Ocean Seminar Series 2009: Sea Change
In 2006 the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) hosted its first Ocean Seminar Series with the goal of educating members and employees of government, industry, private practice, and environmental non-profits about ocean law and policy. The seminar series expanded in 2008 to focus on the challenges of managing industrialized oceans. In 2009, the Ocean Seminar Series will highlight key ocean challenges and law and policy developments under the new Administration and Congress. From continuing coastal development to growing clean ocean energy industries, from national fishing efforts to high seas resource extraction, and from increasing industrial development to expanding conservation areas, perceptions of the marine environment are rapidly evolving. The 2009 ELI Ocean Seminar Series: Sea Change will assist and educate the ocean law and policy stakeholders and decisionmakers tasked with choosing how our governance frameworks should adapt. The panels will address the following specific issues:
- The Future of Sustainable Seafood, Blue Vision Summit
- Clean Ocean Energy, Blue Vision Summit
- Oil, Gas, and Mineral Resources of the Extended Continental Shelf
- Marine Spatial Planning
- Arctic Ecosystem-Based Management
- New Visions for the Coastal Zone Management Act
- New Visions for the National Marine Sanctuaries Act
More information on the individual seminars are available below. The dates and locations of the seminars will be announced as the details become available. As always, ELI members may elect to attend seminars in person or to audit the seminar via teleconference.
The Future of Sustainable Seafood
Blue Vision Summit , March 8, 2009
ELI, the Marine Fish Conservation Network, and the Pew Environment Group co-sponsored a double-session on the future of sustainable seafood at the Blue Vision Summit. The double-session included (i) a panel on the sustainability of wild fishing; (ii) a panel on aquaculture and the intersection between aquaculture and wild fish; and (iii) a discussion of how national ocean policy can guide the future of sustainable seafood.
Clean Ocean Energy
Blue Vision Summit , March 8, 2009
With support from ELI, Rising Tide Strategies sponsored a session on clean ocean energy at the Blue Vision Summit. As opportunities for clean ocean energy continue to expand, it is important to consider the legal landscape of such development, the environmental impacts of the technologies, and the need for marine spatial planning.
Oil, Gas, and Mineral Resources of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf: Extent, Recoverability & Environmental Implications
April 20, 2009, Washington, DC
While the United States is not yet a Party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it has been engaged in gathering and analyzing data to determine the outer limits of its extended continental shelf (ECS) since 2001. Under the Convention, every coastal State has a continental shelf out to 200 nautical miles from its coastal baselines, and beyond that distance if certain criteria in are met. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf that lies beyond this 200 nautical mile limit. A coastal State can exercise certain sovereign rights over its continental shelf, including exploration and exploitation of seabed and subsoil resources such oil, gas, and other minerals. Although the global economic downturn has generally depressed markets for these commodities, it is likely they exist in significant quantities in our ECS. Eventually demand for ECS resources will increase sufficiently to justify investing the capital necessary to recover them. ELI and the DC Bar Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Section co-sponsored a seminar that will explore the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project, the potential extent and recoverability of ECS mineral resources, and the implications of commercial recovery for the ocean environment. Click here to download handouts and mp3 recording of the event.
The Ocean Seminar Series 2009 is made possible by generous support from the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation.
View event descriptions from the Ocean Seminar Series 2008.
View event descriptions from the Ocean Seminar Series 2006-07.
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