Marine Policy 31 (2007) 434–443 A large marine ecosystem governance framework Lucia Fanning a , Robin Mahon a,Ã , Patrick McConney a , Jorge Angulo b , Felicity Burrows c , Bisessar Chakalall d , Diego Gil e , Milton Haughton f , Sherry Heileman g , Sergio Martı´nez h , L’ouverture Ostine i , Adrian Oviedo j , Scott Parsons k , Terrence Phillips l , Claudia Santizo Arroya m , Bertha Simmons a , Cesar Toro n a Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados b University of Havana, Calle 16 #114 y 1ra Miramar Playa, Habana, Cuba c TNC, Bahamas Country Program, Caves Village, Building 5, West Bay St., Nassau, P.O. Box CB 11398, Bahamas d Food and Agriculture Organization, UN House, Marine Gardens, P.O. Box 631-C, Barbados e INVEMAR, Cerro Punta de Betin, Zona Portuaria, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia f CRFM Secretariat, Princess Margaret Dr., P.O. Box 642, Belize City, Belize g 60 Rue Emeriau, Paris 75015, France h PREPAC/OSPESCA, San Salvador, El Salvador i Ministry of the Environment, 181, Turgeau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti j Fundacio´n Cayos Cochinos, Col. Naranjal, Ave. Victor Hugo, casa #1045, La Ceiba, Honduras k University of Ottawa, 880 Explorer Lane, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1C2S2 l kCRFM Secretariat, Halifax Street, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, West Indies m CIMA, 3 Ave 1-74 Zone 3, Guatemala City, Guatemala n UNESCO/IOC/IOCARIBE, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia Received 19 December 2006; accepted 26 January 2007 Abstract A large marine ecosystem (LME) governance framework, developed from a need to effectively address the sustainable management of the shared living marine resources of the Caribbean, is proposed. The framework is based on four propositions and focuses on a linked examination of two well-known components of LME-level governance: the policy cycle process by which decisions are made and the multi-level nature of LMEs. It accommodates the diversity of policy cycles at multiple levels and the linkages among them required for effective governance of LMEs. The framework takes into account of factors such as context, purpose, jurisdictional scale, capacity and complexity and provides a means to identify critical areas for intervention. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Governance; Policy cycle; Multiple levels; Scale; Network; Linkages 1. Introduction and rationale In the past two decades there has been a shift in the governing concept for the world’s natural renewable resources from perceiving them strictly as commodities towards appreciation of the full range of goods and services that ecosystems can provide [1,2]. This has led to a new focus on restoring and maintaining ecosystem function while allowing for sustainable use and to increased emphasis on ecosystem-based management (EBM) at appropriate scales [3–5]. In the marine environment, 64 large marine ecosystems (LMEs), defined on the basis of bathymetry, hydrography, productivity and trophically- interdependent populations have been proposed as ecologically rational units of ocean space in which EBM can be applied [6]. These areas of ocean space, in the order of 200,000 km 2 or greater are primarily coastal and include many of the world’s enclosed and semi- enclosed seas [6]. ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol 0308-597X/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2007.01.003 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 246 417 4570; fax: +1 246 424 4204. E-mail address: rmahon@caribsurf.com (R. Mahon).