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Limited progress has been made in implementing integrated coastal and marine management (ICM) policies globally. A renewed commitment to ICM in Canada offers an opportunity to implement lessons from previous efforts over the past 20 years. This study applies three core ICM characteristics identified from the literature (formal structures; meaningful inclusion; and, innovative mechanisms) to identify opportunities for operationalizing ICM from participants' lived experiences in Atlantic Canada. These characteristics are employed to assess and compare ICM initiatives across two case studies in the Upper Bay and the Lower Bay of Fundy. The assessments are based on semi-structured interviews conducted with key participants and a supplementary document analysis. The following insights for future ICM policies were identified: adaptive formal structures are required for avoiding previous mistakes; a spectrum of approaches will support meaningful engagement in ICM; local capacity is needed for effective innovative mechanisms; and, policy recommendations should be implemented in parallel. Although these insights are relevant to each of the two sub-regional case studies, the paths taken to incorporating and realizing them appear to be location-specific. To account for these site-specific differences, we suggest more attention be given to strategies that incorporate local history, unique capacity of actor groups and location-specific social-ecological systems objectives. We provide the following recommendations on policy instruments to assist in moving toward enhanced regional ICM in the Bay of Fundy, and that may also be transferable to international ICM efforts: update policy statements to incorporate lessons from previous experiences; strengthen commitment to ICM in Federal law; create a regional engagement strategy to enhance involvement of local actor groups; and, enhance the role of municipal governments to support local capacity building and appropriate engagement of local actors in ICM processes.

This article is not intended to be a thorough empirical analysis of the progress of MSP. Rather, it aims to provide an overview of how MSP is evolving within diverse national and regional contexts and illustrate the major trends that are emerging globally. By analyzing the legislative arrangements, objectives, implementation and evaluation processes, and the initial impact of MSP across 12 regional areas, this article presents an overview of how MSP is developing. The next section provides an overview of MSP's evolution over the last two decades. This is followed by a series of national reviews of MSP implementation in 12 regional ocean areas. These reviews showcase how MSP has quickly spread across the globe, as well as revealing the major factors that are supporting and inhibiting its fulfilment as an integrative means of marine management. This is followed by a discussion section that evaluates some of the key findings extracted from the reviews, reflecting upon the issues that are shaping the conceptualization and operationalization of MSP initiatives in different regional contexts, before questioning what this means for future MSP practice and research. Factors revealed as being challenges common to MSP initiatives include the rationale for MSP implementation, the need for legislative backing, the material consequences of MSP and the need for evaluative feedback loops, the use and production of knowledge, and a lack of innovation. This article concludes by briefly outlining a range of recommendations on how MSP can evolve in more sustainable and inclusive manners over the next decade and as it spreads to other nations and regions.