Environment General Courses (ENVIRON)

graduate level, taught in Durham

298.55. Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy

Summary Course Description
This seminar on Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy explores the legal framework by which the United States endeavors to protect our oceans and coasts. The course meets once a week for three hours. The final grade in the course is based upon a paper and on class participation; there is no final exam.

The required casebook for this seminar is Coastal and Ocean Law: Cases and Materials (2nd ed., West Group, 2002) (“COL”). A supplementary materials collection (“SMC”) contains additional readings and will be distributed in class. From time to time, we also will rely upon other illustrative materials.

Our oceans and coastlines are threatened by a combination of factors: habitat destruction, pollution, development, overfishing, and bycatch. Both the states and the federal government have enacted statutes and promulgated regulations aimed at controlling these threats. This seminar focuses on efforts in North Carolina and Florida to address coastal development and ocean resource management, and also examines in some detail several federal court cases that involve challenges to the manner in which the federal government (principally the National Marine Fisheries Service at the United States Department of Commerce) has approached its statutory duties to manage and protect ocean resources under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. By analyzing the relationship among state and federal statutory schemes, litigation, and legislation, this seminar provides students a realistic view of the issues and opportunities that await those interested in sound stewardship of our oceans and coasts.