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SummaryThe use of local knowledge observations to generate empirical wildlife resource exploitation data in data-poor, capacity-limited settings is increasing. Yet, there are few studies quantitatively examining their relationship with those made by researchers or natural resource managers. We present a case study comparing intra-annual patterns in effort and mobulid ray (Mobula spp.) catches derived from local knowledge and fisheries landings data at identical spatiotemporal scales in Zanzibar (Tanzania). The Bland–Altman approach to method comparison was used to quantify agreement, bias and precision between methods. Observations from the local knowledge of fishers and those led by researchers showed significant evidence of agreement, demonstrating the potential for local knowledge to act as a proxy, or complement, for researcher-led methods in assessing intra-annual patterns of wildlife resource exploitation. However, there was evidence of bias and low precision between methods, undermining any assumptions of equivalency. Our results underline the importance of considering bias and precision between methods as opposed to simply assessing agreement, as is commonplace in the literature. This case study demonstrates the value of rigorous method comparison in informing the appropriate use of outputs from different knowledge sources, thus facilitating the sustainable management of wildlife resources and the livelihoods of those reliant upon them.

A global shortfall in protein supply from capture fisheries has motivated the Malaysian government to revise its aquaculture strategy, focusing on three commodities: seaweed, fish and marine shrimp. However, the performance of the Malaysian aquaculture sector, particularly seaweed production, is poorly documented. This is the first empirical study to undertake a value chain analysis (VCA) of the Malaysian seaweed sector using stakeholder perceptions and secondary data that encompass members of seaweed farming cooperatives (the Semporna Area Farmers’ Association and the governments’ flagship Seaweed Cluster Project). Fieldwork was conducted between April and June 2015 among seaweed stakeholders involved in the value chain using a mixed methods approach—in-depth interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, household surveys, personal observation and secondary data. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from both upstream (seaweed farming, marketing structure and the Malaysian Good Aquaculture Practices [MyGAP] certification programme) and downstream (seaweed processing) activities involving farmers, intermediaries/middlemen (buyers), processors and officials. Kappaphycus spp. was sold in two forms: (1) dried seaweed to be used as raw materials in carrageenan processing (approximately 90% of total harvest) and (2) fresh seaweed to be used as a source of seedlings (approximately 10% of total harvest). The value chain ended with the carrageenan form, which is exported to international markets. The price of dried seaweed varied according to a combination of seaweed quality, the strength of farmer’s relationships with intermediaries and processors and in response to demand from the carrageenan industry. The prices obtained by Malaysian farmers for dried seaweed and carrageenan remained low, US$ 0.60 and US$ 4.43 per kg, respectively, despite efforts by the government to enhance the value chain by imposing seaweed standards (via MyGAP) for farm management, dried seaweed and semi-refined carrageenan. The VCA was a useful tool to identify and map the market, with the results providing a better understanding of the seaweed sector, which could be helpful in supporting further aquaculture development in Malaysia.

The measurable impacts of small-scale fisheries on coastal marine ecosystems and vulnerable megafauna species (elasmobranchs, marine mammals and sea turtles) within them are largely unknown, particularly in developing countries. This study assesses megafauna catch and composition in handline, longline, bottom-set and drift gillnet fisheries of the southwestern Indian Ocean. Observers monitored 21 landing sites across Kenya, Zanzibar and northern Madagascar for 12 months in 2016–17. Landings (n = 4666) identified 59 species, including three sea turtles, two small cetaceans and one sirenian (Dugong dugon). Primary gear threats to investigated taxa were identified as bottom-set gillnets (marine mammals, sea turtles and batoids), drift gillnets (marine mammals, batoids and sharks) and longlines (sharks). Overall, catch was dominated by small and moderately sized coastal requiem sharks (Carcharhiniformes) and whiprays (Dasyatidae). Larger coastal and oceanic elasmobranchs were also recorded in substantial numbers as were a number of deeper-water species. The diversity of catch demonstrates the potential for small-scale fisheries to have impacts across a number of ecosystems. From the observed catch rates we calculated annual regional elasmobranch landings to be 35,445 (95%CI 30,478–40,412) tonnes, 72.6% more than officially reported in 2016 and 129.2% more than the 10-year average (2006–16), constituting 2.48 (95%CI 2.20–2.66) million individuals. Productivity-Susceptibility Analyses indicate that small and moderately sized elasmobranchs are most vulnerable in the small-scale fisheries. The study demonstrates substantial underreporting of catches in small-scale fisheries and highlights the need to expand efforts globally to assess the extent and impact of small-scale fisheries on vulnerable marine species and their respective ecosystems.

Reducing dependency on environmentally unsustainable formulated feeds, most of which include limited reserves of fishmeal as a protein source, is a priority for the aquaculture industry, particularly for intensive culture systems. One approach is to increase nitrogen reuse within the system by feeding nitrogen-rich aquaculture effluent to deposit feeders, thereby closing the aquaculture nitrogen-loop. This study, for the first time and on a laboratory-scale, has reared juveniles of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra at high densities solely on particulate organic waste from a commercial-scale land-based abalone recirculating aquaculture system. Furthermore, growth rates and biomass yields were increased significantly by adjusting the effluent C:N from 5:1 to 20:1 by adding exogenous organic carbon sources (glucose, starch and cellulose), so fuelling accelerated heterotrophic bacterial production within the redox-stratified tank sediment. Sea cucumber juveniles reared solely on effluent had a biomass density of 711 g m−2 after four months whereas animals reared on starch-amended effluent (the best performing treatment) had a final density of 1011 g m−2. Further optimisation of this approach could increase biomass yields and pave the way for the commercial cultivation of deposit feeding animals on waste streams, thus contributing to more environmentally sustainable aquaculture. Here, the nitrogen that originated from fishmeal is not lost through the discharge of aquaculture effluent; rather, it is immobilised into single cell biomass that is up-cycled into high-value secondary biomass. We demonstrate that sea cucumbers can be produced at high density through the manipulation of the C:N ratio of aquaculture effluent.

National economies are often strengthened by diversification, which is built in turn on a healthy and productive culture of national innovation. Innovation is a complex process, which is difficult to measure in an objective manner. In this work and for the first time, a quantitative measure for open innovation has been developed and validated to determine the performance of a firm within the marine biotechnology sector in Oman. This breakthrough was achieved in four steps. First, the characteristics of the two dimensions of open innovation (‘breadth’ and ‘depth’) were identified using a critical review of the literature and a series of pre-tests of a survey design with industrial experts. Second, a quantitative index for open innovation by measuring these two dimensions at firm level was developed. Third, validation of this five-item scale was conducted using the UK Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data set. Fourth, the five-item scale was applied to 22 firms in the marine bio-industry sector in Oman using a case study approach, and was used to rank the firms according to their open innovation index. This analysis shows how Omani marine bio-industry firms could strengthen their open innovation efforts, for example by collaborating more effectively with government organizations and research institutes to thereby boost the quality of their open innovation activities in a measurable way.

This chapter investigates a methodological failing that arose during recent doctoral research on the English small-scale, inshore fisheries sector. Poor rates of attendance by fishers in focus group discussions resulted in several sessions being cancelled and limited participation at others. The chapter examines two important questions. Firstly, could the challenges encountered have been resolved through more careful preparation? Secondly, are the issues experienced the result of deep-rooted barriers that deter potential participants from attending, and if so, does this mean that focus groups are an ill-suited method for obtaining meaningful data in these alienated and marginalised communities?

This chapter reports respondents’ perceptions of the way the English SSF has faced up to the challenges described in Chap. 4. Following the interpretive framework outlined in Chap. 2, we divide these perceptions into three categories: passive resilience; adaptive resilience; and transformative resilience. It is worth noting that not all acts of resilience succeed in overcoming challenges: sometimes a fishers’ responses to challenges creates a feedback loop which exacerbates their vulnerability (Holling and Gunderson 2002).

The first part of this chapter explains the main interpretive framework for this book, which is resilience theory. The second part of the chapter explains the main method of obtaining primary data, which is a qualitative approach involving interviews of key informants (KIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Resilience is a concept that has long been used in natural science and is becoming increasingly employed in social science. Bene et al. (2012, p. 8) claim that “Since the 1960s, the concept of resilience has been gaining critical mass in academia. It has now become a central paradigm in disciplines such as ecology, possibly replacing sustainability as the ultimate objective of development. In particular, in domains where issues of shocks, vulnerability and risks are critical…the growing influence of the concept of resilience is particularly prominent” (see also Bene et al. 2014; Davoudi 2012). Resilience theory has been used by several researchers to illuminate the situation of SSFs. Symes (2014) explains how resilience theory originated in 1973 in Holling’s understanding of an ecosystems’ capacity to adapt to turbulence and establish a new equilibrium, and how other writers such as Berkes, Folke and Adjer extended this theory to social systems, and applied it to coastal fisheries communities with a critical analysis of the attempts by managers to impose rigid controls in a vain attempt to preserve the status quo of fish stocks. These critics argued that mechanistic measures such as quota and effort restrictions enforced to achieve abstract targets such as maximum sustainable yield (MSY) ignored the natural variability of fish ecosystems and imposed a straitjacket on the fishing industry, preventing it from adapting to the changing patterns of fish populations. Likewise, Andrew et al. (2007, p. 235) say that “Rather than focusing on yield or profit maximization, we can better define sustainability in terms of the resilience of a social-ecological system”.

The previous chapter has demonstrated how English inshore fishers have coped with the many challenges they have faced during the last 30 years. Some fishers have dropped out of the sector, but the remainder have adopted a variety of resilience strategies in order to survive, including passive, adaptive and transformative responses. In this discussion chapter, we seek to understand the drivers and implications of these resilience strategies by addressing five key questions: What are the factors that determine English SSF’s choice of resilience strategies? What is the role of Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) in influencing the choice of those resilience strategies? Can different resilience strategies co-exist? Are there any trends in resilience strategies? Are some resilience strategies more sustainable than others?

There is a specific definition of SSF in England which rests on a length threshold of 10 m and under (Davies et al. 2018). This reflects the practice of the English fishery which has long divided the fleet into two parts—the under-10 m (U-10 m) sector (SSF) generally encapsulated by the term ‘inshore’ fleet’ (Sowman 2006; Schumann and Macinko 2007; Hauck 2008; Gray et al. 2011; Davies et al. 2018); and the over-10 m (0–10 m) sector generally encapsulated by the term ‘offshore’ fleet or ‘industrial’ fleet. This is an arbitrary definition, and not one that is often found outside the UK. The EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)’s definition of SSF emphasises the need to define the sector’s vessels by their environmental impact as well as their length, and so identifies them as under-12 m vessel length using low impact gear (i.e. trawls are excluded) (Garcia-Florez et al. 2014). The British government has suggested that after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the distinction between inshore and offshore vessels will be removed because it is anomalous, since some inshore vessels (the so-called ‘super-under-10 s’ or ‘rule beaters’) are high-powered, technically sophisticated vessels, capable of catching larger quantities of fish than some offshore vessels. Some commentators have said that the inclusion of these vessels within the under-10 m category is completely inappropriate and undermines the category (Davies et al. 2018; Crilley and Estaban 2013). Critics argue that the super under-10 s damage the livelihoods of the remaining inshore vessels by taking most of the sector’s quota (Davies et al. 2018) since they are engineered to have the greatest possible catching capacity within their size bracket and they are able to operate in conditions which would be impossible for more traditional inshore vessels. As Symes (2002, p.14) says, “Such vessels threaten the spirit if not the letter of regulations which seek to protect inshore stocks from excessive levels of exploitation and to reserve inshore waters primarily…for local small boat fishing activity”. Defra (Department for Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs) (2018, p. 28) has hinted at replacing the inshore category with a ‘low-impact’ category, which would exclude the super-under-10 s, and “allow us to provide increased fishing opportunities, or lighter regulation, for those involved in low impact fishing activity”.

This chapter turns to the perceptions of vulnerability expressed by English SSF respondents in interviews and focus group discussions conducted during 2015 and 2016. We can divide these perceptions intro two categories: external threats and internal obstacles (Islam 2011). External threats are perceived to come from outside the fleet; internal obstacles are perceived to exist within the fleet itself. These perceptions provide a unique record of experiences that are informative, sometimes deeply moving and occasionally amusing. Many of the external threats facing the English fleet chime with those reported in Chap. 1 to impact SSFs across the globe, such as reduced access to resources because of ocean grabbing (played out through a reduced quota allowance, or being displaced as a consequence of industrial vessel activities, marine industry and the instigation of a conservation focused network of MPAs); environmental degradation (including overfishing); reduced product value as a consequence of operating within an increasingly globalised market; and top-down managerial arrangements in combination with the heightened influence of other stakeholder groups. The internal obstacles include a general lack of social solidarity preventing grassroots unity, which erodes SSF’s political strength.

This paper focuses on the availability of economic indicators and metrics to assess effects of marine aquaculture production in the North Atlantic area (the EU, Norway, Canada and USA), including also social and environmental effects. We consider how aquaculture planning and management is organised in the different countries and the usefulness of economic information to address different aquaculture‐related policies. We find that the most relevant economic data for aquaculture management should be at the local and regional levels rather than nationally. The availability of such economic data is mapped for national, regional and local level. The focus is on data that are publicly available from authorities or research institutions. The availability of data is generally fairly good for national and regional data on the direct economic effects of aquaculture. Data on how aquaculture‐related products or input markets are affected are however poorly available, as are economic data on external effects from aquaculture. Countries with a larger aquaculture sector tend to have better availability of aquaculture‐related economic data than those with a smaller sector. An index is developed and calculated to show more specifically where the countries have relatively good or poor data availability compared to their needs. While it will not always be cost‐effective or meaningful to collect economic data on the effects of aquaculture, our study indicates that several countries could benefit from expanding such data collection. It can make trade‐off decisions more consistent and easier to perform, and aquaculture policies and measures can be better tailored to specific contexts This article is based upon work from COST Action OceansPast Platform (OPP – IS1403), supported by COST (Euro-pean Cooperation in Science and Technology). We gratefully acknowledge support also from the institutions of the authors, and discussions in the ICES Working Group onSocial and Economic Dimensions of Aquaculture. In particular, we thank Max Troell, Cecile Brugere and Max Ebeling for input. Lucia Fanning was supported by the Ocean Frontier Institute Large Research Project on Social Licenseand Planning in Coastal Communities SI

Until very recently, governments of many countries, as well as their supporting organizations, have primarily addressed the biological, technical and economic aspects of aquaculture. In contrast, social and cultural aspects of aquaculture production have taken a backseat. Drawing on the observation that aquaculture development in Western Societies has largely failed to address these social effects across different scales and contexts, this paper offers a new way of capturing and visualising the diverse social dimensions of aquaculture. It does so by testing the ability to operationalise a set of social dimensions based on categories and indicators put forward by the United Nations, using several case studies across the North Atlantic. Local/regional stakeholder knowledge realms are combined with scientific expert knowledge to assess aquaculture operations against these indicators. The approach indicates that one needs to have a minimum farm size in order to have an impact of a visible scale for the different social dimension categories. While finfish aquaculture seems to be more social impactful than rope mussel farming, the latter can hold important cultural values and contribute to place-based understanding, connecting people with place and identity, thus playing a vital role in maintaining the working waterfront identity. It could be shown that aquaculture boosts a potential significant pull-factor to incentivise people to remain in the area, keeping coastal communities viable. By visualising the social effects of aquaculture, a door may be opened for new narratives on the sustainability of aquaculture that render social license and social acceptability more positive.

Governments are facing mounting pressure to ‘do something on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14’. The SDG 14 comprises targets and indicators for countries to show progress in achieving conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. One novel approach experiencing traction in improving growth performance of marine resource sectors — particularly marine biotechnology and fisheries — is open innovation. This review assesses the potential impacts of using open innovation approaches more widely with good governance principles to promote sustainable management of marine resource use. Recent research filled the gap in creating a quantitative marine open innovation measure to monitor and manage marine sector innovation process. Prior 2018, formulation of marine policies — aimed at building economic prosperity from sustainable use of marine environments — were constrained by the absence of a tool to provide an index to compare marine sectors’ innovation performance. This review highlights a need to broaden the measures used to determine marine management effectiveness especially in the context of achieving the SDGs. Governments are urged to pay more attention to new governance tools including open innovation when formulating new policy aimed at building future scenarios of economic resilience involving marine resource use.

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are mostly studied from an environmental context. A review of available information identified a lack of knowledge in sustainable mechanisms to finance MPA networks. At the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2017, Fiji reaffirmed its voluntary commitment to make 30% of its inshore and offshore marine area MPAs by 2020 under Sustainable Development Goal 14. The work presented here uses empirical data to explore potential benefits from selected community-based MPAs to recipient local stakeholders. A Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Contribute Time (WtCT) method was used to explore the extent to which bottom-up governance systems represent a potential financing mechanism of a MPA network. Results of 115 interviews concluded that proximity to a fishing market, dependence on marine resources, food security, income and international commitments were significant variables influencing stakeholder's WTP and WtCT to manage a MPA. We argue that there is a discrepancy between WtCT and WTP driven by income constraints. Thus, by using WTP and WtCT to support financing of a MPA network, a Provincial Trust Fund (PTF) could promote an equitable and benefits-based contribution. Equally important, a PTF has a polycentric and decentralized governance model, which endorses sustainable management of traditional fishing communities. The conclusions provide insight into a bottom-up approach for long-term financial sustainability of Fiji's national MPA commitments.

SUMMARYSmall islands can guide visualization of the diverse information requirements of future context-relevant coastal governance. On small marine islands (2), negative effects of coastal challenges (e.g., related to population growth, unsustainable resource use or climate change) can develop rapidly, with high intensity and extreme impacts. The smallest and most remote islands within small-island states and small islands in larger states can be threatened by intrinsic governance factors, typically resulting in access to fewer resources than larger islands or administrative centres. For these reasons, efforts to support coastal change governance are critical and need to be targeted. We propose a conceptual framework that distinguishes key governance-related components of small-island social–ecological systems (SESs). To prioritize areas of vulnerability and opportunity, physical, ecological, social, economic and governance attributes are visualized to help show the ability of different types of small-island SESs to adapt, or be transformed, in the face of global and local change. Application of the framework to an Indonesian archipelago illustrates examples of local rule enforcement supporting local self-organized marine governance. Visualization of complex and interconnected social, environmental and economic changes in small-island SESs provides a better understanding of the vulnerabilities and opportunities related to context-specific governance.

The treatment of organic wastes remains one of the key sustainability challenges facing the growing global aquaculture industry. Bioremediation systems based on coupled bioturbation–microbial processing offer a promising route for waste management. We present, for the first time, a combined biogeochemical–molecular analysis of the short-term performance of one such system that is designed to receive nitrogen-rich particulate aquaculture wastes. Using sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra) as a model bioturbator we provide evidence that adjusting the waste C : N from 5 : 1 to 20 : 1 promoted a shift in nitrogen cycling pathways towards the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), resulting in net NH4+ efflux from the sediment. The carbon amended treatment exhibited an overall net N2 uptake, whereas the control receiving only aquaculture waste exhibited net N2 production, suggesting that carbon supplementation enhanced nitrogen fixation. The higher NH4+ efflux and N2 uptake was further supported by meta-genome predictions that indicate that organic-carbon addition stimulated DNRA over denitrification. These findings indicate that carbon addition may potentially result in greater retention of nitrogen within the system; however, longer-term trials are necessary to determine whether this nitrogen retention is translated into improved sea cucumber biomass yields. Whether this truly constitutes a remediation process is open for debate as there remains the risk that any increased nitrogen retention may be temporary, with any subsequent release potentially raising the eutrophication risk. Longer and larger-scale trials are required before this approach may be validated with the complexities of the in-system nitrogen cycle being fully understood.

The literature on fisheries for developing countries often cites inland aquaculture as a promising source of wealth creation for a nation in terms of revenue generation from export products. However, in this paper we argue that inland aquaculture has a greater prospect of success if it focuses on social welfare – i.e. alleviating food insecurity and poverty in coastal fishing communities, particularly those that are experiencing increased and unsustainable fishing pressure on marine fish. Nevertheless, promoting inland aquaculture in coastal areas faces many challenges, including financial, legal, political, environmental, logistical, educational, and attitudinal obstacles. Our study investigates these challenges in two coastal communities in Sierra Leone – Tombo and Goderich – where declining levels of marine fish catches are intensifying efforts to provide alternative or supplementary forms of employment for artisanal fishers, but where knowledge and experience of, and enthusiasm and funding for, inland aquaculture are limited. The research is based on the perceptions of 51 key informant interviewees and 199 survey questionnaire respondents. The main findings of the fieldwork are as follows. (1) Few local fishers were familiar with inland aquaculture and its potential benefits. (2) There were land tenure problems (for example, women were excluded from ownership of land). (3) There was little funding to buy/rent land and equipment. (4) Despite declining fish stocks, respondents were reluctant to take up full-time fish farming because of the easier option of fishing. Our findings suggest that greater uptake of inland aquaculture is more likely if presented to local fishers as a supplementary livelihood activity rather than an alternative occupation to marine capture fishing. Our study reinforces the importance of understanding local fishers’ cultures, values, and preferences before introducing a new livelihood activity.

Mangrove forest ecosystems support aquatic species important to tropical fishing communities, but habitat degradation and over-fishing have caused coastal fishery stocks to decline. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are widely promoted as a management option to reverse this situation. Using swimming crabs as indicator species, this paper explores the ecological effectiveness of two community-led MPAs and one co-managed MPA in Ranong and Phang-nga Provinces in southern Thailand. Comparisons were made of two fisheries objectives: catch per unit effort (CPUE); and size frequency distribution of Portunus spp. and Scylla olivacea; and one conservation objective: catch composition on benthic aquatic species, between each managed area and an associated control site to look for effects of management. Eight replicates of each survey were undertaken in each site: four in the wet season, from May to July 2011; and four in the dry season, from February to March 2012.Two of the MPAs, one a no-take zone and one a gear limitation zone, and both managed by local communities, showed a significant increase in CPUE of target species compared with their controls to the benefit of local fishers. There was little evidence of management impact on the composition of benthic aquatic species so community management is not achieving wider conservation in terms of increased biodiversity. The third MPA, a seasonal no-take zone, co-managed by local communities and local government, showed no significant effect on either CPUE of target species, or composition of benthic aquatic species when compared to its control. For size frequency distribution, a higher abundance of all size classes of Portunus pelagicus was observed in all MPAs compared to their control sites. The size distribution of animals suggests that the community-managed MPAs are supporting recruits and contributing to the fisheries by reducing the rates of growth overfishing. To conclude, the two community-led MPAs benefitted fishers but had no effect on marine biodiversity, while the co-managed MPA did not benefit fishers or marine biodiversity. However, all three MPAs showed increase crab abundance in each size class. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the socio-economic drivers underpinning fishers' decisions to target elasmobranchs is considered vital in determining sustainable management objectives for these species, yet limited empirical data is collected. This study presents an overview of elasmobranch catch, trade and socio-economic characteristics of Zanzibar's small-scale, artisanal fishery. The value of applying this information to future elasmobranch fisheries policy is demonstrated. In August 2015, interviews were conducted with fishers (n = 39) and merchants (n = 16) at two landing sites, Kizimkazi-Dimbani and Mkokotoni, along with the main market site in Stone Town. Additionally, elasmobranch catches were recorded across the same locations between June and August 2015. Elasmobranchs were listed as target species by 49% of fishers interviewed. Whilst most fishers (n = 30) stated that 76–100% of their household income came from fishing, there was variation in how elasmobranch catch and trade contributed. One-third of fishers (n = 36) that caught and sold elasmobranchs reported that 41–60% of their income came from elasmobranch catch. However, for some fishers (n = 8) elasmobranch catch represented 0–20% of their income, whilst for others (n = 4) it represented 81–100%. Differences in fisheries income and elasmobranch price could be attributed to several interacting factors including season, weather, fishing effort, fishing gear, target catch and consumer demand. Further, elasmobranch price was influenced by size and species. The study revealed information on catch, trade, markets and socio-economy that is important for future research, conservation and management of elasmobranchs and fisheries in Zanzibar. The methods utilised have potential for broader application to understudied, artisanal elasmobranch fisheries in the western Indian Ocean.

Purpose This paper aims to understand what two apparently contrasting concepts of communality and place attachment say about the quality of community life in the Niger Delta. Design/methodology/approach The research for this paper relied on extensive qualitative and quantitative data: qualitative data were collected from five oil-rich and three oil-poor communities across Ogoniland, while quantitative data were collected from four of these communities. Thematic content analysis was used to interpret the qualitative data, while the quantitative data were analysed through Excel. Findings Most participants from both oil-rich and oil-poor communities strongly reject a social sense of communality and strongly endorse a geographical sense of place. Practical implications The wider implication of this finding is that proponents of community development (CD) have a choice between either the cynical option of noting that Ogoni’s strong sense of place means that they will tolerate limited CD, or the noble option of noting that Ogoni’s strong sense of place is a solid foundation on which to build sustainable CD by empowering citizens to create their own future. Originality/value The originality of this study is twofold. First, it shows the complexity of people’s sense of community encompassing widely different and possibly contradictory elements. Second, it reveals the strength and persistence of people’s attachment to place despite its physical shortcomings.

This study was conducted to explore the governance processes and socio-economic factors relevant to the potential implementation of bycatch mitigation for various vulnerable marine megafauna (rays, sharks, marine mammals and turtles) in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Questionnaire-based interviews were conducted between February and April 2017 with fishers (n= 240) at eight landing sites. One focus group discussion was held in each site and eleven key informant interviews were carried out. The study showed that current measures to manage bycatch rates are not explicit; no rules govern rays and sharks bycatch; and rules regarding marine mammal and sea turtle bycatch are poorly enforced. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the effect of five selected socio-economic factors (education, age, proportional fishing income, fishing experience, and the number of adults who bring income into the household) on the willingness of fishers to participate in potential future bycatch mitigation measures for marine megafauna. The results indicate that only one factor (the number of adults who bring income into the household) had any significant effect (p=0.016). These findings could benefit the future governance and management of marine megafauna in Zanzibar through a better understanding of what mitigation measures are more likely to be supported.

In a world of 9 billion people and a widening income gap between the rich and poor, it is time to rethink how aquaculture can strengthen its contribution to the second UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger in our generation. The disparity in the level of sustainable aquaculture development at present, between and within countries, especially regarding human access to farmed aquatic food remains highly variable across the globe. This paper offers a fresh look at the opportunities from using systems thinking and new open innovation measuring tools to grow sustainable aquaculture. Political will in many nations is the main constraint to aquaculture in realising its potential as an: accessible source of micronutrients and nutritious protein; aid to meeting conservation goals; economic prosperity generator where benefits extend to locals and provider of indirect social benefits such as access to education and well-being, among others. Resources to enable strong partnerships (SDG 17) between academia, civic society, government and industry should be prioritised by governments to build a sustainable aquatic food system, accessible to all, forever.

If piracy attacks are unreported, a misleading impression is given of piracy situations in regions where there could be serious consequences for ships traveling in waterways on the assumption that they are piracy-free waters. However, sometimes not reporting piracy attacks could help to contain piracy before it expands, because reporting can lead to the media over-focusing on piratical incidents, and armed guards being deployed on ships, which causes pirates to use heavier arms and escalates the level of conflict. Piracy that took place during 2003–2012 in the north and the center of the Arabian Gulf has never been reported to the International Maritime Bureau. The present article examines this case of unreporting, and discusses its causes and consequences.

The small-fisheries social-ecological system in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) represents a typical social-ecological trap setting where very poor natural resources dependent coastal communities face local and global threats and engage in unsustainable practices of exploiting limited resources. Community-based aquaculture (CBA) has been implemented as an important alternative or supplementary income generating activity for minimizing the overdependence on marine natural resources and promoting biodiversity conservation. Despite its proliferation throughout the WIO region in recent decades, little is known about the degree to which CBA activities have contributed to achieving the objectives of breaking the cycle of poverty and environmental degradation and promoting community development and biodiversity conservation. In order to improve understanding of common challenges and to generate recommendations for best practice, we assessed the most common CBA activities practiced in the region through literature review and workshop discussion involving practitioners and key stakeholders. Findings indicated that despite favorable environmental conditions for various CBA practices, the sector remains underdeveloped, with few activities delivering the intended benefits for coastal livelihoods or conservation. Constraints included a shortage of seed and feed supplies, low investment, limited technical capacity and skills, insufficient political support, and lack of a clear strategy for aquaculture development. These are compounded by a lack of engagement of local stakeholders, with decision making often dominated by donors, development agencies, and private sector partners. Many of the region's CBA projects are designed along unrealistically short time frames, driven by donors rather than entrepreneurs, and so are unable to achieve financial sustainability, which limits the opportunity for capacity building and longer-term development. There is little or no monitoring on ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Except for a few isolated cases, links between CBA and marine conservation outcomes have rarely been demonstrated. Realizing the potential of CBA in contributing toward food security in the WIO will necessitate concerted investment and capacity strengthening to overcome these systemic challenges in the sector. Lessons herein offer managers, scientists, and policy advisors guidance on addressing the challenges faced in building strategic development initiatives around aquaculture in developing countries.

Effective and affordable treatment of waste solids is a key sustainability challenge for the aquaculture industry. Here, we investigated the potential for a deposit-feeding sea cucumber, Holothuria scabra, to provide a remediation service whilst concurrently yielding a high-value secondary product in a land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The effect of sediment depth, particle size and redox regime were examined in relation to changes in the behaviour, growth and biochemical composition of juvenile sea cucumbers cultured for 81 d in manipulated sediment systems, describing either fully oxic or stratified (oxic-anoxic) redox regimes. The redox regime was the principal factor affecting growth, biochemical composition and behaviour, while substrate depth and particle size did not significantly affect growth rate or biomass production. Animals cultured under fully oxic conditions exhibited negative growth and had higher lipid and carbohydrate contents, potentially due to compensatory feeding in response to higher microphytobenthic production. In contrast, animals in the stratified treatments spent more time feeding, generated faster growth and produced significantly higher biomass yields (626.89 ± 35.44 g m-2 versus 449.22 ± 14.24 g m-2; mean ± SE). Further, unlike in oxic treatments, growth in the stratified treatments did not reach maximum biomass carrying capacity, indicating that stratified sediment is more suitable for culturing sea cucumbers. However, the stratified sediments may exhibit reduced bioremediation ability relative to the oxic sediment, signifying a trade-off between remediation efficiency and exploitable biomass yield.

The situation of small-scale coastal fisheries in Sierra Leone is dire, with diminishing fish stocks and fish sizes due to massive industrial fishing and widespread use of banned nets by artisanal fishers. Repeated attempts have been made by fisheries management to improve the situation, but with little or no success. Superficially, it might seem that the two main causes of the problem - foreign industrial fishing and damaging artisanal nets – could be readily dealt with, but closer analysis reveals that tackling these causes is immensely complicated. This is because their roots lie deep in Sierra Leone's history, culture and politics, and any attempt to deal with them could lead to unintended consequences which might make the situation worse not better. Does this mean there is a ‘wicked problem’ here – i.e. a problem so intractable that it has no practicable solution? This is the issue which the present study addresses. The research is based on extensive fieldwork carried out in two large fishing coastal fishing communities in Sierra Leone (Tombo and Goderich) during April and May 2017 when 200 open-ended questionnaires (SQs) were administered and 51 key informant interviews (KIs) were conducted. The study concludes that the situation faced by small-scale fisheries in these communities meets several, but by no means all, of the criteria of a wicked problem, and that while a definitive solution to the problem is unfeasible, stakeholders could adopt strategies to alleviate its more harmful consequences.

The use of foreign fisheries consultants in developing countries is increasing, despite growing controversy about their value. On the one hand, they bring expertise and analytic skills, which can turn around ailing fisheries, but on the other hand, their prescriptions may be inappropriate, based on ignorance or misunderstanding of local circumstances. This study, based on results from 51 key informant interviews and 199 survey questionnaires, finds the contributions of foreign fisheries consultants in Sierra Leone of limited benefit.

Kuwait is a country with an emerging economy that could benefit hugely from investment in its marine fisheries production. However, the country is constrained by several problems which affect the health of its coastal fish stocks. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is the most serious of these problems because it reduces fish stock levels. In this study, we analyze IUU fishing in Kuwaiti waters, and assess its impact on fish stock levels and consequent damage to the marine economy and environment, as well as its implications for the security system and the integrity of governance in the country. The research methods used in this study include key informant interviews, information obtained from some illegal fishers themselves, documentary data collected from Kuwaiti public authorities, and peer-reviewed literature. . The main finding of the study is that IUU fishing in Kuwaiti waters not only threatens the health of the country's marine fish biomass but raises questions about Kuwait's immigration policy, the effectiveness of its border controls, and the way its decision-making processes are manipulated by groups who influence decision-making and large private companies which break fishing.

Small-scale fishing livelihoods dependent on Caribbean coral reefs face an uncertain future with global climate change and mounting anthropogenic pressures threatening ecosystem integrity and resilience. In the context of future threats to coral reefs, improved governance is critical to enhance the efficacy of coral reef management. Recent research places increasing emphasis on identifying governance arrangements that enable participation and engagement, with the improved ‘social fit’ of institutions expected to engender stewardship among fishers. However, few studies have examined the perspectives of resource users in relation to a wide range of articulated principles for good governance processes. This study contributes to an improved understanding of how fisher perceptions relate to diverse governance arrangements in the Wider Caribbean Region. We quantify perceptions among 498 reef-dependent fishers in relation to principles of ‘good governance’ in 12 communities across four Caribbean countries: Barbados, Belize, Honduras, and St. Kitts and Nevis. We describe perceptions relating to two underlying governance themes – institutional acceptance (reflecting principles of legitimacy, transparency, fairness, and connectivity) and engagement in reef governance (reflecting principles of accountability and inclusiveness). In addition, we identify socio-demographic factors associated with each set of perceptions and explore the implications for future governance of small-scale Caribbean reef fisheries. The findings suggest that an understanding of heterogeneous perceptions within small-scale fisheries can inform more targeted interventions to improve the fit of governance arrangements for different groups. Governance may be more effective if perceptions are used to identify areas in which to pursue greater engagement of resource users in stewardship.

In developing regions, coastal communities are particularly dependent on small-scale fisheries for food security and income. However, information on the scale and impacts of small-scale fisheries on coastal marine ecosystems are frequently lacking. Large marine vertebrates (marine mammals, sea turtles and chondrichthyans) are often among the first species to experience declines due to fisheries. This paper reviews the interactions between small-scale fisheries and vulnerable marine megafauna in the southwestern Indian Ocean. We highlight an urgent need for proper documentation, monitoring and assessment at the regional level of small-scale fisheries and the megafauna affected by them to inform evidence-based fisheries management. Catch and landings data are generally of poor quality and resolution with compositional data, where available, mostly anecdotal or heavily biased towards easily identifiable species. There is also limited understanding of fisheries effort, most of which relies on metrics unsuitable for proper assessment. Management strategies (where they exist) are often created without strong evidence bases or understanding of the reliance of fishers on resources. Consequently, it is not possible to effectively assess the current status and ensure the sustainability of these species groups; with indications of overexploitation in several areas. To address these issues, a regionally collaborative approach between government and non-governmental organisations, independent researchers and institutions, and small-scale fisheries stakeholders is required. In combination with good governance practices, appropriate and effective, evidence-based management can be formulated to sustain these resources, the marine ecosystems they are intrinsically linked to and the livelihoods of coastal communities that are tied to them.

This article explores the perceptions of Ogoni people about the existence and causes of structural violence in their communities. It relies heavily on qualitative data collected from five oil-rich and three oil-poor Ogoni communities, between February and May 2014, during which 200 open-ended survey questionnaires were administered and 189 were returned. Three focus group discussions and 69 key informant interviews were also conducted. The findings of the article are that structural violence can be found in Ogoniland; it is manifested in both visible and invisible forms; it is blamed by elites on exogenous factors, but by the disadvantaged on both exogenous and endogenous factors; and it will only be eliminated by reducing inequality and increasing democratisation.

This study examines the current state of the art in the emerging and strategically important marine biotechnology sector in Oman, which has a long coastline, rich marine heritage and strong fishing industry. In a knowledge-based economy, the ability to innovate is a key factor for increasing organisational competitiveness and this may be achieved using open innovation. This is the use by firms of external knowledge, ideas and technology to innovate. In this study, the extent of open innovation in Omani marine bioindustry companies has been studied by examining data from the top sixteen companies ranked by number of employees. The results indicate that the extent of openness in these companies is higher towards market side activities. In addition, the use of open innovation to increase collaboration between companies, Universities and government research institutes needs to be significantly strengthened.

Marine management has typically prioritised natural science methodological traditions as an evidence base for decision-making; yet better integration of social science methods are increasingly shown to provide a more comprehensive picture to base management decisions. Specifically, perceptions-based assessments are gaining support, as they can provide efficient and holistic evaluation regarding management issues. This study focuses on coral reefs because they are particularly threatened ecosystems, due to their ecological complexity, socio-economic importance, and the range of environmental drivers that impact them. Research has largely concentrated on assessing proximate threats to coral reefs. Less attention has been given to distal drivers, such as socio-economic and governance factors. A common understanding of threats related to coral reef degradation is critical for integrated management that takes account of peoples’ concerns. This study compares perceptions of drivers of reef health among stakeholders (n = 110) across different sectors and governance levels, in four Caribbean countries. Interview data identified 37 proximate and 136 distal drivers, categorised into 27 themes. Five sub-groups of themes connecting proximate and distal drivers were identified. Perceptions of two of these narratives, relating to ‘fishing and socioeconomic issues’ and ‘reef management and coastal development’, differed among respondents from different countries and sectors respectively. However, the findings highlight a shared perception of many themes, with 18 of the 27 (67%) mentioned by > 25% of respondents. This paper highlights the application of perceptions data for marine management, demonstrating how knowledge of proximate and distal drivers can be applied to identify important issues at different context-specific scales.

International audience; * To meet the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Target 11 on marine biodiversity protection and Aichi Target 6 on sustainable fisheries by 2020, as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on food security and SDG 14 on oceans by 2030, there is an urgent need to rethink how best to reconcile nature conservation and sustainable development. * This paper argues for effective governance to support processes that apply principles of sustainable development and an ecosystem approach to decide about economic activities at sea such as aquaculture. It describes opportunities, benefits and synergies between aquaculture and MPAs as a basis for wider debate. The scope is not a comprehensive analysis of aquaculture and MPAs, but rather to present examples of positive interactions between aquaculture activities and MPAs. The unintended negative consequences are also discussed to present balanced arguments. * This work draws from four workshops held in 2015 and 2016 and used to collect information from about 100 experts representing various sectors and perspectives. * It is recognized that aquaculture is an important activity in terms of sustainable development. It can play a role in providing food security, poverty alleviation and economic resilience, in particular for MPA local communities, and contribute to wild stock enhancement, as an alternative to overfishing and for providing services to the ecosystem. * This study showed that there is a need from both aquaculture and MPA sides for clarity of objectives and willingness for open and extensive dialogue. The paper concludes by describing a number of tools and methods for supporting greater synergies between aquaculture and MPAs. * The results from this work have already helped to build a common understanding between conservation and aquaculture and initiate a rapprochement for increasing synergies.

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are proliferating but are challenged by insufficient attention to spatial and temporal inter-dependencies, interactions between different ecosystems and their services, and the need for multi-level governance. To address these challenges, this paper develops a place-based approach to the development and implementation of PES schemes that incorporates multi-level governance, bundling or layering of services across multiple scales, and shared values for ecosystem services. The approach is evaluated and illustrated using case study research to develop an explicitly place-based PES scheme, the Peatland Code, owned and managed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s UK Peatland Programme and designed to pay for restoration of peatland habitats. Buyers preferred bundled schemes with premium pricing of a primary service, contrasting with sellers’ preferences for quantifying and marketing services separately in a layered scheme. There was limited awareness among key business sectors of dependencies on ecosystem services, or the risks and opportunities arising from their management. Companies with financial links to peatlands or a strong environmental sustainability focus were interested in the scheme, particularly in relation to climate regulation, water quality, biodiversity and flood risk mitigation benefits. Visitors were most interested in donating to projects that benefited wildlife and were willing to donate around £2 on-site during a visit. Sellers agreed a deliberated fair price per tonne of CO2 equivalent from £11.18 to £15.65 across four sites in Scotland, with this range primarily driven by spatial variation in habitat degradation. In the Peak District, perceived declines in sheep and grouse productivity arising from ditch blocking led to substantially higher prices, but in other regions ditch blocking was viewed more positively. The Peatland Code was developed in close collaboration with stakeholders at catchment, landscape and national scales, enabling multi-level governance of the management and delivery of ecosystem services across these scales. Place-based PES schemes can mitigate negative trade-offs between ecosystem services, more effectively include cultural ecosystem services and engage with and empower diverse stakeholders in scheme design and governance.

Globally, fisheries are challenged by the combined impacts of overfishing, degradation of ecosystems and impacts of climate change, while fisheries livelihoods are further pressured by conservation policy imperatives. Fishers' adaptive responses to these pressures, such as exiting from a fishery to pursue alternative livelihoods, determine their own vulnerability, as well as the potential for reducing fishing effort and sustaining fisheries. The willingness and ability to make particular adaptations in response to change, such as exiting from a declining fishery, is influenced by economic, cultural and institutional factors operating at scales from individual fishers to national economies. Previous studies of exit from fisheries at single or few sites, offer limited insight into the relative importance of individual and larger-scale social and economic factors. We asked 599 fishers how they would respond to hypothetical scenarios of catch declines in 28 sites in five western Indian Ocean countries. We investigated how socioeconomic variables at the individual-, household- and site-scale affected whether they would exit fisheries. Site-level factors had the greatest influence on readiness to exit, but these relationships were contrary to common predictions. Specifically, higher levels of infrastructure development and economic vitality - expected to promote exit from fisheries - were associated with less readiness to exit. This may be due to site level histories of exit from fisheries, greater specialisation of fishing households, or higher rewards from fishing in more economically developed sites due to technology, market access, catch value and government subsidies. At the individual and household scale, fishers from households with more livelihood activities, and fishers with lower catch value were more willing to exit. These results demonstrate empirically how adaptive responses to change are influenced by factors at multiple scales, and highlight the importance of understanding natural resource-based livelihoods in the context of the wider economy and society.

The notion of the sea as a seemingly endless source of resources has long dominated marine governance. This is despite that different perceptions and valuation systems underlie the institutional structures that govern and manage marine systems. Socio-political considerations cover the whole range of stakeholders and their type of involvement in the establishment and operation of multi-use offshore systems. However, within the vast variety of regulations inside the EU, the EU Member States as well as in North America, their implementation for offshore multi-use settings is as yet incipient and examples of best practice in multi-use scenarios are needed. These need to combine different knowledge systems (e.g. authorities, decision-makers, local communities, science, etc.) to generate effective insights into the management of multiple uses of ocean space and to complement risk‐justified decision-making. Pre-existing social networks can provide significant political leverage for governance transformations as required for the move offshore. That said, a range of organizational and social challenges related to the collective use of a defined ocean territory have to be taken into account. For instance, the creation and compliance with defined responsibilities and duties or the introduction of cross-sectoral management lines, such as an offshore co-management, that integrates the different demands and practices of the involved parties within an operational scheme that is practical on a day to day manner are in case in point. Indeed, how people perceive and value marine environments and the resources they provide determines individual and collective preferences, actions and strategies in the marine realm. Thus, for the effective implementation of sustainable marine resource management, the public has to be included in the knowledge production in order to understand processes that take place in our economies, environment and societies which in turn will affect the outcomes of management actions. In the following chapter, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) approaches, linkages between site-selection criteria’s, GIS and modelling towards the multi-use of offshore areas to marine governance are discussed in more detail.