The use of national frameworks for sustainable development of marine fisheries and conservation, ecosystem-based management and integrated ocean management

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. International agreements and guidelines provide the overall goals of sustainable development and healthy ecosystems, but it is at the national level that these must be implemented while addressing the interests of the nation and its citizens with decisions that affect people as well as the environment. This chapter summarizes the approaches taken by Australia, Norway and Canada during the past 1-2 decades to meet the challenges of ecosystem-based management of fisheries and biodiversity, looking at: developments in legislation and policy, and convergence between fisheries and biodiversity management; methods to address and prioritize issues for ecosystem-based fisheries management; and integrated cross-sectoral management. These three countries have put significant effort into addressing sustainable fishery development and integrated oceans management however, with policies explicitly endorsing ecosystem-based approaches.