Spatially Administering the Marine Environment

Current coastal zone management initiatives do not go far enough in terms of strategies to combat issues of management of overlapping public, commercial and private rights. Most initiatives are basic information systems which show in detail where an oil platform is located or where the boundary lines for a fishery is located. This is of course important information, but it does not deal with the institutional, administrative and legal arrangements as a whole. Two Australian Research Council (ARC) linkage projects involving the Department of Geomatics (University of Melbourne), six state and National Government agencies (Australia, New Zealand, WA, Vic, NSW & QLD) and GeoFix Pty Ltd have been established to develop a marine cadastre for Australia’s maritime jurisdiction. The fundamental objective of these projects is to create a comprehensive spatial data infrastructure whereby rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment can be effectively assessed, administered and managed. The advent of the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI) as a tool to help coordinate access to spatial data is of benefit to stakeholders across the country, incorporating the technologies, standards and policies which help link people with data. ANZLIC, Australia’s peak spatial information body, has made a commitment to establishing the ASDI across both land and sea, further strengthening the management of the coastal zone. This should facilitate the sharing of marine spatial information through the building of partnerships, which are inherent to the success of an SDI, creating a more holistic approach to the management of rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the coastal zone. This paper will discuss the issues involved in establishing a spatial information based management system for the marine environment from a cadastral and SDI perspective. It is important to use and learn from the terrestrial cadastre, facilitating a strong link between the land and marine environments, helping to create a seamless management system across the country’s coastal zone.