Timothy M. Hennessey

Governance Profiles and the Management of the Uses of Large Marine Ecosystems

Interest in the management of the environment and its resources on an ecosystem basis has been increasing in both terrestrial and marine contexts. The emergence of the concept of large marine ecosystems (LMEs) is one important example of this development. LMEs have been examined through five linked modules: (1) productivity of the ecosystem; (2) fish and fisheries; (3) pollution and ecosystem health; (4) socioeconomic conditions; and (5) governance. The first three focus on natural systems, while the last two concentrate on human interactions with those systems. To date the first three have received the greatest attention but as attention has turned to development and implementation of management strategies, greater consideration has being given to the human dimension of LMEs represented by the latter two modules. This article focuses on governance, a matter that is of fundamental importance because it shapes the pattern of human use of the natural environment. Efforts to promote ecosystem-based management occur within different governance frameworks; these frameworks and their associated dynamics must be understood in the same fashion that the structure and interplay of the elements of the natural ecosystem need to be comprehended. Just as natural science employs baseline studies to gauge change over time, this paper asserts the need for similar studies relevant to governance aspects of ecosystem use. After identifying and describing the roles of three major and generic governance institutions, we suggest the development in each LME of a governance profile that outlines and analyzes the existing governance framework. Moreover, we propose to consider governance change over time to assess whether such shifts represent movement in the direction of greater ecosystem focus.

Governance and adaptive management for estuarine ecosystems: The case of Chesapeake Bay

This article analyzes the governance system of the Chesapeake Bay Program in order to examine the hypothesis that it operates according to adaptive management principles. After a discussion of adaptive management and implementation, we analyze the development of the program from its inception in 1976 until the present day. We argue that adaptive management in the program came about via a dynamic relationship between science and governance that evolved through three phases over 16 years. During this time, the Chesapeake Bay Program developed a learning, adaptive capacity whereby program elements and institutional structures underwent significant changes in light of new information. This approach encouraged the evolution of the program from one that initially addressed a limited number of issues using a rudimentary management structure to the current program, which uses a sophisticated set of baywide indicators of ecosystem health and is governed by an institutional structure that coordinates management act...

Ludwig' s Ratchet and the Collapse of New England Groundfish Stocks

The stocks of principal groundfish species off New England have collapsed, creating economic hardship and dislocation in fishing communities from Rhode Island to Maine. In this article we analyze the causes of this collapse using the ?ratchet effect? described by Ludwig, Hilborn, and Walters (1993) as a framework. According to Ludwig, Hilborn, and Walters, powerful economic and political interests drive fisheries to overcapitalize and overexploit despite scientific evidence that stocks are declining. When the fishery is no longer economically viable, governments provide financial assistance to minimize economic hardship. When stocks increase there is another rush to invest, and the cycle repeats itself. The history of groundfish management in New England conforms well to this model. Optimism among fishers and government over U.S. control of this fishery in 1977 stimulated successive rounds of investment that built up excessive fishing capacity despite warnings from scientists that stocks were becoming weaker. Management regimes designed by the New England Fishery Management Council were ineffective in constraining fishing effort. Collapse of the stocks has led to severe restrictions on fishing and to government assistance. We suggest that the integration of science, management, and harvesting sectors through ecosystem-based management offers the best means of avoiding similar situations in the future.

The utilization of scientific information in the management of estuarine ecosystems

Abstract The management of renewable natural resources has become a highly sophisticated activity and, in western industrialized countries, natural resources management and policy are ‘scientific’. Yet, the precise role of science in the public policy process is unclear. In this paper we explore the role of scientists and scientific information in the development of resource management policy. As examples we analyze the way that scientific information was used in the initiation, design and implementation of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority in Washington State and the Fraser River Estuary Management Program in British Columbia. Our analysis suggests that science enters into the policy process in an episodic way, having its greatest influence early in policy development. We contrast this ‘episodic’ model of science in resource management policy with two alternative models in which science plays only a ‘general enlightenment’ function and in which science is engaged throughout the policy process. We conclude that, in environmental and natural resource management, an adaptive approach in which policy initiatives are treated as ‘experiments’ would be more effective than the episodic approach.

An ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries: An assessment of the National Estuary program

Traditional coastal resource management programs tend to be fragmented and focused on a limited subset of problems. Many scholars, government practitioners, and academics have argued that an ecosystem‐based approach is more appropriate. A promising ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuaries in the United States is the National Estuary Program (NEP). The goal of this article is to examine the extent to which the NEPs management conference process represents an ecosystem‐based approach to managing estuarine systems. The article begins with a discussion of the challenges associated with utilizing an ecosystem‐based approach to environmental management. The strategy, structure, and process of the NEP are then examined using evaluative criteria drawn from a previous study of historical attempts to manage coastal areas in the United States. Based on the results of this assessment, some of the strengths and weaknesses of the NEPs management conference process are identified. The article concludes with a di...

3 – A Framework for Monitoring and Assessing Socioeconomics and Governance of Large Marine Ecosystems1

This chapter has described a framework for assessing and monitoring the salient socioeconomic and governance elements of LMEs. The assessment and monitoring framework consists of 12 steps that, if applied, are expected to produce the essential information required for adaptive ecosystem management. The ecosystem paradigm is emerging as the dominant approach to managing natural resources in the U.S., as well as internationally. The shift away from the management of individual resources to the broader perspective of ecosystems has not been confined to academia and think tanks where it first began; it also is beginning to take root in government policy and programs. Many have advocated a new, broader approach to managing the nations natural resources. The approach recognizes that plant and animal communities are interdependent and interact with their physical environment to form distinct ecological units called ecosystems. The approach also recognizes that many human actions and their consequences, including marine pollution, extend across jurisdictional boundaries. This chapter presents a methodology for determining what is known of the socioeconomic and governance aspects—the human dimensions—of LME management. The chapter describes a basic framework for identifying the salient socioeconomic and governance elements and processes of an LME. Methods for monitoring and assessing the various elements and processes are also discussed in the chapter. There is description on the human dimensions of LMES, monitoring and assessment, applications of the monitoring and assessment framework, property rights entitlements and regimes for LME management, the structure of property rights entitlements in an LME, property rights regimes and management of LME resources. Property rights paradigm could be the framework necessary to design LME resource management policies for long-term economic growth and resource sustainability. Property rights establish the incentives and time-horizons for resource use and investment.

The evolution of adaptive management for estuarine ecosystems: the National Estuary Program and its precursors

Abstract The Great Lakes Program and The Chesapeake Bay Program represent the two primary precursors to the development of adaptive estuary management in the United States. Many of the lessons and experiences of these two programs have been incorporated within the design of the National Estuary Program. This paper assesses the suitability of the National Estuary Programs Management Conference process for managing estuarine ecosystems. Based upon the characteristics of marine ecosystems, it appears that there are several requirements for the design of governance institutions for estuarine ecosystems; namely flexibility, adaptation, and ultimately a capacity to learn. On the basis of this analysis, it appears that the Management Conference process is flexible enough to stimulate the selection of the diverse issues and remedial actions that are required to address the environmental concerns appropriate for each estuary. Because of the lack of sufficient experience, it remains to be determined if a states ‘ecological capacity’ will limit the implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans (CCMPs) that are produced by each estuary program. However, these limitations should be recognized both during the plans preparation and implementation. This paper also suggests that adaptive implementation approaches be adopted instead of viewing the CCMP as a static blueprint for an estuarys protection.

An evolutionary perspective on the development and assessment of the national estuary program

Abstract This article addresses the U.S. approach to managing environmental quality in estuarine regions. It reviews the progress that has been achieved in managing coastal environmental quality and looks at the factors that have affected the design of coastal and estuarine management programs by examining five experiences in environmental management that have been important influences on the development of the National Estuary Program (NEP): the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC); the federal river basin commissions; the Section 208 area‐wide waste treatment planning; the federal coastal zone management program; and the Chesapeake Bay Program. These programs offer important strengths and weaknesses as models for managing estuarine environmental quality. The authors propose evaluation criteria based on the strategy, structure, and process of coastal environmental programs, which can be used to evaluate the structure and management process of contemporary coastal environmental programs such as the Nati...

Cost Effectiveness of Residential Community Corrections

This research examines the relative cost effectiveness of community corrections, pro bation, and incarceration as alternative means of treating convicted offenders Using three different measures of recidivism, probation is found to be most cost effective in the very short run (when all factor inputs are fixed), in the short run (some factor inputs are variable), and in the long run (all factor inputs are variable). Although incarceration is more efficient than community corrections in the very short run, the reverse is true in the short and long runs.

Institutional Design for the Management of Estuarine Ecosystems: The Chesapeake Bay

This paper analyzes the Chesapeake Bay Program, the governance system that manages efforts to protect and restore Chesapeake Bay, the largest and richest estuary in the United States.