ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of recent developments in ocean management particularly those related to the implementation of marine spatial planning (MSP). Since the first UNESCO-hosted International Workshop on MSP was held in 2006, significant advances in marine planning have been made in a number of countries and the academic scholarship on MSP prospects and implementation has exploded. Although the spread of MSP has thus far been modeled primarily on implementation experiences in Europe and Australia, different political, legal, historical, and cultural realities in the United States may limit the applicability of those experiences. One of the newly established National Ocean Council's (NOC) first tasks was to prepare a 50-page review of legal authorities relating to the implementation of Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) to show that ocean planning efforts are congruent with existing law. The chapter discusses the national guidelines for marine spatial planning including the national goals and the national guiding principles of CMSP.
