Search

The EMOD-PACE project, funded by the European Commission, aimed to promote international ocean governance between EU and China. One of the objectives of EMOD-PACE is to compare European and Chinese modelling approaches for ecosystem vulnerability assessment. In particular, our objective was to test the applicability of the Chinese evaluation approach of resource-environment carrying capacity (MRECC) and spatial development suitability (abbreviated as “double evaluation”) to a European sea (the Bay of Biscay), in the context of marine spatial planning. The methodology involves three different steps: (i) an evaluation of areas of ecological importance, which includes species and habitats (i.e., biodiversity protection) and coastal characteristics; (ii) assessment of current marine development and utilization; and (iii) an ecological risk identification and the evaluation of the MRECC, by intersecting results from (i) and (ii). After collating information for 31 species of interest (fish, reptiles, mammals and birds), seven habitats (seagrass, seaweeds, saltmarshes, fish spawning areas, tidal flats, estuaries and unique habitats), marine protected areas and eight current human activities performed at sea (aquaculture, ports, ocean energy facilities, shipping, aggregate extraction and dredging, fisheries, military areas and tourism and recreation), they were aggregated and intersected (ecological data vs. human activities), and the ecological risk was determined. Since the total area covered by Marine Protected Areas and areas of high ecological importance is 135,372 km2, the available carrying capacity for development of marine activities within the Bay of Biscay is 229,266 km2. When we apply weighting to the calculation of the ecological importance and human activities, the high importance areas increase and the available carrying capacity decreases by 0.2%, to 228,637 km2. In this work we demonstrate that the Chinese double evaluation approach can be adapted and applied to a European sea, but to obtain more accurate results, and more extensive application to different areas are needed. Also, we have identified essential improvements, including better information for a number of species and habitats; more robust methods to identify biodiversity priorities; additional fish life-story traits; include future human activities; risks posed by multiple activities; and use appropriate weights through a stakeholder consultation.

As marine spatial planning (MSP) continues to gain global prominence as an approach to ocean governance, planners and other stakeholders are eager to evaluate its social and ecological outcomes and to better understand whether plans are achieving their intended results in an equitable and cost-efficient manner. While a plan’s outcomes for marine environments and coastal communities may be of particular interest, these results cannot be separated from planning processes. The field has yet to fully develop the guidance necessary for this critical consideration of how features of an MSP process and external factors interact with plan performance and outcomes. To fill this gap we used a literature review and expert discussions to identify 19 enabling or disabling conditions of MSP within four major categories: Plan Attributes, Legal Context, Plan Development and Social Context, and Integration. We propose semi-quantitative scoring and the development of narratives to operationalize the framework as part of a comprehensive methodology for MSP outcome evaluation. Applying the framework can add depth to quantitative MSP evaluation, shed light on questions of outcome attribution, and inform plan adaptation. Evaluating MSP outcomes in the explicit context of the enabling or disabling conditions identified here can stimulate discussion around what works in MSP and provide a path forward for assessing the benefits and costs of MSP worldwide. By identifying conditions instrumental to effective MSP, and alternatively, conditions hindering a plan, the framework can be used to guide plan adaptation and promote learning across the wider MSP community.

Marine-protected areas are designated to reduce anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity and enhance fish production, but other ecological processes are inadequately accommodated in plans for coastal and marine ecosystems. We conducted a quantitative systematic literature review and meta-analysis on how researchers and decision-makers include ecological processes in coastal and marine conservation planning. Marine spatial planning ideally delivers representative protected areas systems that deliver persistence for ecosystems and species. Although several reviews have reported on incorporating connectivity as a process in marine spatial planning, to our knowledge, no one has yet published an inclusive review on how ecological processes are incorporated to help ensure persistence in coastal and marine planning. A total of 162 peer-reviewed journal research papers and 27 non-peer-reviewed papers (n = 189) were identified that included ecological processes in coastal and marine conservation planning between 2000 and 2019, the number of papers integrating ecological processes peaked in 2013 followed by a declining trend to 2019. We attribute the trend to the complexity of the problem of integrating dispersal and demographic objectives alongside other management goals. The results of our statistical analysis uncovered that incorporating ecological processes in conservation planning is important for coastal and marine ecosystems across the literature (p-value

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a management tool that could help mitigate the conflict that exists between the American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery and the net-pen salmon aquaculture industry in the Canadian Maritime provinces. We developed adult American lobster species distribution models (SDMs) for use in MSP in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, through remote sensing data collection methods. A single-beam echo sounder was used to collect bathymetry and seafloor substrate data, and an aerial drone collected lobster presence data through the georeferenced photography of lobster trap buoys. The SDMs display trends in lobster presence likelihood that correspond with established patterns of habitat selection in adult lobsters. The areas where lobsters are predicted to have the highest likelihood of presence are sections of hard and rocky substrate, though that association is confounded by depth. The uncertainty of the SDMs was quantitatively assessed and the importance of explicitly analysing the effects of scale and resolution of spatial data are highlighted.

The combined use of satellite-derived environmental data and a dynamic energy budget (DEB) model to determine Pacific oyster growth potential was adapted for the South African marine environment. Study areas consisted of the West Coast (high-chlorophyll, low temperature) and the South Coast (variable chlorophyll, higher temperature) ecoregions. Chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were used to simulate yearly growth for 18 years. Average growth performance at the end of the culture period was mapped and compared for prominent sectors. Industry-relevant growth indicators, "days to reach commercial weight" and "optimal culture period length" were also established. High growth potential was found in eastern nearshore sectors of the South Coast, particularly Plettenberg Bay, where oysters reached a median total weight (TW) of 271 g within 9 months. Other sectors in the region yielded Large commercial size within 150 days. However, South Coast growth hotspots were found to be highly variable, with transient unfavourable growth conditions leading to low flesh mass relative to TW. Growth potential was favourable in northern sectors of the West Coast, where oysters reached a median TW of up to 148 g in 9 months, Large commercial size within 200 days, and contained high flesh mass relative to TW. Current oyster production sites were not found to be optimal for growth. Higher-growth sites coincide with areas in economic decline or with high levels of poverty. However, due to constraints of applying DEB models over large spatial scales, these results are considered preliminary and await in situ verification, as well as a spatial multi-criteria analysis, before investment and development.

The expansion and intensification of marine uses have severe cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems and human well-being, unless they are properly managed with an ecosystem-based management approach. A systematic conservation planning approach, using marxan with zones, was applied to generate alternative marine spatial plans for the Aegean Sea. Relevant human uses were included and their cumulative impact on a wide set of key biodiversity features was considered in the analysis. Different cost scenarios were developed to gain insight on the effects of the approaches used to assess socio-economic factors, and their potential impact on spatial plans. The spatial plans generated differed greatly depending on the method used to estimate opportunity costs and evaluate human activities in monetary terms. The vulnerability weights (the relative vulnerability of ecological features to specific human activities and their impacts) that were estimated based on a cumulative impact assessment, allowed the assessment of each zone in contributing to the achievement of conservation targets, through a transparent planning approach. Results indicate that special care should be given to how socio-economic activities, their impact on the ecosystems, and related costs are incorporated into planning. The proposed approach demonstrates how EU member states may effectively comply with the new Biodiversity Strategy 2030 targets, while planning for the sustainable use of their marine resources.

Continental shelves around the world are subject to intensive bottom trawling. Demersal fish assemblages inhabiting these shelves account for one-fourth of landed wild marine species. Increasing spatial claims for nature protection and wind farm energy suppresses, however, the area available to fisheries. In this marine spatial planning discussion, it is essential to understand what defines suitable fishing grounds for bottom trawlers. We developed a statistical methodology to study the habitat preference of a fishery, accounting for spatial correlation naturally present in fisheries data using high-resolution location data of fishing vessels and environmental variables. We focused on two types of beam trawls to target sole using mechanical or electrical stimulation. Although results indicated only subtle differences in habitat preference between the two gear types, a clear difference in spatial distribution of the two gears was predicted. We argue that this change is driven by both changes in habitat preference as well as a change in target species distribution. We discuss modelling of fisheries’ habitat preference in light of marine spatial planning and as support in benthic impact assessments.

With the concept of marine spatial planning (MSP) firmly established in the UK with its own legislation, policies and plans underway, this paper critically revisits MSP as part of the wider debate associated with the social reconstruction of the marine environment, as first discussed by Peel and Lloyd’s seminal paper in 2004. We propose that their identified ‘marine problem’ remains and indeed has exacerbated. We ascertain that there has been much change in the governance of the marine environment that has both positively and negatively altered the way that society has (re)constructed solutions to that marine problem. We revisit Hannigan’s (1995) social constructionist framework, showing the degree to which the prerequisites have been satisfied, by providing an overview of how the marine problem has intensified in the preceding 15 years and how the marine problem has now captured the wider public’s attention. We then look at the how the response to the marine problem has evolved by examining at the current marine planning arrangements across the UK. We conclude by stating that the whence of MSP is clear, culminating with the formal introduction of MSP in the UK which has positively altered the way in which the marine environment is socially reconstructed. The whither is much more unclear. With a continually rapidly moving agenda of change, there is much more to be done for us to say that the marine problem has been successfully socially reconstructed.

We apply theories of environmental governance, assemblage, and geo-epistemology to critically reflect on ocean planning in federal waters of the USA. US ocean planning was initiated in July 2010 when President Obama issued Executive Order 13547; this set in motion what was then called coastal and marine spatial planning, but without a congressional legislative mandate or budgetary appropriation. There are many reasons we might expect ocean planning to be centered in the US federal government, but ocean planning is transpiring in a neoliberal era in which there is little enthusiasm for “big government” and its projects. Thus, the project has been one of governance, with federal and state agencies participating along with non-government actors. What does a public planning process of this scope and geographic extent look like as a project of environmental governance? We focus on governance actors and the scale at which they operate, as well as the data infrastructure to support ocean planning, to analyze how US ocean planning is both illustrative of and contributes to our understanding of contemporary environmental governance. We have argued elsewhere that ocean planning in the USA has the potential to deliver outcomes alternative to marginalization of communities and enclosure of environments for capital accumulation, but this potential is fragile. In an era of unstable government when executive orders can be issued and revoked at the whim of the White House, questions about who/how ocean planning is carried in real space/time become even more important.

Paul Tett was partly funded by H2020 project no. 774426, ‘The Blue Growth Farm’. This paper examines marine planning in Scotland and the extent to which it constrains or enables change towards adaptive governance. An in-depth case study of the partnership-based regional marine planning process is presented, based on interviews and documentary analysis. Drawing on adaptive governance theory, analysis focussed on key themes of: (1) local governance and integration across scales; (2) participation and collaboration; (3) learning, innovation and adaptability; and (4) self-organisation. Results present regional marine planning as an interface between hierarchical and collaborative governance based on empowerment of regional actors, and an attempt to enable co-existence of ‘top-down’ arrangements with experimentation at smaller scales. In this system, national government provides legal legitimacy, economic incentives and policy oversight; while the partnerships support collaboration and innovation at the regional level, based on strong leadership and participation. Contrasting experience of partnership-working is evident between the large and complex region of the Clyde and the island region of Shetland, where devolved powers and a more cohesive and community-based stakeholder group better facilitate adaptive governance. Overall findings of the study show the tensions of institutionalising adaptive governance and provide insights into how marine planning contributes to governance of marine systems. Firstly, vertical integration between central and decentralised authority in multi-level marine planning arrangements is challenged by an unclear balance of power and accountability between national government and regional marine planning partnerships. Secondly, the interaction between marine planning and existing policy, planning and management emerged as critical, because marine plans may only operate as an instrument to ‘guide’ management and prevailing, limited adaptive capacity in broader management structures constrains adaptive outcomes. Lastly, adaptive governance requires incremental and rapid response to change, but limited financial and technical resources constrain the depth and scale of reflection and ability to act. Understanding the contribution of marine planning requires clarification of the interaction between marine planning and other management (the extent to which it can influence decision-making in other domains) and, in addressing governance deficiencies, attention is also required on the adaptive capacity of existing and emerging legislative frameworks which govern decision-making and management of activities at sea. Publisher PDF

Ecosystem-based management, spatial orientation, a multilevel policy framework and integration have all been identified as essential components of effective marine spatial planning (MSP). Integration has been noted by researchers and through international forums as being essential to achieve effective oceans governance. However, integrated policy approaches are the most difficult policies to design, develop and implement. They require a holistic rather than sectoral focus; horizontal and vertical jurisdictional support and coordination; and the involvement of a diverse group of stakeholders including industry, NGOs, and local communities. Integrated policies are prone to failure but if “integrative capacity” exists, integration in MSP can contribute to its success. This paper examines the role of integration within MSP and suggests a framework for determining effective integration and “integrative capacity”. It refers to different marine spatial planning examples which demonstrate that integrative capacity can contribute to the success, failure and longevity of MSP and ecosystem-based management.

The language and practice of Marine spatial planning (MSP) is typically associated with state-led multi-sectoral planning efforts. Yet in countries like India, where the government is not yet promoting MSP, ocean space has already been divided using principles and practices that are characteristic of MSP elsewhere in the world. Instead of being initiated by the state, these MSP-like processes are initiated by international agencies when industries seek large-scale development of India’s marine ecosystems. Although intended as an inclusive, holistic process to plan industrial development, this assemblage of MSP technologies, processes, and practices mandated by international corporations produces a particular power relation through its rejection of local knowledge and insistence on data, for instance, in the form of discrete, geo-coded polygons. This paper argues that this form of MSP produces an ontological politics, despite emerging from seemingly rational, post-political, and technocratic processes. Engaging with such politics is increasingly possible with access to geographical information systems, and this, therefore, provides a novel space in which to engage in political struggle. The case of externally mandated MSP in India demonstrates that non-state actors can initiate MSP, and therefore, opens the possibility for fishing communities, as non-state actors, to directly engage with the assemblage of practices that produce MSP.

Ringnet fishing began in the early 20th century and is practised worldwide, mainly to target nearshore pelagic species. The method was introduced to Kenya’s coastal waters by migrant fishers from T...

Like many small island communities, the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are directly dependent on their marine resources for a range of ecosystem services, such as income generation, subsistence, leisure, recreation and wellbeing. Healthy marine ecosystems also play a broader role in climate regulation, coastal resilience and habitat provision. With Blue Belt Programme assistance, the UKOTs are developing enhanced protection and sustainable management strategies for their marine environments, using an Integrated Marine Management (IMM) approach. This coordinates cross-sectoral planning and management to carefully balance marine conservation and sustainable use of resources in order to minimize socio-cultural and economic impacts to the local community. We describe the IMM approach taken in two UKOT case studies. In Ascension Island, a conservation planning and resource management process was initiated with an objective to protect at least 50% of Ascension’s waters from commercial fishing, resulting in the designation of one of the largest Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern Atlantic. In St Helena, a new licensing framework for marine developments was developed within an existing sustainable use MPA. From these two approaches, we highlight aspects of the process, lessons learned and recommendations that may be useful for other small islands planning to implement IMM, particularly regarding the importance of effective stakeholder engagement, coordination across different governance scales, and long-term financial resources.

When applying the Ecosystem Services (ES) concept for the management of marine activities it is beneficial to involve stakeholders from the start and incorporate their knowledge in the decision-making process. Doing so can help to identify key ES, to prioritize the development of human activities that positively impact those ES, and to identify potential trade-offs and win-win scenarios between sectors. On the Belgian Continental Shelf (BCS), different marine economic activities share a relatively small area where the demand for space continues to grow to accommodate emerging sectors. In order to systematically capture the stakeholders' opinions on key ecosystem services and to make the relation between specific marine economic activities and the anticipated change these bring to the ES, a stakeholder workshop was organized. Participants had to prioritize a list of fourteen marine ES relevant to the BCS and the highest-ranking ES were coastal protection, biodiversity, offshore wind energy, surface for navigation, and habitat maintenance. In addition, a conceptual diagram was co developed linking marine activities and ES to highlight potential synergies and trade-offs, with a focus on the fastest growing activity in the BCS offshore wind farming. The approach presented is easily transferable and can help researchers and decision-makers capture stakeholders' perceptions regarding the importance of local ES at specific points in time, thus providing a baseline for establishing priorities during ES modeling and management.

Identifying the spatio-temporal distribution hotspots of fishes and allocating priority conservation areas could facilitate the spatial planning and efficient management. As a flagship commercial fishery species, Largehead hairtail (Trichiurus japonicus) has been over-exploited since the early 2000s. Therefore, the spatio-temporal management of largehead hairtail nursery grounds could effective help its recovery. This study aims to predict juvenile largehead hairtail distribution patterns and identify priority conservation areas for nursery grounds. A two-stage hierarchical Bayesian spatio-temporal model was applied on independent scientific survey data (Catch per unit effort, CPUE) and geographic/physical variables (Depth, Distance to the coast, Sea bottom temperature, Dissolved oxygen concentration and Net primary production) to analyze the probability of occurrence and abundance distribution of juvenile largehead hairtail. We assessed the importance of each variable for explaining the occurrence and abundance. Using persistence index, we measured the robustness of hotspots and identified persistent hotspots for priority conservation areas. Selected models showed good predictive capacity on occurrence probability (AUC = 0.81) and abundance distribution (r= 0.89) of juvenile largehead hairtail. Dissolved oxygen, net primary production, and sea bottom temperature significantly affected the probability of occurrence, while distance to the coast also affected the abundance distribution. Three stable nursery grounds were identified in Zhejiang inshore waters, the largest one was located on the east margin of the East China Sea hairtail national aquatic germplasm resources conservation zones (TCZ), suggesting that the core area of nursery grounds occurs outside the protected areas. Therefore, recognition of these sites and their associated geographic/oceanic attributes provides clear targets for optimizing largehead hairtail conservation efforts in the East China Sea. We suggested that the eastern and southern areas of TCZ should be included in conservation planning for an effective management within a network of marine protected areas.

The MEDITS programme started in 1994 in the Mediterranean with the cooperation among research institutes from four countries: France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Over the years, until the advent of the European framework for the collection and management of fisheries data (the Data Collection Framework, DCF), new partners from Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Malta and Cyprus joined MEDITS. The FAO regional projects facilitated the cooperation with non-European countries. MEDITS applies a common sampling protocol and methodology for sample collection, data storage and data quality checks (RoME routines). For many years, MEDITS represented the most important data source supporting the evaluation of demersal resources by means of population and community indicators, assessment and simulation models based on fishery-independent data. With the consolidation of the DCF, MEDITS routinely provides abundance indices of target species for tuning stock assessment models of intermediate complexity. Over the years, the survey scope has broadened from the population of demersal species to their fish community and ecosystems, and it has faced new challenges, such as the identification of essential fish habitats, providing new scientific insights linked to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (e.g. biodiversity, trophic webs, allochthonous species and marine macro-litter evaluations) and to the ecosystem approach to fishery and marine spatial planning. El programa MEDITS comenzó en 1994 en el Mediterráneo, con la cooperación entre institutos de investigación de cuatro países: Francia, Grecia, Italia, España. A lo largo del tiempo, y con la puesta en marcha del programa europeo para la recopilación y gestión de datos pesqueros (Data Collection Framework, DCF), se unieron nuevos socios como Eslovenia, Croacia, Albania, Montenegro, Malta y Chipre. Los proyectos regionales de FAO han facilitado la cooperación con países no europeos. MEDITS aplica un protocolo y una metodología de muestreo comunes, que abarca desde la recolección de muestras hasta el almacenamiento de datos y los controles de calidad de los mismos (programa RoME). Durante muchos años, MEDITS ha sido la fuente de datos más importante para la evaluación de los recursos demersales, mediante indicadores de población y comunidad y modelos de evaluación y simulación, basados en datos independientes de la pesca. Con la consolidación del DCF, MEDITS proporciona rutinariamente índices de abundancia de especies objetivo, que se usan para ajustar modelos de evaluación de stocks. A lo largo del tiempo, los objetivos de las campañas se han ampliado desde las poblaciones demersales a sus comunidades y ecosistemas, afrontando nuevos desafíos, como la identificación de hábitats esenciales para los peces, y proporcionando nuevos planteamientos científicos vinculados a la Directiva Marco sobre la Estrategia Marina (p.ej. biodiversidad, redes tróficas, especies alóctonas y evaluaciones de basura marina), así como la aproximación ecosistémica a las pesquerías y la Planificación Espacial Marina.

International audience; Marine spatial planning (MSP) has recently attracted more attention as an efficient decision support tool. MSP is a strategic and long-term process gathering multiple competing users of the ocean with the objective to simplify decisions regarding the sustainable use of marine resources. One of the challenges in MSP is to determine an optimal zone to locate a new activity while taking into account the locations of the other existing activities. Most approaches to spatial zoning are formulated as non-linear optimization models involving multiple objectives, which are usually solved using stochastic search algorithms, leading to sub-optimal solutions. In this paper, we propose to model the problem as a Multi-Objective Integer Linear Program. The model is developed for raster data and it aims at maximizing the interest of the area of the zone dedicated to the new activity while maximizing its spatial compactness. We study two resolution methods: first, a weighted-sum of the two objectives, and second, an interactive approach based on an improved augmented version of the ϵ-constraint method, AUGMECON2. To validate and study the model, we perform experiments on artificially generated data. Our experimental study shows that AUGMECON2 represents the most promising approach in terms of relevance and diversity of the solutions, compactness, and computation time.

Increasing interests in marine areas has led to conflicts, and planning of present and future uses is required to achieve sustainable management. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is dealt at a national level, but generally it includes ecological, physical processes and administrative jurisdictions of multiple countries. The transboundary cooperation on MSP is a complex challenge, that could be better addressed with a participatory process, to achieve coherent planning processes in shared marine socio-ecological systems. This paper focuses on the process followed to reach consensus on cross-border MSP in archipelagic remote regions with no visible and distant maritime borders. Among the results obtained is the design of a European Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Madeira & Azores) Ocean Pilot Program. This would allow to strengthen marine governance, create synergies between different MSP plans, and comply with EU regulations. A joint position of the European Macaronesia could also be an opportunity for maritime interests in national, European, and international forums. Both the participatory process and the results obtained can serve as a model for application in other transboundary marine areas of the world © 2021 The Authors

Ecosystems all over the world are under increasing pressure from human uses. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (UN SDG 14) seeks to ensure sustainability below water by 2020; however, the ongoing biodiversity loss and habitat deterioration challenge the achievement of this goal. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is a developing practice with a similar objective to the UN SDG 14, albeit research shows that most MSP cases prioritize economic objectives above environmental objectives. This paper presents an assessment of how MSP can contribute to achieving the UN SDG 14. Results are presented in three steps. First, a representative definition of MSP is presented. Secondly, activities that can be addressed through MSP are laid out. Lastly, results are used to assess how MSP can contribute to the achievement of the UN SDG 14 targets and indicators. This assessment shows great potential for MSP to play a role in the achievement of the UN SDG 14.

International audience; Maritime transportation forecasts project an increase in shipping. In this context, interactions with cetaceans are of growing concern especially when relevant biological data are not available to monitor the impacts. The Agoa sanctuary in the Wider Caribbean region faces this situation. To overcome this issue, we used AIS data to estimate three pressure types from maritime traffic associated with known impacts for cetaceans: (1) “intensity” corresponding to the frequency of vessel presence, (2) “occupancy” corresponding to the duration of ship presence, known to lead to disturbance and noise-related impacts and (3) “speed” presenting the risk of physical injuries from collisions. A simplified approach of the Cumulative Effect Assessment framework was used. We mapped species underwater topographic preferences as a proxy for their distribution to link habitat features with traffic pressure maps to evaluate pressure levels and types. Results showed that three species were more at risk from intensity and speed in the plains: the bottlenose dolphins, the Fraser’s dolphins and the short-finned pilot whales. The speed pressure had the highest score over the habitat types slopes, canyons and valleys, placing sperm whales, Cuvier, Blainville’s and Gervais’s beaked whales at higher risk of collision in these areas. Humpback whales and pantropical spotted dolphins faced a higher risk of disturbance over the continental shelf along the West coast. We recommend a precautionary approach in the Agoa sanctuary: speed reduction in the Pointe-à-Pitre-Marie-Galante route and displacement of shipping lanes to move maritime traffic away from the West Coast.

The sub-Antarctic South Sandwich Islands forms part of one of the largest marine protected areas (MPAs) in the world. Whilst the neighbouring island of South Georgia is known to be a biodiversity hotspot, very little was known about the benthic biodiversity or biogeography of the South Sandwich Islands. Here we present findings from the first biophysical assessment of this polar archipelago. Using open-access datasets, alongside results from a recent UK Government-funder Blue Belt expedition to the region, we assess how the island’s biodiversity is structured spatially and taxonomically and how this is driven by environmental factors. The South Sandwich Islands are shown to be both biologically rich, and biogeographically distinct from their neighbouring provinces. A gradient forest approach was used to map the archipelago’s benthic habitats which, based on the functional composition of benthic fauna and environmental characterisation of the benthic environment, demonstrated a distinct biogeographical north-south divide. This faunal and environmental discontinuity between the South Sandwich Islands and the rest of the MPA and between the different islands of the archipelago itself, highlights the importance of the zoned protection across the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) literature identifies various dimensions of integration to deal with fragmented, sectoral, and ad hoc approaches to managing various uses offshore. However, the spatial dimension of MSP has receded into the background, the dimensions of integration remain ill-defined, and there is a lack of appreciation for the institutional changes that these integration efforts induce and require. Moreover, in light of the urgency of energy transition, offshore wind farms (OWF) are often prioritized over other interests in MSP practice. This paper uses the case of the Dutch North Sea Dialogues (NSD) to explore to what extent actors during the NSD pursued formal and informal institutional change to progress the various dimensions of integration in line with the normative principles of MSP to improve spatial integration between OWF and other interests at sea. The NSD provided an, initially temporary, platform that proved key for stakeholders to pursue subsequent formal and informal institutional changes that progressed integration in MSP. While formal institutional changes were achieved during the NSD, informal institutional changes also proved fundamental in progressing various dimensions of integration. The NSD shows that incremental institutional change can be effective in progressing integration, but also shows the limits to this approach. The place-based and temporal dimensions of integration require additional attention because this is where stakeholders most notably rely on existing institutional frameworks and conflicts are most prominent.

The dispersal of marine organisms is a critical process for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across a seascape. Understanding the patterns of habitat connectivity that arise from the movement of multiple species can highlight the role of regional processes in maintaining local community structure. However, quantifying the probability and scale of dispersal for marine organisms remains a challenge. Here, we use a biophysical model to simulate dispersal, and we conduct a network analysis to predict connectivity patterns across scales for the community of invertebrates associated with seagrass habitat in British Columbia, Canada. We found many possible connections and few isolated habitat meadows, but the probability of most connections was low. Most habitat connections occurred within 3 days of dispersal time over short distances, indicating potential limits to long distance dispersal and little effect of species-specific dispersal abilities on the potential spatial extent of habitat connectivity. We then highlight the different roles that individual seagrass meadows can play in maintaining network connectivity. We also identify clusters of connected meadows and use these clusters to estimate the spatial scale of community dynamics. The connectivity patterns generated by our dispersal simulations highlight the importance of considering marine communities in their broad seascape context, with applications for the prioritization and conservation of habitat that maintains connectivity.

Developments of multi-use floating islands are accelerated by an increase in offshore activities and pressing needs to create extra space in coastal regions for the surging population. The Horizon 2020 EU funded research project Space@Sea developed a modular floating island concept for offshore multi-use applications and examined current legal issues and barriers concerning its development. In this paper a floating island is defined to be “an artificially created floater, or set of connected floaters, moored to the seabed of which the topside can be used for activities similar to activities on land”. This paper aims to delve into governance issues like the assignment of authority on a multi-use floating island and the shift from regulating offshore living for working purposes to living purposes, as well as maritime law and property law (using the Netherlands as case study). Within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) a coastal state can establish, locate, and govern the floating island. For the high seas the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the most probable organization to initiate a discussion on settlement of floating islands. For each activity on the floating island, limiting criteria regarding motions as well as safety rules and regulations need to be established. Industry and housing will have completely different requirements regarding safety which will not be possible to fit in a one size fits all regulation. This case study shows that current Dutch property law prohibit the division of ownership of buildings built on floating objects. They can only be owned together as one object. For urban expansion, future inhabitants will want to have the possibility to buy property, requiring an amendment of current property law. It is to be expected that other countries will have similar or additional governance challenges. The Space@Sea project has developed a technical solution for floating islands which have identified barriers for multi-use in the rules and regulations described in this paper. The paper urges the responsible institutions and stakeholders to take on their roles in overcoming these barriers.

Natural disasters have altered the landscape of Montserrat’s marine environment significantly over the past 30 years, forcing rapid adaptation of marine species and the human population that relies upon them. Volcanic activity has led to an abundance of volcanic sediment, which has seen rise to the expansion of the island’s sand mining and aggregate industry. Similarly, a series of volcanic eruptions has resulted in smothered fishing grounds and maritime exclusion zones, increasing the pressure on the remaining accessible marine environment. Recent increases in shipping activity, due to the expanding aggregate sector, partnered with a lack of official marine spatial planning, has led to the west coast of the island becoming a stakeholder conflict hotspot. Regular interactions between fishing gear and shipping vessels were resulting in damaged and lost fish pots and causing physical damage and increased ghost-fishing on the coral reefs, with additional impacts on fisher livelihoods. This paper builds upon earlier work in Montserrat to engage fishers in fisheries data collection programmes. Here we use data from Montserrat’s fishing fleet to understand the distribution and intensity of fish pot activity within the conflict area. Maximum activity was distributed along the edge of the reef front, near the drop-off, with the greatest intensity toward the south. These data, and outcomes from stakeholder consultation, have allowed the relevant authorities and decision-makers to identify a suitable shipping route that avoids pot-based fishing grounds, while remaining as close inshore as feasible, to avoid unnecessary fuel costs for shipping vessels. As a result, the Montserrat Port Authority has implemented a restricted area around the identified fishing grounds, in which commercial vessels are not allowed to transit. This intervention represents a “win-win” solution, reducing the risk of commercial vessel-fishing gear conflict in the southwestern pot-based fishing grounds, without substantially increasing the burden of excess travel on commercial vessels. Here we show how engagement with the fishing community and voluntary participation in data collection has supported a conflict resolution deemed suitable to both parties; allowing the needs of the smaller traditional fishing sector to influence management of the rapidly expanding, high value aggregate sector.

Aquaculture and marine renewable energy are two expanding sectors of the Blue Economy in Europe. Assessing the long-term environmental impacts in terms of eutrophication and noise is a priority for both the EU Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and cumulative impacts will be important for the Maritime Spatial Planning under the Integrated Maritime Policy. With the constant expansion of aquaculture production, it is expected that farms might be established further offshore in more remote areas, as high-energy conditions offer an opportunity to generate more power locally using Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) devices. A proposed solution is the co-location of MRE devices and aquaculture systems using Multi-Purpose Platforms (MPPs) comprising offshore wind turbines (OWTs) that will provide energy for farm operations as well as potentially shelter the farm. Disentangling the impacts, conflicts and synergies of MPP elements on the surrounding marine ecosystem is challenging. Here we created a high-resolution spatiotemporal Ecospace model of the West of Scotland, in order to assess impacts of a simple MPP configuration on the surrounding ecosystem and how these impacts can cascade through the food web. The model evaluated the following specific ecosystem responses: (i) top-down control pathways due to distribution changes among top-predators (harbor porpoise, gadoids and seabirds) driven by attraction to the farming sites and/or repulsion/killing due to OWT operations; (ii) bottom-up control pathways due to salmon farm activity providing increasing benthic enrichment predicated by a fish farm particle dispersal model, and sediment nutrient fluxes to the water column by early diagenesis of organic matter (recycled production). Weak responses of the food-web were found for top-down changes, whilst the results showed high sensitivity to increasing changes of bottom-up drivers that cascaded through the food-web from primary producers and detritus to pelagic and benthic consumers, respectively. We assessed the sensitivity of the model to each of these impacts and the cumulative effects on the ecosystem, discuss the capabilities and limitations of the Ecospace modeling approach as a potential tool for marine spatial planning and the impact that these results could have for the Blue Economy and the EU’s New Green Deal.

Currently, marine environmental conservation is one of the main objectives of management. It is agreed that effective management requires evaluating the tradeoffs between conservation and economic costs for negatively impacted maritime activities. For these reasons, integrated approaches combining ecological and socio-economic aspects are needed to achieve nature conservation and sustainability targets. Here, we present an approach for the identification of cost-effective priority areas for conservation through a Systematic Conservation Planning method, adopting the Basque country as case study (SE Bay of Biscay). Eight conservation scenarios were defined targeting a combination of conservation features: benthic habitats, biological value of cetaceans, birds, macroalgae and macroinvertebrates, ecosystem services provisioning potential and habitat sensitivity to human activities. In turn, the total fishing pressures produced by artisanal fisheries, was adopted as a measure of the socio-economic costs of the protection (assuming, for this research, that fishing would be banned in the protected areas). The results indicated that the existing marine protected areas (MPAs) were very close of achieving legally binding targets and that the targets could be achieved by increasing the size of the existing MPAs. The highest costs were associated to the declaration of areas that were targeting higher number of conservation features. Nevertheless, the cost/effectiveness was higher there, being the environmental benefits higher with a smaller increase of cost. In general, the most cost-effective scenarios were those that included the extension of declared MPAs. The framework implemented here permits an objective estimation of conservation targets achievement. This can assist managers and decision makers in identifying conservation gaps and ecosystem components on which they should pay attention. In addition, it can be used in the management strategies that should be adopted under different conservation scenarios. Thus, the approach proposed here could be used to inform the Ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Planning.

A number of commentators have argued that up until now marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) research and practice have been dominated by blue economy and environmental concerns and have tended to neglect what might be regarded as social sustainability concerns. To gain more insight into the character and extent of such a gap, as well as how to address it, this article examines how social sustainability has been addressed in peer reviewed scientific articles on MSP between 2005 and 2020. Using search terms such as participation, democracy, social inclusion, social cohesion, equity we systematically identify and review 310 scientific articles that address diverse social sustainability concerns within MSP and marine governance. The review showed that very few papers systematically conceptualised or developed a coherent framework for engaging with social sustainability. Instead, they mostly addressed particular social concerns including participation and engagement, equity and social justice, socio-cultural values and preferences. Marine management and planning efficiency, as well as related instrumental framings of the merits of participation were the key arguments for including these dimensions of social sustainability in MSP. In terms of how to better include social sustainability in MSP, most attention was given to social-cultural mapping and ways to improve social inclusion/participation while also redressing exclusion and maldistribution of outcomes in MSP practice. We conclude that there is a need to deepen and diversify MSP inquiry with respect to social sustainability. In particular, scholars would do well to delve deeper and more broadly in social science literature to find inspiration on ways to understand and elucidate social issues. Here, the enormous body of relevant work on justice, power, critical institutionalism, political ecology and terrestrial planning literatures has hardly been tapped. It is also evident from this review that there is a need for both the academic and practice-based communities to more comprehensively address how the multidimensions of social sustainability interact with each other, as well as with economic and environmental aspects of marine planning and governance. Based on these observations, we highlight a set of suggestions on how to develop MSP research and practice on social sustainability. Most importantly, we argue that more in-depth co-production, linking scholars, practitioners and society actors, is needed.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is a relatively new approach to ocean management and has been widely implemented worldwide. Ideally, MSP should be established as a public process that analyzes and distributes human activities across space and time to achieve ecological, economic and social goals, which historically have been accomplished exclusively in the political arena. However, in most cases MSP seems to be driven primarily by economic interests rather than by sociocultural goals. In this paper, we discuss how integrating the missing sociocultural layers into MSP can help to reduce governance rigidity, promote adaptability in decision-making, support environmental justice, and improve MSP acceptance and uptake. In particular, we focus on identifying possible points of connection between MSP and frameworks based on social-ecological system theory, including co-management and other democratic and empowering alternatives. We conclude by proposing a new definition of the MSP process that is more inclusive, and mindful of users’ rights and sociocultural objectives. If we bridge the gap between the dominant economic rhetoric and a de facto sociocultural-ecological system approach, we are likely to improve the chances of the MSP process succeeding on both the human and nature fronts., SI

In the last four decades there has been a significant increase in experiences to implement marine spatial planning and the interest of the scientific community in evaluating the impacts of these policies. In this context, a lack of tools and techniques to be applied to the evaluation of strictly economic impacts is evident. Based on knowledge of the direct economic impacts on production in the activity sectors affected by marine planning, the aim of this study is to propose an input-output methodology to estimate total economic impacts that include indirect and induced impacts. This methodology has been applied to three case studies: The German Baltic Sea, Belgium and the North Sea and Skagerrak Strait of Norway. The positive effects derived from the application of these policies have been estimated in the three case studies, both in terms of increased production as well as value added and employment. In general, these positive impacts are concentrated in just a few marine-related sectors, although they also appear in other non-marine sectors. The results obtained offer a more complete view of the economic effects of these public planning policies and the methodology followed can be used as an applicable policy guideline to analyse other similar cases Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUG Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C2018/48 Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431E2018/07 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades | Ref. RTI2018-099225-B-100

Responsible aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, is a sustainable strategic sector for land and coastal communities. It significantly contributes to food security and enhancement of economic development; it provides employment opportunities and often contributes to the ecological services provided by the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the contribution of aquaculture to the global food security is widely demonstrated by an astounding industry growth of 7.5% per year since 1970. In 2018, aquaculture reached the all-time highest production of 114.5 million tonnes in live weight with a total farm gate sale value of USD 263.6 billion. This makes aquaculture a key player within the Blue Growth concept and a strong contributor to some of its key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This is particularly true in geographical areas where dependence of local economies on fishery products is high, and yet access to sustainable landings is hampered by ecological barriers. One such area is represented by the Black Sea basin. Whilst the Black Sea annual capture fishery production has varied considerably since 1990 and its current landings are significant, growing attention is currently given to boost aquaculture development along the Black Sea bordering countries, with marine aquaculture being considered as an important contributor to the total fisheries production. Nonetheless, aquaculture development in this region is not homogenous and its development has, so far, been limited by environmental, economic, social, and more generally governance issues. This paper, for the first time, attempts to provide a comprehensive fresh outlook of the aquaculture sector in the Black Sea, stressing the importance of regional cooperation as an essential pillar to support the sustainable development of the industry. The paper addresses aquaculture in the Black Sea from different perspectives: it outlines the key characteristics of the Black Sea environment; it discusses the most common farmed aquatic species and the potential for new ones; it frames the national approaches to aquaculture development, sharing information about success stories, while shedding light on the main challenges and priorities ahead. This collective endeavour will represent a helpful contribution to Black Sea riparian countries to answer the many questions they have, and expectations they hold from the aquaculture sector.

The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the South Sandwich Islands benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) during February/March 2019 to examine the biodiversity and distribution of benthic communities and their potential vulnerability to licensed longline research fisheries. Here we report results from analysis of multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and drop camera imagery data collected in selected locations around the South Sandwich Islands. A total of eight VME indicator morphotaxa were mapped along the slopes of the South Sandwich Islands, showing a substantial variation in taxon composition and frequency of occurrence, both along bathymetric and latitudinal gradients. Our results suggest that VME indicator taxa are mostly restricted to waters shallower than 700 m. As such, based on our present understanding of the region’s benthic environment the MPA, as currently established, offers effective protection for the majority of the VME indicator taxa.

A diverse assemblage of adult reef fishes and invertebrates occurs at offshore oil production platforms in the Southern California Bight (SCB). Coincident with the initiation of the decommissioning of six platforms in the SCB, the goal of this study was to examine how a platform's geographical location plays a role in its potential contribution of larval recruits to natural areas. Using a three-dimensional biophysical model, we quantified the potential connectivity of larvae, particularly relevant to reef fishes, from three offshore platforms to four coastal shelf regions where the majority of rocky settlement habitat occurs in the SCB. The regions cover the shelves of the mainland coast and islands and offshore banks in the southern SCB. The main findings indicate that (1) the potential for larval subsidies from platforms in the southern SCB to populations in the northern SCB are greater than the potential for larval subsidies from platforms in the northern SCB to the southern SCB; (2) there is greater seasonal variability of potential connectivity from platforms to the mainland shelf region of the northern SCB than to the mainland shelf region of the southern SCB or shelves around islands and banks; and (3) there is consistency across years in the relative magnitude of potential connectivity from the platforms to the four shelf regions. We conclude that a platform's function as a larval source should be considered an ecological criterion when evaluating whether a platform is to be converted to an artificial reef and implementing marine spatial planning.

Successful foraging of marine predators depends on environmental conditions, which also influence prey availability . Neutral or negative El Nino Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation ocean conditions during the summer of 2013 and strongly positive conditions during the summer of 2015 in the northern California Current System provided a case study to evaluate a marine predator's response to anomalously warm conditions. We used satellite transmitters with saltwater switches to track movements and estimate dive behavior among non-breeding common murres ( Uria aalge ) off Oregon prior to and during a marine heatwave. We quantified differences in space-use between years, applied linear mixed models to determine environmental influences (e.g. sea surface temperature , surface salinity , chlorophyll a , ocean depth, and calendar date) on dive frequency and dive duration, and contrasted dive activity between time of day, year, and sexes. The majority of birds dispersed away from capture locations, which were situated near the southern range limit of their population. In both years, murres used the Salish Sea and the Columbia River plume ; however, murres spent more time foraging in the Columbia River plume and in continental slope habitat during the marine heatwave of 2015. During 2015, dive frequency was reduced, and dive durations were almost twice as long during daytime indicating deeper or more dispersed prey. Increased dive frequency was positively associated with temperature, chlorophyll a , and crepuscular periods. Cluster analysis of dive activity and the top-ranked predictive dive duration model revealed associations between longer-duration dives and decreased dive frequency, marine slope habitat, and cooler ocean temperatures. Murres were relatively inactive throughout the night and we found no sex differences in dive activity. Changes in common murre foraging tactics were associated with ocean warming and revealed selectivity in spatial and temporal use of foraging habitats. Productive marine features including the Columbia River plume provided refuge for murres during apparently poor ocean conditions associated with the marine heatwave. Identifying refuge areas used by highly mobile species experiencing varying ocean conditions is critical for adaptive marine spatial planning that can accommodate a changing ocean climate.

Despite frequent calls for Integrated Management (IM) of coastal and marine activities, there is no consensus on the ‘recipe’ for successful adoption and implementation, and there has been insufficient evaluation of successes and failures of IM to date. The primary rationale for IM is to overcome four major deficiencies of sector-based management: a) management of diverse activities by different agencies using different approaches, b) management generally focused on a subset of primarily ecological objectives that do not properly articulate or evaluate social, cultural, economic and institutional objectives, c) no mechanisms to evaluate or advise on trade-offs among objectives of activities in relation to objectives and d) no mechanisms to evaluate the cumulative effects of all managed activities. To help overcome this gap in knowledge, here we draw on our collective experiences working in Australia and Canada to develop and articulate a framework to help guide the practical implementation and evaluation of IM, which we define as: ‘An approach that links (integrates) planning, decision-making and management arrangements across sectors in a unified framework, to enable a more comprehensive view of sustainability and the consideration of cumulative effects and trade-offs.’ We argue that IM will be most easily and effectively achieved by linking and modifying existing sector-based plans in an overarching IM initiative that has nine key features: 1) Recognition of need for IM, 2) A shared vision by stakeholders and decision-makers for IM, 3) Appropriate legal and institutional frameworks for coordinated decision-making, 4) Sufficient and effective processes for stakeholder engagement and participation, 5) A common and comprehensive set of operational objectives, 6) Explicit consideration of trade-offs and cumulative impacts, 7) Flexibility to adapt to changing conditions, 8) Processes for ongoing review and refinement, and 9) Effective resourcing, capacity, leadership and tools. Drawing on these features we then articulate a process for the implementation and evaluation of IM that recognises five phases: i) Preconditions and drivers of change, ii) Intentional design and institutional rearrangement, iii) Enablers and disablers iv) An implemented IM process, and v) Review of IM performance and modification. Combination of the nine features of IM with the five phases in IM development provides a framework for implementation and a lens for evaluation of IM processes. We suggest that this framework provides a guide to the appropriate design of practical IM, which will assist in overcoming the current management deficiencies and improve the sustainability of marine resources in the face of change.

R.H.L. and aerial surveys were funded by the British Ecological Society and the Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.

Scotland's National Marine Plan (NMP) consists of various objectives and policies which aim to support sustainable development within the marine environment while upholding the integrity of the ecosystem through the adoption of an ‘ecosystem approach to planning’. While this approach is not new, momentum has been gaining in research for accounting for the relationships between physical, chemical, and biological elements, functions, and processes of an ecosystem in marine spatial planning. Given that the NMP is under statutory review in 2017–2018 following three years since its publication, the outputs of this paper aim to inform the review by exploring how national and sectoral objectives and policies address ecosystem service sections and phases by using the UK National Ecosystem Assessment classification system as a reference. The analysis demonstrates that cultural benefits are the most accounted for, while the cultural final services which underpin such benefits are the least accounted for. Furthermore, there are no national objectives or policies which account for provisioning final services. The paper provides 12 distinct policy recommendations to enhance the uniformity of ecosystem services in the NMP.

Insights into integration challenges in the Baltic Sea Region marine spatial planning : Implications for the HELCOM-VASAB principles

Accepted manuscript version, licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Published version available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.022. Aquaculture is a major contributor to global food production, but has attracted considerable controversy. Disagreements over the social and ecological impacts of aquaculture (positive and negative) have hindered further expansion of aquaculture production, particularly in wealthy democratic countries. This article presents findings from a series of workshops bringing international aquaculture scholars together from the natural and social sciences to examine and compare social-ecological challenges facing aquaculture development in five nations: Canada, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. This multinational comparison provides unique insights into common and particular challenges in aquaculture governance – a dimension that is missing in current literature about the industry. A political ecology framework from the environmental social sciences is used to examine how natural and human phenomena interact to shape these challenges and frame the conflicts that often result. The analysis reveals a wide range of social-ecological factors limiting aquaculture expansion in the five countries, including access to suitable environments, interactions with other sectors, and policy and regulatory gaps – not only with respect to aquaculture, but also on related issues such as marine spatial planning and the involvement of indigenous peoples in decision-making. The findings provide preliminary guidance for future policy development and comparative aquaculture research.

Following the recent 2014–2017 global coral bleaching event, managers are seeking interventions to promote long-term resilience beyond monitoring coral decline. Here, we applied a spatial approach to investigate one potential intervention, mapping areas where local management could build coral reef resilience using herbivore management. Although herbivore management is a top recommendation in resilience-based management, site-specific attributes are thought to affect its success, and thus strategizing placement and design of these areas are crucial. Using Marxan, we mapped and prioritized potential Herbivore Management Areas (HMAs), where herbivores are protected but other types of fishing are allowed, in the main Hawaiian Islands. Through four scenarios, we found multiple hotspots along the west coast of Hawai‘i Island and around the islands of Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Maui, and Kaho‘olawe where HMAs may have the best chance for success based on habitat, ecologically critical areas, life history, and social considerations. We further analyzed top results and found that a subset of characteristics including habitat types, biomass of herbivore functional groups, and temperature variability were significantly different from surrounding areas and thus contain potential drivers for selection. This unique approach can serve as an example for coral reef management in Hawai‘i, on other Pacific Islands, and beyond, as it provides practical guidance on how to apply a resilience-building tool at a local level, incorporating site-specific biological and socioeconomic considerations.

The designation of marine protected areas (MPAs) requires the development of a monitoring design to assess the effectiveness of the closure in meeting its conservation objectives. Natural variability should be considered in the design, ideally determined using baseline information collected at the scale of the closure. Monitoring benthos informs on general ecosystem state. Benthic habitat maps are widely used as surrogates of benthos in marine spatial planning, and could potentially be used to inform monitoring by minimizing confounding habitat effects. Here, epibenthic diversity was assessed in the St. Anns Bank MPA in Atlantic Canada, the first assessment of benthic patterns at the scale of this closure. Epibenthic assemblages were determined using a photographic camera system along a single transect (~100–150 m in length) at 44 locations in 2013 and 2014 (with 10 or 11 images per location, providing a total of 438 images), prior to the designation of the MPA. Epibenthic patterns were correlated with a previously developed benthic habitat (benthoscape) map to determine the potential of using benthoscape classes as units for monitoring. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering of epibenthic assemblages and similarity profile analysis revealed five clusters of assemblages in the MPA (P

The implementation of maritime/marine spatial planning (MSP) strategies and management actions is often sought out by means of holistic, sustainability seeking processes, recognizing the connectivity and interdependences of all ecosystem elements, including humans. In this context, overall sustainability is reached when social, environmental and economic sustainability are equally considered. However, the integration of social aspects and views, alongside other, non-political, elements of the social dimension, has been found to lack well-rounded consideration in processes supporting decision-making. One identified problem is the absence of an existing framework that defines social variables and dimension components in ocean management approaches. This paper assesses the social context important to build such a definition within MSP. Based on existing literature and social sciences research it provides an outline for the concept of a social dimension in MSP and suggests definitions to further discussion and aid in the development of socially integrative guidelines. Recommendations are provided to support necessary future research and enhance social justice and inclusion within existing planning processes. This is important to avoid and mitigate negative implications at social levels and to motivate the development of a new approach to ocean sustainability and integration of all planning dimensions.

International audience; Although a necessary approach in many cases, implementing Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) reveals discrepancies between theory and practice. These discrepancies include the major importance given to technical issues along with the role and meaning ascribed to the “spatial” dimension at the expense of the “strategic” one. This gives rise to questions especially from the point of view of fisheries that invite to develop a more in-depth critical analysis of MSP. Far from considering the technical and political dimensions in opposition, the goal is to find out whether the reasoning used can be turned around, or in other words, whether the potential of a mapping instrument can be used to give greater importance and more visibility to strategic questions in MSP processes. Our reflection is based on methods used to map fisheries. It is also enhanced by notions such as empowerment and asserting the value of non-scientific knowledge in-situ. To test the strengths and shortcomings of this idea, it was applied in the context of an ongoing 2010 experiment between scientists (geographers and statisticians), fishers and fishers' representatives in metropolitan France. They have been working together for several years and have gradually expanded their scope to now include almost three-quarters of French metropolitan fleets (around 3250 vessels). This experiment shows that fishers and their representatives are not only able to generate spatial data using robust methods (almost 6000 surveys have already been conducted), but more importantly that they are also able to draw on this knowledge and participate in debates in a more effective manner, taking on the role of “real actors”. This has enabled a more political alternative to take shape, full of promise and giving rise to new questions.

The Atlantic Ocean encompasses approximately 10% of the global carbonate reef area, but the austral limits of coral reef distribution within this basin are still unclear. The lack of reef area and distribution estimates clearly hampers marine spatial planning and management in several regions, especially in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. In this area, significant freshwater, nutrient, and terrigenous sediment inputs constrain the detection of subtidal features by remote sensing. Here, we describe the coral reef of Queimada Grande Island (QGI) (24°S). The documented reef covers approximately 75,000 m2 between depths of 7 and 12 m, forming a relatively flat-topped plateau that fringes the leeward (W) side of the island. The framework was built mainly by M. decactis colonies that were cemented in place by crustose coralline algae (CCA). This peculiar structure lays approximately 1000 km south of the Abrolhos reefs, within a tropical-subtropical transition zone, constituting the southernmost Atlantic carbonate reef built by corals already reported. Our data reveal the enormous scientific and biodiversity conservation value hidden at the coastal islands of the Brazilian Biogeographical Province. Despite the high levels of fisheries activities, we found living coral coverage similar to that of southwestern Atlantic marine protected areas.

Sources of plastics pollution, transport and deposition in Hong Kong are all subject to uncertainty and this characteristic must be mapped if stakeholders are to be made aware of their need for greater involvement in ongoing marine spatial planning and management. We employ geostatistical interpolation as the mapping approach, to enable a wider scale assessment of the spatial distribution of three quantities of interest, denoted by plastics waste, ports shipping intensity and a notional measure we refer to as ecological insecurity to be determined. We generate map layer representations for each of these variables to concentrate the focus of a stakeholder onto their regions of most concern and employ associated uncertainty maps to highlight prioritized regions identified to be above a designated level of certainty. We refer to the resulting map as a Prioritized Area Map (PAM). The PAM approach to characterize marine plastics waste links otherwise disparate stakeholders to ecosystem-based-management, thereby balancing ecological, socio-economic and governance principles across temporal and spatial scales. The PAM approach serves as a generic scoping tool to help assess any marine spatial planning problem.

Offshore wind farms are becoming increasingly common in the coastal margins of marine ecosystems worldwide. Yet, the effects that wind farm structures have on fish populations remain unclear. To ex...