The subject of this paper is the protection of the coastal area of the Republic of Croatia. The coastal area is under increasing pressure from various economic and tourism activities. Excessive urbanization and apartmentization, irrational use of coastal space, without adequate infrastructure, and increased maritime and cruise ship traffic are a threat to the rich ecological diversity of the Adriatic Sea. Due to these pressures, there is a need for integrated coastal zone management of the Republic of Croatia and the implementation of II European Directives and Guidelines as well as maritime strategies in order to manage and conserve coastal resources in a planned and sustainable manner. Professional and careful adoption of spatial plans is needed as well as improvement of implementation of poorly enforced legal provisions. The quality of the Adriatic Sea is still at a very satisfactory level, but without the implementation of an appropriate maritime strategy and the cooperation of local, regional and national authorities, the quality of the sea and the coastal environment could be compromised. Due to the mentioned increase in the traffic of cargo ships and cruise ships in the Adriatic, it is necessary to introduce a national Register of marine emissions and upgrade the existing automatic vessel identification system (AIS) in order to better inform the quantity of ship emissions and the introduction of high voltage land connections as a source of energy for ships in ports as one way of reducing the harmful emissions of ships and their detrimental effect on the quality of life of coastal and insular populations and the coastal and marine environment.