Sustainable Marine Management Overview

Sustainable Marine Management

• Aim is to manage human actions impacting the marine environment, accommodating climate change and global scales.
• 10-tenets advocate a multidisciplinary approach, acknowledging disciplines may need to expand their comfort zones to address the complex issues.
• Ecosystem approach prioritizes preserving natural ecological features, conserving biodiversity and ecosystems, and providing ecosystem services beneficial to society. This is a 'triple win' for ecology, society, and economics.
• Six elements for marine management include the natural environment, social factors, legal aspects, administrative structures, economic considerations, and technological applications/decisions.
• 1st tenet: ecologically and environmentally sustainable approach maintaining the health of the ecosystem by preserving its carrying capacity. The focus is on ecosystem functioning and physical properties rather than abundance.
• 2nd tenet: economically viable - ensuring sufficient funding for prevention and recovery of environmental damage (polluter pays principle).
• 3rd tenet: technologically feasible – ensuring access to technologies for preventing and remediating environmental damage, as well as for monitoring procedures.
• 4th tenet: socially desirable/acceptable – ensuring societal acceptance of measures for sustaining a healthy marine environment.
• 5th tenet: legally permissible – adherence to internationally recognized guiding principles and new environmental legislation.
• 6th tenet: administratively achievable – interlinked departmental, agency and regulatory bodies working at international/regional/national levels and across various sectors.
• 7th tenet: politically expeditious – adopting politically feasible solutions.
• 8th tenet: ethically defensible – emphasizing ethical and moral aspects of sustainable solutions.
• 9th tenet: culturally inclusive – encouraging stakeholder input for societal acceptance of management actions.
• 10th tenet: effectively communicable – effective communication among stakeholders to create understanding and acceptance and for achieving vertical and horizontal coordination.

Marine Habitat Classification

• Different habitats require differing sampling methods.
• Standardized classification and terminology for habitats is needed to enable consistent mapping and aid resource management and conservation area selection.
• Separate classifications are advantageous for multiple types of marine organisms e.g., nekton, plankton and benthos.
• Habitat is defined as the physical and chemical environment in which a species lives, requiring different methods to study depending on the type of organism.
• Ecosystem is a combination of habitats, including physical factors, species and their metabolic processes, often overlapping and exchanging materials with external systems.
• Biotope emphasizes the habitat and its associated biological community, the lowest level of marine habitat classification.
• Ecotones are the transition zones between habitats (e.g., estuaries, coastlines) with distinct biodiversity and uniqueness.
• Regions, seascapes, and biotopes can be mapped using management guidelines or expert opinions.

Role of Primary Data and Metrics

• Primary data/metrics involve recording basic biotope features (depth, temperature).
• This facilitates data use by other researchers for specific use cases.

Graham 2016: Scaled-Up Ecological Data for Marine Conservation

• Lack of broad-scale data regarding marine biodiversity and threats previously hindered effective management.
• Quantitative global-scale data (e.g., OBIS, GBIF, BIO-ORACLE) are crucial but vary greatly in quality, format, and time scales.
• Citizen science can facilitate large-scale observation of species and their interactions, with quality control measures required.
• Large-scale data and improved statistical methods enable analysis that considers the impacts of ecological responses.
• Effective data collection and analysis are necessary to understand and address ecological threats and guide policy decisions.

Morf 2019: Transboundary Sustainable Governance in the Baltic

• Integrating stakeholder perspectives is essential for effective marine spatial planning, promoting social sustainability.
• Stakeholder integration (SI) is critical for clarifying the 'who', 'how', and 'when' of stakeholder involvement.
• Timing of stakeholder engagement varies across countries.
• Challenges in stakeholder engagement include cross-border collaboration, different perspectives, and communication.
• Building capacity, fostering cross-border interaction, and addressing communication barriers are essential aspects of effective stakeholder integration.

Leslie 2018: Ecosystem-Based Management Value

• Ecosystem-based management focuses on the interconnections within and between ecosystems.
• It incorporates ecological, social, and governance objectives, using scientific understanding to address societal and ecological needs.
• Multiple EBM principles are available, but their inconsistency often hinders their practical application.
• A lack of consensus on core principles leads to unclear definitions and differing applications, hindering effective management.

Desanto 2020: Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)

• The BBNJ identifies marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, requiring international cooperation.
• Agreement complexities include differing perspectives on shared resources and benefit-sharing principles (common heritage v. freedom of the seas), access to resources, and enforcement.
• Defining marine scientific research and distinguishing it from resource access remain significant challenges.
• Incorporating concerns about socio-economic impacts and capacity building for developing countries is necessary for a successful agreement.
• Voluntary contributions from states are crucial, though there are difficulties in reaching consensus on their nature and extent in relation to resource management.

Oliver 2023: Socio-Ecological Analysis of Eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay

• Eutrophication is driven by nutrient runoff and atmospheric deposition, impacting ecosystem health and wellbeing.
• Stakeholder analysis is vital for understanding complex interactions in managing threats to the Chesapeake Bay.
• Adaptive management (monitoring and feedback loops) of policies and practices is essential for addressing eutrophication impacts.
• Citizen science, nature-based solutions, and improved regulation also offer avenues to improve marine quality.