Coastal Nations Research Articles

RETRACTED: A global network of marine protected areas for food

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are conservation tools that are increasingly implemented, with growing national commitments for MPA expansion. Perhaps the greatest challenge to expanded use of MPAs is the perceived trade-off between protection and food production. Since MPAs can benefit both conservation and fisheries in areas experiencing overfishing and since overfishing is common in many coastal nations, we ask how MPAs can be designed specifically to improve fisheries yields. We assembled distribution, life history, and fisheries exploitation data for 1,338 commercially important stocks to derive an optimized network of MPAs globally. We show that strategically expanding the existing global MPA network to protect an additional 5% of the ocean could increase future catch by at least 20% via spillover, generating 9 to 12 million metric tons more food annually than in a business-as-usual world with no additional protection. Our results demonstrate how food provisioning can be a central driver of MPA design, offering a pathway to strategically conserve ocean areas while securing seafood for the future.

Metabarcoding as a tool to enhance marine surveillance of nonindigenous species in tropical harbors: A case study in Tahiti

AbstractGlobalization has increased connectivity between countries enhancing the spread of marine nonindigenous species (NIS). The establishment of marine NIS shows substantial negative effects on the structure and functioning of the natural ecosystems by competing for habitats and resources. Ports are often hubs for the spread of NIS via commercial and recreational vessels. Prevention, detection, and mitigation efforts are required to avoid and manage the establishment of NIS in new ecosystems. In this study, metabarcoding approaches targeting the nuclear small‐subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene were used to investigate planktonic and sessile (i.e., biofouling) communities and NIS at four locations in Tahiti, including two marinas and one port with varying anthropogenic impacts, and a relatively pristine site (Manava) used as a control. ASV richness values showed significant differences (18S rRNA gene: p = .023; COI: p < .001) between locations in the plankton samples, with the control site (low impact) having the highest diversity for both genes. ASV richness was also significantly different among locations for the biofouling samples in the COI dataset (p = .002). Community composition differed between locations with spatial patterns appearing stronger for the plankton samples compared with the biofouling samples. Detection of NIS based on selected lists of globally invasive species revealed a wide diversity of potentially invasive taxa especially in the more anthropogenically impacted regions. The use of a multigene approach improved the detection of NIS. This study demonstrates the utility of using a metabarcoding approach to routinely monitor areas most at risk from NIS establishment in Tahiti and other coastal nations. These coastal nations are vulnerable to shipping‐mediated incursions, and baseline information is required for both native diversity and nonindigenous diversity.

Issues in Developing and Implementing an Active Hazard Framework for Coastal Climate Resiliency Planning: A Case Study of US Policy

Many areas of the world include significant human development in low-lying coastal areas. The United States is no exception. And like many coastal nations, the United States has a long history of public policies that subsidize coastal development. These subsidies, in the aggregate, have created a policy orientation that views coastlines as passive resources. Meanwhile, climate change is increasing the objective risks of many coastal regions, demanding coastlines be viewed as active hazards. This chapter explores this dichotomy between current policy orientations viewing coastlines as passive resources and the need to move towards an active hazard framework. The United States is used as a case study to explore the history of coastal development policy through key national policies, and how that history impacts the need for new, hazard-based, policy directions. The insights identified in this chapter can be applied to any coastal nation where development priorities are impacting proactive coastal climate resiliency planning.

The small pelagic fishery of the Pemba Channel, Tanzania: What we know and what we need to know for management under climate change

Small pelagic fish, including anchovies, sardines and sardinellas, mackerels, capelin, hilsa, sprats and herrings, are distributed widely, from the tropics to the far north Atlantic Ocean and to the southern oceans off Chile and South Africa. They are most abundant in the highly productive major eastern boundary upwelling systems and are characterised by significant natural variations in biomass. Overall, small pelagic fisheries represent about one third of global fish landings although a large proportion of the catch is processed into animal feeds. Nonetheless, in some developing countries in addition to their economic value, small pelagic fisheries also make an important contribution to human diets and the food security of many low-income households. Such is the case for many communities in the Zanzibar Archipelago and on mainland Tanzania in the Western Indian Ocean. Of great concern in this region, as elsewhere, is the potential impact of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems in general, and on small pelagic fisheries in particular. This paper describes data and information available on Tanzania's small pelagic fisheries, including catch and effort, management protocols and socio-economic significance. Then, incorporating the rapidly improving understanding of the region's oceanography resulting from the application of remote sensing and oceanographic modelling, the paper undertakes the most complete assessment to date of the potential impacts of climate change on the small pelagic fishery of the Pemba Channel. Pathways of climate change impact are explored and crucial knowledge gaps, both in terms of the fishery itself and the wider ecosystem, are identified in order to guide future research activities. Although we analyse small pelagics in the specific context of the Pemba Channel, the key challenges identified in the analysis are likely to be relevant to many small pelagic fisheries in coastal nations heavily dependent on living marine resources.

The Value of Marine Spatial Open Data Infrastructures—Potentials of IHO S-100 Standard tο Become the Universal Marine Data Model

Marine spatial “open” data infrastructures (MSDI) have a significant economic and societal potential for coastal nations and their realization is driven by the evolution of the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO) S-100 data model for facilitating marine domain interoperability and the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) best practices for spatial data publishing on the Web. The recent European directive on open data and the re-use of public sector information, known as the “Open Data Directive” is a key driver towards the establishment of “open” MSDIs among other spatial data infrastructures. The paper discusses possible data architectures for the MSDIs, examines the maturity of open data platforms that they could be built upon and compares the most prominent marine spatial data models for their applicability in relation to three marine information domains. MSDIs can facilitate the continuous data capturing of spatial-temporal physical phenomena and human activities at sea and coastal areas, the corresponding data analysis and the decision-making for achieving continual improvement in the marine planning and management processes. MSDIs could play a key role in digital government transformation (DGT) for effective data sharing and offering marine services across various stakeholders. The information provided through a MSDI can be used for safe and efficient operation of maritime traffic, exploration and exploitation of marine resources, marine spatial planning (MSP), integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), environmental protection, and naval and maritime security.

Trialing net illumination as a bycatch mitigation measure for sea turtles in a small-scale gillnet fishery in Ecuador

In Ecuador, one of the main hazards for threatened marine species, such as sea turtles, is small-scale fisheries bycatch. At a global scale, currently, bycatch reduction technologies (BRTs) are being tested in many coastal nations to mitigate this issue. Despite some advances in Ecuadorian efforts for wildlife protection, BRTs to reduce bycatch have yet to be assessed. The purpose of this study was to test the BRT of net illumination using violet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a mitigation measure to reduce sea turtle interactions in the small-scale driftnet fishery operating from the ports of Santa Rosa, Puerto Lopez and Jaramijo. A total of 146 pairs of experimental sets (control and illuminated panes) were deployed in all ports. A generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMM) was employed to analyze the bycatch per unit of effort (BPUE) for sea turtles, and the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for target species; for both control and illuminated panes. Thirty-two sea turtles from three species were observed captured: olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea (n=18), green Chelonia mydas (n=13) and leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea (n=1). Turtle species-specific modeling showed bycatch of green turtles declined by 93% in illuminated nets compared with control, non-illuminated nets, whereas no significant difference between control and illuminated nets was observed for olive ridley turtles. The catch per unit effort of the target pelagic fish species including skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, mahi-mahi, thresher shark and smooth hammerhead shark was not affected by net illumination. Our results represent the first evaluation of the effects of net illumination using LEDs on reducing marine turtle bycatch in Ecuadorian small-scale driftnet fisheries. Despite its relatively small sample size, these results could be used by fisheries managers to support the implementation or further testing of this BRT in gillnet fisheries along the Ecuadorian coast.

What is owed to Ecological Refugee States?

As we begin to understand the extensive consequences and disastrous effects of climate change, we must grapple with how we should respond. Of huge concern is the large number of people that will be displaced and forced to migrate. Regions at the highest risk of displacement are small island developing states, such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Maldives. These are low lying coastal nations, and so are threatened with complete submersion as the sea level rises, in addition to experiencing extreme weathers due to climate change, including flooding and regular cyclones, as well as decreased land fertility, droughts and extreme temperature. Soon, the people of these nations will be forced to leave their homes because of these effects. This will render these nations ‘ecological refugee states’. This thesis seeks to understand what is owed to the people of these ecological refugee states and who is responsible for ensuring a just response. The argument is made that citizens of ecological refugee states are owed the provision of new territory – and that it is the duty of richer developed nations to ensure this right is met.

Building Institutional Knowledge for Effective Integrated Coastal Management Decision Making: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Goble, B.J.; Hill, T.R., and Phillips, M.R., 2020. Building institutional knowledge for effective Integrated Coastal Management decision making: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 808-813. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Coastal zones are highly utilised making the management thereof complex. To support this many coastal nations have developed coast specific legislation; South Africa being no exception. However, implementation remains the biggest hurdle; some of the best environmental legislation is offered but the skills, capacity and financial resources to achieve this are lacking. National governments have made efforts to ensure knowledge transfer and capacity building for ICM, but is this enough? Is there is a real improvement in the capacity of managers and decision makers and are we seeing resultant effective ICM? This paper considers the success of traditional training for knowledge transfer and capacity building within KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) (South Africa). It further reviews a KZN specific information support tool to aid in on-going knowledge building and storing of institutional information and evaluates if this is complementary to traditional approaches. While participants of traditional training sessions gain value from these, the link to implementation is largely lacking. This coupled with high staff turnover rates creates a barrier to objectives of the ICM Act. In comparison the use of an information support tool potentially adds value by storing information and data in a readily available format and serves as an ‘institutional information bank’, contributing to improved, informed coastal decision making.

Transboundary marine spatial planning across Europe: Trends and priorities in nearly two decades of project work

As an instrument intended, amongst other things, to reduce transboundary conflicts, Transboundary Marine Spatial Planning (TMSP) has gained significant attention by coastal nations and regions recently, especially in Europe. Rather than leading to a joint marine spatial plan, TMSP is more of a continuous process of transboundary cooperation. This paper discusses the understandings of TMSP, tracks current progress of TMSP projects in Europe and examines their underlying priorities, so as to gain lessons and experience for the development of TMSP in the future. Using the project database of the European MSP Platform, European TMSP-related projects were subject to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main findings are: (1) there are two accelerating periods of TMSP project development (2006–2010, 2014–2016), which coincide with relevant EU policy development, with the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas accounting for more projects than other sea basins; (2) TMSP projects in different sea basins have different priorities in marine activities and cross-cutting issues, with fisheries and conservation having the largest proportions respectively; (3) most projects are focusing on the pre-planning stages of marine spatial planning processes, and no attention has yet been given to plan implementation in the TMSP projects.

International management of underwater noise: Transforming conflict into effective action.

Underwater noise and its effects on the environment now sit squarely on the international stage and are being addressed by high-level international bodies, such as the European Union and United Nations. This is in addition to the many governments of coastal nations also working to address concerns under their own national laws and requirements. At the same time, the issue's intractability in reaching solutions continues to grow. Initial concerns in the 1990s over impacts of certain naval sonars on marine mammals have now expanded to a broader range of species, geographies, sound sources, stakeholder groups, and political and regulatory interests. In addition, there are now concerns over impacts to fishery catch rates and, for some, how reduced catch rates may affect available food for people. This paper examines how the international community can work to find solutions to this seemingly intractable problem. It reviews ten major international agreements and identifies "what" major topical areas are ripe for collaboration and then ties these findings to "how" collaborative processes should be designed to reach effective and lasting solutions.

Risk Retirement—Decreasing Uncertainty and Informing Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy Development

Marine renewable energy (MRE) is under development in many coastal nations, adding to the portfolio of low carbon energy sources that power national electricity grids as well as off-grid uses in isolated areas and at sea. Progress in establishing the MRE industry, largely wave and tidal energy, has been slowed in part due to uncertainty about environmental risks of these devices, including harm to marine animals and habitats, and the associated concerns of regulators and stakeholders. A process for risk retirement was developed to organize and apply knowledge in a strategic manner that considered whether specific environmental effects are likely to cause harm. The risk retirement process was tested against two key MRE stressors: effects of underwater noise from operational MRE devices on marine animals, and effects of electromagnetic fields from MRE electrical export cables on marine animals. The effects of installation of MRE devices were not accounted for in this analysis. Applying the risk retirement process could decrease the need for costly investigations of each potential effect at every new MRE project site and help move the industry beyond current barriers.

Development of pilot empirical harvest strategies for tropical tuna in Indonesian archipelagic waters: Case studies of skipjack and yellowfin tuna

Indonesia is a member of three tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), but currently has limited capacity to operationally manage its tuna fisheries to maximise benefits and minimise risks of overfishing. In 2014, the Government of Indonesia initiated discussions on the potential to develop formal harvest strategies for the management of tuna resources within its archipelagic waters. This article summarizes the development of potential empirical tuna harvest strategies for use in Indonesian archipelagic waters (Fisheries Management Areas 713, 714 and 715), using skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) as demonstration case studies. The outputs of area-specific components of Western Central Pacific Ocean stock assessment were used to condition prototype operating models for testing preliminary harvest strategies by management strategy evaluation. The case studies demonstrate the utility of scientific monitoring data to track trends in abundance of adult fish, without requiring complex stock assessment models. They also demonstrate the use of relatively simple, empirical harvest control rules to adjust the levels of fishing intensity of the Indonesian fleet to achieve specific management objectives for archipelagic waters in the context of wider regional management. The approach has a broad applicability to developing coastal nations with multi-gear fisheries and relatively limited data that harvest tuna, as well as participating in RFMOs for internationally managed stocks.

Area Requirements to Safeguard Earth's Marine Species

<h2>Summary</h2> Despite global policy commitments to preserve Earth's marine biodiversity, many species are in a state of decline. Using data on 22,885 marine species, we identify 8.5 million km² of priority areas that complement existing areas of conservation and biodiversity importance. New conservation priorities are found in over half (56%) of all coastal nations, including key priority regions in the northwest Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. We identify where different conservation actions, ranging from marine protected areas to broader policy approaches, might best overcome anthropogenic threats to these areas. This analysis shows 26%–41% of the ocean (depending on targets used for species representation) needs to be effectively managed and conserved through a combination of site-based actions and broad policy responses to achieve global conservation and sustainable development agendas.

The paradox of sustainable tuna fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean: between visions of blue economy and realities of accumulation

For many coastal nations in the Western Indian Ocean, and notably the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles, the tuna fishery is considered one of the main pillars of economic development, providing jobs and substantial revenues while ensuring food security. However, the fishery is also an illustration of the paradox behind the idea of the blue economy, where economic growth and sustainable use of resources are promoted as jointly achievable. We show that a sustainability narrative, in which the idea of fishing within ecological limits is present within government policy, public discourse, and practices, is, however, in contradiction with the realities of accumulation and growth that prevail in the fishery. When measures towards ecological preservation are to be taken, geopolitics of access to the sea and tuna enter the stage and change the position and narrative of the same actors, governments, and industrial actors that promote sustainability. We emphasize the difficult and nearly impossible path of practicing sustainability in the current model of growth-driven tuna fisheries. We argue for the need to repoliticize the practice of sustainability through the questioning of what we see in tuna fisheries: a hegemonic narrative of sustainability and implicit growth, without positive socio-ecological transformations.

The Role of Social-Ecological Resilience in Coastal Zone Management: A Comparative Law Approach to Three Coastal Nations.

Around the globe, coastal communities are increasingly coping with changing environmental conditions as a result of climate change and ocean acidification, including sea level rise, more severe storms, and decreasing natural resources and ecosystem services. A natural adaptation response is to engineer the coast in a perilous and often doomed attempt to preserve the status quo. In the long term, however, most coastal nations will need to transition to approaches based on ecological resilience—that is, to coastal zone management that allows coastal communities to absorb and adapt to change rather than to resist it—and the law will be critical in facilitating this transition. Researchers are increasingly illuminating law’s ability to promote social-ecological resilience to a changing world, but this scholarship—mostly focused on U.S. law—has not yet embraced its potential role in helping to create new international norms for social-ecological resilience. Through its comparison of coastal zone management in Australia, Finland, and the Netherlands, this article demonstrates that a comparative law approach offers a fruitful expansion of law-and-resilience research, both by extending this research to other countries and, more importantly, by allowing scholars to identify critical variables, or variable constellations associated with countries’ decisions to adopt laws designed to promote social-ecological resilience and to identify mechanisms that allow for a smoother transition to this approach. For example, our comparison demonstrates, among other things, that countries can adopt coastal zone management techniques that integrate social-ecological resilience without fully abandoning more traditional engineering approaches to adapt to environmental change and its impacts.

We have a long way to go if we want to realize the promise of the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”

We have a long way to go if we want to realize the promise of the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”

The Medical, Public Health, and Emergency Response to the Impact of 2017 Hurricane Irma in Cuba.

In 2017, Cuba was pummeled by Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest and most devastating Atlantic basin hurricanes in history. Twelve of Cuba's 15 provinces and 90 percent of the population were affected, and there was island-wide loss of electrical power. Despite the significant damage, ongoing economic hardships, and the political realities that required Cuba to handle the situation without response support from other nations, Cuba's recovery was swift and effective. Cuba's disaster self-sufficiency and timely response to Hurricane Irma was grounded on 5 decades of disaster planning coupled with ongoing evolution of disaster risk reduction and management strategies. While the central command center, with local dispatch response teams, and mandated citizen engagement are features unique to Cuba's political structure, in this study, we highlight 5 defining attributes of Cuba's hurricane response that can constructively inform the actions of other island and coastal nations vulnerable to Atlantic tropical cyclones. These attributes are: (1) actively learning and incorporating lessons from past disaster events, (2) integrating healthcare and public health professionals on the frontlines of disaster response, (3) proactively engaging the public in disaster preparedness, (4) incorporating technology into disaster risk reduction, and (5) infusing science into risk planning. In terms of hurricane response, as a geopolitically isolated nation, Cuba has experienced particular urgency when it comes to protecting the population and creating resilient infrastructure that can be rapidly reactivated after the onslaught of storms of ever-increasing intensity. This includes planning for worsening future disaster scenarios based on a clear-eyed appreciation of the realities of climate change.

Fostering adaptive marine aquaculture through procedural innovation in marine spatial planning

Worldwide, as wild-caught commercial fisheries plateau and human demands for protein increase, marine aquaculture is expanding. Much marine aquaculture is inherently adaptable to changing climatic and chemical conditions. Nevertheless, siting of marine aquaculture operations is subject to competing environmental, economic, and social demands upon and priorities for ocean space, while some forms of marine aquaculture can also impose other externalities on marine systems, such as pollution from wastes (nutrients) and antibiotics, consumption of wild fish as food, and introduction of non-native or genetically modified species. As a result, governmental policy decisions to promote both marine aquaculture that can adapt to a changing ocean and adaptive governance for that aquaculture can become contested, requiring attention to their social legitimacy.This article explores how the law can promote the adaptability of marine aquaculture to climate change and ocean acidification—adaptive marine aquaculture—while still preserving key rule-of-law values, such as public participation and accountability. Perhaps most obviously, law can establish substantive requirements for marine aquaculture that minimize its impacts, promoting marine resilience overall. However, to foster truly adaptive marine aquaculture, including adaptive governance institutions, coastal nations should also procedurally reform their marine spatial planning efforts to legally connect the procedures for aquaculture permitting, marine spatial planning (MSP), and adaptive management. The goals for such connections, moreover, should be to mandate new forums for public participation and creative collaboration, promote experimentation with accountability that leads to increased knowledge, and foster the emergence of adaptive governance regarding the use of marine space.

Diversity, contestation, participation in Aotearoa New Zealand‘s multi-use/user marine spaces

Coastal nations and islands have featured a participatory turn this century directed to resolving conflicts in multi-use/user marine spaces. Yet, few conceptual and empirical studies focus on participation as an institutional form to engage with the pressures of diverse and contesting uses and user interests in marine environments. These spaces are volatile arenas of power and politics, challenging available regulatory, governance and managerial models. The paper first reviews understandings of the nature of the relational field of diversity-contestation-participation in the international literature and second draws on empirical findings from five case studies of marine participatory process configurations in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. The nation is a unique ecological, political, social, cultural and economic setting. Maori (the indigenous people) have developed holistic intergenerational resource nurturing principles and practices (Vision Matauranga (VM)) that are actively shaping marine futures. This momentum has markedly altered the nature and terms of engagement of participation in Aotearoa New Zealand's shallow marine regulatory context. The country is thus an ideal setting to examine the rise of quasi-independent Participatory initiatives, contextualise and examine their diversity, contestation, participation interactions, confront relational and co-production aspects of agency that are an integral part of real-time participatory processes, and to reflect on van Kerkhoff and Lebel's (2015) contention that different possible futures hang on people asking new questions and being brave enough to experiment with process, collaboration, and their own conceptualisations and knowledges'.

Global opportunities and challenges for Shark Large Marine Protected Areas

Legislation to ban the targeted fishing of sharks is frequently employed within developing coastal nations. These Shark Large Marine Protected Areas (SLMPAs) are established primarily to alleviate the direct threats that humans pose to sharks through activities such as overfishing and destructive fishing practices. However, despite the anthropogenic nature of these threats, socioeconomic factors are often given less consideration than their ecological counterparts when designating SLMPAs. In this paper, we identified and examined relevant national-level socioeconomic data to determine the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing SLMPAs, focussing on least developed and low income countries. We aimed to use these socioeconomic data to identify nations where SLMPAs are more likely to be successful in providing conservation benefits to sharks. We used principal component analysis to develop two national-level indices that represent these anticipated opportunities and challenges for implementing SLMPAs across 87 coastal nations. The Opportunity Index identifies those nations in which socioeconomic conditions such as adaptive capacity, and strong and fair governance, are favourable for SLMPAs to provide conservation benefits to sharks. The Challenge Index identifies those nations that may not yet be in a position developmentally to support communities to adapt to a loss of access to resources associated with SLMPAs, or to manage and enforce broad scale restrictive legislation. In combination with biophysical considerations, the Challenge and Opportunity indices presented here can support policy makers in deciding whether, and in what cases, SLMPAs are the most appropriate measure to provide conservation benefits to sharks.