Predicting Stakeholder Support for Fishery Policies

Fisheries management has been used to address declining fisheries and threats to livelihood and food security. Past research suggests that public support for fishery policies is a necessary component for sustaining the long-term success of fisheries management. This study predicted public support by examining fishers’ perspectives on co-management and fish catch since the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs), a commonly employed fisheries management tool. Data were obtained from onsite surveys (n = 505) with fishers from three municipalities in Cebu, Philippines: Oslob, Santander, and Samboan. Structural path analyses revealed that beliefs about co-management and fish catch predicted support for fishery policies (R² = 59%). Separate path analyses for each municipality showed that co-management had greater influence in predicting public support for fishery policies in Oslob and Santander. Fish catch was a better predictor for public support for fishery policies in Samboan. Results can help local governments, non-governmental organizations, and fishery managers to prioritize, plan, and improve fisheries management in municipal waters.     

Inshore Stocks of Atlantic Cod Are Important for Rebuilding the East Coast Fishery

Cod (Gadus morhua) inhabit not only the famous fishing banks of the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf, but also inshore waters from Labrador to New England. Relatively little is known about the life history of inshore cod, their historic levels of abundance, and their relationship to offshore stocks. Inshore cod stocks along the East Coast should be managed under a new paradigm that recognizes the importance of these fish to the stock complex. Recently documented fishers' ecological knowledge (FEK) suggests inshore stocks of cod may exist along the Newfoundland and Labrador coastline that have yet to be scientifically documented. Coastal communities adjacent to the local population of cod in Gilbert Bay, Labrador have initiated efforts to protect and manage this stock locally through a co-management approach. The Gilbert Bay experience, FEK, and related science and education could provide insight into ways to protect and enhance the health of local stocks remaining along the northeast coast of North America.     

Hinterland strategies of port authorities: A case study of the port of Barcelona

Port authorities generally focus on the development of the local port area and play a minor role in the development of port hinterlands, whereas shippers, forwarders, barge and rail operators have always been involved in the port-hinterland connection. The increasing importance of intermodal hinterland networks for the competitive position of ports has urged port authorities to become active in the hinterland. This new role has already been suggested by different academics. However, limited empirical evidence exists of port authorities taking stakes in inland terminals or developing transport services. Barcelona, as one of the leading port authorities in this respect, is used as a case study in this paper. The case study provides insight in the components and execution of the hinterland strategy of Barcelona. It shows that the strategy of the port authority of Barcelona and the consequent active involvement in the hinterland has had a significant impact on attracting container volumes from distant hinterlands and improving the accessibility of the port.     

A Network Perspective on Spatially Clustered Territorial Use Rights for Fishers (TURFs) in Vietnam

Co-managed territorial use rights for fishers (TURFs) have shown promise for small-scale fisheries management. The territorial use rights help clarify access and ownership rights, while co-management arrangements create formal relationships between fishers and government. However, there is limited research into the governance processes that influence the interactions and complementarities of TURF zones that are clustered together. In a network of 16 co-managed TURFs in the Cau Hai lagoon, Vietnam, we analyzed management decentralization and the relationship between spatial and networked (social) proximity. Our findings draw attention to several broad lessons for co-managed TURFs: (1) TURFs may operate as isolated silos if co-management agreements do not address relationships among TURF leaders; (2) spatial proximity does not automatically translate to social proximity; and (3) leaders of individuals TURFs need capacity for communication and coordination with other local fisheries leaders. These findings highlight the importance of consideration to the ways that TURF design and implementation influences the relationships and collaboration between fishers, government officials, and other actors.     

Integrating visual management into the coastal zone planning process: The Massachusetts experience

Abstract

This paper concerns the limitations on integrating visual management into the coastal zone planning process as exemplified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a state with a strong tradition of “home rule”; and a CZM implementation program based on a “networking”; of existing state authorities. The implications of the Massachusetts experience are that: (a) management of esthetic resources at the state level continues to be much less of a priority than management of ecological resources such as wetlands or floodplains; (b) visual management has yet to engender a strongly supportive constituency beyond that concerned with historic preservation; (c) project review focusing on visual impacts may be a more appropriate activity for local rather than state government; and (d) the technical aspects of visual management or impact assessment are far more advanced than their political acceptability. Political realities, together with the decision that implementation of the program should be based on a networking of existing authorities, thus determined the degree to which visual management could be incorporated into the state's program. As a result, the program's principal instruments of visual management became a strengthening of existing programs such as Wild and Scenic Rivers, reliance on wetland protection statutes to indirectly protect natural scenic values, and the use of the federal consistency provisions of the Coastal Zone Management Act to foster focused growth patterns through provision of publicly funded infrastructures. Esthetically oriented project review, with the exception of potential impacts on historic sites, was left to the discretion of local government, and a technical assistance program was created to provide funding or professional skills to communities interested in developing their own esthetic controls or design review processes. Maine, Rhode Island, and other New England states have followed a similar course.     

Community Perceptions of a World Heritage Nomination Process: The Ningaloo Coast Region of Western Australia

The remote Ningaloo Coast region, the location of Australia's largest fringing coral reef, was designated as World Heritage (WH) in 2011 based on its outstanding natural values. In the past, the WH nomination process predominantly involved experts and state officials. More recently, local community involvement has become a required part of the process, representing a move toward participatory governance that can potentially influence WH designation. Understanding community perceptions of the WH nomination process provides insights into the consequences of community involvement. Interviews were conducted with key local community members involved in the Ningaloo Coast WH nomination. Interviews focused on the perceptions and experience of the nomination process and local meanings of WH designation. Results indicated that while there was support for WH designation, the nomination process was seen as controversial. Community involvement was dominated by local political and social concerns, mistrust, misinformation, and perceived unfairness. Concerns were influenced by past and current government actions and decision-making in the region. The article identifies some challenges associated with local community involvement in a WH nomination process. These challenges raise questions about participatory governance and how local community's engage in the WH nomination process for coastal regions identified by experts as globally significant.     

U.S. ports: evolution and structure

U.S. ports are facing competitive pressures similar to those being felt by ports elsewhere around the world. Despite the public enterprise nature of U.S. port authorities, they tend to function as 'business-like' organizations. This enterprise-like approach stems from their evolution from being primarily private railroad ports in the 19th century to public competitive port authorities in the 20th century. This paper provides an overview of the evolution of U.S. ports and the ongoing effect of earlier legislation, the varied resulting institutional structures, and current national and regional level issues. Although there is no national ports plan or strategy in the U.S.A. (the Constitution limits federal actions in the ports field) the federal government is involved in providing dredging services through the Army Corps of Engineers, navigation aids via the Coast Guard and other minor port-related services. U.S. ports typically come under the jurisdiction of state or local governments. Increasing competition coupled with other port issues (growing financial constraints, difficulties in obtaining dredging permits, environmental concerns and restricted landside access) is forcing some U.S. ports to enter into strategic alliances with others at a regional level.     

Economic policies and seaports: The diversity of port policies

This paper contrasts the economic policies adopted towards seaports by different countries in terms of their approaches to national, regional or local control. Various examples are presented and described, together with some of the difficulties that have been encountered. Examples are cited where national, regional and local governments have become involved, even though constitutional provisions appeared to present this. It is argued that national, regional and local governments all have interests in the efficiency of ports from various points of view; hence all should be involved. The arguments for and difficulties experienced in centralized planning and co-ordination are also discussed.

The variety of activities directly undertaken by port authorities is discussed, with the extreme positions labelled 'landlord' and 'comprehensive'. The remarkable variety of intermediate positions is also described. Whilst oversimplification is dangerous, the opportunities for expanding the private sector are analysed, even to the extent of wondering whether public sector port authorities are needed at all. This, therefore is the subject of the next paper.     

A Review of Beach Bye-Law Usage in Supporting Coastal Management in Ireland

Coastal areas are commonly the focus of a range of human activities and uses. Beaches are one example of multi-use coastal environments, accommodating activities linked to leisure and recreation, amenity, conservation and business, often simultaneously. Ireland is no different in this regard, as its beach resources provide a range of goods and services of societal value. Ireland has 16 coastal counties and their associated local authorities have a beach management remit, a role that can present a number of challenges. The use of beach bye-laws is one option to support management of beach environments by local authorities. Local authority personnel tasked with beach management from each coastal local authority were surveyed to assess the actual and potential role of beach bye-laws in contributing to more effective management of beach environments and to broader coastal management. Usage of beach bye-laws varied across local authority areas and evidence suggested that the efficacy, use, and implementation of beach bye-laws differed from county to county. Beach bye-laws offer potential but interaction with other initiatives as part of a wider program for coastal management may yield improved results.     

A quantitative risk analysis by using interval type-2 fuzzy FMEA approach: the case of oil spill

ABSTRACT

Risk assessment in maritime domain is one of the most cited topics since maritime transportation poses potential hazard for human life, marine environment and property. To mitigate risk and enhance safety awareness in maritime transportation, safety researchers have been seeking proactive solutions. This article prompts a quantitative risk-based approach combining interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2FSs) with failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to perform a comprehensive risk analysis. Thus, potential failure modes and their effects are revealed by calculating risk prioritisation numbers (RPNs). Whilst the FMEA method provides a robust risk analysing tool with relevant control options, the IT2FSs deals with ambiguity and vagueness of linguistic assessment of decision-makers through the FMEA. Hence, expert’s linguistic assessment in risk assessment can be transformed into useful information in terms of enhancing safety and pollution prevention in maritime industry. To demonstrate the proposed approach, potential failures and effects of a real shipboard oil spill case are handled. The findings show that incomplete information exchanged with local maritime authorities, malfunction of oil skimmer and poor organization of shoreline clean-up team are the most important failures during case of oil spill. The proposed approach provides not only theoretical insight into the maritime transportation industry but also practical contributions to chemical/oil tanker safety and environmental protection by mitigating risk in terms of technical or operational aspects.     

An Alert System for Beach Hazard Management in the Balearic Islands

A real-time beach hazard level associated with nearshore hydrodynamics is presented in this article. The suitability of the discussed alert system is illustrated via its application to fifteen beaches in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean Sea) providing nearshore safety conditions for beach safety manager. The system provides daily forecasts of nearshore wave conditions using the deep water wave forecasts. The shallow water wave data (wave height, period, and direction) together with the morphology of the site (presence of bars, capes, beach type, etc.) are used to define a hazard level (low, medium, and high) associated with local conditions. The resulting hazard level is transmitted via SMS to lifeguards and local authorities for real-time beach management. The low computational cost of this system after the initial implementation and subsequent calibration results in a very suitable approach for beach management in order to mitigate risks related to local hydrodynamics.     

船舶在狭窄、浅水航道船行波的数值模拟

狭窄、浅水航道船行波对内河航运安全、航道维护和水域生态环境等存在诸多负面影响。针对狭窄、浅水航道船舶兴波问题,选择内河巡逻艇,基于较为成熟的CFD技术,应用重叠网格(Overset mesh)、两相流、自由表面(VOF)、六自由度(6-DOF)等物理模型和Realizable 湍流模型,模拟分析了船行波波形耦合、反射生成的尾浪以及与岸边相互作用的拍岸现象,并对4.2米某巡逻艇在水深0.95米距离航道2米条件下航行时的升沉、纵倾和水动压力进行监测。研究表明,内河巡逻艇在狭窄、浅水航道波形耦合、反射以及拍岸现象明显,浅水效应、升沉响应、纵摇响应逼真;兴波拍岸位置 与 处的拍岸波高分别为0.02373与0.037065米。本文研究为解释狭窄、浅水航道船行波及航道其他船舶与岸边、桩柱等的相互作用具有指导意义。     

The Theory and Practice of Coastal Area Planning: Linking Strategic Planning to Local Communities

Integrated coastal management (ICM) has been slowly accepted over the last decade as a unifying approach for coastal planning and management throughout the world. Coastal planning aimed at achieving the objectives of ICM can be implemented by varying processes and faces many challenges. One major challenge for coastal planning is to adapt the well-developed theoretical principles of ICM to practical and understandable outcomes in local areas. Associated with this challenge is the need to balance coastal planning objectives for conservation and economic development of a nation or state/province with the objectives of the local community. This article describes a three-tiered approach to coastal planning in Victoria, Australia, which will be of value to other countries, particularly those with subnational coastal planning jurisdictions. This approach not only has the aim of balancing subnational (e.g., state government) and local objectives, but also of applying the theoretical concept of ICM in practice on the ground. In addition, the approach sets out to achieve a sense of ownership of the planning process by local communities by maximizing their involvement at all levels of planning and also by making the state strategy as easy to understand and follow as possible.     

Attitudes toward Participation in Cooperative Coastal Management: Four European Case Studies

Findings are reported of the VALCOAST project that had as one of its research objectives to ascertain: (a) stakeholder willingness to participate and cooperate in coastal management (CM), given local and national CM practices; and (b) stakeholder assessment of the "accessibility" and "friendliness" of current CM processes. The project involved case studies and stakeholder interviews in Belgium, Greece, Spain, and the UK. Major findings include: (1) most stakeholders are willing to cooperate in three out of the four case areas, but not to the same extent; (2) the participating "officials" in the case studies are expecting the stakeholders to be less willing to cooperate than the latter indicate; (3) stakeholders in all case studies do not expect to be heard by those responsible for CM, find it difficult to learn about the relevant institutional arrangements, and consider the communication of the objectives and anticipated impacts of CM policies to be inadequate. It is concluded that the strong evidence of stakeholders' potential willingness to cooperate in local initiatives is very encouraging for a devolved, regional approach to European Union coastal management policies, provided that this potential is capitalized upon in such policy processes.     

Legal and institutional factors affecting mariculture in texas

Abstract

Aquaculture and its specialized cousin, mariculture, provide some potential additional food sources and economic revenues. Technological barriers to increased mariculture production are being removed, but many legal and institutional barriers remain. Examples of the current and potential regulation of mariculture in Texas by state and federal authorities are examined. The effect of various state and federal regulations on the development of mariculture is discussed from a legal and institutional viewpoint. The potential for growth of mariculture is considered questionable without regulatory reforms, particularly at the federal level.     

Altruism,selfishness and coastal resources

Abstract

The basis for coastal zone management in the United States is established in legislation. In comparison, Canadian federal and provincial governments have adopted a piecemeal approach for managing a variety of concerns examined here: water quality, ecological protection, public access, aesthetics, natural hazards, and water dependency. As a result of this approach, which is characterized by a minimum of federal, provincial, and interjurisdictional coordination, the British Columbia coastal zone is showing signs of stress. For example, major shellfish harvesting areas are being lost to water pollution; ecologically sensitive habitats are being consumed by urban, commercial, and industrial expansion; recreation and tourism opportunities are being impaired by clear cutting and other inappropriate developments; and infrastructure is allowed in flood and erosion‐prone areas. Recommendations to improve the approach to coastal management in British Columbia include a variety of innovations. New federal and provincial policies, legislation, institutions, and experimentation with local and regional integrated resource planning are required to better govern the coastal zone. Increased support for existing agencies, public involvement, and access to information as well as more common use of environmental impact studies are needed to justify proposed coastal developments.     

Challenges and Prospects of Fisheries Co-Management under a Marine Extractive Reserve Framework in Northeastern Brazil

In Brazil, Marine Extractive Reserves—MERs (Reservas Extrativistas Marinhas) represent the most significant government-supported effort to protect the common property resources upon which traditional small-scale fishers depend. From an initial small-scale experience in 1992, MERs have expanded countrywide, now encompassing 30 units (9,700 km²) and nearly 60,000 fishers. Despite such escalating interest in the model, there is little research on the effectiveness of MERs. In this article, we discuss relevant parts of the history and examine the current situation of the fisheries co-management initiative in the Marine Extractive Reserve of Corumbau, which was created in 2000 as the first MER to encompass coral reefs and reef fisheries. We describe the Extractive Reserve co-management arrangement and its main policy and legislative challenges. Finally, we discuss the prospects for the use of MERs as management frameworks for traditional small-scale fisheries in Brazil.     

Solving procurement problems in public transport: Examining multi-principal roles in relation to effective control mechanisms

Despite the EU’s increasing role in regulating public transport procurement, few studies have considered this aspect when analysing procurement problems of public transport. This paper examines how the institutional relationships between different actors, including international governmental bodies, in public transport effects the possibility of exerting control over a county public transport authority (PTA) in a multi-principal setting. The analysis is carried out using empirical material from an infringement process including a Swedish PTA and the EU. The conclusions have clear policy implications for the procedural order when exerting control over the PTA in cases of procurement problems. It is for example shown, that the implementation process would be much more efficient if the regulations allowed the EU to impose sanctions directly towards the local authorities without having to involve the national government when the procurement laws are violated.     

The heritage coast program in England and Wales

Abstract

The Countryside Commission for England and Wales has adopted a coastal management system that identifies high‐value scenic areas and manages these as Heritage Coasts. The Heritage Coast program is a collaborative one between central and local government, with the central government providing technical expertise and half the funds and local authorities providing development control and staff. The approach has been successful in having most of the important scenic areas designated as Heritage Coasts, but has been less successful at getting active on‐ground management on the coasts. Less than half the defined Heritage Coasts have management plans or Heritage Coast staff. Reasons for the slow adoption of the program are discussed.     

Empowering Stakeholders to Manage Stinging Jellyfish: A Perspective

A global challenge is dealing with the risk of envenomation by the stinging jellyfish. Those who are affected include: the people stung, tourist providers; diving and adventure operations, beach and park authorities, life guards, commercial marine operators as well as local and centralized government; we focus on tourism. There is a diversity of jellyfish that pose a risk and they vary greatly in their ecology. Here, we propose five eco-groups of jellyfish to assist in prioritizing estimates of the risks to a broad clientele. Eco-groups are: (1) “Pulse species” that impact on beaches for short well-defined periods; (2) “Shelf-wide species;” (3) “Nearshore species;” (4) “Drifter species” and (5) “Deep sea species.” Great spatial variation and strong seasonality in the occurrence and abundance of jellyfish is the rule, rather than the exception, and this indicates that local knowledge and preventative action is the key to reducing the risk of envenomation. Managers can take control by getting involved in: predicting risk, detecting the presence of jellyfish and advising on/or providing barriers and protection, first responses and treatment of sting victims. Good communication and record keeping is critical within the stakeholder chain.