From frontier economics to an ecological economics of the oceans and coasts

Ecological economics is a field of enquiry that has had, with a few exceptions, an almost entirely terrestrial focus. Given the fundamental ecological and economic importance of oceanic and coastal ecosystems, and the accelerating deterioration of these ecosystems, we argue that there is an urgent case to redress this imbalance. In so doing, the scope of ecological economics will be extended and compelling insights developed and applied to better understand and govern marine systems. Although we acknowledge that there is no unequivocal or unitary view of what might constitute an ecological economics of the oceans and coasts, we assert that it should consist of at least ‘four cornerstones’: (1) sustainability as the normative goal; (2) an approach that sees the socio-economic system as a sub-system of the global ecological system; (3) a complex systems approach; and (4) transdisciplinarity and methodological pluralism. Using these four cornerstones, we identify a future research agenda for an ecological economics of the oceans and coasts. Specifically, we conclude that ecological economists must work with other disciplines, especially those involved in marine policy and practice, to move from a ‘frontier economics’ (which has dominated marine management) to entrench an ‘ecological economics’ of the oceans and coasts as the dominant paradigm.