New Jersey Regional Ocean Governance Law Symposium Featured in On-Line Journal

(Sandy Hook, NJ) — Papers from a recent Regional Ocean Governance Symposium hosted at Seton Hall University School of Law in April 2013 have been published in  a special on-line issue of the Sea Grant Law and Policy Journal at  http://nsglc.olemiss.edu/sglpj/archive/vol6.1/  The issue features eight articles that emerged from the Symposium that  provide insight about legal and policy issues related to regional ocean planning in the Mid-Atlantic, from New York to Virginia.

The Symposium was supported by a grant from the by National Sea Grant Law Center and was organized by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC), Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute (UCI), Seton Hall University Law School and the Environmental Law Institute.   Tony MacDonald, Director of the Urban Coast Institute and Professor Marc Poirier from Seton Hall University School of Law, who helped to organize the Symposium, wrote an introduction to the journal noting that the Symposium builds on the call in the National Ocean Policy for a regional approach for ocean planning, and the efforts of New Jersey and the Governors of the Mid-Atlantic states through the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) to cooperatively address critical issues relating to management of ocean resources and the economic benefits they support.

Key issues explored in the special law issue include an overview of current regional management efforts and new legal approaches that can enhance ecosystem management; lessons learned from public lands management approaches; incentivizing off-shore wind energy development, and advancing ocean habitat protection.

According to Symposium organizer Tony MacDonald, Esq., UCI Director, “With ever-increasing demands for use on the Mid-Atlantic ocean to support fisheries, expanding maritime commerce, off-shore wind energy it is important that we take a look at innovative planning and management approaches that will both protect the environment and guide sustainable use.”

Dr. Peter M. Rowe, Associate Director for Sea Grant Administration and Director of Research and Extension for the NJSGC, who secured the grant to conduct the Symposium noted “NJSGC is pleased to have had the National Sea Grant Law Center support us and our partners to organize and host the Regional Ocean Governance Symposium with the end result being a dedicated journal issue that will assist coastal and ocean planners in New Jersey and across the region.”

The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is an affiliation of colleges, universities and other groups dedicated to advancing knowledge and stewardship of New Jersey’s marine and coastal environment. NJSGC meets its mission through its innovative research, education and outreach programs. For more information, visit NJSGC on the web at njseagrant.org or on social media at facebook.com/NJSeaGrant  and twitter.com/NJSeaGrant.