration
- Sustainable Ocean Uses
Planning and providing for existing and emerging ocean uses in a sustainable manner that minimizes conflicts, improves effectiveness and regulatory predictability, and supports economic growth
The final plan is intended to:
- Inform decision making under existing authorities
- Better understand and use the best available data
- Build on existing partnerships and planning efforts in the Mid-Atlantic
- Consider diverse stakeholder interests
- Reflect robust stakeholder input
- Adapt over time to reflect new information and changing conditions.
The proposed hybrid approach will also identify:
- Interjurisdictional coordination (IJC) opportunities and actions
- Opportunities and issues on a region-wide scale that:
- Highlight research needs
- Inform and improve decision making
- Improve information for regulatory review
- Leverage resources
Depending on resources, the RPB may consider pursuing additional analyses, or use other region-wide support tools such as:
- Assessment of areas of ecological importance
- Analysis of the marine economy
- Information sharing about proposed ocean use and proposed projects
Spurred by this meeting, future activities of the RPB will focus on contributing to the development of the Regional Ocean Action Plan. These include activities to further develop and define:
- A Regional Ocean Assessment
- Data synthesis products needed to support ocean planning and RPB member decision making under existing authorities
- Interjuridictional Coordination opportunities and actions
- Stakeholder Engagement, and
- Additional Analyses
By approving this approach, the MidA RPB is now positioned to further define and make progress throughout 2015 and 2016.