Introduction
Overview
New Zealand's jurisdiction extends much further than the islands we live on. Under the sea our land continues for more than 200 nautical miles beyond the shore. It is a frontier that is still being mapped and we are only just beginning to understand it. Our underwater scientists return from their expeditions with fantastic tales of mountains spewing gold, ice that burns and bizarre sea creatures that seem to belong more in science fiction than in real life.
Meanwhile, the pressures on this unique environment are increasing as people push out into the frontier. More than 99 percent by volume of our exports are shipped by sea and fishing is our fourth-largest export industry, with aquaculture set to expand once the international market becomes more favourable. Our submarine cables carry 90 percent of our communications. We have extracted billions of dollars worth of energy from the Maui gas field off Taranaki, and there is a high level of activity to seek out new energy resources and options. A number of mineral and other biological resources are also being investigated for extraction potential, such as the manganese nodules south of the Campbell Plateau. On top of all this is a broad expectation that 10% of our ocean should be protected in some way, a growing economic reliance on marine-based tourism, and increasing demand for the use of marine space and resources.
At the moment we manage all of these activities in an ad hoc way through a myriad of authorities and legislation. In some cases, especially beyond the territorial sea [The territorial sea extends from the coast to 12 nautical miles offshore.] , we have no management system at all.
So how can we improve our management of this vast territory and all its potential? 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 our activities so that we can manage threats to our ocean and maximise opportunities for its sustainable use.
Any national priority-setting approach for managing our ocean will need to be able to adapt to changing trends and priorities. Adaptive management allows decision-makers to refine their management responses over time as knowledge of ecosystems and human impacts improves. By the term 'adaptive management' we mean a systematic and precautionary process for continually improving management policies and practices, which provides:
- a way to make decisions in the context of uncertainty, with a view to
- minimising the risk of adverse changes to ecosystems and
- responding quickly to adverse changes where they do arise along the way.
An adaptive approach for managing New Zealand's ocean is illustrated in Figure 1 on page 3. The main components of this approach are:
- improving the information base
- setting management objectives
- identifying management and research priorities
- applying management responses
- assessing performance against management objectives
- reporting back on trends and performance.
Good information is integral to an adaptive approach. Information about ocean processes and functions (and the impact of human activities on these) is needed to set relevant management objectives, priorities and responses. Information derived from assessing trends in the state of the marine environment, and the effectiveness of marine management measures, needs to be fed back into ongoing improvements in both management and outcomes. In combination, these components can add up to an integrated approach to improving ocean management over time, based on best available data, information and know-how.
This report looks at ways that we can optimise information resources to make smart decisions about the best future uses of our ocean. It's about making information work for us so that we can manage threats to our ocean and maximise opportunities for its sustainable use. It will complement and inform work underway on the recently announced Ocean Survey 20/20 project, a comprehensive national programme to survey New Zealand's total ocean area by the year 2020.
The report also 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.
It therefore represents 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.
The ideas described in the report have been developed over a six-month period with assistance and ideas from a number of people from across central government, local government, industry, research agencies and non-government organisations through a series of discussions and informal workshops. We thank the contributors and we hope that this report will stimulate and inform subsequent thinking and analysis as a national Oceans Policy evolves.
Structure of the report
Part 1 of the report explores the issues relating to the collection and distribution of information for priority setting, and is divided into three sections.
- Section 1.1 discusses what information we might need to inform our priority setting in the marine environment.
- Section 1.2 investigates how much information we already have to hand about the marine environment and where some of the key gaps might be. To illustrate this, we present some maps and discuss some of the issues faced in obtaining the information contained in the maps.
- Section 1.3 identifies the different types of information-based tools used to access, interpret and extrapolate the data we will need to assist with setting national ocean priorities, and describes some of the tools already available which we can build on.
Once the information issues are addressed, we can begin to set priorities for ocean management with more confidence.
Part 2 of the report takes a preliminary look at some different approaches we might take to set robust national priorities for future ocean management. It describes three approaches that could be used - separately or in combination - and provides examples of how these have been applied in different contexts here and overseas.
Finally, the report makes suggestions for future work when Oceans Policy development recommences.
Figure 1: An adaptive approach to managing New Zealand's ocean
See figure at its full size (including the text description).
