• Energy Research

Marine spatial planning (MSP) often favors blue growth objectives over biodiversity conservation, diminishing its role in promoting sustainability. We used in-depth qualitative document analysis to assess how conservation principles and priorities are included in five case studies to identify a path for better integrating conservation with MSP. Five themes emerged, reflecting conservation in MSP from weak to strong inclusion: (1) prioritizing economy; (2) ecosystems as limits; (3) social-ecological systems; (4) ecosystems as functional; and (5) ecosystems as fundamental. Our analysis suggests MSP priorities for managing or mitigating impacts and conservation was less apparent, though some plans appear more prepared to integrate conservation. We propose the concept of conservation ready MSP, where plans are designed to integrate conservation in MSP as a way to support sustained ocean use. MSP may

Growing interest in the seaweed aquaculture industry has focused on the environmental, economic and social benefits it can offer. Outside of Asia, it is a small but emerging industry with the potential to grow and contribute to food security, climate change mitigation and coastal economic development. However, limited understanding of this potential has led to slow and fragmented development of the industry, without a clear direction of how to move the industry forward. This research uses Nova Scotia, Canada as a case study to understand the potential for the seaweed aquaculture industry by analyzing the perceptions of stakeholder groups (industry, academia, NGO/community and government). A SWOT analysis was completed to understand drivers and barriers impacting the industry and was used to develop a Q-methodology survey for identifying important factors to consider in decision-making, management and planning of the industry. Results indicated that participants generally reflected one of two perspectives: the seaweed skeptic and the seaweed solutionist. Participant perceptions indicated areas where seaweed aquaculture can be a contributor in Nova Scotia, specifically in coastal community economic development and food sustainability. However, experiential knowledge gaps, uncertainties surrounding climate change impacts and lack of regulations appear to constrain individuals from fully supporting the industry. Further discussion is needed on the stewardship of and priorities for how this industry should be developed moving forward. These findings illustrate possible enabling conditions for the future of this industry in Canada.

The well-being of coastal communities is intimately tied to a healthy ocean, but coastal social-ecological systems are among the most vulnerable to global change. Improving the resilience of coastal communities requires an understanding of how local social-ecological systems respond to shocks to better inform decision-making and adapt local management interventions. However, assessments of social-ecological changes throughout a disturbance regime are scarce at the local level, although critical for efficient natural resource management and sustainable use of ocean ecosystem services. Here, we apply the Ocean Health Index (OHI) to assess the status of the marine social-ecological system of a tropical island (Moorea, French Polynesia), and track changes of the system before, during and after a disturbance regime. Our results show that while there are signs of social-ecological recovery, coastal protection was most affected along the disturbance, and that there is room for improvement toward biodiversity conservation. In addition, our study highlights some context-specific challenges associated with local OHI assessments, particularly those driven by limited fisheries data and appropriate reference point selection for coastal protection. Our results demonstrate the value of localized, regular OHI assessments through time to track changes in marine social-ecological systems, while uncovering important data gaps, to inform management at appropriate scales for decision-making.