The sea has (no) borders: ocean zoning in coastal Tonga

With the new Biodiversity Strategy, EUs level of ambition for marine conservation increases significantly, with the goal of 30% of coastal and marine waters protected by 2030, and, importantly, one third of these areas being strictly protected. From a conservation perspective, rare, sensitive and/or charismatic species or habitats are often in focus when designating MPAs, and displacement of fisheries is then considered an unwanted side effect. However, if the establishment of strictly protected areas also aims to rebuild fish stocks, these MPAs should be placed in heavily fished areas and designed to protect depleted populations by accounting for their home ranges to generate positive outcomes. Thus, extensive displacement of fisheries is required to reach benefits for depleted populations, and need to be accounted for e.g. by specific regulations outside the strictly protected areas. These new extensive EU goals for MPA establishment pose a challenge for management, but at the same time offer an opportunity to bridge the current gap between conservation and fisheries management.

Marine spatial management is emerging as a key tool for managing and conserving marine ecosystems. The development and implementation of ocean zoning, especially Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks, is expanding rapidly around the world. At a global scale, ocean zoning and MPAs are being pursued in many processes through a variety of governmental, inter-governmental (e.g. UN agencies, regional bodies), with significant input from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Ocean industries, e.g. oil and gas, shipping, fisheries, aquaculture, etc. are the principle user group affected by ocean zoning. Important new ocean uses are under development as well, e.g. offshore wind, ocean energy, carbon sequestration. The creation of ocean zones, such as MPA networks, will have major effects on industry access to marine space and resources, with significant implications for exploration, development, production and transport. It is essential that the industry constructively engage with marine spatial management efforts and stakeholders to ensure that the process is well informed and balanced. This will increase the potential for industry to respect the management regulations of ocean areas often far removed from the reach of governments. Unfortunately, industry is often not present at key ocean zoning developments, especially at the international level, and is not engaged in a constructive, coordinated manner that brings together the range of industries operating in the marine environment. Barriers to industry involvement in marine spatial management include: 1) Lack of understanding of the movement and momentum behind ocean zoning efforts; 2) Limited engagement in the multi-stakeholder processes where zoning is moving most rapidly, e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity, because industry is engaged in sectoral processes; 3) Lack of means for engaging the broader ocean business community on marine management and sustainability issues, particularly at a global level. This paper will outline the need, opportunity and progress in creating proactive, constructive industry leadership and collaboration on ocean zoning, including: 1) Developing an understanding of marine spatial management issues, stakeholders and process; 2) Actively engaging in key international multi-stakeholder processes that are pursuing MPAs and other zoning efforts; 3) Building constructive relationships among ocean industries and other ocean zoning stakeholders; 4) Creating practical experience by constructively engaging in ocean zoning developments in a specific regions.

Livelihood system protection and rural coastal community empowerment are necessary due to numerous issues regarding sustainable welfare that require programs and policies that could enhance livelihood system quality and economic power. This study elaborates on how the efforts of livelihood system protection and coastal community empowerment in Indonesia are implemented at the local level (region). The discussion will indicate how protection and empowerment can be done and their dynamics. How is the evidence of these efforts and how coastal communities can achieve sustainable welfare, especially in Banten Province. The study employs a qualitative descriptive method. Data are analyzed from policy documents, statistical data, and other secondary data. The research results suggest that the livelihood system protection intended provides support and assistance to address issues related to the livelihood system of the coastal village communities. Overcoming the existing issues requires capacity building and community skills to better economic activities. Capacity building is conducted by implementing empowerment and parties that perform the protection and empowerment must be the state, regional government, and related stakeholders. This, however, also requires the participatory will of the communities. The provision of facilities and infrastructures needed for coastal economic activities must be the priority and is followed by how to provide sustainability for all livelihood systems in the coastal villages. The livelihood system will have sustainability if the coastal village communities possess the capacities to develop the economy innovatively, creatively, and profitably based on the conditions of the natural resources, coastal potential, spatial plans, the defined coastal zone, regional technical skills, culture, institutions, and coastal economic conditions

Coastal villages have different characteristics from villages in rural areas. This difference is not only on the geographical-ecological aspect, but also on economic and socio-cultural characteristics. Geographically, coastal villages are on the border between land and sea. Geographical-ecological conditions of coastal villages affect economic activities in them. Economic activities in coastal villages are characterized by activities in the utilization of coastal environmental resources and services. Economic activities include fisheries, trade, maritime tourism, and transportation This study seeks to study the application of tough coastal development programs as an effort to build an oriented coastal region to facilitate the economic activities of villages in coastal areas that are expected to reduce the poverty rate of coastal communities in the middle of the city. This study uses a qualitative research design using descriptive methods that intend to explain how the phenomenon of resilient coastal village development and coastal area development as an effort to reduce the number of coastal communities in Central Java province by using purposive sampling sampling techniques and research samples taken in coastal communities The results of the north coast of Java and cilacap districts were as follows: that the implementation of the strong Coastal Village Development Program in the coastal communities of Central Java showed that the three focuses of development activities had been carried out properly. The development activities are resource development, environmental / infrastructure development, and disaster preparedness development. While activities that are not carried out are human development and business development. The recommendations given in this study are that the implementation of the program must be supported by sufficient funds, need coordination and cooperation with other stakeholders, and the need for effective monitoring and evaluation
 Keywords: program implementation, coastal village, coastal area development, Poverty, Central Java

Isolated reefs suffered from overfishing to a lesser extent than coastal reefs systems. Nevertheless, the exploitation of coastal areas forced fishers to move offshore to compensate for their decreasing catches, helped by an overall increase in their technological capabilities. Thus, these once pristine isolated areas are under increasing threat and should be considered a protection priority. Here, we compared the fish and epibenthic community of two isolated coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico: one is the Alacranes reefs a Marine Protected Area (MPA) with two No-Take Zones (NTZs) and the other is Bajos del Norte an Open Area (OA). Alacranes reef is ∼135 km off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula while Bajos del Norte ∼160 km. Our results show that despite being isolated, the OA reefs never reach the same biomass levels of MPA or NTZ reefs which in some cases exceeded 1 ton/ha. Furthermore, 70% of the reefs within NTZ and MPA had a large predatory fish (e.g., sharks, jackfish, groupers) biomass relative contribution larger than 25%, while only two reefs in the OA had a relative piscivore contribution of more than 25%. Large predatory fish have a larger contribution to overall biomass within NTZs than MPAs reefs, even at low biomass values, suggesting that NTZ is more effective in protecting large predators. NTZ and MPA reefs also showed from 5 to 10% higher coral cover than OA which had a higher erect algae cover (∼22.9%). Indicating that the disruption of the trophic pyramid caused by the fishing pressure in OA reefs is reflecting on the trophic cascades controlling the benthic communities balance. These isolated areas represent the last pillars of natural diversity and are under such an increasing anthropogenic pressure that just being isolated is not enough anymore to guarantee a safe zone from detrimental activities like overfishing. Immediate establishment of protective NTZ is needed to maintain the role they play as a natural wilderness capital.

Fishers' perceptions as indicators of the performance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

A tale of two islands: Decadal changes in rocky reef fish assemblages following implementation of no-take marine protected areas in New South Wales, Australia

Purpose – The present paper attempts to investigate the awareness of coastal community towards climate change in Malaysia and to explore the factors associated with their awareness toward the climate change. Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative study where a set of questionnaires was developed based on reviews of literature and series of instrument development meeting. Through a multi-stage cluster sampling, a total of 210 respondents from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia were selected. Findings – The coastal community are shown to record a high mean score on their awareness toward changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast. Surprisingly, fishermen are found to be less aware toward climate change compared to other groups, such as housewives/retirees and students. Further analysis confirms that there are significant differences regarding coastal community awareness to changes relating to the sea, temperatures and the coast. Research limitations/implications – This study represented the answers of 210 respondents who were randomly selected from three coastal villages in Peninsular Malaysia, and the results might be enriched if the number of respondents is increased and respondents from other villages are included. A future study should be conducted to gather information on the possible effects, rather than focusing on the respondents’ awareness. Additionally, because of the nature of the topic, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and officers from environment-related agencies should cooperate during the research. Practical implications – It is recommended that information management activities with regard to the climate change should be actively conducted by NGOs, universities and related parties. Originality/value – Most of the related studies are scientific in nature, leading to a gap relating to the social aspects of climate change, particularly in terms of communities’ awareness toward the climate change. Moreover, a number of local studies have produced inconsistencies in term of their results regarding the awareness of the climate change among the community. In response to this, the current study aims to fill this gap.

Modeling the role of marine protected areas on the recovery of shallow rocky reef ecosystem after a catastrophic submarine volcanic eruption

Contribution of a large no-take zone to the management of vulnerable reef fishes in the South-West Indian Ocean

The SDGs for villages serve as the primary foundation for efforts to improve the welfare of coastal village communities, including gender equality, which places women as important actors in development. In Indonesia, North Sulawesi has 760 coastal villages. Hence, development efforts in coastal villages require concrete policies from the government, as well as strategies to enable coastal village communities to utilize their local resources. The The aim of this study is to examine the impact of local resources and the role of women on family economics and coastal village economic development, both directly and indirectly, within the framework of sustainable development. This study used quantitative methods and was analyzed using SEM-PLS 4.0 with 408 samples. The results provide empirical evidence for seven tested hypotheses. Local resources significantly influence family economics (t=5.542, p=0.000) but show no direct effect on village economic development (t=1.711, p=0.087). Women’s roles significantly affect both family economics (t=5.553, p=0.000) and village development (t=12.571, p=0.000). Family economics strongly impact village development (t=12.571, p=0.000). Furthermore, indirect effects confirm that local resources (t=5.267, p=0.000) and women’s roles (t=5.267, p=0.000) contribute to village development through family economics. These findings highlight that the productive utilization of local resources can increase family income and indirectly promote economic development, while women play a critical role in strengthening the family economy and improving living standards. Synergy between the government and the community in building from the bottom up, especially in coastal villages rich in potential, is the key to achieving inclusive and sustainable economic development.

Population growth is very influential on the amount of waste generated. The available land is very limited. The coastal community in Besuki mostly disposes garbage in the sea of any river due to unavailability of landfill. So we need a study on the estimated volume and type of waste generated by households in coastal village in Besuki region, Situbondo. This study used 10 household samples spread over coastal village. The study was conducted for 8 days using survey method with sampling (Proportional Random Sampling). Based on the results of the preparation, obtained the waste generated in the form of organic waste and non-organic waste. The composition of organic waste can be selected into several types of leaves, garbage, household, food scraps, and wood. As for the type of non-organic waste can be sorted into plastic, paper, metal, rubber, styrofoam, and cloth. The total amount volume of waste produced per household in a day in coastal villages is 47,3 liters with the largest composition of waste generated from plastic by 43,36%.

The Mediterranean Sea presents a striking contrast as a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's most popular touristic destinations. The coastlines of Mediterranean countries are heavily developed, densely populated, and significantly impacted by human activities. Protecting these urban coastal regions through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is essential for preserving the ecological value of its marine biodiversity. However, implementing effective MPAs in densely populated urban zones poses considerable challenges, necessitating the creation of suitable management strategies. This step requires first establishing a clear definition of what constitutes "urban" within the marine protection context. In that respect, our work focuses on examining several local case studies within the Mediterranean Sea. This study aims to (1) develop urban variables that enable the classification of MPAs based on levels of urbanization, and (2) define the characteristics of an "urban MPA" by establishing relevant thresholds. MPAs selection criteria were mainly: the presence of at least one "no-take zone", the existence of an implemented management plan, and the availability of ecological data. An urban indicator was created from nine variables derived from population metrics and satellite imagery analysis using QGIS software. A total of 20 MPAs were scored on a scale of 1 to 5 for each variable, and an overall average score was calculated to determine the urban indicator for each MPA. We found that (1) the developed urban indicator effectively clusters MPAs, (2) only 6 out of the 20 MPAs can be classified as urban MPAs, (3) urban MPAs tend to be easily accessible and located near densely populated area, while (4) non-urban MPAs may also be found in highly touristic areas. This study provides initial insights into the profiles of MPAs located in urban contexts. Our findings contribute to integrating marine conservation with geographical and social sciences. To go further, analyzing differences in the management and governance of urban versus non-urban MPAs will highlights valuable management tools that could enhance ecological effectiveness and foster social acceptance, tailored to the urbanization level of each MPA.

AIMManagement of competition with predators is an important consideration for fisheries, particularly within marine protected areas (MPAs) where conservation is a primary objective. We aimed to test whether static no‐take zones within a large, sustainable‐use MPA prevented overlap between gentoo penguins and a krill fishery during two winters with contrasting prey fields.LOCATIONSouth Georgia, Southwest Atlantic Ocean.METHODWe used satellite tracking (N = 16, June–September 2018) to describe gentoo penguin movements and distribution and quantified their overlap with the MPA’s no‐take zone (NTZ) and the krill fishing grounds. DNA metabarcoding of scats (N = 220, April–September 2018) was used to quantify diet.RESULTSWhen krill were at moderate densities and evenly distributed in 2001, gentoo penguins would have spent all of their time within the 12 NM NTZ, but when availability was low in 2018, they spent 46.3% of their time outside the NTZ and 9.6% within the krill fishing grounds. The extension of the NTZ to 30 km in response to this finding would have produced a 14.9% increase in protection for penguins and displaced 4% of fishery hauls. Gentoo penguin diet comprised 25.8% krill, which is lower than in the late 1980s but more than in 2009.MAIN CONCLUSIONSGentoo penguins extend their foraging range when krill is scarce, which increases the potential for spatial overlap with the krill fishery during periods of nutritional stress. Current regulations allow for expansion of both extent and catches by the krill fishery and, should this occur, gentoo penguins may face heightened risks from competition. A dynamic ocean management framework, that extends closed areas in response to near real‐time data on penguin movements and krill density estimates, may reduce the potential for competition in this sustainable‐use MPA while allowing a profitable krill fishery.

Impact evaluation and conservation outcomes in marine protected areas: A case study of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park