Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The purpose of the book and the research on which it is based is to place ocean management, and marine spatial planning (MSP) particularly, within the broader context of research and practice in fields such as policy analysis, common-pool resource theory, institutional analysis, planning and design, community engagement, and conflict resolution. Marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been frequently advanced as an effective approach for managing complex and highly interconnected marine ecosystems. By the middle of the 20th century, ocean waters were home to intensive nearshore recreational activities, and a tangle of commercial and military ship routes, while ocean management remained relatively weak and Balkanized by sector. By the start of the 21st century, the call for planning in the marine environment was being actively taken up in a number of countries.