Representing stakeholder interests in partnership approaches to coastal management: Experiences from the United Kingdom

Through the analysis of four case studies, this paper explores the relationship between stakeholder representatives and their constituencies of interest within the context of coastal partnerships in the United Kingdom. It was found that representatives who participate in partnerships have a variety of motivations, limited accountability and a poor record of information dissemination. It is concluded that there are very few formal assurances that representatives genuinely represent the views of their constituencies.     

Coastal livelihood vulnerability to marine resource degradation: A review of the Indonesian national coastal and marine policy framework

In rapidly developing countries, where large sections of the population are highly dependent on marine resources, coastal livelihoods are vulnerable to sudden shocks and long-term change. National policy can attempt to mitigate this vulnerability within a multi-level framework by addressing the three aspects of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity) through well-documented interventions. This article reviews the Indonesian policy framework for coastal and marine policy interventions that either directly or indirectly address different dimensions of coastal livelihood vulnerability. The findings show that the policy environment for addressing coastal livelihood vulnerability is heavily based on developing adaptive capacity and to a certain extent sensitivity without adequately addressing exposure, the initial cause of vulnerability. In addition, the complexities and inconsistencies within the Indonesian governmental structures, as well as more general issues of funding gaps and poor coordination, mean that policies created at national level rarely filter down to provide the intended benefits to coastal communities. It is recommended that practitioners and policymakers engage in a more cohesive and balanced approach to addressing livelihood vulnerability in coastal management by focusing more on the causes of the disease, exposure, rather than healing just the symptoms.     

Planning for offshore CO2 storage: Law and policy in the United Kingdom

‘Offshore CO₂ storage’ refers to the injection of liquefied CO₂ into deep geological formations beneath the seabed (e.g. depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and saline aquifers) for the purpose of storing it there on a permanent basis. The storage in this manner of captured CO₂ emissions from industrial installations and power plants has attracted considerable scientific and technical interest as a potential mitigation response to climate change. A key issue facing policymakers in several countries is how to reconcile policy commitments to develop offshore CO₂ storage with other competing – and potentially conflicting – uses of the marine environment. With a view to informing policy responses to this issue, this paper presents a case study of legal and policy frameworks concerning offshore CO₂ storage in United Kingdom. The paper maps key design features of the United Kingdom׳s framework for marine permitting and planning, appraising the extent to which they enable orderly development of offshore CO₂ storage in a manner consistent with relevant high-level policy objectives.     

Meiofauna in closed coastal saline lagoons in the United Kingdom: Structure and biodiversity of the nematode assemblage

Coastal saline lagoons are rare in North West Europe and tend to be closed, brackish water systems. In the United Kingdom they are small and isolated, each exhibiting extremely variable habitat conditions, both spatially and temporally. This paper represents the first species-level study of lagoonal nematode assemblages in the UK. Samples were taken from seven ponds in a saline lagoon system on the south coast of England in order to describe the nematode assemblage in relation to habitat type and to assess the possibility of lagoonal specialisation. At each site samples were also taken, or data were already available, for salinity, sediment granulometry, sediment organic carbon content, photosynthetic pigments and lagoon topography.     

Communicating research on the economic valuation of coastal and marine ecosystem services

Quantifying the monetary value of ecosystem services (ES) provided by coastal and marine resources can help policy makers assess the trade-offs and synergies inherent in ecosystem-based management of marine and coastal environments, thus increasing the social efficiency of decision-making processes. As shown by the valuation literature, the number of coastal and marine management settings where valuation researchers have attempted to make a contribution is rising fast. However, this rise in research activity has not been matched by the increase in the use of economic valuation (EV) in the actual management of coastal and marine resources. This raises an interesting question: is EV responding to the needs of policy makers? This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the knowledge base regarding the economic values for coastal and marine ecosystems. It then discusses how to improve the uptake of ES valuation research by focussing on two core issues which are thought to be essential for more effective communication with the policy community.     

Institutional and policy cocktails for protecting coastal and marine environments from land-based sources of pollution

The ecological integrity of coastal and near-shore environments is at the mercy of social, business, institutional and regulatory norms that dictate human behavior—not just at sea, but on land. The state of coastal lagoons, estuaries, harbours, semi-closed seas, and even the open ocean, is a mirror of anthropogenic activities on land that: (i) alter or destroy habitat; (ii) pollute groundwater, creeks and rivers that drain into the sea; and (iii) fill the atmosphere with particulates that settle on the sea. Land-based activities, such as mining, clearing vegetation for building roads, homes and hotels, destroy critical habitat and cloud river systems and estuaries with mud and silt. Since the broad range of land-based activities has a cumulative impact on coastal and marine environments, the sustainable development and protection of such environments pose challenges that demand multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches and require far more than tough sanctions to punish the environmental “bad guys”.This paper reviews the strengths and weaknesses of regulatory and non-regulatory options available to governments to manage the destructive and polluting activities of their citizens in coastal and marine environments. It considers the challenge of mixing these options and advocates for a strategic “cocktail” of instruments that best suit respective natural, cultural, constitutional and economic scenarios. The paper discourages rushing towards a single untested alternative to traditional command-and-control regulation, but to incrementally experiment with a variety of instruments and combinations thereof. Governments should avoid the tendency to treat various policy instruments as alternatives to one another rather than as potentially complimentary mechanisms. These may include improved regulation, tradable permits, discharge fees and voluntary programmes. The process of incremental experimentation with regulatory alternatives should be paralleled by timely and comprehensive evaluation of effectiveness, efficiency, and their relationship with other components of the broader system. This is the philosophy underpinning the development of National Programmes of Action as required by the 1995 Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA).     

The role of stakeholders in the marine planning process—Stakeholder analysis within the Solent, United Kingdom

England is about to embark on the introduction of an integrated approach to the management of its marine environment, known as marine planning. The management of human activity in the marine environment is a central function of marine planning; therefore, stakeholder involvement will be crucial for the successful development and subsequent implementation of marine plans. The range of stakeholder activities, their connection to the marine environment and interest in its management are likely to vary considerably on a local, regional and national scale. It is realistic to assume that it will not be possible to involve every stakeholder all the time; therefore in order to develop efficient and effective stakeholder involvement during the marine planning process it is sensible to determine who to involve, when to involve them, and how to involve them from the outset. This paper discusses the role of stakeholders in the marine planning process through consideration of the results of a stakeholder analysis, which was informed by primary data collated from stakeholders within the Solent. The paper concludes with a proposed mechanism, comprising different organisational units, for managing stakeholder involvement in the marine planning process.     

我国沿海地区海洋经济发展水平初步研究

21世纪是海洋的世纪，海洋经济发展水平制约着国民经济发展水平的高低。由于自然条件、政治与政策等因素的影响，我国沿海11个省市内部的海洋经济发展水平也存在着巨大的发展差异。本文运用主成分分析和聚类分析对沿海11个省市的海洋经济发展水平进行分类。分类结果表明：第一类是广东、上海、浙江和山东；第二类是天津、辽宁、江苏和福建，其中天津与辽宁合并为一亚类，第三类是河北、广西及海南。     

英国海洋设施退役过程简介

英国海洋设施退役过程分为6个步骤:①初步讨论;②计划的详细讨论、提交;③与有关部门咨询;④计划的正式提交和批准;⑤工作开始和现场调查;⑥现场监测。     

Is the non-market literature adequate to support coastal and marine management?

Analysts increasingly look to the literature for estimates of the non-market value of coastal and marine resources. We examine the comprehensiveness, timeliness, geographical completeness, and methodological breadth of the peer-reviewed literature on non-market valuation studies for coastal and ocean resources in the United States. With the exception of beaches and recreational fishing, the literature is generally insufficient to support effective policy-making. Most assets have not been well studied. Values for many assets have not been estimated in recent years, the geographical coverage is incomplete, and the application of methodologies is uneven. We offer recommendations to improve the policy usefulness of the valuation literature.     

Ocean and coastal issues and policy responses in the Caribbean

The Paper presents the regional perspective on the conditions and efforts for the integrated coastal management (ICM) that exist in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR).The Caribbean Action Plan was adopted in 1981 with an initial workplan of activities of evaluation and control of marine pollution, evaluation of impacts on the coastal area, fishing studies, watershed management, evaluation of natural hazard effects, energy accounting systems studies, urbanisation of the coastal area, building capacity and training. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the WCR is the only regional legal framework for the protection and sustainable development of marine resources.The Paper describes some region-wide ICM-related programme initiated or supported by the CEP as well as actions at the national level. Other ICM-related general activities and training programmes of CEP are also presented.Trends in national policies in ICM and current developments and issues are also highlighted and recommendations made.     

Preparedness of key coastal and marine sectors in Ireland to adapt to climate change

Preparedness to adapt to the impacts of climate change was assessed for three important sectors of activity within the Irish coastal and marine environment, namely tourism, fisheries, and conservation of biodiversity. Information on the current status of each sector is a valuable point of reference in terms of accessing contribution to the implementation of future national adaptation efforts. A modified version of the National Adaptive Capacity (NAC) framework developed by the World Resources Institute was used to assess the three sectors of activity. This framework is structured around five functions: assessment, prioritisation, coordination, information management, and climate risk reduction; results of the assessment suggest that all three sectors are at the nascent stages of the climate change adaptation process. Currently there is no dedicated national policy guidance or legal support mechanism on adaptation in Ireland; hence there is no national financial commitment to support implementation of adaptation actions for any of the sectors assessed. Subjecting these three selected sectors of activity to such an assessment enables identification of existing actions that can potentially support current adaptation, as well as where issues such as knowledge gaps and lack of policy support hinder progress.     

Managing the offshore and coastal fisheries in Taiwan to achieve sustainable development using policy indicators

This study establishes an offshore and coastal fisheries policy indicator system to evaluate the performance of policies to achieve sustainable development in offshore and coastal fisheries. A modified Delphi method is used to establish this system, and the weights of indicators are calculated using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to aggregate indicators. Results show that ecological policies have not achieved their goals because production and catch per unit effort are decreasing. Indicators with respect to management efficiency have increased after the implementation of the buyback and off-fishing programs. However, net returns indicator, which is affected by increasing cost and production value, is stable. Due to inefficient management resulting from insufficient resources, indicators for the number of illegal fishing cases per year and the number of smuggled aquatic production incidents have increased. This shows that requirement for enhanced compliance is necessary. The objective for cultivating talents in fisheries has not been achieved because average wage for fishers is lower than the average civil wage, resulting in an increase in the hiring of foreign fishers.     

A systematic quantitative review of coastal and marine cultural ecosystem services: Current status and future research

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are the non-material benefits obtained from ecosystems that contribute to human well-being. They are often under-represented in ecosystem services assessments due to difficulties identifying and valuing intangible attributes. This risks a lack of understanding and consideration of CES by decision-makers. A systematic review was done on coastal and marine CES to identify: geographic distribution of research; effective methods for assessing CES; specific habitats/ecosystems that supply CES; subcategories most frequently addressed; and knowledge gaps. Results revealed limited information exists about coastal and marine CES. There is a disparity in the global distribution of studies with little knowledge about CES in developing countries, as well as a disparity within developed countries; with most research undertaken in Europe and North America. There is a dearth of information on CES derived from specific coastal and marine habitats/ecosystems, reflecting a poor understanding of socio-ecological relationships and the different values people assign to these areas. There is a need to develop indicators with the capacity to measure and track changes in CES over time. Participatory approaches using qualitative methods were most effective in identifying CES; however, these lacked a deliberative element that would provide a comprehensive assessment of shared values in public areas. Overall, publications typically theorised about the usefulness of data on CES to inform and support decision makers, and more research is required on how qualitative data on CES can be represented for practical use by coastal and marine resource managers, and the value of these in the real world.     

Beyond PRISMA: Systematic reviews to inform marine science and policy

A recent article by Sierra-Correa and Cantera Kintz published in Marine Policy 51 2015 identifies the need for systematic reviews of evidence to inform marine policy and management. To guide their review, the authors apply the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) Statement as a methodology. We identified eighteen systematic reviews published on marine topics between 2008 and 2015. Of those which stated a methodology (N=12), 25% (N=3) applied the PRISMA Statement. PRISMA is a checklist designed by the medical community to improve reporting standards of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, rather than guidelines for their conduct. Relevant guidelines have already been produced by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. By using PRISMA as a methodology without referring to these guidelines, or worse, post hoc without conducting a full systematic review, authors may unintentionally give the impression of having undertaken a more rigorous review than is in fact the case. Given the apparent increase in systematic reviews of marine and coastal topics, it is vital that appropriate methodology be used. Authors undertaking future reviews should use existing environmental systematic review guidance to help plan and conduct their review. By following these guidelines, standards for marine reviews should increase, ultimately resulting in more rigorous reviews better able to inform future marine science and policy.     

Generating the evidence for marine fisheries policy and management

The uptake of research in marine fisheries management and policy making depends on how effectively fisheries managers, researchers and scientific advisers communicate the needs for evidence, and the results and policy implications of research. The MariFish network of the major European funders of marine fisheries has therefore undertaken a study of current practices relating to communication of research needs and results, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and consequently how two-way communications, and hence the effectiveness of generating evidence for marine fisheries policy making and management, can be improved. Conclusions and recommendations for ‘good practice’ include the importance of building good relationships and trust between researchers and fisheries managers, the need for fisheries ministries to have sufficient inhouse scientific capacity to act as ‘intelligent customers’, and the key role of interpreters of research whose skills and career paths need to be carefully developed.     

Eutrophication and the rate of net nitrification in a coastal marine ecosystem

Rates of net nitrification were calculated for four large (13 m³) estuarine-based microcosms that had been subjected to inorganic nutrient enrichment. Calculated rates were based on two years of weekly nitrate and nitrite measurements and ranged from a maximum of 0·55 μmol NO₂₊₃⁻ produced l⁻¹ day⁻¹ in the control tank (no enrichment) to over 13 μmol NO₂₊₃⁻ produced l⁻¹ day⁻¹ in the most enriched tank (receiving 18·6 μmol NH₄ l⁻¹ day⁻¹). Almost all NO₂₊₃⁻ production was pelagic, little was benthic. Net NO₃⁻ production or net NO₂⁻ production dominated the net nitrification rates during different seasons. Good correlations were found between various oxidation rates and substrate concentrations. The calculated net nitrite production rates were 10 to 1000 times higher than previously reported rates for open ocean systems, demonstrating the potential importance of nitrification to estuarine systems.