Browsing by Author "Virdin, John"

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Open Access
20 Years of Government Responses to the Global Plastic Pollution Problem: The Plastics Policy Inventory
(2020-05-15) Virdin, John; Karasik, Rachel; Vegh, Tibor; Pickle, Amy; Diana, Zoie; Rittschof, Daniel; Bering, Janet; Caldas, Juan
Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global problem that requires cooperation from a wide range of groups (e.g., governments, producers, consumers, researchers, civil society). This study aims to synthesize the policy response of governments to the global plastic pollution problem, as a basis for more rigorous monitoring of progress (as called for in Resolution 4/6 of the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) meeting) and to inform future public policies.
Open Access
2023 Annual Trends in Plastics Policy: A Brief
(2023-08-31) Karasik, Rachel; Vegh, Tibor; Utz, Ria; Dominguez, Andrew; Skarjune, Melissa; Merlo, Juan; Dixon, Natalie; Virdin, John
In the first annual update of Annual Trends in Plastics Policy, Nicholas Institute researchers find that plastics policy enactment continues to surge and was not negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, researchers found more than 300 additional policies to index in the Plastics Policy Inventory, upon which this report is based, for a total of 894 policies. The 2022 update to the inventory increased the total by more than 50%. However, gaps in scope and implementation remain. Though more policies address additional types of single-use plastics, most still target only plastic bags. Microplastics and marine sources remain relatively unaddressed, and economic instruments are a minority of policy instruments used. To better gauge policy implementation, researchers established a new effectiveness policy library to accompany the 2022 update. These studies indicate that, while underused in existing policy, greater governmental use of economic instruments (e.g., taxes, fees, levies) and information instruments (e.g., awareness campaigns to communicate other instruments to the public, education initiatives, etc.) would aid in enacting effective policies in the future.
Open Access
A Case Study Review of The Actual and Potential Role That Multinational Corporations Play in Global Mangrove Governance
(2022-04-21) Fahrenholz, Jacqueline
Since 1970, global mangrove loss has peaked and slowed with recent restoration efforts having some success. Though current instruments used have not proven to be sufficient to return global mangrove cover to historical levels. This study aimed to answer to what extent the private sector is contributing to mangrove reforestation over the last 10 years and what the driving factors behind this are. News articles were searched for examples of such initiatives, and their underlying motivations were identified. Across the last 10 years and 1,147 returned articles, only 5 instances were discovered, suggesting that this is a new phenomenon. In each of these cases, the companies were motivated to voluntarily undertake mangrove restoration because of the added benefit of carbon credits. These findings suggest that public private partnerships may provide support for success moving forward as private companies have larger sources of available funding. Inclusive policy will also be a necessary component to join entities together.
Open Access
A Deep Dive into Hawaii’s Seafood Industry: Reducing Fish Processing Waste
(2024-04-25) Seagle, Jenna
Fish processing waste generated throughout the Hawaiian Islands presents both a challenge and an opportunity for local seafood distributors. This research explores potential waste management strategies to alleviate the negative impacts of seafood waste, increase product development, and grow revenue for Hawai‘i-based seafood distributors. Through a survey of seafood distributors in Hawai‘i and a document analysis of strategies from other regions, particularly the Iceland Ocean Cluster, this research identifies potential value-added products and management practices to enhance revenue streams and reduce the adverse effects of fish processing waste. The survey results reveal the current composition, amount, and management strategies regarding seafood processing waste in Hawai‘i. The document analysis identifies successful models of collaboration, value-added product development, financing opportunities, technological innovation, and market development. The recommendations outlined in this report provide a roadmap for navigating challenges and identifying opportunities to minimize fish processing waste and maximize revenue within Hawaii’s seafood industry.
Open Access
A Global Analysis of the Climate Risk of Women in Small-Scale Fisheries
(2023-04-28) Deeg, Claudia Suzanne
Open Access
Annual Trends in Plastics Policy: A Brief
(2022-02-23) Karasik, Rachel; Bering, Janet; Griffin, Madison; Diana, Zoie; Laspada, Christian; Schachter, Jonathan; Wang, Yifan; Pickle, Amy; Virdin, John
In 2020, the Plastics Policy Inventory and accompanying report, 20 Years of Government Responses to the Global Plastic Pollution Problem, were published, providing a baseline for the trends in government responses to the plastic pollution problem, as well as highlighting some gaps. Since that time, momentum has grown toward negotiation of an international agreement as a collective response to the problem, even as governments and resources have been strained by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This first brief builds upon the 2020 report and baseline by adding new data on national policy responses to plastic pollution from 2020 and 2021. Assessment of the more up-to-date policy inventory suggests that the twenty-year trend of an increase in the number of national policies introduced to reduce plastic pollution has stalled. While additional data on national policies may subsequently become available to revise these estimates, if confirmed they would suggest a pause in government responses to the problem, coinciding with the pandemic (though we cannot show causality). Our goal is for this brief to be the first in a regular series of annual updates on the trends in government responses to the global plastic pollution problem.
Open Access
Assessing Inclusion of Social Equity Principles in 30x30 Coastal Conservation and Management Policies Using an Access-based Equity Framework
(2023-04-28) Yang, Fanny
Coastal Indigenous peoples and local communities face issues of non-equitable distribution of coastal resources when conservation policies restrict entry to marine areas. Restrictions bar traditional community access to such spaces for economic, social, and cultural purposes. The Convention of Biological Diversity’s adoption of the Post-2020 Global Diversity Framework in December 2022 calls for a global initiative of conserving at least 30 percent land and sea areas by 2030. For coastal communities that rely on marine resources for their way of life, it is essential that future coastal conservation efforts balance ecological preservation with social equity needs. This paper seeks to address how well national governments are integrating social and equity values when designing coastal conservation policies by using access as a social equity proxy lens. The research resulted in 1) an access-based equity framework from a limited equitable marine conservation literature review and 2) an equity code book based on the developed equity framework, as potential policy analysis tools that can be used by researchers and policymakers to assess equity gaps in sets of national coastal conservation policies. The two tools were applied to example scenarios in Australia and India. The paper includes recommendations for policymakers, governmental coastal resource managers, and researchers on how to use the developed framework and codebook to assess equitable access for coastal IPLCs when designing and implementing coastal conservation policies.
Open Access
Assessing the Potential for Transferability of Access Rights to Enhance Sustainability in Large Pacific Tropical Fisheries
(2020-09-08) Aqorau, Transform; Azmi, Kamal; Havice, Elizabeth; Kaye, Stuart; Kininmonth, Stuart; Mataika, Moses; McTee, Sarah; Morrison, Anthony; Olsen, Lars; Soboil, Mark; Suamalie, Siale; Taufa, Salome; Thomas-Smyth, Alice; Virdin, John
This study was conducted in order to identify options for the transferability of fishing rights in the context of Pacific Island commercial longline and purse seine tuna fisheries (where the rights are denominated in units of fishing effort, i.e., fishing days), including the scale of potential benefits and costs to countries and territories in the region, and key issues that would need to be considered by decision makers in order to develop specific policy proposals. The study does not aim to predict the costs and benefits of specific policy proposals for transferability, but rather to conduct an initial scoping that would allow for such a detailed analysis to take place, and to provide a sound basis of information for policy dialogue in the region. The motivation for conducting this study was to provide information that can assist policy makers and fisheries managers in the region to consider if this policy instrument (enhanced transferability of fishing rights) could support achievement of the goals agreed in the Regional Roadmap for Sustainable Pacific Fisheries. Achieving these goals will take significant effort in this, one of the world’s largest and most complex fisheries to manage. The tuna fisheries most relevant to Pacific Island countries and territories (PICT) are the units of analysis here: the purse seine fishery, the tropical longline fishery, and the southern albacore fishery. Numerous successes and innovations in governance of the purse seine fishery have led to exponential growth in economic benefits for Pacific Island countries and territories, but as this growth has slowed, future gains are likely to be incremental and result from greater efforts to strengthen governance and enhance efficiency—such as introducing transferability. At the same time, economic benefits to the region from the two longline fisheries have stagnated, and governance innovations are both needed and currently underway or in development. This study was proposed by a group of regional thought leaders in part to consider if transferability might be one such innovation, based on examples in other fisheries where limited fishing rights were allocated to vessels and operators with differing levels of efficiency, and the creation of a secondary market in these rights allowed for vessels and/or operators to trade in order to increase the overall efficiency of the fishery and economic outcomes.
Open Access
Combatting the Threats to Large Scale Marine Protected Areas: How International Partnerships Can Ensure the Success of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary
(2021-04-30) Burgwyn, Collinson + "III"
In October 2015, President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. of the Republic of Palau signed the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act that established 80% of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone as a marine protected area (MPA). At the time of signature, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) was the sixth-largest MPA in the world at 500,000 km2 and a continuation of Palau’s international leadership in conservation efforts with other examples being the establishment of the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009 (Horstmeyer, 2016). The goals of the PNMS are to promote healthy ocean populations and ecosystems, food security, and sustainable development while the main threat to these goals is Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing (IUU). This project will apply the theory of change to demonstrate why IUU fishing is the greatest threat and present recommendations on how Palau should bolster international partnerships between other national governments and non-governmental organizations to achieve the goals and purpose of the PNMS.
Open Access
Contribution of Fisheries to Food and Nutrition Security: Current Knowledge, Policy, and Research
(2018-04-14) Virdin, John; Bennett, Abigail; Basurto, Xavier; Patil, Pawan; Kleisner, Kristin; Rader, Doug
In the context of the recently agreed-on United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the goal to end hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition, this report synthesizes the current understanding of capture fisheries’ contributions to food and nutrition security and explores drivers of those contributions. Further, the report examines how ensuring the sustainability of these fisheries—they provide nearly one-fifth of the average per capita animal protein intake for more than 3.1 billion people—and recognizing any synergies between conservation and food security objectives could be important considerations during policy development.
Open Access
Evaluating Contributions of Small-Scale Fisheries on Food Security via Fisheries Indicators, Economic Inequalities, and Gender
(2023-04-28) Huff, Arianna; McFarland, Tyler; Martinez, Laura; Laspada, Christian
The contributions of small-scale fisheries (SSF) to food security are underappreciated globally. This issue is further exacerbated in the Galapagos Archipelago, where the majority of food sources are imported from mainland Ecuador. In collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), our report underscores the contributions of SSF in the Galapagos through the lens of food security, economic inequalities, and gender. Using the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) four pillars of food security – availability, use, access, and stability – we identified catch, price of fish, access based on income, consumption patterns, and nutrition to be the most significant indicators of SSF contributions in the Galapagos. Furthermore, our report includes a toolkit that measures the contributions of SSF, geospatial figures, and policy recommendations to CDF. Our recommendations seek to promote the health of permanent residents through direct access to fresh seafood and to promote sustainable fisheries practices through legislation.
Open Access
EVALUATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC MANGROVE SYSTEMS
(2018-04-27) Navarro, Vanessa; Fan, Jianing
Although their total area constitutes only a small percentage of global tropical forests, mangroves supply a wide range of goods and services that benefit people, flora and fauna. They protect coastlines from the impact of storms, provide habitat for numerous fish species, improve water quality and even store carbon, thereby alleviating the effects of global climate change. And yet, despite offering all of these benefits, mangrove systems are rapidly shrinking worldwide. To reverse this trend, many studies have attempted to place economic values on the ecosystem services that mangroves provide. In this report, we focus on the mangrove forests of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape (ETPS), which includes the countries of Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia. Through a meta-regression of mangrove ecosystem service valuation studies and by utilizing the MangroveCarbon toolbox, we aim to determine the monetary values of the mangrove ecosystem services in this region, and to investigate the factors that most influence those values. The hope is that our analyses will better inform future conservation efforts in the ETPS.
Open Access
Exploring the Social Costs of Plastics: Global Review of Impacts and Economic Damages
(2024-04-26) Baker, Anne-Elisabeth; Ekberg, Jon; Sutaria, Sadaf Sadruddin; Moreno Ramos, Juan Camilo
The world currently has a unique opportunity to address pressing issues with plastic pollution in our global environment with an international legally binding agreement. It is imperative that we understand the impacts and harms – economic and social – of plastic pollution so the resulting treaty can rely upon robust scientific evidence. This project focuses on evaluating the social costs of plastics by assessing the state of science available on the impacts of plastic throughout its life cycle. This study aims to help the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University in understanding the knowledge gaps that exist on impacts of plastic pollution and how these are being evaluated to account for economic externalities In collaboration with a climate research grant team at the Nicholas Institute, we developed a system of categories for impacts of plastic throughout the entirety of its life cycle. Prior to this Master’s Project, the research team at the Nicholas Institute had consulted with experts of multiple disciplines on best approaches for the feasibility and utility of the social costs of plastics. Experts suggested a similar approach to the one used in the Social Cost of Carbon framework and the development of the system of categories (typology matrix for the purposes of this research). Using foundational literature, we developed definitions for the typologies and economic damages to then obtain search terms to be used in the literature review. We developed a semi-systematic methodology for conducting a global literature review, which is informed by the foundational literature and a typology matrix of plastic’s impacts and economic damages previously mentioned. We complement the resulting framework with outcomes and comments from a multidisciplinary expert workshop held in January 2024 in Washington, D.C. We presented preliminary results of the literature review and received guidance from the experts at the workshop in identifying the gaps. Based on 1,841 data points from 300 unique sources identified in our literature review, this report offers insights on the knowledge gaps in the plastics domain and a discussion on the state of science regarding the social costs of plastic. This study can help inform future research agendas and considerations to account for when measuring the social costs of plastics. The subsequent goal of this study is to inform policy discussions at a global scale with a preliminary understanding of the social cost of plastic with the available scientific data. Policies such as EPR schemes are discussed as solutions to this global plastic issue and they can be set more effectively by understanding the social costs. We delivered a database of impacts of plastic pollution at different geographical levels around the world. Overall, this report aims to inform future researchers and policymakers on three key areas: 1) The state of knowledge on the impacts of plastic pollution; 2) Provide preliminary considerations for a framework on the social costs of plastics; and 3) Initiate discussion amongst the multiple disciplines and policymakers working on the wide array of plastic impacts through its lifecycle. The main results of our literature review point to a huge gap at the mid-stream stage of the plastics lifecycle, skewed distribution and valuation of impacts towards the marine environment and the need for consistency in units and methodologies in quantifying impacts and valuing damages from plastics. We highlight the importance of the latter in going forward on the plastic pollution research domain as a need for fostering collaboration and actions between multiple stakeholders and researchers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most recent literature review investigating the current state of knowledge of the social costs of plastics.
Open Access
Identifying New and Innovative Partnerships for North Carolina Sea Grant
(2016-04-29) Cedzo, Emily; Ferguson, Marianne; Koboski, Theodore
The National Sea Grant College program was established in 1966 under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in order to unite universities with public and private sector partners. The program’s goal is to support coastal research intended to yield economic and social benefits. North Carolina Sea Grant (NCSG) was founded in 1970 and designated as the nation’s 12th Sea Grant College in 1976. NCSG works to provide unbiased, science-based information to enhance the sustainable use and conservation of ocean and coastal resources to benefit communities, the economy and the environment in North Carolina. Given its unique position as a producer of objective research and education, NCSG partners with a wide array of different stakeholders in the North Carolina community. In order to expand their current resource base and extend their impact across the state, NCSG seeks new opportunities to engage with external entities with whom they are not already affiliated. The objective of this research is to identify potential industry, non-governmental, academic, and/or state and local program partnerships in which collaboration would be beneficial to furthering NCSG’s mission, increasing the impact and efficiency of their work. The methods of analysis for this project were twofold: (1) to first understand the structure and function of Sea Grant, specifically NCSG and its current partnership framework and (2) to identify and evaluate innovative potential partnerships for the future of NCSG. We performed program evaluation in order to assess NCSG’s current operations, impacts, and reporting. In order to map the current landscape of stakeholders and the capacities at which these partnerships operate, we utilized NCSG’s website and three sets of documents: The National Sea Grant College Program’s list of partners, NCSG’s Program Focus Area Reports from 2010-2013, and the mailing list for NCSG’s magazine, Coastwatch. For details on NCSG’s current thought process on partnerships, we reviewed the minutes of the NCSG Board’s Partnership Advisory Group. Next, we developed and conducted a survey of the NCSG team to assess their most significant existing partnerships and areas where team members wished to see partnerships formed in the future. Through these results we developed new partnership language to help NCSG categorize the capacities of each of the partnerships they maintain and to provide consistency and clarity when discussing these both internally and externally. Next, we performed a gap analysis to identify areas within NCSG’s existing partner network where new, potential partnerships could be formed. By using the new partnership capacity language alongside NCSG’s current focus areas, we assessed past and current partners to find any existing gaps. Through our analysis, several findings were discovered. First, NCSG has engaged with at least 106 unique partners, including both past and present. These existing partners were sorted into partnership category types to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how NCSG’s partnership efforts are distributed. Next, as a result of our gap analysis, we were able to identify three unique partnership category types that are lacking in NCSG’s current partner framework – community groups, non-governmental organizations, and entities in the private sector. Using our newly created partnership capacity language, we were then able to identify gaps in the depth of NCSG’s partnerships. Of these partnership capacity types, NCSG could nurture more financial and outreach partnerships in order to address areas for improvement in their engagement efforts. Conclusions drawn from the methodology and findings can be used to inform next steps that NCSG can take in its collaborative work with partners. The following are the recommendations presented to NCSG with a goal to enhance their past, current and future engagement with partners: 1. Incorporate new language to classify and define types of partnership capacities to use during internal and/or external dialogue and reporting in regards to engagement practices. 2. Utilize gap analysis results to identify areas for improvement where new partners should be identified and sought out. 3. Seven new potential partners for future collaboration and their respective identifying information. 4. Principles for effective partnerships that represent best practices that can be used to guide NCSG and their partners as they engage. In conclusion, this project utilized program evaluation, stakeholder mapping, survey development and administration, and gap analysis to identify areas for improvement for NCSG to gain more depth and breadth in their future partnerships. As an organization that provides unbiased, science-based information, NCSG will continue to have numerous opportunities to create long-lasting, beneficial partnerships that will deepen the impact of their work in North Carolina. We suggest that NCSG utilize our above recommendations in order to move forward in the engagement processes. Once the NCSG team and Advisory Board review the findings in this report, next steps will be to further examine the seven potential partners we recommended. Team members or Advisory Board representatives should initiate contact with these organizations to explore whether opportunities to pursue partnerships exist. The partnership capacity language can be used to aid the Advisory Board in determining these partners and others for future projects and programs. The principles for effective partnerships can guide the initiation stages of any new partnership while also providing a general framework for engagement with these new entities. In addition, the 106 unique partners identified can be used to update NCSG’s internal list of partners. NCSG should maintain this list and keep it updated as they move forward, in order to better reflect on past and current work carried out with their respective partners. Altogether, NCSG possesses great potential to further extend their reach and increase their impact across North Carolina, expanding on their already tremendous accomplishments.
Open Access
Initial Assessment of Gender Considerations in Plastics Policy
(2023-08-31) Dixon, Natalie; Skarjune, Melissa; Mason, Sara; Karasik, Rachel; Virdin, John
Globally, women are disproportionately burdened and impacted by the harmful effects of plastic across the life cycle of products. These burdens vary across cultural, socioeconomic, and political contexts, and based on how women engage with plastic, but broadly include health and safety impacts, access to opportunities in the waste sector, and exposures to harmful plastic-associated chemicals. This initial assessment considers how women, people who are assigned female at birth and have been socialized as females, and/or female-identified people are considered in plastics policy scope and implementation. Researchers identified 25 documents at the intersection of plastics policy and gender, indicating gender is rarely considered when crafting plastics policy. However, evidence of gender-differentiated impacts of plastics policy is emerging. Plastics bans, waste management policies, and economic development funds often ignore or do not consider women’s roles as heads of households or informal waste sector workers, both of which expose women to excesses of plastics and their negative effects. Despite this, some policies that do consider gender were identified. Most are primarily focused on incorporating women in the waste management sector and alleviating the burden of low-income women from complying with plastic bag fees. None address the risks associated with chemical exposure across the plastics life cycle. These policies, alongside expert interviews, suggest that the path toward tangible consideration of gender-differentiated impacts associated with plastic and plastics policies requires, at a minimum, ensuring the inclusion of women in policymaking, waste management industries, and research and development. The reviewed literature emphasizes that only when power structures are reexamined and corrected for will there be meaningful changes to the ways humanity designs plastics, manages waste, and informs the public about the products they consume.
Open Access
Innovation in the Blue Economy: Opportunities in Shipping, Aquaculture, and Offshore Wind for Climate Change Mitigation
(2021-04-30) Riddick, Sage; Swanson, Megan; Snodgrass, Lisa
As the world’s population continues to grow, increasing pressure will be placed on the ocean’s valuable resources. By 2030, nearly two-thirds of the fish on our plates will be farmed at sea; by 2040, global offshore wind capacity is projected to increase fifteen-fold; and by 2050, seaborne trade will have nearly quadrupled. An aspiration to balance sustainable economic growth, improved living standards, and ecosystem conservation has given rise to the term “blue economy” and an increased interest in the emerging bluetech area. We conducted semi-structured interviews with leaders in bluetech and experts in the shipping, aquaculture, and offshore wind industries. We identified the main risks that climate change poses to these industries and analyzed current and future opportunities in technology and innovation to decarbonize these industries. From this analysis, we developed the following takeaways: 1) Cross-sector partnerships allow companies to capitalize on advancements made in each individual industry, and should be pursued; 2) Digitization is a key element of improving efficiencies within all three sectors, and companies should look to bluetech hubs for promising digital innovations; 3) Utilizing economies of scale can drive down costs and reduce emissions; 4) All three sectors recognize that they have a role in increasing social equity and inclusion but so far have been slow to act toward that goal.
Open Access
Investigating Application of a Seafood Recommendation Program for Small-Scale Pacific Salmon Fisheries: A Case Study of a Rights-Based Chinook Fishery
(2024-04-26) Bernaus, Katrina
With thirty-five percent of the world’s marine fish stocks overfished (FAO 2022), eco-recommendation programs have emerged as market-oriented solutions to promote sustainable fisheries, focusing on consumer behaviour to drive changes in fishing (Wakamatsu & Wakamatsu, 2017). However, most seafood certification and recommendation schemes focus on large-scale, industrial fisheries (Wakamatsu & Wakamatsu, 2017). While being small-scale is not inherently sustainable, recent discourse on the importance of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development (Franz et al., 2023) highlights the need to ensure small-scale fisheries are not left behind in defining sustainable seafood or meeting the requirements of existing sustainability definitions. Further, some seafood products are primarily fished by small-scale or community-based operations and therefore mostly left out of seafood certification or recommendations. Here, we explore the Ocean Wise sustainable seafood initiative, a Canadian eco-recommendation program typically applied to large-scale fisheries. Ocean Wise has struggled to include small-scale, rights-based, and Canadian Pacific salmon fisheries in their recommendation program. Their assessment process is also based on Western science and takes a desk-based approach, limiting the knowledge that Ocean Wise’s analysts can include in their assessment. Knowing many small-scale and rights-based fisheries are sustainable in their implementation and that local and Indigenous knowledge can provide substantial information on fishery sustainability, we seek to understand how to best incorporate small-scale salmon fisheries into the Ocean Wise assessment processes. We apply a case study of a chinook (suuhaa) near-terminal fishery on Mowachaht Muchalaht First Nation territory in British Columbia, collecting interviews and performing qualitative analysis. Thereby, we investigate the utility of the Ocean Wise fishery recommendation program for a small-scale, rights-based Pacific salmon fishery and explore how local and Indigenous knowledge holders can supplement and modify the assessment and recommendation process. We gather that the Ocean Wise recommendation program is interesting and useful to respondents in our case study but comes with context-dependent challenges. Overall, the attitude towards the Ocean Wise recommendation program and the idea of a “sustainability” label for the chinook fishery was positive. In particular, fishers were responsive to a potential higher product value and expanded market opportunities. However, infrastructure challenges for the remote fishery would limit the success of only using an eco-recommendation to achieve such benefits. When comparing interview data with Ocean Wise’s framework, we found several synergies between the information interviewees were able to provide. Respondents also provide substantial information about where Ocean Wise Analysts can later seek information to bridge particular data gaps. Our results suggest that the Ocean Wise assessment framework prioritizes socio-ecological sustainability, ecosystem-based management, the inclusion of rightsholders, and responses to environmental risks when assessing small-scale fisheries. Emergent themes in our data also help illuminate how the Mowachaht Muchalaht fishing community defines sustainability and the indicators that may help measure social sustainability in a standardized assessment process. Further, we emphasize the need for an inclusive, adaptable, and fisher-centric approach to seafood recommendations that incorporates community engagement, partnership formation, traditional knowledge, and considerations for historical and contemporary restrictions of indigenous rights in the process. These recommendations are necessary to ensure the sustainability of small-scale fisheries and their inclusion in market-based conservation efforts like seafood recommendation programs. Overall, we recommend Ocean Wise alters their assessment process as follows: 1. Create modifications to emphasize the inclusion of rightsholders in fishery management and allow for multiple data types and knowledge forms to inform assessments 2. Incorporate socio-economic sustainability into the recommendation framework 3. Separate fishers from external, uncontrollable conditions in the assessment process 4. Take a project-based approach in assessments and form partnerships with small-scale fisheries 5. Keep in mind historical and contemporary restrictions of Indigenous rights to access resources in Canada while assessing fishery conditions 6. Coordinate efforts with other sustainable seafood programs to share resources and ensure consistency of modifications to assessment standards across the board
Open Access
Proximity to small-scale inland and coastal fisheries is associated with improved income and food security.
(Communications earth & environment, 2022-01) Simmance, Fiona A; Nico, Gianluigi; Funge-Smith, Simon; Basurto, Xavier; Franz, Nicole; Teoh, Shwu J; Byrd, Kendra A; Kolding, Jeppe; Ahern, Molly; Cohen, Philippa J; Nankwenya, Bonface; Gondwe, Edith; Virdin, John; Chimatiro, Sloans; Nagoli, Joseph; Kaunda, Emmanuel; Thilsted, Shakuntala H; Mills, David J
Poverty and food insecurity persist in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a secondary analysis of nationally representative data from three sub-Saharan Africa countries (Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda) to investigate how both proximity to and engagement with small-scale fisheries are associated with household poverty and food insecurity. Results from the analysis suggest that households engaged in small-scale fisheries were 9 percentage points less likely to be poor than households engaged only in agriculture. Households living in proximity to small-scale fisheries (average distance 2.7 km) were 12.6 percentage points more likely to achieve adequate food security and were 15 percentage points less likely to be income poor, compared to the most distant households. Households distant from fishing grounds (>5 km) were 1.5 times more likely to consume dried fish compared to households living close. Conserving the flow of benefits from small-scale fisheries is important for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in the region.
Open Access
Research Methodology to Public Policy: Designing an Analysis of Plastic Chemical Leaching in Water
(2023-04-28) Gedney, Marisa
Plastic pollution is a ubiquitous concern throughout the world’s oceans and presents a complexity of issues for environmental health on all scales. Most research and public policy in the United States regarding the subject is focused on the prevention, distribution, and collection of physical micro- and macro-plastics, while the ecological impacts due to chemical leaching of additives from plastics are currently less acknowledged and understood. This project utilizes a three-tiered approach to analyze additive leaching at the intersection of both regulation and research. First, the current landscape of law and policy regarding plastic pollution was examined through a scientific lens to proactively identify areas of concern requiring additional research. This focused on both plastic pollution and chemical regulations internationally and within the United States at the state and national level. Findings suggested that policies regarding plastic chemical additives were nonexistent, but their need was starting to gain recognition at an international level. For the second part, an experimental procedure was designed to analyze the significance of chemical leaching determined from the mass change of plastic pre-production pellets in fresh water. Polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, high-density polyethylene, and low-density polyethylene were used for a series of testing periods up to seven days. A significant reduction of mass due to leaching was measured in all plastic types except polycarbonate. Salinity, temperature, and length of the soaking period were highlighted as method design limitations to be considered for future experimental designs. In the third section of this project, the final conclusions from part two are then projected back to plastic pollution policy to provide further suggestions for impactful pathways of incorporating the research findings in support of monitoring ocean health. Suggestions include the development of a chemical additive database, mapping of chemical uptake in ecological food webs, and an expansion of regulation efforts to include chemical additive monitoring in plastic pollution response.
Open Access
Scoping an Impact Evaluation of the Phase II World Bank-Financed West Africa Regional Fisheries Program
(2019-04-26) Lin, Yue
Coastal West Africa has some of the richest fishing grounds in the world due to its climatic and ecological conditions, yet poverty in this region is severe and widespread despite its fishing asset. The fishery resources could have contributed more to coastal West Africa’s economic growth if managed in a more efficient and sustainable manner. So far, the World Bank has finished phase I of the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program to improve fisheries management. However, few impact evaluations have been done to support such interventions due to insufficient evidence in outcomes and gap in the changing theories. In developing the second phase of the program, the World Bank hopes to ensure that the project design is able to support an evidence-based decision-making process and a robust impact evaluation. This MP develops a concept note for the project design team to scope an impact evaluation for the phase II program, using the project management methodology, Theory of Change (ToC). This concept note includes 1) discussing the gap in phase I project design; 2) reconstructing a ToC for phase I; 3) developing a ToC for phase II; and 4) recommending methods for measuring the impact of the phase II interventions.