Executive Summary
The draft Oceans Policy [At the time this report was printed, the draft Oceans Policy had not been approved by Cabinet.] identifies a fundamental need for co-ordinated national priority-setting on ocean issues to direct all our activities in the ocean so that we can manage threats to our ocean and maximise opportunities for its sustainable use. This report is a first step towards identifying a preferred, adaptive approach for setting future national ocean priorities, together with specific actions needed to build the information, tools and concepts that might underpin this approach.
Part 1 of this report explores the kinds of things we might need to know when setting priorities for ocean management. Any national priorities set under the Oceans Policy will need to address key threats and opportunities for managing our ocean - across social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. We can therefore expect the information needed to include both values-based information, so that we can understand people's preferences for how the ocean should be managed, and empirical information, so that we can understand the complex nature of the ocean environment.
Values-based information has been gathered through the Oceans Policy consultation processes and has driven the overarching objectives and principles for ocean management. Over time, people's preferences may change, so these may need to be reviewed.
Empirical data is being gathered through a number of projects, including the Ocean Survey 20/20 - a comprehensive exercise to survey New Zealand's total ocean area and resources by the year 2020. This report scopes the range of information that could be collected as part of the Ocean Survey 20/20 and other complementary projects to assist with Oceans Policy priority setting, including information on:
- the full range of ocean environments and habitats
- human activities in and uses of the ocean
- the types of change that can occur in different environments and habitats, and as a result of different human activities and uses within them.
Tables 1 to 3 set out the information needs under these categories. However, to set management priorities we also need to understand the relationships between these factors; that is, we need to understand how the marine environment changes when different pressures (natural and human-induced) are applied. Figures 2 and 3 provide a useful model for classifying the full range of changes that could occur in the marine environment. However, further work is needed to develop these concepts further.
Section 1.2 looks at information we already have on hand and the gaps and barriers to accessing this information. It does this by summarising the range of marine data and information held by various agencies throughout New Zealand. Chief among these are:
- a review for the Ministry of Fisheries of data sets that may be incorporated into the National Aquatic Biodiversity Information System (NABIS) - a centralised decision-making tool containing layers of aquatic biodiversity information
- Marine Research in New Zealand: A survey and analysis (Chapman and Lough, 2003)
- Setting Course for a Sustainable Future: The management of New Zealand's marine environment' (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 1999)
- Review of National Databases Relating to the New Zealand Marine Environment (Froude, 2000)
- Review of Existing Coastal and Estuarine Monitoring (excluding Regional Council monitoring) (Froude, 1998)
- Coastal Resources Database and GIS: A report to the NZ Maritime Safety Authority (Tortell, 2001)
- an inventory of data sets listed in Shining a Spotlight on the Biodiversity of New Zealand's Marine Ecoregion (WWF-New Zealand, 2004), a report on the results of an experts workshop held in May 2003 to conduct an independent assessment of marine biodiversity in the New Zealand region.
The report adds to this body of knowledge by presenting easily available data in a series of maps. This exercise illustrated that there are significant gaps in, and barriers to obtaining and accessing, information, including:
- intellectual property issues
- availability of data in electronic geospatial format
- lack of a consistent definition or standard for particular data sets
- wide distribution of data among diverse agencies
- unclear responsibility for the collection of the data
- lack of technology to collect the information
- lack of resourcing to collate and manage data
- lack of protocols for the use of information.
These issues will need to be resolved before the full range of necessary information can be collated.
However, simply collecting data is not enough without some means to analyse it. In section 1.3 we explore:
- 'access tools', which allow decision-makers to directly access key information and data layers
- 'sourcing tools', which provide an overview of the range of available data and information sources throughout the country, and information such as where they are held, by whom and in what format
- 'interpretive tools', which can be used to evaluate and extrapolate from existing information.
We describe existing tools such as NABIS, the draft Marine Environments Classification the Near-shore classification, Marlin, and the draft marine environmental performance indicators, and conclude that there still remains a need for a comprehensive national meta-database of marine information sources, and a common portal for accessing selected data.
Part 2 of the report explores methods we can use to select the management priorities we might want to set in place under a national Oceans Policy to direct all decision-making about our ocean. The three options described and assessed are:
- a map-based approach
- a risk management approach
- an expert-based approach.
In reality, a mixture of all three approaches would probably deliver the best method for priority setting.
Recommendations
The report concludes with the following actions that could be initiated to address the issues raised in this report.
- Ensure there are effective links between the Ocean Survey 20/20 project and the Oceans Policy project, so that priorities set under each can inform the other and a truly adaptive approach to ocean management can be instigated.
- Develop a full list of data that currently exists to ensure there is no duplication in effort, and, as part of this exercise, address the range of barriers to accessing and using existing information, including:
- intellectual property issues
- limited availability of data in electronic geospatial format
- lack of a consistent definition or standard for particular data sets
- wide distribution of data among diverse agencies
- unclear responsibility for the collection of data
- lack of technology to collect the information
- lack of resourcing to collate and manage data
- lack of protocols for the use of information.
- To ensure that any data collected or collated can be used effectively, assess the viability and costs and benefits of:
- a comprehensive database of information and data about New Zealand's ocean (it is anticipated that any database developed would draw from distributed information available from existing key tools already being developed, particularly the Marine Environments Classification, NABIS and the Marlin meta-database; Australia is already developing a similar system and we would initially investigate whether this could be transposed to the New Zealand situation)
- a 'portal' for providing public access to selected marine data and information held in the public domain.
- Agree on a preferred approach to identifying national ocean priorities and develop a strategy for implementing it.
