Economic, environmental and demographic pressures converge sharply in the world’s coastal regions, creating a complex situation that presents a multi-dimensional challenge to their effective and sustainable management and governance.  Coastal waters are the most productive and biodiverse areas of the seas (90% of the global fish catch comes from coastal waters), the coastal lands are intensely populated (60% of the world’s human population lives within 200 km of the coast) and numerous episodic physical events that result from the ocean-atmosphere interface, as well as anthropogenic activities, occur in and impact coastal areas including:  tsunamis, hurricanes, harmful algal blooms, oil spills and eutrophication.  Also, many of the consequences of global climate change will manifest themselves in the coastal areas (sea-level rise, coastal flooding, coastal erosion, changes in weather patterns, etc). Moreover, the high concentration of stakeholders competing for different uses of the same space often creates conflicts; commercial fishing, artisanal fishing, tourism and recreation, shipping, non-living resource extraction (oil, gas, corals, etc), aquaculture, industrial and national security interests are all active in the coastal zone. Furthermore, as population and industrialization increase, the economic, environmental and social importance of this area also increases, intensifying the pressures on coastal resources.

Finding equilibrium between these forces is a formidable task. More specifically, the challenges of coastal area management include: distinguishing what is part of the natural variability of coastal ecosystems and climate patterns from what is the response of these systems to human activities, balancing development and economic priorities against environmental issues and long-term sustainability strategies, and understanding the social dynamics that dictate the patterns of human behaviour in different coastal zones.  Thus, oceanographers and scientists of many disciplines including social scientists, governments, industry, and society must collaborate in the management of these resources in order to achieve an area where environmental health, quality of life and economic benefit are balanced.  This approach to coastal management is called Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM), and has been mandated by the United Nations and endorsed by the international community.

The IOC recognizes the importance of ICAM, both as a process and a goal.   Accordingly, IOC programs focus on building capacity to address the problems and monitor changes in the coastal environment, to access and exchange information, to conduct research that addresses the scientific issues of coastal management and to bring together the different sciences involved in these issues.