Progress toward implementing marine ecosystem-based management in the United States

In 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy advocated the adoption of a comprehensive Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) strategy to guide U.S. ocean policy.  Although ecosystem-based management of marine systems has clearly defined antecedents extending over the last several decades, new approaches to assessment and management of these systems and to the implementation of new research programs and initiatives in support of marine EBM are now underway.   These efforts include nationwide initiatives for the development of Integrated Ecosystem Assessments for an increasingly broad representation of U.S. marine ecosystems.  The establishment of new research programs such as the joint NOAA-NSF Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO) Program is playing a crucial role in providing the scientific foundations of marine EBM in the U.S.. Because EBM is fundamentally a place-based approach, the development of Marine Spatial Planning as a fundamental tool in this endeavor has also been undergoing rapid development, designed to address issues as diverse as resolution of conflicts among competing ocean use sectors and defining spatial patterns of marine productivity and the impacts of human activities on these systems. The status of progress on each of these fronts will be reviewed and plans for the future described.