Australia and Canada have been at the forefront of efforts to operationalize integrated oceans and coastal management. Throughout the 1990s both countries devoted considerable effort to developing strategies to give effect to international ocean management obligations. This key book focuses on principles of marine environmental conservation and management, maritime regulation and enforcement, and regional maritime planning and implementation. With contributions from respected scholars, this informative book collectively assesses the obligations, compliance, implementation and trends in international ocean law, particularly in giving effect to an Oceans Policy, regional maritime planning, international oceans governance, and maritime security. This book will be of interest to all academics involved with maritime studies and international law.

The sea change towards principled oceans governance / Donald R. Rothwell and David L. VanderZwaag -- Beyond the buzzwords : a perspective on integrated coastal and ocean management in Canada / Aldo Chircop and Larry Hildebrand -- Operationalizing integrated coastal and oceans management in Australia : the challenges / Veronica Sakell -- The application of compliance and enforcement strategies on Canada's Pacific coast / Francois Bailet, Janna Cumming, and Ted L. McDorman -- Integrated maritime enforcement and compliance in Australia / Sam Bateman. [et al.] -- Canada and the precautionary principle/approach in ocean and coastal management : wading and wandering in tricky currents / David L. VanderZwaag, Susanna D. Fuller, and Ransom A. Myers -- Australia and the precautionary principle : moving from international principles to domestic and local implementation / Lorne K. Kriwoken, Liza D. Fallon, and Donald R. Rothwell -- Marine ecosystem management : is the whole greater than the sum of the parts? / Bruce G. Hatcher and Roger H. Bradbury -- Ecosystem bill of rights / Richard J. Beamish and Chrys-Ellen M. Neville -- Community involvement in marine and coastal management in Australia and Canada / Marian Binkley. [et al.] -- Aboriginal title and oceans policy in Canada / Dianna Ginn -- Canada's seas and her first nations : a colonial paradigm revisited / Russ Jones -- Indigenous rights in the sea : the law and practice of native title in Australia / Geoff Clark -- Aboriginal peoples and ocean policy in Australia : an indigenous perspective / Rodney Dillon -- The challenge of international oceans governance : institutional, ethical, and conceptual dilemmas / Douglas M. Johnston.

This Special Issue is designed to discuss and examine relevant legal issues concerning ocean governance in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the long-lasting benefits of the international community. It will cover, inter alia, the safety of navigation and maritime security, the sustainable use of marine resources (living and non-living), marine environmental protection, climate change, and marine scientific research.

'This book is recommended for anyone wanting to quickly get up to speed with oceans governance, bearing in mind at this stage it is an immature and quickly developing field. The strength of the book is that it is grounded in real-world examples from four case study countries and in this context at the very least exposes the reader to emergent oceans governance and policy issues. . . an excellent starting point for further analysis of oceans governance and sets up a research agenda for the future.' - Murray Patterson, Journal of Ecological Economics

This comprehensive handbook, prepared by leading ocean policy academics and practitioners from around the world, presents in-depth analyses of the experiences of fifteen developed and developing nations and four key regions of the world that have taken concrete steps toward cross-cutting and integrated national and regional ocean policy. All chapters follow a common framework for policy analysis. While most coastal nations of the world already have a variety of sectoral policies in place to manage different uses of the ocean (such as shipping, fishing, oil and gas development), in the last two decades, the coastal nations covered in the book have undertaken concerted efforts to articulate and implement an integrated, ecosystem-based vision for the governance of ocean areas under their jurisdiction. This includes goals and procedures to harmonize existing uses and laws, to foster sustainable development of ocean areas, to protect biodiversity and vulnerable resources and ecosystems, and to coordinate the actions of the many government agencies that are typically involved in oceans affairs. The book highlights the serious conflicts of use in most national ocean zones and the varying attempts by nations to follow the prescriptions emanating from the 1982 UN Law of the Sea Convention and the outcomes of the 1992, 2002, and 2012 sustainable development summits. The interrelationship among uses and processes in the coast and ocean requires that ocean governance be integrated, precautionary, and anticipatory. Overall, the book provides a definitive state-of-the-art review and analysis of national and regional ocean policies around the world.

Offers a multidisciplinary edited volume on policy dimensions of climate change for the world's oceans, for researchers, policymakers and activists.