The authors are grateful to J. Hutchings, CT Marshall and B Bogstad for comments and discussions on previous this website versions of this manuscript, to P Sandberg and the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate for kindly providing the cost data and for discussions on the cod fishery, and to OR Godø for help with cod data. The authors are also grateful to the Research Computing Services at the University of Oslo for access to the computing resources required for this study. Funding was provided by the Norwegian Research Council (AME, DJD, MH, NCS), the European Commission

through the Specific Targeted Research Programme on Fisheries-induced Evolution (FinE, SSP-2006–044276) (AME, AR, MH, UD, NCS), the European Commission through the Marie Curie Research Training Network Bleomycin price on Fisheries-induced Adaptive Change in Exploited Stocks (FishACE, MRTN-CT-2004–005578) (ESD, MH, UD), and through

the Marie Curie Programme (PIEF-GA-2010–274356) (AR), the Bergen Research Foundation (MH), the European Science Foundation (UD), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF: TECT I-106 G11, UD), the Austrian Ministry for Science and Research (UD), and the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (UD). Naturally, this article does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission and does not anticipate the Commission’s future policy in this area. “
“Marine spatial planning (MSP) is “a public process of analysing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that are usually specified through a political process” [1]. MSP is often considered

Histone demethylase a practical strategy to implement the ecosystem-based approach to the conservation and management of marine resources [2] and [3]. The policy landscape for MSP in Europe is still a young and emergent one. The concept of MSP is relatively new and some important policy drivers, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, Directive 2008/56/EC) and Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP, COM(2007) 575), came into force relatively recently. As an emergent policy landscape, it is also subject to on-going political and legislative changes that may significantly affect its future development. The European Union (EU) has recently adopted a new legislative procedure under the Lisbon Treaty (2009), which may affect the adoption of new policies or the revision of existing ones. A proposal for a new regulation under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is currently being deliberated upon, following the new procedure as established in the Lisbon Treaty. New policy instruments on MSP are being explored by the European Commission (hereafter the ‘Commission’) as a means of promoting a common approach to MSP across Europe [4]. Such major policy reforms and new developments may significantly shape the vision and direction of MSP in Europe in the decades to come.