Evolving Perspectives of Stewardship in the Seafood Industry

R. Blasiak, A. Dauriach, J. Jouffray, C. Carl Folke, H. Österblom, J. Bebbington, F. Bengtsson, A. Causevic, B. Geerts, W. Grønbrekk, P. J. G. Henriksson, S. Käll, D. Leadbitter, D. McBain, G. O. Crespo, H. Packer, I. Sakaguchi, L. Schultz, E. R. Selig, M. Troell, J. Villalón, W. C., E. Wassénius, R. Watson, N. Yagi, B. Crona, (2021). Frontiers in Marine Science 8,

stewardship, seafood, management, policy, global,

10.3389/fmars.2021.671837, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Stewardship.pdf

Humanity has never benefited more from the ocean as a source of food, livelihoods, and well-being, yet on a global scale this has been accompanied by trajectories of degradation and persistent inequity. Awareness of this has spurred policymakers to develop an expanding network of ocean governance instruments, catalyzed civil society pressure on the public and private sector, and motivated engagement by the general public as consumers and constituents. Among local communities, diverse examples of stewardship have rested on the foundation of care, knowledge and agency. But does an analog for stewardship exist in the context of globally active multinational corporations? Here, we consider the seafood industry and its efforts to navigate this new reality through private governance. We examine paradigmatic events in the history of the sustainable seafood movement, from seafood boycotts in the 1970s through to the emergence of certification measures, benchmarks, and diverse voluntary environmental programs. We note four dimensions of stewardship in which efforts by actors within the seafood industry have aligned with theoretical concepts of stewardship, which we describe as (1) moving beyond compliance, (2) taking a systems perspective, (3) living with uncertainty, and (4) understanding humans as embedded elements of the biosphere. In conclusion, we identify emerging stewardship challenges for the seafood industry and suggest the urgent need to embrace a broader notion of ocean stewardship that extends beyond seafood.

Sharing the Seas: A Review and Analysis of Ocean Sector Interactions

B. Crona, E. Wassénius, K. Lillepold, R. Watson, E. Selig, C. Hicks, H. Österblom, C. Folke, R. Blasiak, J. Jouffray, (2021). Environmental Research Letters,

ocean sector, global, interactions, fishing, oil, planning,

10.1088/1748-9326/ac02ed, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Sharing.pdf

Ocean activities are rapidly expanding as Blue Economy discussions gain traction, creating new potential synergies and conflicts between sectors. To better manage ocean sectors and their development, we need to understand how they interact and the respective outcomes of these interactions. To provide a first comprehensive picture of the situation, we review 3187 articles to map and analyze interactions between economically important ocean sectors and find 93 unique direct and 61 indirect interactions, often mediated via the ocean ecosystem. Analysis of interaction outcomes reveals that some sectors coexist synergistically (e.g. renewable energy, tourism), but many interactions are antagonistic, and negative effects on other sectors are often incurred via degradation of marine ecosystems. The analysis also shows that ocean ecosystems are fundamental for supporting many ocean sectors, yet 13 out of 14 ocean sectors have interactions resulting in unidirectional negative ecosystem impact. Fishing, drilling, and shipping are hubs in the network of ocean sector interactions, and are involved in many of the antagonistic interactions. Antagonistic interactions signal trade-offs between sectors. Qualitative analysis of the literature shows that these tradeoffs relate to the cumulative nature of many ecosystem impacts incurred by some sectors, and the differential power of ocean sectors to exert their rights or demands in the development of the ocean domain. There are also often time lags in how impacts manifest. The ocean governance landscape is not currently well-equipped to deal with the full range of trade-offs, and opportunities, likely to arise in the pursuit of a Blue Economy in a rapidly changing ocean context. Based on our analysis, we therefore propose a set principles that can begin to guide strategic decision-making, by identifying both tradeoffs and opportunities for sustainable and equitable development of ocean sectors.

Food for All: Designing Sustainable and Secure Future Seafood Systems

A. K. Farmery, K. Karen Alexander, K. Anderson, J. L. Blanchard, C. Carter, K. Evans, M. Fischer, A. Fleming, S. Frusher, E. A. Fulton, B. Haas, C. K. MacLeod, L. Murray, K. L. Nash, G. Pecl, Y. Rousseau, R. Trebilco, I. E. van Putten, S. Mauli, L. Dutra, G. D., J. Kaltavara, R. Watson, B. Nowak, (2021). Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries,

food and nutrition security, equity, mariculture, wild capture fisheries, blue food, food system, seafood,

10.1007/s11160-021-09663-x, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Farmery_Food.pdf

Food from the sea can make a larger contribution to healthy and sustainable diets, and to addressing hunger and malnutrition, through improvements in production, distribution and equitable access to wild harvesting and mariculture resources and products. The supply and consumption of seafood is influenced by `drivers’

including ecosystem change and ocean regulation, the influence of corporations and evolving consumer demand, as well as the growing focus on the importance of seafood for meeting nutritional needs. These changes need to be examined in a holistic way to develop an informed understanding of the needs, potential impacts and solutions that align seafood production and consumption with relevant 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper uses an evidence-based narrative approach to examine how the anticipated global trends for seafood might be experienced by people in different social, geographical and economic situations over the next ten years. Key drivers influencing seafood within the global food system are identified and used to construct a future scenario based on our current trajectory (Business-as-usual 2030). Descriptive pathways and actions are then presented for a more sustainable future scenario that strives towards achieving the SDGs as far as technically possible (More sustainable 2030). Prioritising actions that not only sustainably produce more seafood, but consider aspects of access and utilisation for all, particularly those who are foodand nutrition insecure, is an essential part of designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems.

Poleward Bound: Adapting to Climate-Driven Species Redistribution

J. Melbourne-Thomas, A. Audzijonyte, M. J. Brasier, K. Cresswell, H. E. Fogarty, M. Haward, A. J. Hobday, H. L. Hunt, S. C. Ling, P. C. McCormack, T. Mustonen, K. Mustonen, J. Nye, M. Oellermann, R. Trebilco, I. van Putten, C. Villanueva, R. A. Watson, G. T. Pecl, (2021). Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries,

Climate change, range shifts, species redistribution, global, future seas,

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-021-09641-3, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Poleward.pdf

One of the most pronounced effects of climate change on the world’s oceans is the (generally) poleward movement of species and fishery stocks in response to increasing water temperatures. In some regions, such redistributions are already causing dramatic shifts in marine socioecological systems, profoundly altering ecosystem structure and function, challenging domestic and international fisheries, and impacting on human communities. Such effects are expected to become increasingly widespread as waters continue to warm and species ranges continue to shift. Actions taken over the coming decade (2021–2030) can help us adapt to species redistributions and minimise negative impacts on ecosystems and human communities, achieving a more sustainable future in the face of ecosystem change.We describe key drivers related to climate-driven species redistributions that are likely to have a high impact and influence on whether a sustainable future is achievable by 2030. We posit two different futures—a ‘business as usual’ future and a technically achievable and more sustainable future, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. We then identify concrete actions that provide a pathway towards the more sustainable 2030 and that acknowledge and include Indigenous perspectives. Achieving this sustainable future will depend on improved monitoring and detection, and on adaptive, cooperative management to proactively respond to the challenge of species redistribution. We synthesise examples of such actions as the basis of a strategic approach to tackle this global-scale challenge for the benefit of humanity and ecosystems.

Advancing Global Ecological Modeling Capabilities to Simulate Future Trajectories of Change in Marine Ecosystem

M. Coll, J. Steenbeek, M. G. Pennion, J. Buszowski, K. Kashner, H. K. Lotze, Y. Rousseau, D. P. Tittensor, C. Walters, R. Watson, V. Christensen, (2020). Frontiers in Marine Science 7, 567877.

marine ecosystems, climate change, fishing, future trajectories, projections,

10.3389/fmars.2020.567877, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/globalocean2.pdf

Considerable effort is being deployed to predict the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the ocean’s biophysical environment, biodiversity, and natural resources to better understand how marine ecosystems and provided services to humans are likely to change and explore alternative pathways and options. We present an updated version of EcoOcean (v2), a spatial-temporal ecosystem modeling complex of the global ocean that spans food-web dynamics from primary producers to top predators. Advancements include an enhanced ability to reproduce spatial-temporal ecosystem dynamics by linking species productivity, distributions, and trophic interactions to the impacts of climate change and worldwide fisheries. The updated modeling platform is used to simulate past and future scenarios of change, where we quantify the impacts of alternative configurations of the ecological model, responses to climate-change scenarios, and the additional impacts of fishing. Climate-change scenarios are obtained from two Earth-System Models (ESMs, GFDL-ESM2M, and IPSL-CMA5-LR) and two contrasting emission pathways (RCPs 2.6 and 8.5) for historical (1950–2005) and future (2006–2100) periods. Standardized ecological indicators and biomasses of selected species groups are used to compare simulations. Results show how future ecological trajectories are sensitive to alternative configurations of EcoOcean, and yield moderate differences when looking at ecological indicators and larger differences for biomasses of species groups. Ecological trajectories are also sensitive to environmental drivers from alternative ESM outputs and RCPs, and show spatial variability and more severe changes when IPSL and RCP 8.5 are used. Under a non-fishing configuration, larger organisms show decreasing trends, while smaller organisms show mixed or increasing results. Fishing intensifies the negative effects predicted by climate change, again stronger under IPSL and RCP 8.5, which results in stronger biomass declines for species already losing under climate change, or dampened positive impacts for those increasing. Several species groups that win under climate change become losers under combined impacts, while only a few (small benthopelagic fish and cephalopods) species are projected to show positive biomass changes under cumulative impacts. EcoOcean v2 can contribute to the quantification of cumulative impact assessments of multiple stressors and of plausible ocean-based solutions to prevent, mitigate and adapt to global change.

Revisiting ‘Reinventing Residual Reserves in the Sea: Are We Favouring Ease of Establishment over Need for Protection?’

R. Devillers, R. L. Pressey, A. Grech, J. N. Kittinger, G. J. Edgar, T. Ward, R. Watson, (2020). Aquatic Conservation 30, 1758–1764.

marine protected areas, mpa, residual reserves, global

10.1002/aqc.2445, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/RMPA2.pdf

As systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) expand globally, there is a risk that new MPAs will be biased toward places that are remote or unpromising for extractive activities, and hence follow the trend of terrestrial protected areas in being ‘residual’ to commercial uses. Such locations typically provide little protection to the species and ecosystems that are most exposed to threatening processes. 2. There are strong political motivations to establish residual reserves that minimize costs and conflicts with users of natural resources. These motivations will likely remain in place as long as success continues to be measured in terms of area (km2) protected. 3. The global pattern of MPAs was reviewed and appears to be residual, supported by a rapid growth of large, remote MPAs. The extent to which MPAs in Australia are residual nationally and also regionally within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park was also examined. 4. Nationally, the recently announced Australian Commonwealth marine reserves were found to be strongly residual, making almost no difference to ‘business as usual’ for most ocean uses. Underlying this result was the imperative to minimize costs, but without the spatial constraints of explicit quantitative objectives for representing bioregions or the range of ecological features in highly protected zones. 5. In contrast, the 2004 rezoning of the GBR was exemplary, and the potential for residual protection was limited by applying a systematic set of planning principles, such as representing a minimum percentage of finely subdivided bioregions. Nonetheless, even at this scale, protection was uneven between bioregions. Within bioregion heterogeneity might have led to no-take zones being established in areas unsuitable for trawling with a risk that species assemblages differ between areas protected and areas left available for trawling. 6. A simple four-step framework of questions for planners and policy makers is proposed to help reverse the emerging residual tendency of MPAs and maximize their effectiveness for conservation. This involves checks on the least-cost approach to establishing MPAs in order to avoid perverse outcomes.

Energy Flow through Marine Ecosystems: Confronting Transfer Efficiency

T. D. Eddy, J. Bernhardt, J. Blanchard, W. W. L. Cheung, M. Colléter, H. D. Pontavice, E. A. Fulton, D. Gascuel, K. Kearney, P. C.M., T. Roy, R. R. Rykaczewski, R. Selden, C. A. Stock, C. C. C. Wabnitz, R. A. Watson, (2020). Trends in Ecology and Evolution,

trophic ecology, food web, trophic efficiency, energy transfer, climate change, fishing impacts

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.006, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Transfer.pdf

Transfer efficiency is the proportion of energy passed between nodes in food webs. It is an emergent, unitless property that is difficult to measure and responds dynamically to environmental and ecosystem changes. Because the consequences of changes in transfer efficiency compound through ecosystems, slight variations can have large effects on food availability for top predators. We review processes controlling transfer efficiency, approaches to estimate it, and known variations across ocean biomes. Both process-level analysis and observed macroscale variations suggest that ecosystemscale transfer efficiency is highly variable, impacted by fishing, and will decline with climate change. It is important that we more fully resolve the processes controlling transfer efficiency in models to effectively anticipate changes in marine ecosystems and fisheries resources.

Changes in Higher Trophic Level Productivity, Diversity and Niche Space in a Rapidly Warming Continental Shelf Ecosystem

K. D. Friedland, J. A. Langan, S. I. Large, R. L. Selden, R. A. Watson, J. S. Link, (2020). Science of the Total Environment 704,

Species interactions, Niche overlap, Biodiversity, Habitat, Species distribution model,

doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135270, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/Warming.pdf

There is long-standing ecological and socioeconomic interest in what controls the diversity and productivity of ecosystems. That focus has intensified with shifting environmental conditions associated with accelerating climate change. The U.S. Northeast Shelf (NES) is a well-studied continental shelf marine ecosystem that is among the more rapidly warming marine systems worldwide. Furthermore, many constituent species have experienced significant distributional shifts. However, the system response of the NES to climate change goes beyond simple shifts in species distribution. The fish and macroinvertebrate communities of the NES have increased in species diversity and overall productivity in recent decades, despite no significant decline in fishing pressure. Species distribution models constructed using random forest classification and regression trees were fit for the dominant species in the system. Over time, the areal distribution of occupancy habitat has increased for approximately 80% of the modeled taxa, suggesting most species have significantly increased their range and niche space. These niche spaces were analyzed to determine the area of niche overlap between species pairs. For the vast majority of species pairs, interaction has increased over time suggesting greater niche overlap and the increased probability for more intense species interactions, such as between competitors or predators and prey. Furthermore, the species taxonomic composition and size structure indicate a potential tropicalization of the fish.

Comparative Production of Fisheries Yields and Ecosystem Overfishing in African Large Marine Ecosystems

J. Link, R. A. Watson, F. Pranovi, S. Libralato, (2020). Environmental Development,

fisheries ecosystem, thresholds, systemic overfishing, comparative analysis, integrative metrics, food security, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean

10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100529, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/AfricanLME.pdf

Marine capture fisheries in African Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) are important from economic, cultural, social, and food provision perspectives. These African fisheries have a long history of high exploitation in the context of datalimited situations. There is a growing, global movement (both in terms of management requirements and scientific efforts) to develop measures of ecosystem overfishing (EOF) that detect overfishing of an entire ecosystem using readily available data and based on widely repeatable patterns. These EOF indicators extend the thinking beyond single stock overfishing to an entire ecosystem and are largely based on well-established trophic theory. Moreover,

they need to be germane for data limited situations, easily interpretable, and simple to calculate. Here we introduce and present the results of several of these indicators—the Ryther index, Fogarty index, and Friedland index—as well as indices based on cumulative biomass-Trophic Level curve parameters for eight African LMEs. Significantly, all these EOF indicators also have thresholds beyond which EOF is indicated, particularly when coupled with other evidence. These thresholds were applied to the African LME EOF indicators to determine the degree to which EOF may be occurring. Five out of eight African LMEs exhibited symptoms of EOF, one with significant EOF, with at least one LME still currently experiencing EOF, and three more that may be close to EOF thresholds. One LME exhibited evidence of recovering trends. Additionally, EOF indicators detected changes in the LMEs five-ten years prior to major impacts that would be identified by piecing together fishing impacts on a stock-by-stock basis. We conclude that if EOF is detected, at the very least these relative simple measures should be monitored and means to mitigate total fishing pressure in an ecosystem should be explored.

Prioritization of the Sustainable Development Goals Drives Opportunities and Risks for a Blue Future

K. L. Nash, J. L. Blythe, C. Cvitanovic, E. A. Fulton, B. S. Halpern, E. J. Milner-Gulland, P. F. E. Addison, G. T. Pecl, R. A. Watson, J. L. Blanchard, (2020). One Earth ONE-EARTH-D-19-00108, 1-13.

Sustainable Development Goals; marine ecosystems; environmental change; human well-being; trade-offs, synergies; blue economy; blue futures

10.1016/j.oneear.2020.01.008, http://www.ecomarres.com/downloads/earth.pdf

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were designed to recognize the fundamental role the biosphere plays in our sustainable future. However, decision-making bodies, from local to international levels, have assigned lowest priority towards Goal 14 (Life Below Water). Here, we analyze policy reports and indicators to explore risks associated with low attainment of Goal 14 for other targets. We show that limited progress towards Goal 14 is likely to affect long-term attainment of social and economic targets. This is particularly the case for countries highly dependent on fisheries or for those developing a blue economy, due to the reliance of the social and economic goals on a healthy ocean in these contexts. To help ensure sustainability is not compromised by environmental degradation we suggest an extension to existing indicator assessments. This approach would provide greater transparency and specificity to decision-makers as they direct actions to attain SDGs.