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Ecosystem Health in the Context of Fisheries and Aquaculture – A Governability Challenge

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Governability of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Part of the book series: MARE Publication Series ((MARE,volume 7))

Abstract

The importance of marine and ocean ecosystems to the livelihoods and wellbeing of fishing and coastal communities around the world is well recognized. Global efforts have been made to prevent these ecosystems from deteriorating, but the challenges are huge, with ongoing pressures and stresses driven largely by a wide range of human activities. In this chapter, we first employ the governability concept to examine these stressors in terms of their diversity, complexity, dynamics and scales in relation to the natural and social systems-to-be-governed, the governing systems and the governing interactions. Recognizing that the health of the ecosystem is an outcome of governing efforts and interactions between governing institutions and social actors, we apply the governability perspective to assess factors affecting the ability of the social system-to-be-governed and the governing system to cope with the present state of the marine and ocean ecosystems, and draw policy implications based on that analysis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The relevance of this concept even conduces to detailed legal definitions, for instance as “a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit” (Commonwealth of Australian Law 1999, 466).

  2. 2.

    WPC Recommendation 5.22, see http://www.internationalwildlifelaw.org/MPARecs.pdf

  3. 3.

    For instance (Mörner 2007), criticizes the assumptions about the current process of sea level rise and their impacts in Maldives or Sri-Lanka.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social and Political Sciences, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    José J. Pascual-Fernández

  2. Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Ratana Chuenpagdee

Authors
  1. José J. Pascual-Fernández
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  2. Ratana Chuenpagdee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to José J. Pascual-Fernández .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 14, Amsterdam, 1018 TV, Netherlands

    Maarten Bavinck

  2. , Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Main Office: SN2012, St. John's, A1B 3X9, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    Ratana Chuenpagdee

  3. , Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, Office A 378, Tromsø, 9037, Norway

    Svein Jentoft

  4. , Centre for Maritime Research, Erasmus University, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, Amsterdam, 1018 VZ, Netherlands

    Jan Kooiman

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Pascual-Fernández, J.J., Chuenpagdee, R. (2013). Ecosystem Health in the Context of Fisheries and Aquaculture – A Governability Challenge. In: Bavinck, M., Chuenpagdee, R., Jentoft, S., Kooiman, J. (eds) Governability of Fisheries and Aquaculture. MARE Publication Series, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6107-0_7

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