The excessive complexity of national marine governance systems – Has this decreased in England since the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009?

Abstract

With successive Government restructuring and the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Access Act in 2009, this paper revisits a previous set of organograms created in 2006 indicating the government departments with responsibilities relating to the marine and coastal environment in England in 2014. The 2009 Act presented an opportunity to harmonise marine management by simplifying the complexity in England through a radical restructuring of marine governance, however this is apparently not the case with many overlapping responsibilities still existing. This paper provides an overview of the 2009 Act, discussing some of the significant changes like the creation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), examines the current structure of marine management in England following its enactment and highlights the continued overlaps in jurisdiction, responsibilities and complexity of the government agencies with a marine remit. Highlights  Overlapping remits and governance still remain even after the 2009 Act  No single authority is responsible for the management of the marine environment  The 2009 Act has not reduced the complexity of marine management  A more adventurous approach to streamlining the plethora of marine bodies should have been taken.

Coastal Zones Ecosystem Services

“…The three governance levels are interconnected so that both co-ordination and organisational problems often arise, which in turn lead local people to question policy and fi nancial decision-making in coastal areas sometimes taking their own actions (for example by constructing their own ad hoc coastal defences). Nevertheless, Boyes and Elliott ( 2015 ) stress the importance of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, as a piece of legislation that at least points in the direction of an ecosystem-based approach for the integrated management of marine and coastal areas.…”

“…Many countries have constructed an unnecessarily complicated marine legislation and administrative regime (Boyes and Elliott 2015 ). All countries have to respond to a suite of international, regional and national policies, laws and agreements covering fi sheries, energy, shipping and trade and nature conservation which are enabled through multiple organisations and administrative bodies.…”

“…Boyes and Elliott ( 2015 ) however maintain that many overlapping responsibilities still exist, with the MMO acting as the regulator for most but not all of the marine environment and related economic activities. Van Takenhove et al ( 2014 ) more generally have explored four possible governance models which could address to a greater or lesser extent the marine regional cooperation and coordination problem.…”

A Typology of Stakeholders and Guidelines for Engagement in Transdisciplinary, Participatory Processes

“…These Directives all rely on stakeholder discussion and agreement thus requiring stakeholders, who are often the same group of individuals, to be familiar with the legislation and their implementation, the differing ecological principles and the science base, and the geographical overlap. This is rarely the case, especially as different organizations meet with different stakeholders and implement different legislation (Boyes and Elliott, 2015). Conflicts of responsibilities arise, even though each legal instrument is designed for a particular role.…”

Marine governance in the English Channel (La Manche): Linking science and management

“…This number of individual policies and directives makes integrated management very difficult although arguably more important. One purpose behind the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA, 2009) was the simplification of the system which has been successful to a certain extent (Boyes and Elliott, 2015). In particular the creation of the Marine Policy Statement provides clarity and greater certainty for all marine users, which will be enhanced with the publication of marine plans over the next few years (MPS, 2011).…”