《1982年聯合國海洋法公約》生效後，許多海洋國家鑑於海洋無窮的功能和利益，莫不紛紛建立管理機制、採行具體行動，積極保護與發展海洋。過去臺灣對於「建立海洋專責機關」、「加強生態環境保護」、「致力海洋相關研究」和「推動海洋產業永續發展」等倡議從未間斷，但直到最近立法院陸續通過「國土三法」，以及行政院組織改造中被譽為最具亮點的「海洋委員會」組織四法後，海洋事務的進展始見曙光。雖然未來海洋政策與事務可望逐步統合，促使臺灣大步邁向海洋，但相關整合工作的進度、主管機關的遠見和魄力、尚未完成法令的推動和海洋意識的普及，對於海洋國家願景的落實，不但必要，也將是嚴峻的挑戰。

Considering numerous functions and benefits provided by oceans, many maritime nations have been very active in establishing management mechanisms and in taking concrete actions to protect and to develop oceans. This is particularly true after the enforcement of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although initiatives, such as ＂establishing the lead agency＂, ＂strengthening the protection of marine ecosystem and environment＂, ＂facilitating ocean-related research＂ and ＂promoting the sustainable development of ocean industries＂ have been proposed in the past decades, progress related with marine affairs is still limited. Thus, recent passage of the ＂three national land use laws＂ and the ＂four ocean-related organic laws＂ by the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) marks a milestone for Taiwan's marine development. Nevertheless, this paper concludes that it is essential to have further integration of marine affairs, vision and determination of the lead agency, related bylaws and implementation mechanisms, and promotion of public awareness, which also become daunting challenges faced by Taiwan as it marches toward the path of a strong maritime nation.