Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy

Grain fields in sea-landscapes

Sea-level rise will increase salt intrusion and flood risk in low-lying lands. In the long run, these lands will change into seawater-influenced landscapes, as is already happening in several coastal areas around the globe. While conventional agriculture may no longer bear fruit in such sea-landscapes, the seagrass species Zostera marina, "sea-rice," potentially yields 3-7% of global rice production, with the added benefit of zero-carbon emissions. Culture of Z. marina does not require freshwater, fertilizer or pesticides. Development and implementation of seagrass mariculture will open new avenues for collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines such as agronomy, coastal engineering and social sciences. From the start, the domestication, engineering design and landscape planning should aim at the optimal balance between ecosystem goods (grains, straw and seafood) and services (coastal protection, carbon and nitrogen sequestration, filtering of pathogens and pollutants, and biodiversity) of this potential crop, while respecting and restoring the wild meadows.

Trends in seagrass research in the 21st century - are we there yet?

Duarte's 1999 review, "Seagrass ecology at the turn of the millennium" established a benchmark for seagrass research. Twenty-five years later, an analysis of 11,245 publications (published between 2000-2023) reveals substantial growth but persistent biases. While the volume of annual publications on seagrasses has increased over this period almost 4 folds, seagrass research remains significantly less extensive than studies on mangroves and coral reefs. Authors from only two countries (Australia and the USA) were still responsible for a huge proportion (35 %) of the world's seagrass publications. The seagrass community has remained disproportionately focused on only 4 key species which together account for 59 % of all seagrass publications. While scientific attention continues and even becomes stronger in the last 12 years for Zostera marina and Cymadocoae nodosa, there are some signs of change with recent growing attention to the tropical species Thalassia hemprichii and Halophila stipulacea. While previously dominated by basic descriptive ecology, seagrass research topics have become more quantitative and focused on responses to stressors, genetics and genomics, ecosystem services, and restoration and resilience building. These findings demonstrate that the seagrass research community needs to shift towards a more holistic and inclusive approach. We must prioritize under-represented species and geographical regions, adopt integrated methodologies and foster strong interdisciplinary collaborations to secure the long-term health and sustainability of these vital coastal ecosystems. Only through such concerted efforts can we effectively address the multifaceted challenges facing seagrasses globally.

Two-Dimensional Nanofluidic Membranes with Nepenthes-Inspired Superstructures toward Boosting Solar-Driven Ionic Power Generation

Photoinduced transmembrane ion transport in organisms provides a distinctive perspective for exploiting the ocean enriched with both ions and solar energy. Artificial two-dimensional nanofluidic membranes for photothermal-driven ion transport are facing issues such as interrupted nanofluidic transport and much dissipated heat. Peristome surface of Nepenthes enables stable wetting and rapid directional water transport correlated with orientational sophisticated flow-guiding microstructures, inspiring amelioration of these issues by regulating membrane topographies. A conformal layer-by-layer assembly is adopted to construct superstructured positively charged graphene oxide (PGO)/MXene membranes (SGMMs) that differ from topographies. These membranes enable anion-selective transport enhanced by superstructure configurations via providing more and wider nanofluidic channels than planar PGO/MXene membrane (PGMM). SGMMs with orientational superstructures demonstrate superior wetting performance and directional transport of surface microfluidics compared to PGMM, inducing directional ion transport within nanochannels. Additionally, this superstructure design assists SGMMs to outshine PGMM in photothermal evaporation conspicuously, benefiting from an enlarged surface area and well-regulated surface microfluidic distribution. Eventually, SGMMs enable more remarkable photothermal evaporation-driven ion transport facilitated by directional transport of surface microfluidics and efficient photothermal evaporation. This work emphasizes the significance of membrane topography design for nanofluidic transport toward exploiting the ocean including sunlight, water resources, and ionic energy.

Examining the presence and effects of coherence and fragmentation in the Gulf of Maine fishery management network

Natural resource management networks cohere due to mutual dependencies and fragment, in part, due to the perceived risks of interaction. However, research on these networks has tended to accept coherence a priori rather than problematizing dependence, and few studies exist on interorganizational risk perception. This article presents the results of a study operationalizing these concepts and measuring the distribution of three types of dependence (capital, legitimacy, and regulatory) and two types of perceived risk (performance and sanction) among nearly fifty stakeholder groups and organizations participating in the management of fisheries in the binational Gulf of Maine. The analysis reveals an organizationally diverse network with several stakeholder types participating, with communications clustered binationally, with low levels of perceived risk in interacting, and interdependencies cohering the network. The types of interorganizational dependence present varied across dyadic relationships, but legitimacy dependence, based on shared understandings that organizations should work together, was the most present and had the largest effect on collaboration-oriented network traits. Sanction risk was more common than performance risk but had the most substantial negative effect. The results suggest an opportunity for additional studies of interorganizational dependance and perceived risk to operationalize and measure the sources of network coherence and fragmentation and their effect on collaboration.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10113-024-02328-y.

Enhancing Human Health and Wellbeing through Sustainably and Equitably Unlocking a Healthy Ocean's Potential

A healthy ocean is essential for human health, and yet the links between the ocean and human health are often overlooked. By providing new medicines, technologies, energy, foods, recreation, and inspiration, the ocean has the potential to enhance human health and wellbeing. However, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and inequity threaten both ocean and human health. Sustainable realisation of the ocean's health benefits will require overcoming these challenges through equitable partnerships, enforcement of laws and treaties, robust monitoring, and use of metrics that assess both the ocean's natural capital and human wellbeing. Achieving this will require an explicit focus on human rights, equity, sustainability, and social justice. In addition to highlighting the potential unique role of the healthcare sector, we offer science-based recommendations to protect both ocean health and human health, and we highlight the unique potential of the healthcare sector tolead this effort.

Click-chemistry synergic MXene-functionalized flexible skeleton membranes for accurate recognition and separation

Membrane-based technology with accurate-recognition and specific-transmission has been regarded as one of the most promising strategies in environmental protection and energy conservation. However, membrane technique still faces challenges of "trade-off effect" between high selectivity and permeation flux within organic-aqueous mixed matrix. Here, well-intergrown click-chemistry synergic MXene-functionalized flexible skeleton membranes has been prepared in this strategy, enabling size-exclusion&structure selectivity by uniform location array imprinting unit and transport performance towards specific medicinal molecules of artemisinin (Ars). The well-assembled ultrathin cascade-type MXene layer guarantees the narrow interlayer nanochannels and the flexible skeleton modified mesoporous SiO2 nanoparticles provide active reaction platform for the construction of selective recognition space. The resulting membranes demonstrated outstanding selective separation performance with permeability factor that artesunate (Aru) /Ars and dihydro-artemisinin (d-Ars) / Ars of 3.17 and 2.89 and permeation flux of 1173.25 L·m-2·h-1·bar-1. Besides, combined with antibacterial durability, recycling performance, high separation performance in mobile phase stability of CMFMs, it is anticipated that this work hopefully opens a new avenue for efficient chiral separation to medicinal molecules, exhibiting broad potential for practical application.

Green bonds and green environment: exploring innovative financing mechanisms for environmental project sustainability

This study delved into the intricate relationships between green bonds (GB), Environmental National Cap (ENC), the European Commission's green growth metrics (EC), and innovative financial mechanisms (INN_FM). Employing the Pesaran CD test, the research underscored significant cross-sectional dependence among the examined countries. The subsequent unit root tests affirmed the first-order integration of variables, causing the panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) approach for deeper insights. The findings indicated that while GB notably influenced the EC's metrics, and its effect on ENC was relatively subdued. Notably, INN_FM appeared to insignificantly influence the issuance of GB. By leveraging variance decomposition, we discerned that the dynamics between these factors, especially in green economic growth, is complex and can vary across regulatory and national contexts. This research provides an essential foundation for policymakers, regulators, and investors to understand the multifaceted interplays in green finance mechanisms and craft strategies to optimize their impact on sustainability outcomes. Hence, the study provides multiple policy implications for the associated stakeholders.

The Marine Spatial Planning Index: a tool to guide and assess marine spatial planning

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has the potential to balance demands for ocean space with environmental protection and is increasingly considered crucial for achieving global ocean goals. In theory, MSP should adhere to six principles, being: (1) ecosystem-based, (2) integrated, (3) place-based, (4) adaptive, (5) strategic, and (6) participatory. Despite nearly two decades of practice, MSP continues to face critical challenges to fully realize these principles, hindering its ability to deliver positive outcomes for people and nature. Here, we present the MSP Index, a tool for assessing progress in MSP processes based on MSP principles that can guide practitioners in operationalizing these principles. Using qualitative analysis of fundamental MSP guides, complemented with a literature review, we identified key features of MSP principles and developed these features into a scoring guide that assesses progress relative to each principle. We trialed and validated the MSP Index on six case studies from distinct regions. We found that the MSP Index allows for high-level comparison across diverse marine spatial plans, highlighting the extent to which MSP principles have permeated practice. Our results reveal successes, especially for the place-based principle, and failures to fully adhere to the adaptive and participatory principles of MSP. The Index serves as a guidance tool that would be best employed by practitioners and can inform science on the evolution of MSP. It is a user-friendly tool that translates MSP principles into practice, allowing for assessment of individual initiatives and comparison of diverse initiatives across ocean regions and nations.

Rebuilding fish biomass for the world's marine ecoregions under climate change

Rebuilding overexploited marine populations is an important step to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 14-Life Below Water. Mitigating major human pressures is required to achieve rebuilding goals. Climate change is one such key pressure, impacting fish and invertebrate populations by changing their biomass and biogeography. Here, combining projection from a dynamic bioclimate envelope model with published estimates of status of exploited populations from a catch-based analysis, we analyze the effects of different global warming and fishing levels on biomass rebuilding for the exploited species in 226 marine ecoregions of the world. Fifty three percent (121) of the marine ecoregions have significant (at 5% level) relationship between biomass and global warming level. Without climate change and under a target fishing mortality rate relative to the level required for maximum sustainable yield of 0.75, we project biomass rebuilding of 1.7-2.7 times (interquartile range) of current (average 2014-2018) levels across marine ecoregions. When global warming level is at 1.5 and 2.6°C, respectively, such biomass rebuilding drops to 1.4-2.0 and 1.1-1.5 times of current levels, with 10% and 25% of the ecoregions showing no biomass rebuilding, respectively. Marine ecoregions where biomass rebuilding is largely impacted by climate change are in West Africa, the Indo-Pacific, the central and south Pacific, and the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Coastal communities in these ecoregions are highly dependent on fisheries for livelihoods and nutrition security. Lowering the targeted fishing level and keeping global warming below 1.5°C are projected to enable more climate-sensitive ecoregions to rebuild biomass. However, our findings also underscore the need to resolve trade-offs between climate-resilient biomass rebuilding and the high near-term demand for seafood to support the well-being of coastal communities across the tropics.

Finding logic models for sustainable marine development that deliver on social equity

Sustainable development is often represented as contributing to desirable outcomes across economic, environmental, and social goals, yet policies and interventions attempting to deliver sustainable development often disagree on the order in which these categories of goals should be addressed. In this Essay, we identify and review 5 approaches (called logic models) for sustainable development in ocean systems based on existing policies and interventions and consider the evidence for their contributions to equity—the ultimate goal of sustainable development according to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Two of the 5 logic models prioritize economic growth and lead to social and environmental benefits, 2 prioritize environmental health as a prerequisite for sustainable economic and social benefits, and the final logic model is community driven and prioritizes social dimensions. Looking towards the 2030 maturation of the SDGs, we will need to understand what models are best suited to deliver on equity gains and prevent future inequities in development and how best to operationalize them.

Pursuing sustainable ocean development is not controversial, but the approaches towards it often are. This Essay provides an initial assessment of competing models to achieve sustainable development, and their ability to deliver on the promise of “leaving no one behind”.

A forgotten element of the blue economy: marine biomimetics and inspiration from the deep sea

The morphology, physiology, and behavior of marine organisms have been a valuable source of inspiration for solving conceptual and design problems. Here, we introduce this rich and rapidly expanding field of marine biomimetics, and identify it as a poorly articulated and often overlooked element of the ocean economy associated with substantial monetary benefits. We showcase innovations across seven broad categories of marine biomimetic design (adhesion, antifouling, armor, buoyancy, movement, sensory, stealth), and use this framing as context for a closer consideration of the increasingly frequent focus on deep-sea life as an inspiration for biomimetic design. We contend that marine biomimetics is not only a "forgotten" sector of the ocean economy, but has the potential to drive appreciation of nonmonetary values, conservation, and stewardship, making it well-aligned with notions of a sustainable blue economy. We note, however, that the highest ambitions for a blue economy are that it not only drives sustainability, but also greater equity and inclusivity, and conclude by articulating challenges and considerations for bringing marine biomimetics onto this trajectory.

Multiple anthropogenic stressors in the Galápagos Islands' complex social-ecological system: Interactions of marine pollution, fishing pressure, and climate change with management recommendations

For decades, multiple anthropogenic stressors have threatened the Galápagos Islands. Widespread marine pollution such as oil spills, persistent organic pollutants, metals, and ocean plastic pollution has been linked to concerning changes in the ecophysiology and health of Galápagos species. Simultaneously, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing are reshaping the composition and structure of endemic and native Galápagos pelagic communities. In this novel review, we discuss the impact of anthropogenic pollutants and their associated ecotoxicological implications for Galápagos species in the face of climate change stressors. We emphasize the importance of considering fishing pressure and marine pollution, in combination with climate-change impacts, when assessing the evolutionary fitness of species inhabiting the Galápagos. For example, the survival of endemic marine iguanas has been negatively affected by organic hydrocarbons introduced via oil spills, and endangered Galápagos sea lions exhibit detectable concentrations of DDT, triggering potential feminization effects and compromising the species' survival. During periods of ocean warming (El Niño events) when endemic species undergo nutritional stress, climate change may increase the vulnerability of these species to the impacts of pollutants, resulting in the species reaching its population tipping point. Marine plastics are emerging as a deleterious and widespread threat to endemic species. The Galápagos is treasured for its historical significance and its unparalleled living laboratory and display of evolutionary processes; however, this unique and iconic paradise will remain in jeopardy until multidisciplinary and comprehensive preventative management plans are put in place to mitigate and eliminate the effects of anthropogenic stressors facing the islands today. We present a critical analysis and synthesis of anthropogenic stressors with some progress from local and international institutional efforts and call to action more precautionary measures along with new management philosophies focused on understanding the processes of change through research to champion the conservation of the Galápagos. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;00:1-26. © 2022 SETAC.

Coupling Coordination between Marine S&T Innovation and the High-Quality Development of the Marine Economy: A Case Study of China’s Coastal Provinces

Promoting coupling coordination between marine scientific and technological (S&T) innovation and the high-quality development of the marine economy is an important measure to realizing sustainable marine development. Based on the complex adaptive systems theory, sustainable development theory and regional coordinated development theory, this study analyzed the coupling coordination and its influencing factors between marine S&T innovation and the high-quality development of the marine economy with China’s coastal provinces as study areas. The result showed that: (1) The coupling coordination fluctuated upward, changing from on the verge of dissonance to well-coordinated. (2) There was an agglomeration of high-level coupling coordination in central and eastern coastal provinces while the polarization between high-level and low-level coupling coordination was significant. (3) The improvement of coupling coordination mainly depended on the consumption expansion demand, multidimensional spatial integrated development, and industrial improvement demand. Regional heterogeneity of influencing factors existed in southern and northern coastal regions. (4) To improve coupling coordination, we should establish a demand-oriented mechanism for coordinated development between marine S&T innovation and the marine economy, and strengthen the multi-dimensional spatial planning and the guidance and guarantee functions of coastal governments, in particular to introduce and implement policies that suit local conditions. This research may supplement and improve the theoretical discussion and practical experience concerning sustainable marine development.

Prospects of Low Trophic Marine Aquaculture Contributing to Food Security in a Net Zero-Carbon World

To limit compromising the integrity of the planet, a shift is needed towards food production with low environmental impacts and low carbon footprint. How to put such transformative change towards sustainable food production whilst ensuring food security into practice remains a challenge and will require transdisciplinary approaches. Combining expertise from natural- and social sciences as well as industry perspectives, an alternative vision for the future in the marine realm is proposed. This vision includes moving towards aquaculture mainly of low trophic marine (LTM) species. Such shift may enable a blue transformation that can support a sustainable blue economy. It includes a whole new perspective and proactive development of policy-making which considers, among others, the context-specific nature of allocation of marine space and societal acceptance of new developments, over and above the decarbonization of food production, vis á vis reducing regulatory barriers for the industry for LTM whilst acknowledging the complexities of upscaling and outscaling. This needs to be supported by transdisciplinary research co-produced with consumers and wider public, as a blue transformation towards accelerating LTM aquaculture opportunities in a net zero-carbon world can only occur by considering the demands of society.

Looking for Common Ground: Marine Living Resource Development in Alaska and Northern Norway in the Context of the Blue Economy

Although the concept of the blue economy was created by the Small Island Developing States, its relevance extends to any coastal region around the globe, making the engagement of both state and corporate actors imperative. At the core of the blue economy framework stands the incorporation of ocean values and services into economic modeling and governance. Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture are thus significant in this endeavor, particularly for Arctic nations, the economies of which are predominantly based on seafood production. Yet, while focus is increasingly placed on sustainability and blue economy models among Arctic states, the need for structured transnational collaboration is not always acknowledged. In that respect, this article aims to articulate a comparative study of the status quo, challenges, and opportunities of fisheries and aquaculture in Alaska and northern Norway and seeks to explore potentials for cross-sectoral synergies between the two regions in the context of the blue economy.

Accelerated Chemical Thermodynamics of Uranium Extraction from Seawater by Plant-Mimetic Transpiration

The extraction of uranium from seawater, which is an abundant resource, has attracted considerable attention as a viable form of energy-resource acquisition. The two critical factors for boosting the chemical thermodynamics of uranium extraction from seawater are the availability of sufficient amounts of uranyl ions for supply to adsorbents and increased interaction temperatures. However, current approaches only rely on the free diffusion of uranyl ions from seawater to the functional groups within adsorbents, which largely limits the uranium extraction capacity. Herein, inspired by the mechanism of plant transpiration, a plant-mimetic directional-channel poly(amidoxime) (DC-PAO) hydrogel is designed to enhance the uranium extraction efficiency via the active pumping of uranyl ions into the adsorbent. Compared with the original PAO hydrogel without plant-mimetic transpiration, the uranium extraction capacity of the DC-PAO hydrogel increases by 79.33% in natural seawater and affords the fastest reported uranium extraction average rate of 0.917 mg g^-1 d^-1 among the most state-of-the-art amidoxime group-based adsorbents, along with a high adsorption capacity of 6.42 mg g^-1 within 7 d. The results indicate that the proposed method can enhance the efficiency of solar-transpiration-based uranium extraction from seawater, particularly in terms of reducing costs and saving processing time.

Tourism-Based Alternative Livelihoods for Small Island Communities Transitioning towards a Blue Economy

Tourism development has been promoted as an alternative livelihood to reduce the dependence of small island communities on declining marine resources. It is often central to emerging agendas around marine planning and the blue economy. However, relatively little is known about how communities perceive tourism development as an alternative and potentially sustainable livelihood in their area and its implications. This qualitative study tracks a governance system in transition and analyzes the factors perceived by stakeholders to be driving and hindering the adoption of tourism-based livelihoods on small islands in UNESCO’s Taka Bonerate Kepulauan Selayar Biosphere Reserve (Indonesia). The findings indicate that, despite a series of tourism-enhancing investments and initiatives and the positive attitudes of local communities towards it, tourism is not a direct route towards sustainability for small island communities. The benefits of tourism are perceived to be unequally distributed. The lack of education and skills limits participation in new job opportunities, and the incentives to continue destructive fishing inhibits livelihood transition to tourism. The article concludes that tourism cannot be assumed to generate simultaneous benefits for conservation and development without more equitable benefit sharing, the meeting of basic needs in communities, and addressing the drivers of unsustainable livelihoods.