Ocean Policy – MSC 340

Fall 2007

 

 

Professor – Daniel Suman, RSMAS, Division of Marine Affairs & Policy,

126 So. Grosvenor

          Telephone: 305-421-4685 (office)

          Fax: 305-421-4675

          E-mail: dsuman@rsmas.miami.edu

 

 

Office Hours: TTh , 11-12 a.m., Coral Gables Campus, Memorial Hall, Room 125D

                        W 1-4, RSMAS, So. Grosvenor 126

                        Other times by appointment

 

 

Credits  - 3 - Writing credit is possible, so please talk to me about this.

 

 

Class Meeting Times – TTh 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.

 

 

Class Meeting Room  - Eaton Residential Classroom 148

 

 

Prerequisites – none but students should be upper division undergraduates (junior or senior standing)

 

 

Course Description – This undergraduate course is a survey of ocean policy issues in the United States.  We will begin with a consideration of the marine policy actors and their interests, as well as an overview of the institutional structure that administers ocean/coastal interests in the United States.  Subsequent units will focus on major issue areas in U.S. ocean policy: marine conservation and protected areas, fisheries, marine pollution control, and coastal management and shoreline protection.  Students will develop a framework for environmental/marine policy analysis and knowledge of crucial issues that are in the forefront of today’s ocean policy debate.  The course will make ample use of the case study method that the instructor has developed.

 

 

Evaluation – two written class exams (20% each), a position paper based on a class simulation exercise (20%), a take-home final exam (30%), and class participation (10%)

 

Class participants will be responsible for presenting previously assigned topics and readings.  Presentations should include discussion, visuals, and prepared discussion questions.  Everyone will be responsible for at least one hour of presentation.

Required Readings –

 

Kurlansky, M. 1997. Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. Penguin Books: New York.

 

Pilkey, O., and K. Dixon. 1996. The Corps and the Shore. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

 

Sobel, J. & C. Dahlgren. 2004. Marine Reserves: A Guide to Science, Design, and Use. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

 

U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century [USCOP]

 

Recommended Reading

 

Pew Oceans Commission. 2003. America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for

Sea Change [Pew Oceans Report]

 

Cicin-Sain, B., and R. Knecht. 2000. The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

 

Schedule of Course Readings

 

Weeks 1 – 4  Introduction to U.S. Ocean Policy: The actors, their interests, and the

institutional structure

 

Excerpt from Marine Conservation Policy Unit on the “Formation of Environmental Policy”

 

            Hardin, G. 1968. The Tragedy of the Commons, Science.

 

Berkes, F., D. Feeny, B. McCay, & J.M. Acheson. 1989. The benefits of the commons, Nature 340:91-93.

 

Dietz, T., E. Ostrom, and P. Stern. 2003. The Struggle to Govern the Commons, Science 302:1907-1912.

 

Pretty, J. 2003. Social Capital and the Collective Management of Resources, Science 302:1912-1914.

 

U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century, Chapter 1 to 3.

 

            Exam #1 – Tuesday, 25 September

 

Weeks 5 -7 Marine Conservation and Protected Areas

 

Suman, Marine Conservation Policy unit prepared for the American Museum of Natural History.

 

Suman, Shivlani & Milon.  1999. Perceptions and attitudes regarding marine reserves, Ocean & Coastal Management 42:1019-1040.

 

Sobel & Dahlgren, Marine Reserves

 

Weeks 8 & 9 Fisheries Management

 

            Kurlansky, Cod

 

            USCOP 19 & 21

 

Week 10 - Policy Simulation Exercise - Taboga

 

Exercise #2 – 30 October

 

Weeks 11 & 12 - Marine Pollution Control

 

            USCOP, Chapters 14, 16, 17, 18

 

P2 case study. “The Role of P2 in reducing nutrient enrichment in Chesapeake Bay”.

 

P2 case study. “Waste Reduction at Sea: Pollution prevention strategies on Miami-based cruise lines”.

 

Weeks 13-14 - Coastal Management

 

            Pilkey & Dixon, The Corps and the Shore.

           

                USCOP, Chapters 9 to 12

 

Week 15 - New Directions for U.S. Ocean Policy

 

            USCOP, Chapter 4 to 6.

 

            Pew Oceans Commission. 2003. America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for

Sea Change [Pew Oceans Report]

 

Take Home Final Exam distributed on the last day of class.