Examples of ecosystem-based management in National Marine sanctuaries: moving from theory to practice

Abstract

In the last two decades, ecosystem-based management (EBM) emerged as a compelling alternative to traditional single-species approaches for effective management of marine and coastal resources. Christensen et al. (1996) defined ecosystem management as “management driven by explicit goals, executed by policies, protocols, and practices, and made adaptable by monitoring and research based on our best understanding of the ecological interactions and processes necessary to sustain ecosystem composition, structure, and function.” Ecosystem-based management integrates many sectors and stakeholders, considers cumulative impacts, explicitly includes humans as integral to the system, and preserves important services for humans as goals for management (McLeod et al. 2005). The Pew Oceans Commission and the US Commission on Ocean Policy both articulated the scientific community’s support for EBM and identified it as a necessary element of effective resource management (Pew Oceans Commission 2003, US Commission on Ocean Policy 2004).