The regional seas in the 21st century: an overview

This paper is meant as introducing A Regional Seas Dossier on the regional seas by sketching some cardinal considerations that may be deduced from the data, maps and diagrams, which the Dossier consists in. First, a stage-based view of the spatial diffusion process triggered by the ocean management programmes on the regional scale is provided. Shifting from this basis, an essential view of the geographical coverage of the regional programmes is designed, in so paving the way to consider the human pressure, which the individual regional seas are subject to. Finally, some crucial issues are presented, including the need (i) to integrated the management of the national and international waters covered by the individual programme, (ii) to optimise the institutional arrangements which the individual programme is based on, (iii) to co-ordinate the regional programmes, particularly where there overlap an individual sea; and (iv) to use the individual sea programmes or action plans to co-ordinate coastal management on the regional scale.