A synthesis of approaches to support integrated assessments of hazards for the emerging Blue Economy

Abstract

Growth in offshore blue economies is predicted to accelerate as emerging food and energy production industries look to expand into these environments. Operating in novel environments for these industries inherently fosters uncertainty in outcomes generated by a complex suite of hazards, some of which are unknown prior to deployment. Faced with such uncertainty, a precautionary, flexible, and cross-disciplinary (integrated) approach is recommended to optimize the potential for hazards to be identified in a timely, comprehensive, and robust manner, and mitigated. However, relevant disciplines – such as aquaculture production, marine engineering, and marine renewable energy design, and associated interactions with society and the environment – often evolve with their siloed techniques and lexicons. Here we first provide an overview of selected discipline-specific approaches to hazard analysis as a first step in a pathway that can generate a holistic synthesis of hazards to and from multiple emerging sectors in novel environments. Despite challenges of applying these individual methods to cross-disciplinary projects for emerging industries, we then identify where disciplines share methodological approaches and where opportunities exist to develop integrated methods. With a growing focus on sustainable economic growth and optimizing the use of ocean space through multi-use, our review highlighted that the emerging offshore Blue Economy could benefit from the development of a flexible, integrated approach to identify and assess hazards in a comprehensive, robust and useful manner for successful planning, development, and operations.