Marine Spatial Planning and the loss of traditional power in Fiji and the Cook Islands

Abstract

A rapidly expanding area of marine space in the Pacific is being assessed under a process known as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Through the political process, MSP brings together an assemblage of national governments, private organizations and local communities to define how marine spaces should be governed. MSP results in numerous new marine spatial categories that delimit an area according to the respective principals and rules decided upon. The authors of this article argue that traditional powers to make and enforce decisions concerning the governance of marine spaces have been weakened through the political process of MSP in the Pacific. The responses that emerged from conducting qualitative semi‐structured interviews with participants in Fiji and the Cook Islands indicate that indigenous marine authority is being undermined through manipulation of the MSP process. The findings further revealed an underlying recognition that the MSP process has proven to be incapable of equitably weighing indigenous Pacific Islanders’ interests in relation to the economic, environmental and security interests of external ocean stakeholders. The authors further argue that external ocean stakeholders can successfully pursue their own objectives through the MSP process in ways that bypass indigenous authority.