Abstract

The framework chosen for this practical application was the ecosystem-based management approach. Taking Andrew Rosenburg’s three elements for ecosystem-based management, I analyzed various federal and Oregon State laws to determine if any of these laws had any of Rosenburg’s elements and, therefore, could implement ecosystem-based management. I analyzed eight federal statutes and eight Oregon state statutes all relating to ocean and coastal law. After analyzing each statute, I determined that each statute has an element of ecosystem-based management and that none of the statutes fully implement ecosystem-based management. The strength of ecosystem-based management is that, if fully implemented, the approach has the potential to protect large marine ecosystems. Its weakness is that creating the perfect statute that includes all elements is nearly impossible due to differing politics, opinions, and perspectives. The next steps in this research are analyzing certain types of current projects, including ocean acidification and liquid naturalized gas, happening along the Oregon coast and determining if and how ecosystem-based management can be implemented.