Integrated coastal area
management
Integrated coastal area management (ICAM) is
a relatively new approach to dealing with the
multiple pressures on coastal areas of land and
sea. Today about 25 percent of the world's
population lives on the coast and most of the large
urban centres are coastal. The current coastal
urban population of 220 million is projected to
almost double in the next 20 to 30 years.
Fisheries is just one of many sectors making a
claim on coastal resources. Fishers need space to
moor their boats and land their catch. And they
need access to the fishing grounds. Most
importantly, about 90 percent of marine fish in
commercial and subsistence fisheries depend on
coastal habitats for all or some stages in the
lives of the fish. The degradation of natural
habitats, essentially by land-based activities,
poses a serious threat to the fisheries sector.
Agriculture, forestry, industry, tourism and
other sectors may all have big stakes in coastal
development too. Unmediated, the relationship
between the sectors may be fraught with competition
for limited resources. The objective of ICAM is to
ensure that multisectoral development takes all
stakeholders' needs into account and has the fewest
possible negative impacts and the least possible
long-term societal costs. Fisheries' direct
contribution to food security and employment in
many countries means that meeting the needs of a
sustainable fisheries sector should be high on the
list for many ICAM schemes.
Unless appropriate action is taken by
governments and users of coastal resources,
population pressure and associated levels of
economic activity will exacerbate the already
evident overexploitation of coastal resources and
the environmental degradation of many coastal
habitats.
Related webpage
Integrated
coastal area management and agriculture, forestry
& fisheries
In this section
The challenge of
sustainable production
The Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries
Sustainable aquaculture
development
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