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Sustainability of Socio-Ecological Paradigms in the Marine Environment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 4845

Special Issue Editors

Stantec, 3rd Floor, 50-60 Station Rd, Cambridge CB1 2JH, UK
Interests: coastal processes; coastal, port and river engineering; numerical modelling of coastal hydrodynamics; water quality and ecological modelling in marine ecosystems
Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Rd, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK
Interests: environmental impact assessment; transitional water; science to policy interface; ecosystem based management; marine regulation
Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Barrack Rd, Weymouth DT4 8UB, UK
Interests: macroalgae aquaculture environmental effects; aquaculture site selection; feasibility of macroalgae aquaculture; primary production; plankton ecology
Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Rd, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK
Interests: systemic approaches to marine environmental and cumulative effects assessment; human activities and pressures; science to policy interface (national and international); marine spatial planning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The marine environment supports a wealth of industries, associated activities and infrastructure (fisheries, aquaculture, aggregate extraction, navigation dredging and disposal, renewable energy, etc.), which can impact the surrounding environment and compete for space and resources. At the same time, the increasing policy focus towards blue growth, greenhouse gas reductions and marine biodiversity protection, is pushing for a sustainable management and development of the marine environment and its resources. The sustainability concept is complex, and sustainable management of the marine environment is even more so. Sustainability links together social, economic and environmental factors, which need to be systemically assessed for activities, in addition to the shifting baselines of natural variability. Numerical modelling is an important tool for capturing and predicting the complexity of these different factors, allowing to assess their sustainability, while considering a variety of past, current, and future scenarios. Spatial modelling, for example, can help with regulatory issues and planning of coastal and offshore areas, balancing the potential impacts of marine activities with the need for protecting valuable resources and habitats. This special issue aims to capture examples of socio-ecological sustainability of activities in the marine environment. Activities considered include (but are not limited to) aquaculture, fisheries, offshore renewable energy, disposal of dredges material, with associated impacts encompassing dissolved nutrient enrichment, dispersal of invasive species, litter, pollutant, etc. Both practical and theoretical case studies are welcomed, covering assessment and approaches of sustainability, as well as effectiveness of management measures, both preventative and mitigative. By understanding the environmental interactions of activities and predicting their impacts, it is possible to take preventive or mitigation measures to achieve an effective management of marine ecosystems. This is fundamental as the ecological degradation of marine environments has severe implications on the functioning of these ecosystems and their biodiversity, and consequently on the use of these resources with implication for national and global economies.  The management interventions and priorities to address these issues is a societal choice, so social sciences are a critical aspect of sustainability assessments.  Humans are an integrated part of marine ecosystems, so assessments need to consider the services, goods and benefits provided by natural assets.

The interrelationships between these processes, drivers and social concepts are essential to meet the target of ‘sustainable development’, as well as individual national policy targets. The aim and scope of this SI are also well aligned with current United Nations programmes on sustainable development, such as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

This Special Issue aims to propose a collection of studies that combine the aforementioned concepts, including methodologies and/or case studies on the following topics:

-    assessment of sustainable marine developments and activities, including quantification of potential environmental, and socio-economic effects;

-    investigation of the interrelationships between social and ecological factors within ecosystem-based assessments;

-    the efficiency of protective measures such as mitigation or compensation measures;

-    analysis of international or national marine policies and their contribution towards reaching or preventing reaching the aim of sustainable development;

-    recommendations to improve on current processes and activities and the potential to lead to an increase the sustainability of our marine environment;

-    how bioremediation and blue carbon can be used into the assessment of sustainability of marine activities.

Dr. Maria Amélia V. C. Araújo
Dr. Jemma-Anne Lonsdale
Dr. Elisa Capuzzo
Dr. Adrian Judd
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • net gain
  • net zero
  • sustainable development
  • blue growth
  • natural capital
  • shifting baselines
  • offshore renewable
  • ecosystems modelling
  • blue carbon
  • aquaculture
  • circular economy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4776 KiB  
Article
Implementation of a 3D Coupled Hydrodynamic–Biogeochemical Model in Kuwait Bay
by Maria Amélia V. C. Araújo, Luz García-García and John Aldridge
Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8715; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148715 - 16 Jul 2022
Viewed by 1207
Abstract
Production of farmed fish is increasing worldwide and in areas which have traditionally not had large scale farming, specifically regions of high sea temperature. This research presents a methodology to assess the impacts of these developments on water quality and to manage them [...] Read more.
Production of farmed fish is increasing worldwide and in areas which have traditionally not had large scale farming, specifically regions of high sea temperature. This research presents a methodology to assess the impacts of these developments on water quality and to manage them in the context of other discharges into the marine environment. Kuwait Bay, in Kuwait, is used as a case study for these types of environments, where the impacts of finfish farms are assessed regarding their location by implementing a 3D coupled hydrodynamic–biogeochemical model. The model was validated against a monthly climatology of field data for hydrodynamics and biogeochemical parameters. Results show that the impact of a farm size with an average historical production is minimal, with a slight increase in nutrient concentrations (0.4%) and in chlorophyll-a and oxygen (less than 1%) compared to the baseline (no farm). When the farm was located outside the bay, at the southern coast, the impact was even smaller. This suggests that the flushing conditions of the location are a prime consideration and can help mitigate the impacts of larger farm sizes. Full article
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Review

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33 pages, 3658 KiB  
Review
It Is a Balancing Act: The Interface of Scientific Evidence and Policy in Support of Effective Marine Environmental Management
by Jemma-Anne Lonsdale, Andrew B. Gill, Khatija Alliji, Silvana N. R. Birchenough, Sylvia Blake, Holly Buckley, Charlotte Clarke, Stacey Clarke, Nathan Edmonds, Leila Fonseca, Freya Goodsir, Andrew Griffith, Adrian Judd, Rachel Mulholland, Joe Perry, Karema Randall and Daniel Wood
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1650; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031650 - 31 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2643
Abstract
The marine environment is a complex system, and with growing human demand, the sustainable use of multiple marine resources is continually challenged. The increasing complexity of overlapping marine activities causes pressures on the environment. Here, we review the fundamental aspects for effective marine [...] Read more.
The marine environment is a complex system, and with growing human demand, the sustainable use of multiple marine resources is continually challenged. The increasing complexity of overlapping marine activities causes pressures on the environment. Here, we review the fundamental aspects for effective marine management, particularly the role of science and scientific evidence to inform marine policy and decision making. The outcomes of internal expert workshops were used to analyse currently applied marine management practices in the UK using four marine sectors in English waters based on the expertise: environmental impact assessments; dredge and disposal operations; marine protected areas; and offshore renewable energy. Strengths, weaknesses, and commonalities between these sectors were assessed in terms of their effectiveness for marine management. Finally, we make recommendations based on the outputs to better inform effective yet sustainable marine management. The importance of increasing accessibility to data, hypothesis-driven environmental monitoring, streamlining funding opportunities and ensuring effective dissemination of data to ensure scientific outcomes and achieve increased robustness of assessments is emphasised. We also recommend that assessment drivers align with the outputs and approaches should be holistic and engage with the public to ensure a shared understanding and vision. Full article
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