Growth potential and productivity of the green macroalgae Ulva reticulata in a sustainable farming system in a coastal lagoon at Bambous Virieux, Mauritius

Bivalves boost biodiversity

The era of blue growth, underpinned by neoliberal policy discourses, has been pervasive in the promulgation of European marine governance and policies in the past decade, with little or no regard for the sustainability of small-scale fisheries. In this paper, we engage with theoretical and empirical observations to reflect on how the promise of sustainable economic growth arising from the convergence of international conservation policies and the blue growth paradigm, has failed to materialise and caused huge social and economic inequities among local fishing communities and the catastrophic disruption of the socio-ecological system of fisheries. Drawing on various interventions in Malta, we illustrate how neoliberal policies, lauded and promoted as part of a national blue growth strategy, are suffocating and marginalising small-scale fishing communities by concentrating fishing opportunities into fewer, larger corporate hands, and by a hegemonic anti-small scale fishing narrative that seeks to replace traditional fishing with the ‘darlings of the new blue economy’, aquaculture and coastal tourism. With artisanal-commercial fishing in Malta on the verge of extinction, we call for reversal of neo-liberal policy measures to re-create a more resilient and stable fisheries economy through specific blue degrowth measures including improved access to fisheries resources and markets, and the establishment of marine protected areas that recognize the value of small-scale fisheries to conservation. This could be achieved through equity-based governance systems, including improved profit distribution systems within community economies, that grant small-scale fisheries the possibility of re-institutionalizing their sector and promoting their existence and viability into the future. Ultimately, we demonstrate that through a blue economy roadmap for small-scale fisheries, small-islands states like Malta, can rescue an important component of their maritime traditions, and be better placed to reach the obligations set out within the United Nations sustainable development goals.

BackgroundThe Blue Economy is a recent field of study that encompasses economic activities that depend on the sea, often associated with other economic sectors, including tourism, maritime transport, energy and fishing. Blue growth supports the sustainable growth of the maritime and marine sectors as the oceans and seas are engines of the global economy and have great potential for growth and innovation. This article undertakes a bibliometric analysis in the terms of Blue Economy (BE), Maritime Economy (MAE), Ocean Economy (OE), Marine Economy (ME), and Blue Growth (BG) to analyze the scientific production of this field of study. Analysis of the authors’ definitions of BE, BG, ME and OE provides interesting relationships divided into sustainability and governance; economics and ecosystem protection; industrial development and localization; and the growth of the ocean economy, with development as the central axis that encompasses them. The main contribution is to find out if there is a link between the BE and the CE through the keyword study.ResultsThe results show a significant increase in articles and citations over the last decade. The articles address the importance of different sectors of BE and the interest of governments in promoting it for the development of their national economies. Using bibliometric mapping tools (VOSviewer), it is possible to find possible links between concepts such as CE and BE through the BG and to visualize trending topics for future research. Nascent and future research trends include terms such as small-scale fisheries, aquatic species, biofuel, growth of the coastal BE, internationalization and blue degrowth (BD), the latter approaches aspects of BG from a critical perspective.ConclusionsIn conclusion, it highlights the need for alliances between the sectors that compose BG with the incorporation of the CE in order to achieve a sustainable BE in both developed and developing countries. Through the keyword analysis it is shown that the BG strategy is the bridge between the BE and the CE. The CE presents itself as a promising alternative that could mitigate tensions between stakeholders who support both growth and degrowth positions.

In recent years, Blue Economy has been an expanding concept in the EU, both as a tool for development as well as an economy transforming concept while its strategic orientation is reflected in EU’s Blue Growth strategy. On parallel Europe’s 2020 Strategy goals and their translation into targets for the member states, serves as a common ground for -among others- the implementation of Blue Growth goals and the enforcement of the activities of Social Economy Enterprises. Starting from this fact, a survey has been conducted to address: (a) the contribution of the Blue Growth goals to the activities of the Greek private and public economic sectors, as well as of the Social Economic one; (b) the current state of the art interaction between Blue Economy and Social Economy in Greece, and; (c) the current and future trends regarding the contribution of Social Cooperative Enterprises (SCE) as a tool for enhancing Blue Growth impact. Key findings include the level of engagement of SCEs with Blue Growth sectors, their potential of future involvement and the reasons for the current skepticism towards the Blue Growth potential. The above mentioned are complemented with a discussion on the viability and compatibility of a Blue Growth Social Concept adapted in the special environment of a heavily maritime related economy such as Greece.

The so-called blue growth is gaining importance in European policy making since it is expanding its relevance beyond traditional economic sectors to new and rapidly developing ones that present significant potential of innovation. This paper seeks to identify the most important factors that can be driving forces of blue growth, taking the example of Greece that being currently in a post-memorandum era, is obliged, in order to meet its engagements, to accelerate with economic growth in general, by untapping also local and regional blue growth potentials and by using MSP to facilitate the growth of its maritime economy. With the aim to put forward concrete policy proposals to boost and make operational blue growth in Greece in a multi-actor perspective, a field survey was designed and conducted with participating representatives of 24 “development companies” operating at local and regional level, all over the country. The method used was the one of environmental scanning (SWOT analysis, etc.). The survey highlighted the strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities, the risks and the many challenges that outline prospects and practical aspects of blue growth in the Greek regional space. The results and key findings of the primary research are discussed, highlighting the most important areas of strategy for promoting blue growth at a local level by the development companies including balancing he protection of the marine environment (ecosystem-based management) and economic growth, safeguarding maritime jobs, promoting entrepreneurial discovery through the Regional Strategy for Smart Specialisation, enforcement of maritime law, promoting biotechnology research and the creation of maritime clusters. Finally, policy proposals are presented to support blue entrepreneurship, which may be one of the cutting edges of the country’s new development model.

Our reliance upon the oceans and their resources for food, transport, culture and recreation remains as important today as in the past. This is clearly illustrated by the emergence of multiple agendas focused on blue growth and wealth from the oceans. These initiatives seek to balance economic activities with broader concerns across the range of ocean activities including fishing, other resource extraction, tourism, energy and shipping. Achieving long-term blue economy goals requires healthy oceans and depends upon sustainable activities. In particular, attention must be paid to environmental concerns and particularly the emerging and future impacts of climate change. This chapter seeks to highlight opportunities and challenges by focusing upon the intersection of climate change and fisheries management in the Indian Ocean region and specifically the small island states. The activities of key regional organizations are analysed, as well as international treaty regimes and inter-governmental organizations operating in the regional setting. The chapter analyses how these organizations and regimes are engaging with critical climate change and fisheries issues for the small island states and what further action is needed to support blue growth agenda.

The ‘blue economy’ embraces more than five million jobs and the gross added value in the second decade of this century is surpassing EUR half a trillion a year. Now when this growth even accelerates in many more sub-sectors the process goes driven in two ways. On one side, a wave of smart specialization strategies at regional and urban level is under way, in many cases incorporating the restorative economy elements. On the other side, changes just happened even without the respective strategies in the blue economy structure and challenge the established sectors. The purpose of this chapter of the book is to identify the main challenges of the smart specialization strategies at urban and regional level incorporating the blue growth elements that are met towards the restorative economy frames. The methods used are a literature and key policy documents review and some secondary data analysis over performed by the European Commission contractor investigation with reference to a project performed in the sector. As a conclusion the recommendation for sectoral specialization of the coastal areas and its cities’ economy in accordance with the innovative potential for blue growth was outlined, with the understanding it might be fragile due to the unsustainable economic activities in the seas.

Investigations of some intertidal green macroalgae to hyposaline stress: Detrimental role of putrescine under extreme hyposaline conditions

Blue Growth has become one of the key topics of ocean management. It is defined as a holistic framework for an environmentally friendly and socio-economically sustainable development of ocean-related activities with a special emphasis on technological innovation. Capture fisheries are widely considered to have no substantial growth potential and consequently are not subject to the European Union’s Blue Growth strategy. In our review, we, however, argue that capture fisheries should play an essential role in national Blue Growth strategies. We identified two interconnected management strategies to foster Blue Growth in fisheries, a) the implementation of Community Development Quota (CDQ) systems and b) the support of small-scale fisheries (SSF). They hold the potential to benefit fishery-dependent coastal communities and therefore counteract consolidations in the fishing sector. Additionally, they provide the possibility to improve quota access for small-scale fishermen. Besides having better access to quota, the future of SSF depends on sources of public funding for technical improvement and innovation as well as increased representation in the management. In this perspective, we present different cases that successfully implemented CDQs (the Alaska pollock fishery) or have considerable potential to implement CDQ programs or improve their current approaches (United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland). We further discuss examples for successful management strategies to support SSF directly. If these aspects are considered in a Blue Growth strategy, the survival of fishery-dependent communities could be assured, and SSF could develop from predominantly part-time or subsistence fisheries to a full-time occupation. By those means, they would be part of a fostering Blue Economy and strengthen environmentally friendly and socio-economically sustainable fishing practices in Europe.

Global connectivity and cross-scale interactions create uncertainty for Blue Growth of Arctic fisheries

Oceans possess 97% of the water found on earth. Life evolved in oceans, and they shaped the environmental conditions we thrive and depend on. In addition, oceans support the global population with food and livelihoods. Overexploitation of goods and destruction of natural systems are now threatening the sustainability of economic growth and the health of the marine ecosystems, which requires holistic management strategies, especially under the global problem of climate change. Among various geographies, islands are more prone to climate change, natural disasters and human perturbations. Therefore, Small Island Developing States suggested a holistic approach to managing economic growth and its substantial harm to natural resources and emphasised the economic and social importance of oceans and inland waters in the Rio + 20 conference. The new concept, namely “blue growth”, provides a framework for sustainable developmental goals for those economies based on marine and coastal activities. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is a unique example where blue growth practices might benefit economic sectors while conserving its pristine nature. This study examined the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of politically unrecognised countries to discover their blue growth potentials. We suggest that the integrated management of current economic sectors and finding potential ones can benefit the TRNC to self-sustain without compromising the health of the island ecosystem.KeywordsBlue growthBlue economyIsland ecosystemsSustainable developmentConservation

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 386:207-219 (2009) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08068 Genotypic variation does not explain differences in growth of mummichogs Fundulus heteroclitus from simple and complex tidal marsh landscapes R. T. Kneib* The University of Georgia Marine Institute, Sapelo Island, Georgia 31327, USA *Email: rtkneib@uga.edu ABSTRACT: Decimal coded wire tags were used to measure individual growth rates of mummichogs (Pisces: Fundulidae) within tidal marshes on Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA. Mummichogs (n = 17508) were marked and released at 3 sites with different levels of complexity in their tidal channel drainage networks. The proportion of recaptures (average 19%), which varied from 6.4 to 43.3% among sites and release dates, was inversely related to relative complexity of the tidal drainage networks. Gender-specific differences were detected in size metrics and growth rates. Mean (± SD) growth rates (mm d–1 total length, TL) of individuals at large for 28 to 56 d prior to recapture ranged from 0.062 ± 0.044 to 0.274 ± 0.060 for males and 0.071 ± 0.036 to 0.279 ± 0.062 for females, with the least and most rapid growth rates associated with complex and simple tidal drainage networks, respectively. A ‘common garden’ experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that there were genotypic differences in growth potential seemingly associated with landscape structure. Two size classes (40–50 and 55–65 mm TL) of individually marked mummichogs from drainage networks characterized as simple (high growth) and complex (low growth) were raised in the laboratory for 42 d on each of 2 daily rations (10 and 30% wet body mass) of minced fresh-frozen grass shrimp. There was no significant difference in mean (± SD) daily growth rates of mummichogs from the 2 sites (simple: 0.283 ± 0.124 and complex: 0.299 ± 0.131) when reared under the same conditions. Although there was no evidence of a genotypic difference in growth potential between these local populations of mummichogs, a possible association between landscape structure and gene expression reflected in the spatial variation of fish growth within tidal marsh ecosystems remains to be explored. KEY WORDS: Coded wire tags · Estuary · Genome · Fundulus heteroclitus · Killifish · Mummichog · Wetlands Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Kneib RT (2009) Genotypic variation does not explain differences in growth of mummichogs Fundulus heteroclitus from simple and complex tidal marsh landscapes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 386:207-219. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08068 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 386. Online publication date: July 02, 2009 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2009 Inter-Research.

Seaweed extracts have emerged as effective natural bio-stimulants in sustainable agriculture due to their eco-friendly nature and rich composition of bioactive compounds. With the increasing demand for food production and the adverse environmental impacts associated with excessive chemical fertilizer use, seaweed-based formulations offer a viable alternative. According to Hong, Hien and Son (2007), seaweeds serve as an important source of bioactive compounds that enhance plant growth while minimizing ecological damage. Seaweed extracts, particularly derived from brown, red, and green macroalgae, contain essential nutrients, vitamins, polysaccharides, and natural plant growth regulators such as auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, and abscisic acid (Khan et al., 2009; Mukherjee and Patel, 2020). Research by Blunden and Wildgoose (1977) demonstrated that seaweed extracts significantly enhance root and shoot growth and increase chlorophyll content, while Crouch and van Staden (1993) reported improvements in flowering, fruit set, and overall crop yield. Enhanced nutrient uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium following seaweed application has been documented by Khan et al., (2009). Furthermore, seaweed extracts play a crucial role in improving plant tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and temperature extremes. Zhang and Ervin (2004) showed that cytokinin-rich seaweed extracts alleviate drought-induced stress by maintaining osmotic balance and reducing oxidative damage, while Craigie (2011) reported reduced salinity stress through improved physiological regulation. Seaweed extracts also contribute to soil health by stimulating microbial population and metabolic activity, as observed by Alam et al., (2013), leading to better root development and nutrient absorption. Yield enhancement in treated crops is strongly associated with hormonal activity, particularly cytokinins, as reported by Abetz and Young (1983) and Van et al., (1984). Overall, seaweed extracts function as multifunctional bio-stimulants that enhance plant growth, yield, stress tolerance, and soil fertility, making them an integral component of organic and sustainable agricultural systems.

More than 70 percent of the earthAƒÂ¢A¯Â?½A¯Â?½s surface is covered by oceans and seas, much of which is either underexplored or unexplored for the time being. Our seas and oceans offer a vast renewable energy resource and production possibilities with great potential for innovation and growth contributing to the welfare of the human beings. The European Union (EU) supports the implementation of Blue Growth Strategy1 and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD; Directive 2008/56/EU, European Commission 2008), which aim to boost growth in marine-related socio-economic activities ensuring the good environmental status of marine waters and applies the Directive for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP; Directive 2014/89/EU, European Commission 2014),2 which requires its member states to develop plans to better coordinate the various marine activities, with regard to environmental efficiency and sustainable development. The Multi-Use Offshore Platforms (MUOPs) are proposed as the means to accomplish efficient use of marine space and they are supported from the EU through marine initiatives and directives. In this chapter we present a tool for assessing the implementation feasibility of MUOPs.

“Blue Growth” is the European Union’s (EU’s) long-term strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole. Seas and oceans are drivers for the European economy and have great potential for innovation and growth. It is the maritime contribution to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.