Marine Governance Research Articles

Regulating wave and tidal energy: An industry perspective on the Scottish marine governance framework

The emerging ocean energy industry, which seeks to utilise waves and tides to generate electricity, is developing in many jurisdictions. The UK, and Scotland in particular, is strongly interested in these technologies, and has made considerable efforts to reform its marine governance processes to better meet the needs of innovative new marine industries. This paper provides an industry perspective on this regulatory framework, reporting on the experiences of ocean energy project and technology developers. Semi-structured interviews with companies with practical experience with Scotland's regulatory framework provide evidence of a number of legal and regulatory challenges, as well as interesting insights into how developers are interacting with new marine governance systems. The paper details the findings of these interviews and offers some suggested directions for future research.

Addressing surprise and uncertain futures in marine science, marine governance, and society

On an increasingly populated planet, with decreasing biodiversity and limited new opportunities to tap unexploited natural resources, there is a clear need to adjust aspects of marine management and governance. Although sectarian management has succeeded in addressing and managing some important threats to marine ecosystems, unintended consequences are often associated with overlooking nonlinear interactions and cumulative impacts that increase the risk of surprises in social-ecological systems. In this paper, we begin to untangle science-governance-society (SGS) interdependencies in marine systems by considering how to recognize the risk of surprise in social and ecological dynamics. Equally important is drawing attention to our state of preparedness, adaptation, and timeliness of response in ecosystem governance and society, which involve fostering transformations away from rigid and nonintegrated structures of governance. More inclusive decision-making processes, deeper understanding of complexity, and colearning across SGS can help to build constructive solutions that are likely to benefit multiple stakeholders and build capacity to understand and respond to change.

Marine governance to avoid tipping points: Can we adapt the adaptability envelope?

Combined pressures from climate change, resources demand and environmental degradation could lead to the collapse of marine systems and increase the vulnerability of populations dependent on them. In this paper an adaptability envelope framework is applied to investigate how governance arrangements may be addressing changing conditions of marine social-ecological systems, particularly where thresholds might have been crossed. The analysis focuses on three Australian case studies that have been significantly impacted by variations or changes in weather and climate over the past decade. Findings indicate that, in some cases, global scale drivers are triggering tipping points, which challenge the potential success of existing governance arrangements at the local scale. Governance interventions to address tipping points have been predominantly reactive, despite existing scientific evidence indicating that thresholds are approaching and/or being crossed. It is argued that marine governance arrangements need to be framed so that they also anticipate increasing marine social-ecological system vulnerability, and therefore build appropriate adaptive capacity to buffer against potential tipping points.

The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters and Scotland – Planning Europe's Atlantic gateway

The non-statutory pilot regional marine spatial plan for the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters (PFOW) is a test to establish a precedent for the whole of Scotland. It is a pilot because it precedes and tests implementation of the statutory process for marine planning set out in the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. It was selected by the government for the pilot because of the high level of existing and proposed marine renewable energy (MRE) development in a relatively pristine area of coastal waters where traditional activities and habitats protection are already important. The PFOW is the first designated ‘Marine Energy Park’ in Scotland. It is under immediate pressure of development and the PFOW plan is already in use in support of the development consenting regime. This case study of the emerging plan identifies issues of generic importance to the planning of marine areas under development pressure in near shore locations. In particular, it highlights issues affecting the relationship between marine and terrestrial planning and the interests of adjacent island and coastal communities. The study concludes that a strong central marine governance regime is developing but that engagement of the local community and accommodation of terrestrial planning interests require further consideration. Full integration between marine and land planning may be unattainable but an equitable working relationship between them is essential. A notable feature of the PFOW plan is rejection of zoning in favour of a more pragmatic approach based on consenting criteria and locational guidance.

Organizing coordination in a public marine research and management advice organization: The case of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research

Public organizations involved in marine management are increasingly confronted with coordination challenges in marine governance. This study examines why and how the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) reorganized its formal coordination structures between the areas of fisheries management and marine environmental management. The findings indicate that organizing efficient and, at the same time, legitimate coordination structures between different areas of marine governance is a “wicked” organizational problem with no ultimate and single optimal solution. In contrast to the assumptions of classical organization and management theory, the study finds that the reorganization of formal coordination structures is not necessarily driven for reasons of efficiency and perceived coordination problems. Instead, public marine management organizations also change their organizational structures to live up to external expectations to adopt modern management concepts, such as the Ecosystem Approach to Management (EAM). However, the study indicates that the adoption of the EAM has stimulated coordination and integration efforts in the research and advisory activities of the IMR.

Establishing a legal research agenda for ocean energy

The literature on ocean energy has, to date, largely focussed on technical, environmental, and, increasingly, social and political aspects. Legal and regulatory factors have received far less attention, despite their importance in supporting this new technology and ensuring its sustainable development. Building on the social sciences research agenda developed by the International network for Social Studies of Marine Energy (ISSMER) and published in Energy Policy, a complementary agenda for legal research linked to ocean energy was set out. Key directions for future research structured around the core themes of marine governance: (i) international law; (ii) environmental impacts; (iii) rights and ownership; (iv) consenting processes; and (v) management of marine space and resources were identified.

Enhancing social acceptance in marine governance in Europe

In this article we address social acceptance in marine governance. Public support and opposition are critical to any future developments of marine areas, and are often neglected aspects. Whilst one of the main new developments in European marine areas is the increase in sites for offshore wind, social acceptance of renewable energy developments in Europe is shown to be low in a series of on-going studies. There is perhaps often a sense that renewables such as wind, wave and tidal will be 'out of sight, out of mind' when developed offshore but the empirical research evidence from across Europe suggests otherwise. People are protesting against offshore wind, and doing so very effectively, preventing and delaying the development of projects. This article articulates the term ‘social acceptance’ as a goal in marine policy implementation in European waters in general, and provides illustrations of the implications of social acceptance of offshore wind in a series of case studies. The experiences of social acceptance, together with theoretical insights, should be taken into account in future innovations for blue energy at sea, including the wind farms, but also wave and tidal devices and other technological developments.

Dynamite fishing in Tanzania

Fishing using explosives is common in Tanzanian waters; it is considered to be more widely practised now than at any other point in history. Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a Tanzanian NGO carried out a multi-stakeholder consultation in April 2014 initiated through the concern of private investors and tourism operators. Consultations were held with villagers, fisheries officers, government officers, hoteliers, dive operators, fish processors, NGOs and other key individuals, and shed some light on key factors enabling this practice to flourish. Key areas identified for attention include engendering political will at all levels, upholding of the law through a non-corrupt enforcement and judicial system, and defining clear roles and responsibilities for monitoring and surveillance. The work identified other successful initiatives which have tackled this pervasive practice including projects that build local capacity for marine governance, villages that have declared themselves intolerant of blast-fishing, and private–public partnerships for patrol and protection.

Marine governance as processes of regionalization: Conclusions from this special issue

Marine governance is challenged by complex situations at regional seas and coastal areas of European countries where multiple stakeholder interests and numerous management options have to be balanced. In these situations an improved understanding of marine governance is crucial for ensuring sustainable development at sea. The main aim of this synthesis article is to increase present understanding of processes of regionalization in EU marine governance based on the contributions in this special issue. Regionalization is defined as the integration and cooperation of maritime activities, policies and actors at the level of the regional seas. The contributions in this special issue analyse processes of regionalization within different maritime sectors from a diversity of social scientific disciplines to unravel different forms and types of regionalization in marine governance. The main finding is that there is still a relatively large mismatch between the vision on ecosystem-based management expressed in EU marine policies and the implementation of EBM within sectoral maritime activities. A reduction of such a gap between EU marine policies and sectoral management fully depends on efforts at regional level to coordinate and to integrate the different sector policy processes.

The power of the offshore (super-) grid in advancing marine regionalization

Large scale and transnational electricity grids facilitate balancing capacity across the areas that they serve and increase potential for energy trading. Offshore grids and the more ambitious notion of supergrids are beginning to play a significant part, especially in Europe, in the realization of improving security of domestic energy supply and expanding renewable energy production. As such, offshore (super-) grid development provides an excellent example of the move towards marine regionalization. Moreover, because of limited spatial claims and environmental impacts, marine electricity systems seem well-aligned with the rationale of ecosystem-based management, which is at the heart of European marine governance. By outlining their historical path and the envisioned outlook, in this article we show how offshore (super-) grid developments link up to marine regionalization and its related processes of integration and cooperation. It is argued that scaling-up grids to the level of regional seas is not unproblematic, but faces obstacles which depend on persistent practical and policy realities, and which may be relevant to other expressions of marine regionalization.

The Coral Triangle Initiative and regional exchanges: Strengthening capacity through a regional learning network

Natural resource management and conservation programs that promote building capacity and social learning among participants often lead to the formation of learning networks: a type of social network where learning is both a goal and potential outcome of the network. Through forming relationships and sharing information, participants in a learning network build social capital that can help a network achieve social and environmental goals. In this study, we explored social capital in a learning network that emerged through a large-scale marine governance effort, the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security. Through a mixture of social network analysis and key informant interviews, we examined the major patterns of information exchange among individuals who had participated in regional learning exchanges; evaluated whether the network's structure resulted in information sharing; and considered implications for strengthening network sustainability, capacity building, and learning. We found that the Regional Exchange network fostered information sharing among participants across national and organizational boundaries. While the network had individuals who were more central to information sharing, the network structure was generally decentralized, indicating potential resilience to changes in leadership and membership. Participants stressed the importance of the knowledge and connections they had acquired through the learning network; however, they expressed doubts regarding its sustainability and stressed the need for a strong coordinating entity. Our findings suggest that conservation learning networks have the ability to bridge cultural divides and promote social learning; however, a strong network coordinator and continuing efforts to support information sharing and learning are crucial to the network's strength and sustainability. The tangible learning and capacity development outcomes cultivated through Regional Exchange network underscore the value of and need to invest in conservation networks that support peer-to-peer learning.

Socio-Ecological System within Governance of Marine Protected Area: Case from Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Indonesia

Overcoming the problem of resource management which relies only on social dimension without understanding the ecosystem dynamics will not be sufficient to create sustainable management. Therefore, socio-ecological system (SES) is needed to respond changes so that robust management could be created. Research on SES was focused more on capacity of governance in creating management of conservation area, particularly in the period where there were occurrence of resistance between social problem and ecosystem. Principal component analysis explained 76% of the total variability. Very high variable respond category occurred on first principal component (PC) with positive effect which was related directly to ecological condition, and negative effect toward catch yield and utilization of traditional zone. Condition of economy and fish resources contributed positively toward second PC, and can be expressed as factor which affected economic condition of fishermen household. Condition of fishermen, related with catching activity and income of fishermen household gave positive effect toward the third PC, and can be expressed as component which affected catching effort and explained exploitation level by fishermen toward resources. Interaction between factors which formed SES occurred due to economic activity of fishermen household, catching efforts, and ecological capacity. Design of governance could be conducted on increase of fishermen household economy through control of catching efforts and considering the carrying capacity and ecological capacity.

Upgrading or unhelpful? Defiant corporate support for a marine protected area

Fishing firms sometimes give political support to marine conservation measures that seem contrary to their commercial interest. To explain this apparent paradox, an analysis is made of the stance taken by a New Zealand company in response to a proposed marine protected area in the Ross Sea. The firm defected from its industry’s opposition to the proposal, choosing to support the reserve. The analysis uses concepts from corporate political strategy to identify why such support might be forthcoming, and under what conditions. The article argues that a firm endorsing a conservation initiative in defiance of its industry intends to engineer a redistribution of profit and control within its global production network, regardless of any public benefit. While there was in this instance a public benefit in the form of potential environmental upgrading, the firm’s strategy risks compromising the effectiveness and impartiality of marine governance organizations.

Marine Governance in a European context: Regionalization, integration and cooperation for ecosystem-based management

New EU policy initiatives within the Maritime Strategy Framework Directive, the Integrated Maritime Policy, the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, the offshore Energy policy and the Blue Growth Strategy, are in different manners aiming at implementing Ecosystem Based Management (EBM). EBM focuses on regional areas, as opposed to traditional sectoral driven policy approaches, aiming for integrated planning and coherent management. Understanding how regionalization processes work to enhance legitimate and responsible governance leading to improved sustainability persists one of the main challenges to Marine Governance. Marine Governance involves processes of interaction between state actors, market parties, supranational organizations and civil society in a multi-level and multi-layered institutional setting. We argue that processes of integration and cooperation are core drivers to regionalize previous European – state based institutions. Accordingly, the main aim of this article is to provide a framework to unravel the challenges of integration and cooperation in Marine Governance. Particularly through processes of regionalization, i.e. when redefining territorial spaces and recomposing political spaces at the regional sea level, this framework is used to assess how integration and cooperation perform in EU marine governance. Specifically, four modes of regionalization in Marine Governance have been identified depending on the level of cooperation and integration, referred to as: territorial synchrony, territorial anarchy, sectoral anarchy and sectoral synchrony. While some developments towards more territorial synchrony for EU Marine Governance is observed, more cooperative and integrated efforts will be needed to eventually become successful in moving from sectoral anarchy to the desired territorial synergy expressed in EU marine regulation.

Marine governance in the English Channel (La Manche): Linking science and management

The English Channel is one of the world’s busiest sea areas with intense shipping and port activity juxtaposed with recreation, communications and important conservation areas. Opportunities for marine renewable energy vie with existing activities for space. The current governance of the English Channel is reviewed and found to lack integration between countries, sectors, legislation and scientific research. Recent developments within the EU’s marine management frameworks are significantly altering our approach to marine governance and this paper explores the implications of these new approaches to management of the English Channel. Existing mechanisms for cross-Channel science and potential benefits of an English Channel scale perspective are considered. In conclusion, current management practices are considered against the 12 Malawi Principles of the ecosystem approach resulting in proposals for enhancing governance of the region through science at the scale of the English Channel.

Erratum

Erratum

Trophic web structure and ecosystem attributes of a temperate estuarine system (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal)

Trophic web structure and ecosystem attributes of a temperate estuarine system (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal)

Whose Threat Counts? Conservation Narratives in the Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia

The ongoing global decline of coral reefs and their associated fisheries highlights issues of governance, including contrasting interpretations of the marine environment, the drivers and agents of environmental degradation, and the appropriate actions to address these. It is therefore essential to understand the social practices of value articulation through which marine ecosystems and resources are assigned meaning and recognition. In this regard, narratives identifying 'which aspects of the environment should be made resilient', 'to what threats', and 'through which solutions' are particularly important. Such narratives may fundamentally alter marine governance by defining which knowledge counts, steering conservation activities toward certain goals, and assigning people with new identities. We explore these issues in the context of a marine national park in eastern Indonesia, where the key narratives revolve around values associated with high coral reef biodiversity. International and domestic conservation-oriented organisations promote a narrative describing the park as a success story exemplifying co-management and equality in decision-making. Furthermore, a narrative emphasising illegal fishing by outsiders creates an adversarial scenario that favours certain more powerful institutions and subsumes competing narratives emanating from disadvantaged ethnic minorities. We suggest that these narratives reflect critical issues of governance, including resource allocation, management practices, stakeholder relations, and influence conservation outcomes by favouring the protection of some species, ecosystems, and sites over others.

Review of consenting processes for ocean energy in selected European Union Member States

Consenting is still generally regarded as a non-technological barrier to the progress of the marine renewable energy industry, caused by the complexity of consenting processes and the lack of dedicated legal frameworks. Existing consenting systems for ocean energy projects tend to be based on procedures designed for other sectors and are seen as inappropriate for the specific needs of ocean energy. Licensing procedures are also viewed by developers as time-consuming because regulators see ocean energy as a new activity with unknown or uncertain effects and consequently often apply strong interpretation of the precautionary principle. Consenting processes for ocean energy are, nevertheless, evolving throughout Europe, driven by national and European policies and incentives on renewables, changing legal and administrative frameworks to facilitate development and more integrated marine governance. This review compares the consenting processes for ocean energy in different European countries, focusing on aspects thought to hamper operation of the process. It shows that different systems of governance across the EU Member States have resulted in diversity in the design of consenting processes, though common features can also be identified. This evidence-based review enables suggestions for streamlining consenting processes for wave energy.

Rights and ownership in sea country: implications of marine renewable energy for indigenous and local communities

The adoption of UN Convention of the Law of the Sea in 1982 created optimism for indigenous peoples and marginalised coastal communities that they may (re)gain control of, or improve access to, marine resources. However concerns were also raised that opening the seas to industrial development might create threats for traditional users of the sea. Twenty-five years later the potential enclosure of large areas of coastal seas to marine renewable energy development is reigniting debates about marine governance, access and control over marine resources. Case studies in Scotland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia reveal a dynamic tension between: an economic development ‘blue growth’ agenda requiring the creation of private rights in the sea; and socio-political drivers which seek to address historic injustices and increase access to natural resources by indigenous and marginalised coastal communities. As yet there is little evidence of this tension being adequately addressed by emerging institutional frameworks for managing marine resources.