Search

Recognizing the global challenges faced by marine ecosystems and the people that depend on them, there is a growing worldwide uptake of the "Blue Economy" approach for establishing equitable and sustainable ocean industries. Research has shown that the capacity to achieve these Blue Economies is largely shaped by enabling governance conditions related to social and economic equity, more so than available natural resources. Yet there is often a very wide variation across such enabling conditions even within nations and subregions of the world. This must be addressed to build the foundations necessary for regional development and cooperation in shared ocean systems, but will require much beyond investments in scientific knowledge, technology, or infrastructure. Indeed, in most developing (and some developed) regions of the world, enabling conditions for and establishing a Blue Economy will require confronting and redressing colonial and postcolonial histories of systematic underdevelopment. Accordingly, we conduct a regional, historical comparative analysis to assess how country differences in colonial and post-colonial development processes correspond with varying levels of Blue Economy capacity. We focus on the Caribbean given its deep reliance on ocean systems, the wide variability in current enabling conditions for a Blue Economy, and its long history of colonial exploitation. Our structural analysis emphasizes how the historical forces of colonial and neocolonial development serve as long-standing obstacles to achieving high Blue Economy capacity in the region. We reason that these findings provide further justification for reparation programs, which possess relevance for ocean sustainability and development across the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of the global ocean economy is currently envisioned as advancing towards a 'blue economy'--socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable ocean industries.sup.1,2. However, tensions exist within sustainable development approaches, arising from differing perspectives framed around natural capital or social equity. Here we show that there are stark differences in outlook on the capacity for establishing a blue economy, and on its potential outcomes, when social conditions and governance capacity--not just resource availability--are considered, and we highlight limits to establishing multiple overlapping industries. This is reflected by an analysis using a fuzzy logic model to integrate indicators from multiple disciplines and to evaluate their current capacity to contribute to establishing equitable, sustainable and viable ocean sectors consistent with a blue economy approach. We find that the key differences in the capacity of regions to achieve a blue economy are not due to available natural resources, but include factors such as national stability, corruption and infrastructure, which can be improved through targeted investments and cross-scale cooperation. Knowledge gaps can be addressed by integrating historical natural and social science information on the drivers and outcomes of resource use and management, thus identifying equitable pathways to establishing or transforming ocean sectors.sup.1,3,4. Our results suggest that policymakers must engage researchers and stakeholders to promote evidence-based, collaborative planning that ensures that sectors are chosen carefully, that local benefits are prioritized, and that the blue economy delivers on its social, environmental and economic goals. The capacity to create an equitable and sustainable 'blue economy' from ocean resources will be determined by addressing social conditions, governance and infrastructure, not just resource availability, as shown by a fuzzy logic model incorporating multidisciplinary criteria., Author(s): Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor [sup.1] , Marcia Moreno-Báez [sup.2] , Gabriel Reygondeau [sup.3] , William W. L. Cheung [sup.3] , Katherine M. Crosman [sup.4] , Pedro C. González-Espinosa [sup.5] , [...]

The blue economy approach to ocean governance promises environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially equitable ocean-based economic growth. However, the blue economy has been inconsistently defined, interpreted, and applied, often leading to incompatibilities between the blue economy approach and existing ocean policies. We explore the blue economy in the Republic of Panama, where recent government commitments include designing and implementing a blue economy approach to ocean sector development. We use qualitative text analysis and a policy coherence assessment to examine the consistency of objectives across existing ocean policies in Panama and their compatibility with broader blue economy goals. Our results indicate that Panama's existing ocean policies address some blue economy goals but also reveal how policy coherence assessments and precise deliberation can inform a more contextually sensitive blue economy approach that aligns with existing ocean policies while also adding value to ocean governance and better integrating blue economy objectives. Findings suggest that Panama's existing ocean policies could better address social, environmental, and resource use objectives, without disregarding the need to reinforce economic and governance goals; elevating social objectives, especially social equity, can truly differentiate Panama's blue economy fromits current ocean governance approach. Finally, while we acknowledge that greater policy coherence can potentially increase the likelihood of attaining policy objectives, our findings show that coherence alone does not ensure their realization in practice. Our study contributes to blue economy scholarship by providing the first Latin America-based case study using policy coherence to assess compatibilities between existing ocean policies and a blue economy. Other countries seeking to transition to a blue economy could use our findings to inform the design of their approach and its integration with their existing ocean policy frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rights‐based fisheries management (RBFM) seeks to create market incentives to reduce competition, avoid overexploitation, and increase economic efficiency. Particularly for artisanal fisheries, however, assumptions of RBFM may not be met and its use needs to be carefully considered. This study applies an existing tool (SEASALT) to evaluate the strength of RBFM based on attributes of security, exclusivity, fish mortality, scale, responsibility, limitations, and transferability. Results for 17 fisheries in Mexico show a positive (nonsignificant) relationship between the strength of RBFM and stock status, and no effect on prices or landed value. Real‐world fisheries governance systems are much more complex than the simple linkages between attributes implied in SEASALT, but results highlight pre‐existing monitoring and enforcement capacity as essential for successful RBFM. Transitions to RBFM may strengthen this capacity, but likely cannot create it where it does not already exist. Based on our findings, RBFM strategies may benefit from group quotas with limited transferability to avoid negative social outcomes from consolidation or rent capture by intermediaries; this could potentially build on the latent capacity of traditional community associations common in many artisanal fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is often represented as contributing to desirable outcomes across economic, environmental, and social goals, yet policies and interventions attempting to deliver sustainable development often disagree on the order in which these categories of goals should be addressed. In this Essay, we identify and review 5 approaches (called logic models) for sustainable development in ocean systems based on existing policies and interventions and consider the evidence for their contributions to equity—the ultimate goal of sustainable development according to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Two of the 5 logic models prioritize economic growth and lead to social and environmental benefits, 2 prioritize environmental health as a prerequisite for sustainable economic and social benefits, and the final logic model is community driven and prioritizes social dimensions. Looking towards the 2030 maturation of the SDGs, we will need to understand what models are best suited to deliver on equity gains and prevent future inequities in development and how best to operationalize them. Pursuing sustainable ocean development is not controversial, but the approaches towards it often are. This Essay provides an initial assessment of competing models to achieve sustainable development, and their ability to deliver on the promise of "leaving no one behind". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions about whether to include oil in blue economy plans can be controversial but also fundamental to the ability of these plans to transform (or not) business-as-usual in the oceans. This paper examines (a) how oil is sometimes included and justified in blue economy planning when its development is at odds with climate commitments and the need for just transitions away from fossil fuels, and (b) how oil could be included in blue economy planning, or transitions to blue economies and just energy transitions away from oil. We examine how tensions between sustainability/climate commitments and oil development impacts are resolved in practice, specifically by analyzing a particular approach to the blue economy that focuses on technology and innovation. The overlap of oil with renewable energy, specifically through technology, has become an important part of recent ocean and blue economy narratives in oil-producing nations and illustrates the contradictions inherent in ocean development discourse. We draw specifically on the case of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), the only province in Canada with a mature offshore oil industry and thus the region most potentially impacted by decisions about whether to include oil in Canada's blue economy. We argue that the blue economy approach to ocean governance being enacted in NL is currently being used as a form of legitimation for continuing the development of oil with no real transition plan away from it. Furthermore, we argue that blue economy plans must not only envision transitions to renewables but also explicitly and actively transitions away from oil to minimize environmental and social justice and equity issues at multiple scales. We end by highlighting some necessary conditions for how ocean economies that include oil can transition to sustainable and equitable blue economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has spread around the world, disrupting economies, societies and daily life. Early research anticipated significant negative impacts for the globalized seafood supply network. Here, we explore the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on wholesale prices from five major seafood markets around the world. An anomalies analysis was used to establish a 5‐year baseline price for each commodity. Daily price data from 2020 were compared to the baseline to identify collapses (>1.96 SE from baseline) and analyse collapse characteristics (timing, duration and magnitude). Non‐uniform price collapses were observed across, and within, the markets analysed. Toyosu (Tokyo) Market experienced price collapses to 51% of commodities, Rungis (Paris) 36%, Mercamadrid (Madrid) 19%, Mercado La Nueva Viga (Mexico City) 35% and the Portland Fish Exchange (Portland, Maine) 32%. Collapse magnitude varied from 11% to 79% of the 5‐year average price. Average collapse duration ranged from 13 to 24 weeks with some commodities (4%–22%) remaining collapsed at the end of 2020. For markets where volume data were available, collapses were also noted (59% of commodities in Toyosu, 10% in Mercamadrid and 19% in Portland Fish Exchange); in these cases, the volume collapse was more severe than the related price collapse. To better detect, anticipate and respond to future shocks, we recommend that relevant government agencies conduct comprehensive economic reviews of the COVID‐19 pandemic throughout the seafood supply chain, including the outcomes of emergency measures, short‐ and long‐term implications of market volatility and identify areas of supply and labour vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co‐operation in the management of shared fish stocks is often necessary to achieve sustainability and reduce uncertainty. The United States of America (USA) and Mexico share a number of fish stocks and marine ecosystems, while there is some binational co‐operation in scientific research, unilateral management decisions are generally the rule. We present a case study using the giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas, Polyprionidae) to highlight how these management and research asymmetries can skew national perceptions of population status for a fully transboundary species. Scientific publications and annual funding related to giant sea bass are 7x and 25x higher in the USA, respectively, despite the fact that 73% of the species' range occurs in Mexico. Conversely, annual fishery production and consumptive value of giant sea bass in Mexico are 19x and 3.5x higher than in the USA, respectively, while the non‐consumptive value related to dive ecotourism is 76x higher in the USA. These asymmetries have generated a distorted view of the population status of the giant sea bass across its entire range. This and other factors related to historical fishery dynamics and policy must be accounted for when assessing population status, and subsequent appropriate management responses, across geopolitical boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective fisheries management is necessary for the long‐term sustainability of fisheries and the economic benefits that they provide, but focusing only on ecological sustainability risks disregarding ultimate goals related to well‐being that must be achieved through broader social policy. An analysis of global landings data shows that average fishing wages in 36%–67% of countries, home to 69%–95% of fishers worldwide, are likely below their nationally determined minimum living wage (which accounts for costs of food, shelter, clothing, health and education). Furthermore, even if all fisheries in every country were perfectly managed to achieve their Maximum Sustainable Yield, a common sustainability target, average incomes of fishers in up to 49 countries—70% of fishers worldwide—would still not meet minimum living wages. Access to decent work and livelihoods are fundamental human rights, including for all fisherfolk around the world, and strategies to support their well‐being must therefore integrate a much wider set of perspectives, disciplines and institutions. Key first steps for fisheries researchers are to more fully recognize and estimate fisheries benefits to households—including income from women and/or alternative employment, unreported landings, or shadow values of subsistence catch—and to help identify and learn from economic equity outcomes in rebuilt fisheries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magenta policy is the reactive policy (fishers increasing total effort when catch is low, decreasing to the minimum encountered in the data if the annual yield is negative). Our work highlights a new framework that embraces the complex processes that drive fisheries population dynamics yet produces simple and robust advice to ensure long-term sustainable fisheries. Our work thusoffersaninsightintoanewframeworkforfisheriesmanagement based on embracing the complex processes that drive population dynamics yet producing relatively simple and robust policies. Velarde,E.,Ezcurra,E.,Cisneros-Mata,M.A.,andLavín,M.F.2004.Seabird ecology, El Niño anomalies, and prediction of sardine fisheries in the Gulf of California. [Extracted from the article]

Ecotourism can incentivize social and environmental benefits through marine conservation, in parallel with efforts to better manage fisheries, coastal development, and other human pressures. In Mexico's Gulf of California and Baja California Peninsula (GCBP), marine ecosystems support tourism activities in many communities, but to date there have been no region‐wide studies to estimate their benefits or identify key species. Based on data collected in this study, each year nature‐based marine tourism in the GCBP results in 896,000 visits, US$518 million in expenditures and at least 3,575 direct jobs from formal operations. In interviews with operators, over 40 species groups were named as important; sea lions, whale sharks, whales, and marlin were the highest ranked, highlighting the importance of ecosystem‐wide health for nature‐based tourism sustainability. Local employment and the ability to make economic and conservation goals compatible were noted by operators as significant opportunities provided by nature‐based marine tourism; challenges included pollution and declines in ecosystem health, a lack of infrastructure, poor resource management policies, and high operating costs. As nature‐based marine tourism expands, a wider transition to true ecotourism, a focus on equitable benefits and collaboration between stakeholders and a cross‐scale and ecosystem approach to management will be vital for achieving potential sustainable social, ecological and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fishers' economic status is hard to assess because fisheries socio‐economic data, including earnings, are often not centrally available, standardized or accessible in a form that allows scaled‐up or comparative analyses. The lack of fishing income data impedes sound management and allows biased perceptions about fishers' status to persist. We compile data from intergovernmental and regional data sets, as well as case‐studies, on income earned from marine wild‐capture fisheries. We explore the level and distribution of fishers' income across fisheries sectors and geographical regions, and highlight challenges in data collection and reporting. We find that fishers generally are not the poorest of the poor based on average fishing income from 89 countries, but income levels vary widely. Fishing income in the large‐scale sector is higher than the small‐scale sector by about 2.2 times, and in high‐income versus low‐income countries by almost 9 times. Boat owners and captains earned more than double that of crew and owner‐operators, while income from fisheries is greater than that from agricultural work in 63% of countries in this study. Nonetheless, incomes are below national poverty lines in 34% of the countries with data. More detailed fishing income statistics is needed for quantitative scientific research and for supporting socio‐economic policies. Key gaps to address include the lack of a centralized database for fisheries income statistics and the coarse resolution at which economic statistics are reported internationally. A first step to close the gap is to integrate socio‐economic monitoring and reporting in fisheries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, mismanaged resource extraction, and pollution are reshaping global marine ecosystems with direct consequences on human societies. Sustainable ocean development requires knowledge and data across disciplines, scales and knowledge types. Although several disciplines are generating large amounts of data on marine socio-ecological systems, such information is often underutilized due to fragmentation across institutions or stakeholders, limited standardization across scale, time or disciplines, and the fact that information is often not searchable within existing databases. Compiling metadata, the information which describes existing sets of data, is an effective tool that can address these challenges, particularly when metadata corresponding to multiple datasets can be combined to integrate, organize and classify multidisciplinary data. Here, using Mexico as a case study, we describe the compilation and analysis of a metadatabase of ocean knowledge that aims to improve access to information, facilitate multidisciplinary data sharing and integration, and foster collaboration among stakeholders. We also evaluate the knowledge trends and gaps for informing ocean management. Analysis of the metadatabase highlights that past and current research in Mexico focuses strongly on ecology and fisheries, with biological data more consistent over time and space compared to data on human dimensions. Regional imbalances in available information were also evident, with most available information corresponding to the Gulf of California, Campeche Bank and Caribbean and less available for the central and south Pacific and the western Gulf of Mexico. Despite existing knowledge gaps in Mexico and elsewhere, we argue that systematic efforts such as this can often reveal an abundance of information for decision-makers to develop policies that meet key commitments on ocean sustainability. Surmounting current cross-scale social and ecological challenges for sustainability requires transdisciplinary approaches. Metadatabases are critical tools to make efficient use of existing data, highlight and address strengths and deficiencies, and develop scenarios to inform policies for managing complex marine social-ecological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]