A Global Estimate of Seafood Consumption by Coastal Indigenous Peoples

Coastal Indigenous peoples rely on ocean resources and are highly vulnerable to ecosystem and economic change. Their challenges have been observed and recognized at local and regional scales, yet there are no global-scale analyses to inform international policies. We compile available data for over 1,900 coastal Indigenous communities around the world representing 27 million people across 87 countries. Based on available data at local and regional levels, we estimate a total global yearly seafood consumption of 2.1 million (1.5 million-2.8 million) metric tonnes by coastal Indigenous peoples, equal to around 2% of global yearly commercial fisheries catch. Results reflect the crucial role of seafood for these communities; on average, consumption per capita is 15 times higher than non-Indigenous country populations. These findings contribute to an urgently needed sense of scale to coastal Indigenous issues, and will hopefully prompt increased recognition and directed research regarding the marine knowledge and resource needs of Indigenous peoples. Marine resources are crucial to the continued existence of coastal Indigenous peoples, and their needs must be explicitly incorporated into management policies.

Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy

The future of the global ocean economy is currently envisioned as advancing towards a 'blue economy'-socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable ocean industries^1,2. However, tensions exist within sustainable development approaches, arising from differing perspectives framed around natural capital or social equity. Here we show that there are stark differences in outlook on the capacity for establishing a blue economy, and on its potential outcomes, when social conditions and governance capacity-not just resource availability-are considered, and we highlight limits to establishing multiple overlapping industries. This is reflected by an analysis using a fuzzy logic model to integrate indicators from multiple disciplines and to evaluate their current capacity to contribute to establishing equitable, sustainable and viable ocean sectors consistent with a blue economy approach. We find that the key differences in the capacity of regions to achieve a blue economy are not due to available natural resources, but include factors such as national stability, corruption and infrastructure, which can be improved through targeted investments and cross-scale cooperation. Knowledge gaps can be addressed by integrating historical natural and social science information on the drivers and outcomes of resource use and management, thus identifying equitable pathways to establishing or transforming ocean sectors^1,3,4. Our results suggest that policymakers must engage researchers and stakeholders to promote evidence-based, collaborative planning that ensures that sectors are chosen carefully, that local benefits are prioritized, and that the blue economy delivers on its social, environmental and economic goals.

Adaptation strategies to climate change in marine systems

The world's oceans are highly impacted by climate change and other human pressures, with significant implications for marine ecosystems and the livelihoods that they support. Adaptation for both natural and human systems is increasingly important as a coping strategy due to the rate and scale of ongoing and potential future change. Here, we conduct a review of literature concerning specific case studies of adaptation in marine systems, and discuss associated characteristics and influencing factors, including drivers, strategy, timeline, costs, and limitations. We found ample evidence in the literature that shows that marine species are adapting to climate change through shifting distributions and timing of biological events, while evidence for adaptation through evolutionary processes is limited. For human systems, existing studies focus on frameworks and principles of adaptation planning, but examples of implemented adaptation actions and evaluation of outcomes are scarce. These findings highlight potentially useful strategies given specific social-ecological contexts, as well as key barriers and specific information gaps requiring further research and actions.

Benefits of the Paris Agreement to ocean life, economies, and people

The Paris Agreement aims to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change on ecological and social systems. Using an ensemble of climate-marine ecosystem and economic models, we explore the effects of implementing the Agreement on fish, fishers, and seafood consumers worldwide. We find that implementing the Agreement could protect millions of metric tons in annual worldwide catch of top revenue-generating fish species, as well as billions of dollars annually of fishers' revenues, seafood workers' income, and household seafood expenditure. Further, our analysis predicts that 75% of maritime countries would benefit from this protection, and that ~90% of this protected catch would occur within the territorial waters of developing countries. Thus, implementing the Paris Agreement could prove to be crucial for the future of the world's ocean ecosystems and economies.

WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies

[Figure: see text].

Shark ecotourism in Mexico: Scientific research, conservation, and contribution to a Blue Economy

Shark ecotourism has the potential to contribute significantly to local and national economies and conservation, though this depends on a concerted effort to implement evidence-based management. Sharks are key attractions at some of the most important marine ecotourism sites throughout Mexico, focusing particularly on whale sharks, white sharks, hammerhead sharks, and several other reef-associated and pelagic species. This generates important employment opportunities and millions of USD in revenue, but truly implementing ecotourism requires that education and conservation be a part of activities and that these benefit local communities, so that the industry can be socially, economically and ecologically sustainable. In Mexico, this includes addressing potential negative impacts from vessel overcrowding, provisioning, inequitable distribution of ecotourism and conservation benefits and costs, and a broader lack of governance capacity to ensure that coastal development is environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. In the context of a Blue Economy centred on sustainability and local benefits, ecotourism provides a key incentive and opportunity to improve ocean management.

A fuzzy logic expert system for evaluating policy progress towards sustainability goals

Evaluating progress towards environmental sustainability goals can be difficult due to a lack of measurable benchmarks and insufficient or uncertain data. Marine settings are particularly challenging, as stakeholders and objectives tend to be less well defined and ecosystem components have high natural variability and are difficult to observe directly. Fuzzy logic expert systems are useful analytical frameworks to evaluate such systems, and we develop such a model here to formally evaluate progress towards sustainability targets based on diverse sets of indicators. Evaluation criteria include recent (since policy enactment) and historical (from earliest known state) change, type of indicators (state, benefit, pressure, response), time span and spatial scope, and the suitability of an indicator in reflecting progress toward a specific objective. A key aspect of the framework is that all assumptions are transparent and modifiable to fit different social and ecological contexts. We test the method by evaluating progress towards four Aichi Biodiversity Targets in Canadian oceans, including quantitative progress scores, information gaps, and the sensitivity of results to model and data assumptions. For Canadian marine systems, national protection plans and biodiversity awareness show good progress, but species and ecosystem states overall do not show strong improvement. Well-defined goals are vital for successful policy implementation, as ambiguity allows for conflicting potential indicators, which in natural systems increases uncertainty in progress evaluations. Importantly, our framework can be easily adapted to assess progress towards policy goals with different themes, globally or in specific regions.

Quantifying the Interactions and Cumulative Effects of Multiple Stressors on Salmonids

The cumulative effects of human activities and natural pressures pose significant threats to ecosystem functioning and global biodiversity. Assessing the cumulative impact of multiple stressors-whether acting simultaneously or sequentially and directly or indirectly-is challenging due to their complex interactions. Consequently, these interactions may be unintentionally overlooked or disregarded in management decisions. While existing reviews have focused on coastal and freshwater ecosystems, analyses specifically targeting salmonids as a focal group are lacking. This research presents the first quantitative and qualitative assessment of stressor interactions affecting salmonid biology and physiology. A focused literature search identified 118 experimental trials with multiple stressors on salmonids. From these, 46 cases were considered suitable for the quantitative analysis. We calculated Hedges' g effect sizes to classify the interactions between multiple stressors as additive, synergistic, or antagonistic. Our findings revealed that additive effects were found most frequently (50% of interactions), followed by synergistic (30.5%) and antagonistic (19.5%) interactions. Additionally, we performed a network analysis including cases focusing on the influences of multiple stressors interactions (n = 38). Our qualitative analysis identified temperature, metals, and pesticides as the most paired stressors across the three types of interactions. The findings of this research highlight the potential vulnerabilities of salmonids and their habitats by identifying key interactions between multiple stressors, and priorities for future research. Understanding these interactions and cumulative effects, particularly in the context of climate change, can inform targeted conservation and management strategies, contributing to the preservation of these important fish species and their ecosystems, which are vital to local human communities.

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”.

Changing the narrative on fisheries subsidies reform: Enabling transitions to achieve SDG 14.6 and beyond

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to prohibit harmful fisheries subsidies, thereby achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6. An effective agreement should be viewed as an opportunity for nations to proactively transition towards sustainable and equitable fisheries and pave the path for other SDGs. Supporting fishers does not require harmful subsidies, and we provide evidence-based options for reform that highlight equity needs while reducing environmental harm. Subsidy reforms need clear goals, co-design, transparency, and fair implementation. An agreement on SDG 14.6 could be a turning point for the oceans and for the well-being of those that depend on the oceans for livelihoods and nutrition. Responsible seafood production will require international cooperation not only at WTO, but among governments, fisher organizations, civil society, and the wider public.

An assessment of West African seahorses in fisheries catch and trade

This study provides the first assessment of a heavily traded West African seahorse species, Hippocampus algiricus, and the first information on short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus biology in Africa. A total of 219 seahorses were sampled from fisher catch in Senegal and The Gambia, with estimated height at reproductive activity for H. algiricus (161 mm) larger than mean ± S.D. catch height (150 ± 31 mm). Catch composition, height at reproductive activity and potential biases in fishery retention are discussed with regard to the current Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) guidelines.