Being well-governed: Including inspectors in a systems approach to fisheries management

Based on 18-months of ethnographic fieldwork in South Africa’s Western Cape province, we suggest ways in which marine resource law enforcement activities can be evaluated at the level of individual fisheries compliance inspectors, to gain a more accurate understanding of the state of marine resource law enforcement. We show that these individual assessments can be scaled up to speak about specific compliance stations, and further, that these local-level assessments can be scaled up to the regional and provincial levels, without losing sight of the needs and value of the individual inspector. This paper contributes to the broader conversation on compliance in marine resource governance, as well as opening a new avenue of discussion: how to incorporate inspector-focussed social indicators. We show that this can be done in ways that take the overlap of the ecological, economic and social dimensions into account, while still being practical in terms of application and evaluation.     

Historical marine ecology: examining the role of fisheries in changes in North Sea benthos

The organisms living on and in the sea floor, the benthos, represent an important ecological group. Although some (shellfish) have an economic value, most do not, and so little long-term data are available. We have identified three sources of historic benthic data for the North Sea, a regional sea that has been subjected to multiple human impacts for at least several hundred years. Each dataset has its limitations, but by their use together some issues emerge. Wider community shifts were observed in the shorter term and a number of extirpations at the scale of the North Sea were seen over longer time scales. The extirpated taxa share a number of characteristics consistent with an effect of fisheries such as fragile morphology. We must concentrate now on furthering our understanding of the ecological significance of shifts in dominance of particular functional units and protecting those habitats and species most vulnerable to fisheries-driven extirpation.     

Participatory monitoring in community-based fisheries management through a gender lens

In small-scale fisheries management, the significance of participation is widely recognised but we are still learning how this can be better operationalised to include different groups, such as women or Indigenous peoples. Participatory monitoring is one tool which has been used to increase participation in fisheries management. The aim of this review is to use critical interpretive synthesis to examine the literature on participatory monitoring within community-based fisheries management from a gender perspective. The synthesis identified and discussed several key areas: reasons presented in the literature for engaging with the themes of gender or participatory monitoring, gendered aspects of participatory monitoring, knowledge valuation and prioritisation in management, replicability and transparency of programme or research methods, and marginalisation narratives. Our findings show the complexities of conducting gender-aware participatory monitoring. Participatory monitoring has the potential to be a transformative and empowering process if the power dynamics involved are considered and addressed.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01783-3.     

Local fisheries management at the Swedish coast: biological and social preconditions

Most of the Swedish coastal fisheries are not sustainable from either a social, economic or ecological point of view. We propose the introduction of local fisheries management (LFM) as a tool for restructuring the present large-scale management system in order to achieve sustainability. To implement LFM two questions need to be answered: How to distribute the resource fish among different resource user groups? How to restructure present fisheries management to meet the criteria of sustainability? Starting from these questions we describe possible forms of LFM for Swedish coastal fishery supported by recent research. The biological and social preconditions for restructuring fisheries management are derived from an analysis of the ecological and managerial situation in Swedish fishery. Three types of LFM--owner based, user based, and community based management--are analyzed with regard to the tasks to be carried outin LFM, the roles of management groups, and the definition and optimal size of management areas.     

Growth performance of planted mangroves in the Philippines: revisiting forest management strategies

The effort toward restoring lost mangroves in the Philippines has been commendably immense, specifically during the past two decades. In light of such, it is important to evaluate outcomes and, where appropriate, apply the lessons learned to the current strategies in mangrove forest management. This article synthesizes the results from several research projects assessing the performance of planted mangroves across the country. Overall, there is a widespread tendency to plant mangroves in areas that are not the natural habitat of mangroves, converting mudflats, sandflats, and seagrass meadows into often monospecific Rhizophora mangrove forests. In these nonmangrove areas, the Rhizophora seedlings experienced high mortality. Of the few that survived (often through persistent and redundant replanting), the young Rhizophora individuals planted in these nonmangrove and often low intertidal zones had dismally stunted growth relative to the corresponding growth performance of individuals thriving at the high intertidal position and natural mangrove sites. From this evidence, this article argues that a more rational focus of the restoration effort should be the replanting of mangroves in the brackish-water aquaculture pond environments, the original habitat of mangroves. For such, a number of management options can be explored, the implementation of which will ultimately depend on the political will of local and national governments.     

The Sea Around Us Project: documenting and communicating global fisheries impacts on marine ecosystems

The Sea Around Us Project, initiated by the Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia, PA, and located at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, started in mid 1999. Its goal was (and still is) to investigate the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems and to propose policies to mitigate these impacts. Although conceived as a global activity, the project first emphasized the data-rich North Atlantic as a test bed for developing its approaches, which rely on mapping of catch data and indicators of ecosystem health derived from the analysis of long catch time series data. Initial achievements included mapping the decline, throughout the North Atlantic basin, of high-trophic level fishes from 1900 to the present and the presentation of compelling evidence of change in the functioning of the North Atlantic ecosystems, summarized in a 2003 book. The Central and South Atlantic were the next basins to be tackled, with emphasis on the distant-water fleet off West Africa, culminating in a major conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 2002. The project then emphasized the North Pacific, Antarctica, and marine mammals and the multiplicity of tropical Indo-Pacific fisheries before it turned completely global, with all our major analyses and reports (e.g., on the interactions between marine mammals and fisheries, on fuel consumption by fleets, on the catches of small-scale fisheries, on subsidies to fisheries) being based on global studies. Broadly, the work of the project is aimed at a reappraisal of fisheries, from the benign activity that many interested people still perceive them to be, to a realization that they have become the driver for massive loss of biodiversity in the ocean. Moreover, the emphasis on global estimates (rather than local estimates of dubious generality) has allowed the project to contribute to various global initiatives (e.g., developing the Marine Trophic Index for the Convention on Biological Diversity, quantifying marine ecosystem services for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), that is, activities that we expect to increase and for which we invite collaboration from academia and environmental nongovernmental organizations.     

Research status and development trends in the field of marine environment corrosion: a new perspective

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Corrosion had aroused extensive concern and attention because it was an unavoidable problem for marine equipment and facilities in service. However,...     

Fishermen's interests and cooperation: preconditions for joint management of Swedish coastal fisheries

The participation of fishermen in fisheries management is discussed with varying ideas under the notions of "co-management", "participatory management" or "local management". Empirical studies within Swedish fishery have thrown new light on the preconditions for fishermen's participation in fisheries management. Among the important factors influencing failure or success are the two which we discuss here: the question of articulation, organization and representation of interests of fishermen and the question of trust between the groups that are usually cooperating in resource management, fishermen, governmental administrators and researchers. The research summarized has addressed the interests of fishermen with regard to resource management, local fisheries management, and participation of fishermen. The overarching question connecting the three themes is: How can the interests of fishermen be represented better within fisheries management? Interests and trust, "soft facts", can be as important for the success or failure of fisheries management and participation as can "hard facts" such as ownership rights, quantity and quality of resources or monetary value of resources.     

Human dietary intake of organochlorines from Baltic herring: implications of individual fish variability and fisheries management

This study examines the extent to which Finnish human dietary intake of organochlorines (PCDD/Fs and PCBs) originating from Northern Baltic herring can be influenced by fisheries management. This was investigated by estimation of human intake using versatile modeling tools (e.g., a herring population model and a bioenergetics model). We used a probabilistic approach to account for the variation in human intake of organochlorines originating from the variation among herring individuals. Our estimates were compared with present precautionary limits and recommendation for use. The results show that present consumption levels and frequencies of herring give a high probability of exceeding recommended intake limits of PCDD/Fs and PCBs. Furthermore, our results clearly demonstrate that in the risk management of dioxinlike organochlorines, regulating fishing (in this case increasing fishing pressure) is a far less effective way to decrease the risk than regulating the consumption of herring. Increased fishing would only slightly decrease organochlorine concentrations of herring in the Finnish fish market.     

SAGA: a decision support system for air pollution management around a coal-fired power plant

Air quality models are currently feasible approaches to prevent air pollution episodes. From one of the first source-oriented modelling approaches for air pollution forecasting (Souto et al., 1994, 1996, 1998), a new decision support system for air quality management, SAGA, was developed to provide support to As Pontes Power Plant (APPP) staff. SAGA can provide air pollution forecasts and manage meteorological and air quality measurements. Power plant decisions are supported by the results of a non-hydrostatic meteorological model (ARPS, Xue et al., 2001) to produce Meteorological Forecasts (MFs), and to be coupled to different Lagrangian dispersion models.     

Mechanisms to exclude local people from forests: Shifting power relations in forest transitions

Forest transitions may significantly contribute to climate change mitigation but also change forest use, affecting the local people benefiting from forests. We analyze forest transitions as contested processes that simplify multifunctional landscapes and alter local livelihoods. Drawing on the Theory of Access, we develop a conceptual framework to investigate practices of multifunctional forest use and the mechanisms that exclude local forest use(r)s during forest transitions in nineteenth century Austria and twenty-first century Lao PDR. Based on historical sources, interviews and secondary literature, we discuss legal, structural and social-metabolic mechanisms to exclude multifunctional forest practices, marginalizing peasants and shifting cultivators. These include, for example, the increasing enforcement of private ownership in forests or the shift from fuelwood to coal in Austria and restrictive land use planning or the expansion of private land concessions in Laos. By integrating political ecology and environmental history in forest transitions research we unravel shifting power relations connected to forest change.     

Occurrence of PPCPs in the marine environment: a review

Little research has been conducted on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the marine environment despite being increasingly impacted by these contaminants. This article reviews data on the occurrence of PPCPs in seawater, sediment, and organisms in the marine environment. Data pertaining to 196 pharmaceuticals and 37 personal care products reported from more than 50 marine sites are analyzed while taking sampling strategies and analytical methods into account. Particular attention is focused on the most frequently detected substances at highest concentrations. A snapshot of the most impacted marine sites is provided by comparing the highest concentrations reported for quantified substances. The present review reveals that: (i) PPCPs are widespread in seawater, particularly at sites impacted by anthropogenic activities, and (ii) the most frequently investigated and detected molecules in seawater and sediments are antibiotics, such as erythromycin. Moreover, this review points out other PPCPs of concern, such as ultraviolet filters, and underlines the scarcity of data on those substances despite recent evidence on their occurrence in marine organisms. The exposure of marine organisms in regard to these insufficient data is discussed.     

Patterns of catch and trophic signatures illustrate diverse management requirements of coastal fisheries in Solomon Islands

Coastal fisheries are a critical component of Pacific island food systems; they power village economies and provide nutritious aquatic foods. Many coastal women and men actively fishing in this region rely on multi-species fisheries, which given their extraordinary diversity are notoriously difficult to both characterize, and to manage. Understanding patterns of fishing, diversity of target species and drivers of these patterns can help define requirements for sustainable management and enhanced livelihoods. Here we use a 12-month data set of 8535 fishing trips undertaken by fishers across Malaita province, Solomon Islands, to create fisheries signatures for 13 communities based on the combination of two metrics; catch per unit effort (CPUE) and catch trophic levels. These signatures are in turn used as a framework for guiding suitable management recommendations in the context of community-based resource management. While a key proximate driver of these patterns was fishing gear (e.g. angling, nets or spearguns), market surveys and qualitative environmental information suggest that community fishing characteristics are coupled to local environmental features more than the market value of specific species they target. Our results demonstrate that even within a single island not all small-scale fisheries are equal, and effective management solutions ultimately depend on catering to the specific environmental characteristics around individual communities.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01690-z.     

Pesticide residues in freshwater and marine zooplankton: a review

A review of the scientific literature on pesticide residues in freshwater and marine zooplankton indicates that despite the great number of pesticides in current use, only residues of the persistent organochlorine insecticides, many of which have been restricted or removed from general use in North America, have been determined. Much of this information is outdated. In addition, with the exception of the Great Lakes on which limited information is available, reports on residues in freshwater zooplankton are rare. Information on residues of the newer, less persistent but heavily used pesticides is lacking. As an alternative to field sampling and chemical analysis of endemic populations of zooplankton, scientists have modeled the bioaccumulation of pesticides in zooplankton using either laboratory microcosms or mathematical equations. However, the extent and importance of trophic transfer to higher food levels through this intermediary group of organisms is still controversial. In addition, the relationship between accumulation of pesticides and toxicity to zooplankton remains unresolved.     

Emissions of gaseous nitrogen species from manure management: a new approach

A procedure for the assessment of emissions of nitrogen (N) species (ammonia, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, di-nitrogen) from the manure management system is developed, which treats N pools and flows including emissions strictly according to conservation of mass criteria. As all relevant flows in the husbandry of mammals are depicted, the methodology is considered a Tier 3 approach in IPCC terminology or a detailed methodology in UN ECE terminology. The importance of accounting for all N species is illustrated by comparing emission estimates obtained using this approach with those obtained from the application the present detailed/Tier 2 methodology.     

Bioremediation perspectives and progress in petroleum pollution in the marine environment: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The marine environment is often affected by petroleum hydrocarbon pollution due to industrial activities and petroleum accidents. This pollution has...     

Marine ecosystem appropriation in the Indo-Pacific: a case study of the live reef fish food trade

Our ecological footprint analyses of coral reef fish fisheries and, in particular, the live reef fish food trade (FT), indicate many countries' current consumption exceeds estimated sustainable per capita global, regional and local coral reef production levels. Hong Kong appropriates 25% of SE Asia's annual reef fish production of 135 260-286 560 tonnes (t) through its FT demand, exceeding regional biocapacity by 8.3 times; reef fish fisheries demand out-paces sustainable production in the Indo-Pacific and SE Asia by 2.5 and 6 times. In contrast, most Pacific islands live within their own reef fisheries means with local demand at < 20% of total capacity in Oceania. The FT annually requisitions up to 40% of SE Asia's estimated reef fish and virtually all of its estimated grouper yields. Our results underscore the unsustainable nature of the FT and the urgent need for regional management and conservation of coral reef fisheries in the Indo-Pacific.     

Ecological connectivity of the marine protected area network in the Baltic Sea,Kattegat and Skagerrak: Current knowledge and management needs

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have become a key component of conservation and fisheries management to alleviate anthropogenic pressures. For MPA networks to efficiently promote persistence and recovery of populations, ecological connectivity, i.e. dispersal and movement of organisms and material across ecosystems, needs to be taken into account. To improve the ecological coherence of MPA networks, there is hence a need to evaluate the connectivity of species spreading through active migration and passive dispersal. We reviewed knowledge on ecological connectivity in the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak in the northeast Atlantic and present available information on species-specific dispersal and migration distances. Studies on genetic connectivity are summarised and discussed in relation to dispersal-based analyses. Threats to ecological connectivity, limiting dispersal of populations and lowering the resilience to environmental change, were examined. Additionally, a review of studies evaluating the ecological coherence of MPA networks in the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak was performed, and suggestions for future evaluations to meet management needs are presented.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01684-x.