Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction

Abstract

The book was developed to emphasize the importance of ocean science and technology in discussions of blue economy. The “blue economy” concept was developed in 1992 at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which also developed Agenda 21. The idea of the blue economy was used more commonly following the publication of a book by Gunter Pauli in 2010. For the purposes of this book, we adopt a World Bank definition of blue economy that balances economic, environmental, and social sustainability considerations. This chapter will introduce the blue economy concept and provide an introduction to the following chapters. The book begins with an in-depth look at a few of the most important blue economy resources (Chaps. 2–8) and threats to these resources (Chaps. 9–12). Chapter 13 focuses on the special situations of small island developing states. The need for enhanced observations (Chap. 14) and capacity development (Chap. 15) are highlighted. Finally, Chap. 16 summarizes the preceding chapters and makes recommendations for progress to better apply science and technology to developing and maintaining blue economies.

1.1 Context

The ocean, with its huge water volume and covering 71% of Earth’s surface, plays a major role in the life of humans, even those who live far from the coast. Both products extracted from the ocean and services provided by the ocean yield benefits to humans that can be quantified in economic terms. Products from the ocean can be valued in a variety of ways, from their value as just-acquired raw materials to the sales price of value-added products. It is also possible, although more difficult, to quantify economic benefits from services provided by the ocean (Costanza et al. 1997), but not all experts agree with such valuations.

Recognition of the significance of economic benefits from the ocean for national economies led to the development of the terms “blue growth” and “blue economy” at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (the “Earth Summit”) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 3 to 14 June 1992 (e.g., IOC/UNESCO et al. 2011; Anon. 2012). The Earth Summit developed Agenda 21, focusing on sustainable development and its social, economic, conservation, and management aspects; and strengthening the role of major organizations as a means to implement Agenda 21. The concept of blue economy came into common use with the publication of the book The Blue Economy: 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs in April 2010 by Gunter Pauli (2010). The definition of blue economy has evolved since 2010, with different stakeholders using the term in different ways. The blue economy concept was made possible by the extension of “ownership” of coastal waters that resulted from the establishment of 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which entered into force in 1994.

The UN continued to promote global sustainable development through the 2000 UN Millennium Declaration, which contained eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. Eradicating poverty and hunger; combating disease, illiteracy and environmental degradation; and achieving gender equality were among the goals. These goals were replaced by the UN’s Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (https://sdgs.un.org/goals) in 2015. Achievement of several of the SDGs will be made more possible by establishing blue economies. The achievement of SGD 14 (Life Below Water) and other SDGs depend on advancing and applying knowledge (Lee et al. 2020). Reaping benefits from the ocean while sustaining its health is at the core of SDG 14: “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14). A variety of other terms including the word “blue” have been developed (“blue growth”, “blue development”, “blue carbon”, “blue biotechnology”, etc.) to indicate the importance of the ocean in environmental, economic, and social terms, as compared to the adjective “green” used for terrestrial counterparts (e.g., Eikeset et al. 2018).

The UN tracks progress toward achievement of each SDG and issues a progress report annually (e.g., United Nations 2021). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020 (United Nations 2021) documents that the protected percentage of waters under national jurisdiction increased from 2015 to 2019, having reached 17%. Likewise, the percentage of key biodiversity areas protected worldwide increased from 30.5% in 2000 to 46.0% in 2019. Unfortunately, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lag the global percentages in both measures. UN (2021) reported that countries have increased implementation of actions to curtail illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, while the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels decreased to 65.8% in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed implementation of several SDGs (e.g., Naidoo and Fisher 2020).

Identifying the necessity of ocean science and technology for blue economies is particularly timely, given the need to progress the SDGs to completion by 2030. SDG 14 recognizes the importance of scientific knowledge for attaining this goal. SDG Target 14A states: “Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology (IOC-CGTMT), in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing states and least developed countries” (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14).

The UN recently launched its Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (https://oceandecade.org; hereafter referred to as the “Ocean Decade”), lasting from 2021 to 2030. The Ocean Decade was developed to generate the global ocean science needed to achieve the SDGs, particularly SDG 14. The Ocean Decade will provide an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation to develop scientific research and technologies to connect ocean science with the needs of society. It will contribute to an overall improvement in the scientific knowledge base though capacity development in regions and among groups where most needed. Successful implementation of the Ocean Decade will require cooperation across a range of stakeholders: scientists, governments, academics, policy makers, business and industry and civil society.

1.2 Blue Economy

Many different definitions of blue economy exist, depending on the goals of the organizations promoting their versions of blue economy (e.g., see Attri 2018 and Eikeset et al. 2018 for general discussions, Attri and Bohler-Muller 2018 for the Indian Ocean region, Clegg et al. 2020 for the Caribbean Sea region, Keen et al. 2017 for the Pacific Ocean region, and European Commission 2021 for the European Union). Voyer et al. (2018) present a helpful analysis of the different definitions of blue economy by different sectors, and the benefits and costs of the ambiguity of the term. Their analysis identified four primary perspectives of blue economy from the policy documents they examined: (1) “oceans as natural capital”, (2) “oceans as livelihood’, (3) “oceans as a driver of innovation”, and (4) “oceans as good business” (e.g., OECD 2016). Not all definitions of blue economy, as stated in many national and regional policy documents, include environmental and social sustainability (Garland et al. 2019), being focused more on the ocean as a source of funds to support national economies. There is a movement among some experts to promote the idea of “blue degrowth” (Ertör and Hadjimichael 2020), which rejects the idea that economic growth must be unending.

1.2.1 Definition

A useful definition of blue economy is that proposed by the World Bank for a “sustainable ocean economy”: “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems” to achieve “triple bottom line objectives” that balance economic, environmental, and social outcomes (World Bank and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2017). This is the definition that makes the most sense when discussing the role of science and technology in blue economies. We will use this definition in the book without exploring other definitions in depth. The definition does not explicitly include the idea of intergenerational equity in protecting national economies, environments, and culture, but sustainability implies continued availability of such resources into the future. WWF (2015) also presents principles for a sustainable blue economy.

The blue economy concept has become particularly attractive in recent years. Ocean resources have been recognized as important national assets, particularly in developing countries, as a key element of national ocean strategies to harvest ocean resources to support national economies (Okafor-Yarwood et al. 2020) (Table 1.1). Blue economy is particularly important to island nations, in which the areas of their exclusive economic zones far surpass their land areas, and land-based resources are scarce (see Chap. 13). However, some nations with large land areas (e.g., Australia and the United States) also have developed blue economy plans (CSIRO 2008; NOAA 2021), even though the ocean is a less substantial part of their overall economic development plans than for small island nations, and is likely to remain so. Natural resources are not distributed equally among nations’ EEZs and not many nations are able to develop multiple resources simultaneously (Cisneros-Montemayor et al. 2021), which can impact a nation’s blue economy goals. Developing multiple blue economy resources at the same time requires that a nation be able to balance among the environmental and social effects of each one, which may affect different stakeholders.

Table 1.1 Components of blue economy (from World Bank and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2017)

The term “sustainable ocean economy” has been gaining ground recently (Sumaila et al. 2021) and may supplant the term blue economy in the near future.

1.2.2 Blue Economy Components and Industries

The major components of blue economy are given in Table 1.1. Several of the industries based on these components already exist. Table 1.2 gives an idea of the existing and emerging blue economy industries. For this book, we selected a few of the most prominent resources found in blue economy plans worldwide and which most need inputs from ocean science.

Table 1.2 Blue economy industries (those discussed in this book are shown in boldface type)

1.2.3 Blue Economy and General Limitations

Discussions of blue economy in some countries put most of the emphasis on maximizing economic benefits without balancing the three blue economy factors. Countries sometimes approach blue economy resources as if they are inexhaustible, waiting to be extracted from the ocean, as though money is floating in the sea waiting to be netted, to fuel national economies. The reality is much more complicated because some resources are not renewable and there are environmental consequences to all resource extraction. Exploitation of one resource may diminish a nation’s ability to exploit other resources or may damage local communities while primarily enriching large corporations located outside the country whose resources are being extracted. In addition, resource extraction can have negative impacts beyond a nation’s waters to impact neighboring countries. Use of non-extractive ocean services can also diminish their availability, if care is not taken in their use. Costs and benefits can occur at different scales, both within a nation and regionally. Marine spatial planning (MSP) can help link different scales and different SDGs (Ntona and Morgera 2018). MSP is being used throughout the world to balance different user activities in different areas of a nation’s EEZ and can be used in conjunction with ecosystem-based management (see Box 16.1).

The Rio + 20 concept paper on blue economy (Anon. 2012) identified equity for developing countries as a fundamental aspect of blue economies:

• “Optimize the benefits received from the development of their marine environments e.g. fishery agreements, bioprospecting, oil and mineral extraction.

• Promote national equity, including gender equality, and in particular the generation of inclusive growth and decent jobs for all.

• Have their concerns and interests properly reflected in the development of seas beyond national jurisdiction; including the refinement of international governance mechanisms and their concerns as States proximate to seabed development” (Anon. 2012).

Another key requirement for developing successful blue economies lies in the idea of “circular economies”, in which resources are recycled, rather than being used once and discarded (e.g., Dantas et al. 2021). Circular economies require planning to design material flows and technologies for recycling that may require technology transfer from developed nations. Blue economies inevitably must be tied with land-based economic activities (“green economy”). These concepts, though important, are beyond the scope of this book.

Cisneros-Montemayor et al. (2021) point out that natural resources are a necessary, but insufficient, factor making blue economies possible. Also needed are stable political systems with limited corruption, equitable social systems, regulations to manage resources and balance among use sectors, and infrastructure necessary for harvesting resources and monitoring the effects of harvesting. Many countries have insufficient environmental impact assessment processes and favor development over protection. Enabling conditions are correlated with the human development index of nations and enabling conditions differ among regions (Cisneros-Montemayor et al. 2021).

1.2.4 Measuring Performance of Blue Economy

It is important to evaluate the performance of blue economic sectors and their effectiveness in terms of economic, social and environmental (ecological) sustainability (see also Sect. 1.2.5). This requires the development of methods to effectively measure the performance of ocean-based industries and economic sectors, and their contribution to the overall economy. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting (United Nations et al. 2021), and the Experimental Ecosystem Account (European Environment Agency 2011) are discussed in Sect. 1.2.5 (see Colgan 2016). Blue economy plans should explicitly identify appropriate metrics of success, including metrics for social and cultural objectives, which are often missing from tools for implementation of blue economies such as marine spatial plans (Zuercher et al. 2022).

From an ocean science perspective, sustainability indicators need to be developed for the various products and services derived from the ocean, as well as adequate methodologies to effectively measure and monitor the indicators. While making more effective decision making possible, appropriate indicators also could demonstrate the relevance of ocean research and observation in the practice of sustainable blue economy. Technology transfer and capacity development will be necessary to make the application of science and technology indicators of blue economies commonplace worldwide. As mentioned in Sect. 1.1, SDG Target 14A specifically mentions the use of IOC-CGTMT. Chapters 14 and 15 highlight the importance of the transfer and implementation of observational technologies and the means available for capacity development in developing economies, including least developed countries and small island developing states. A variety of constraining factors need to be overcome to accomplish technology transfer and maintenance of technology and expertise once developed.

1.2.5 Science and Technology for Sustainable Blue Economy

Among steps needed for improving the use of science and technology for establishing national blue economies are the following:

• 1. Commitment of national policymakers and administrators to the threefold goals of sustainable blue economies. This commitment should be demonstrated by the establishment of new laws and regulations needed to create and maintain a national blue economy.

• 2. Adoption of methods to properly quantify the costs and benefits of the extraction of renewable and non-renewable marine resources. This step should include periodic measurement and assessment of the performance of blue economy sectors, and the overall contribution of blue economy to national GDPs, as well as environmental and social objectives.

• 3. Investment in ocean science (natural and social science) in areas needed to fill information gaps related to understanding marine and human systems well enough to quantify costs and benefits.

• 4. Investment in technologies needed to observe ocean systems and the effects of resource extraction, and to mitigate the negative impacts of resource extraction.

• 5. Commitment to developing capacity for ocean science and technology to carry out the previous steps.

The first two steps above are beyond detailed discussion in this book, but are fundamental to implementing steps 3–5. We introduce some thoughts about steps 1 and 2 in the following paragraphs, but these do not capture the wealth of information available in the literature on these topics (see Chap. 16 for further discussion of steps 3–5).

• 1. Commitment to Balancing Economics, Environmental Protection, and Social Equity

This first step is probably the most difficult, but also the most important, because acceptance of the need to balance the three goals of blue economy underlies all the other steps and requires a commitment to the various investments described in the following steps. National policymakers can be tempted to focus on the economic benefits of harvesting tangible ocean resources and stop there, with no balancing of goals or investments to understand the impacts of the resource extraction activities. This inevitably leads to unsustainable resource-based economies, degraded environments, and/or social instability. National policymakers and government agencies have especially important roles to play in establishing and maintaining blue economies, by creating the necessary legislative and administrative frameworks, and prioritizing funding for ocean science and technology activities to underpin sustainable development coupled with environmental and social protections. Sumaila et al. (2021) identify means of financing sustainable ocean economies, and noted that an “enabling environment” is a necessary pre-condition for attracting finances for sustainable ocean economies. As pointed out by Cisneros-Montemayor et al. (2021), enabling factors within a nation are more important in predicting success in the establishment of blue economies than are the availability of natural resources. Tools related to Marine Spatial Planning, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and Ecosystem-Based Management can be used to help balance among blue economy sectors.

An important part of national discussions in establishing blue economies relates to ensuring social equity among sectors that may be helped or harmed by government actions and policies. For example, if offshore mining reduces fish catches, how can fishers be compensated as they sacrifice income to benefit the national economy? If the creation of marine protected areas removes fishing areas from access by traditional fishers, how will they be compensated? Every policy created by governments creates winners and losers, resulting in conflict among competing sectors, and resistance to the new policies (e.g. Österblom et al. 2020).

Individual nations can increasingly rely on international organizations and projects to gain support and information for developing national blue economies. For example, the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (https://oceanpanel.org/) was established in 2018 to advocate for sustainable use of the ocean, complementary to UN activities on SDG 14. The panel’s report Ocean Solutions That Benefit People, Nature and the Economy (Stuchtey et al. 2020) proposed five “building blocks”: (1) Using data to drive decision-making, (2) engaging in goal-oriented ocean planning, (3) de-risking finance and using innovation to mobilise investment, (4) stopping land-based pollution, and (5) changing ocean accounting so that it reflects the true value of the ocean”. Their first building block indirectly emphasizes the role of ocean research and observations.

• 2. Quantification of Costs and Benefits: Adopting Necessary Measurement and Data-Collection Methods

After national governments commit to establishing a balanced and sustainable blue economy, the next tangible step is to determine how products and services related to the ocean will be valued and tracked. Placing values on resources and ocean processes is necessary to evaluate the costs and benefits of various policies and decisions properly. Methods of accounting for resources and environmental values have evolved over recent decades. Colgan (2016) shows how tracking of economic activity related to the ocean can use national income accounts. He extensively discusses the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA: United Nations Statistics Division 2014). The Experimental Ecosystem Account (EEA: European Commission et al. 2013) provides methods for bringing ecosystem services (provision, regulating, and cultural) into the evaluation of costs and benefits. Successful accounting for ecosystem services requires the use of models that couple ecosystems and human actions, requiring investments in ocean science (see Step 3 in Chap. 16). EEA also brings in the concept that ecosystems and the services they provide vary by location (Colgan 2016). Designing systems to value natural products and services is a difficult step, but there is room for pilot activities related to resources for which there are abundant data, such as fisheries, mineral extraction, and tourism. Fenichel et al. (2020a) expand on the need for national accounts to include ocean economic activities and show an example of how ocean accounts can be presented in the form of “dashboards”. A “Blue Paper” from the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Fenichel et al. 2020b) further notes that national accounts can be used to provide information related to three areas of blue economy decision making: “output or national means—a measure of production; outcomes or policy ends—a measure of real income and its distribution; and sustainability—indicated by changes in the national balance sheet.” They cautioned that, although some countries already estimate their “ocean Gross Domestic Product”, this can be the wrong metric because it ignores sustainability issues. Also important are tracking of ocean assets (natural and human-produced) and ocean income. Some changes in international standards for national accounts will be necessary to achieve this step. Ocean national accounts can be a useful tool for marine spatial planning. Box 1.1 provides the High-Level Panel’s advice on principles for national accounts that would help track blue economy activities.

Box 1.1. Principles of Accounting for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (from Fenichel et al. 2020b)

• 1. Ask multiple questions and expect multiple answers, especially questions about income and sustainability (balance sheets) in addition to production. This means that the impacts of policies and decisions about the ocean economy should be evaluated based on at least three indicators: income, production and ocean wealth.

• 2. Build on the existing structure of the System of National Accounts and System for Environmental-Economic Accounting so that ocean accounts are compatible with existing national accounts, and with international statistical standards.

• 3. Avoid an overreliance on GDP, which is not an indicator of either sustainability or the societal ends of economic activity. Do not use a hammer when you need a wrench.

• 4. Lead or contribute to collaboration efforts to improve national ocean accounting systems, including global partnerships to share best practices and build capacity. Such efforts will likely involve creating new integrated data management systems for ocean accounting and other purposes.

Blue economies must be adaptive and management approaches may need to be adjusted as more experience is gained. Adopting appropriate methods for valuing resources and for cost–benefit analyses should make it easier to attract external investments to help establish blue economies.

A major barrier to instituting blue economies is that it is relatively easy to quantify benefits from resources harvested from the ocean, but difficult to quantify the value of services derived from healthy ocean environments that would be lost from improper use of resources or damage to environmental and social values. In such a situation, it is easy for governments at all levels to treat the potential losses equal to zero, or at least of lesser cost than the tangible benefits received. In any resulting cost–benefit analyzes, the benefits of using resources outweigh the costs of using those resources. To approach such situations, some social scientists have attempted to assign monetary values to environmental and social benefits by asking consumers about their willingness to pay for various products and services. For example, as noted in Chap. 6, scientists in Palau compared the income of ecotourism related to diving with sharks to the income related to harvesting those sharks, and found that the ecosystem value of shark ecotourism vastly outweighed the value of harvested sharks (Vianna et al. 2010). Another effective means of assigning values to intangible benefits is to get someone to pay for the benefit, in terms of “debt-for-nature” swaps, “blue bonds” (Christ et al. 2020), or similar mechanisms. A key to establishing blue economies is to quantify and share benefits derived.

1.3 Ocean Services and Products, Threats from Human Activities

1.3.1 Services Provided by the Ocean

The ocean helps regulate many functions important to humans, from local to global scales. The ocean affects global temperature by absorbing heat and redistributing it, moderating temperatures on land. Evaporation of water from the ocean is the major source of moisture in the atmosphere, leading to rain on land and fueling the global hydrologic cycle. Phytoplankton and other plants in the ocean help control the levels of atmospheric gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. Coastal areas provide opportunities for commercial activities that can bolster local to national economies. Some other services that will be discussed in later chapters include the following:

Coral Reefs: Coral reefs provide a multitude of services to coastal populations in tropical areas, including food resources, protection from storm waves, cultural values in many island nations, ecotourism activities, and others. Coral reefs and the resources they provide are threatened by increasing ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, pollution, and direct human impacts from unsustainable fishing and tourism activities. See Chap. 2.

Blue Carbon: Atmospheric carbon dioxide is removed and stored by ocean plants (phytoplankton, seaweeds, mangroves, seagrasses), as so-called “blue carbon” (Nellemann et al. 2009; UNESCO 2020). Blue carbon intersects with blue economy (UNESCO 2020) because creation of certain types of blue carbon creates environments necessary for productive fisheries, tourism, and the health of ocean environments and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which slows atmospheric warming and ocean acidification. Like coral reefs, blue carbon ecosystems also help protect coastlines and may someday provide economic benefits from carbon sequestration credits. Negative effects of human activities on seagrass beds and mangrove forests can offset economic and environmental gains from the activities, releasing stored carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere, and disrupting the nursery grounds of important fish species. See Chap. 3.

Marine Tourism: The beauty of coastal and ocean areas provides tourism opportunities that enrich human lives and provide jobs in the service sector. Marine tourism is a major source of income for many developing countries, particularly coastal and island nations, and can help promote the protection of natural habitats and expansion of blue carbon, if conducted in a responsible way. Preservation of coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds—and the populations of organisms they host—can be extremely important for developing and maintaining ecotourism, in additional to their importance for fisheries and coastline protection and carbon sequestration. However, negative effects of tourism can include increased production of wastewater and garbage, increased damage to environments and organisms by tourists who are not informed of or do not follow rules for sustainable tourism, and destruction of natural areas to build tourist facilities. See Chap. 6.

1.3.2 Products from the Ocean

A major use of the ocean by humans since ancient times has been to harvest food and other resources for personal use, and to barter with or sell to others. Centuries ago, primitive human technologies for ocean use made it difficult to exhaust ocean resources, except in small areas near human settlements. As technologies developed, humans became more efficient at removing renewable resources such as fish, whales, shellfish, and seaweed faster than the organisms could replenish their populations. A variety of management approaches have been developed to make the removal of products from the ocean more sustainable and less environmentally destructive.

A multitude of products are available from ocean areas to help support blue economies:

Coastal Fisheries: National EEZs are the most productive areas for fish and shellfish on a global level, and harvest of fish and shellfish is one of the most traditional blue economy activities practiced at local artisanal to national scales. Thus, fisheries are at the forefront of most blue economy plans. However, fisheries not conducted in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner might not be considered as contributors to a nation’s blue economy. Aquaculture can also be an attractive and responsible industry, but has led in many locations to destruction of local habitats, over-enrichment of local environments with nutrients, and potential for genetic alterations of natural populations by organisms that escape from culture. See Chap. 4.

Oil and Gas: Petroleum products were first found on land, but production moved offshore and to progressively deeper waters as the new exploration and production technologies were developed. Ocean petroleum resources are important components of blue economy plans for nations with these resources in their EEZs, but extraction of oil and gas presents a host of local environmental issues and implications for continued global temperature increases, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise, as highlighted in the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2021). Despite the carbon emissions from carbon-based fuels, these will need to be used for some time as transitional energy sources until non-carbon energy sources are adequately developed. See Chap. 7.

Mineral Resources: Minerals found offshore and in coastal dunes can provide a variety of resources in terms of metals, diamonds for jewelry and industrial use, and the nutrient mineral phosphorite. Deep-sea mining is being implemented by more developed blue economies, but are of limited interest for most developing countries because of the expensive technology required for mineral extraction in deep waters far from shore. Most deep-sea mining is being explored in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, under the purview of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) established under UNCLOS, which granted 18 exploration contracts in 2019, held by countries including China, India, Japan, Russia and the UK for poly-metallic nodules.¹ Coastal minerals are an important blue economy resource for many developing nations, but their extraction can pose significant environmental challenges. See Chap. 8.

Renewable Energy: In recent decades, energy has been extracted from the atmosphere above the ocean, from the emplacement of “wind farms”, but has mostly been done in the coastal areas of developed countries, so will not be considered in more detail here. Likewise, other means of renewable energy production (e.g., wave and tidal energy, thermal energy conversion) are not common contributors to blue economies of developing countries (see Chap. 8).

Freshwater Resources: Freshwater is an enabling resource that makes coastal areas habitable by humans and may be necessary to maintain the sources of goods and services from nations’ coastal zones and EEZs. In many coastal regions, freshwater extraction from coastal areas has been done at unsustainable rates, causing coastal subsidence and salinization. See Chap. 5.

Marine Natural Products: The enormous biodiversity of oceanic organisms has provided genetic and biologic information that is just beginning to be deciphered. We do not discuss natural products in greater detail in this book, but note that the Convention on Biological Diversity (https://www.cbd.int/) has provisions for the sustainable use of biodiversity (Article 10). Natural products from pharmaceuticals has been proposed as a major future blue economy resource in many countries (see Chaps. 2 and 3).

1.3.3 Human Impacts on the Ocean

Stuchtey et al. (2020) provide a well-documented summary of human effects on the ocean and the economic benefits that the ocean can provide. Although the moderating functions of the ocean benefits humans, the increased heat and carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean from the atmosphere damage ocean products and services, including important ecosystems, such as coral reefs, and the ability of the ocean to continue to absorb carbon dioxide. Non-renewable resources may be extracted in ways that damage renewable resources. As concepts of ecology and ecosystems developed, the interconnection of all species, and of species with the non-living environment, have become more obvious. At the same time, the concept of “ecological economics” has made it possible to estimate economic values of services provided by ocean environments. For example, fisheries, aquaculture, transport shipping, oil and gas extraction, and tourism are estimated to support an ocean economy worth trillions of dollars per year (e.g., Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2015), and ocean-related industry and commerce sustain the livelihoods of large populations by providing opportunities for about half a billion jobs. Losses to the economy from the degradation of the natural ocean environment from changes in the climate and other global systems—resulting from human activities such as overfishing, pollution and hypoxia, ocean acidification, habitat loss, extreme oceanic events—are estimated to be almost a trillion dollars (Hudson 2012).

Coastal Pollution: Pollution is a major problem affecting blue economic resources, especially in developing countries. Pollution from conventional nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) causes eutrophication in coastal areas and creates oxygen-poor conditions, both of which are detrimental to marine biota (e.g., fish, corals) and their potential as blue economic resources. On the other hand, heavy metals, organic pollutants, and radionuclides interfere with physiological functions of marine organisms and in some cases are harmful to human health. Overall, pollution affects sectors such as human health, fisheries, and tourism. See Chap. 9.

Harmful Algal Blooms: Harmful algal blooms (HABs, both high-biomass and toxic) have been a feature of coastal ecosystems throughout history, but there is some evidence that bloom organisms are expanding their ranges, due to climate change and/or transport of causative organisms by human activities. HABs cause significant impacts on blue economies, by reducing fisheries and mariculture production, negatively affecting tourism due to the stigma of toxic fish and shellfish, and respiratory effects from some phytoplankton, and additional costs for monitoring and human health interventions. See Chap. 10.

Ocean Acidification and hypoxia (deoxygenation): Ocean acidification poses a widespread danger to blue economies, both acting alone and combined with other factors, such as seawater temperature increases and decreases in seawater oxygen levels. The most obvious impact of decreasing ocean pH will be the gradual decrease in the health of tropical coral reefs and all the negative consequences that will ensue. However, ocean acidification will also affect cold water corals that provide shelter for many fish and shellfish species in temperate and polar regions. Finally, ocean acidification may have pervasive negative impacts on the foundation of marine food webs as it becomes more difficult for single-celled algae and other small plankton and pteropod molluscs to calcify. Such effects would ripple up to fish, marine mammals, seabirds and turtles, and humans. In addition to ocean acidification, the extent of low-oxygen regions in the ocean is increasing, with adverse effects on many of the blue economy-relevant ecological functions (Zhang et al. 2010; Breitburg et al. 2018). See Chap. 11.

In summary, changes to the global ocean (increasing temperature, decreasing pH, decreasing oxygen, harmful algal blooms, pollution and others) complicate efforts to achieve blue economies. Sustainable blue economies must acknowledge that Earth and its ocean are changing in ways that complicate sustainable resource extraction and that environmental consequences of global change may require more conservative practices of resource extraction and other human uses of the ocean (see Chap. 12). Blue economies must be adaptable to changes ranging from local to global. Each of these changes can reduce the availability of living coastal resources, such as fish, coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses. National management must develop and use scientific knowledge to respond to such changes using proactive approaches.

1.4 The Role of Science in Blue Economies

Blue economy has recently begun to attract the attention of ocean scientists (see e.g., Rayner et al. 2019; Wenhai et al. 2019; Okafor-Yarwood et al. 2020). The importance of sustainable use of ocean resources has also been highlighted by The High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Stuchtey et al. 2020), which noted that “using science and data to drive decision-making” is an important building block for sustainable use of the ocean. Advances in science and technology has allowed humans to better understand and locate ocean resources and then exploit these resources, often excessively. Ocean observations are key to monitoring and understanding ocean conditions and changes (see Chap. 15). Scientific understanding is important for sustaining blue economies in an unchanging world, but even more so as the ocean and coastal areas are constantly changing due to human forces (Stenseth et al. 2020).

Although the value and need for development of scientific information about the ocean and its resources has become more apparent, science often does not receive enough national funding to support wise management, particularly in developing countries, which experience pressing economic pressures to meet basic human needs of their populations. However, inadequate knowledge about natural and human systems or ignoring the available scientific knowledge (e.g., making fisheries management decisions based more on political considerations than science) can lead to resource extraction that is not sustainable, damaging the resource, the natural environment, and human societies in ways that reduce the benefits available. To sustain blue economies, adequate observing systems must be deployed and capacity for science and observations must be built in countries that rely on blue economies (Rayner et al. 2019).

This book limits its attention generally to the land–ocean interface and activities other than shipping and transport within nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones, while recognizing that what happens on land and the area beyond national jurisdictions also affects nations’ blue economy activities. We focus mostly on regions where there is inadequate scientific information to serve as a foundation for developing blue economies, which are often developing regions of the world. The book recognizes the transboundary nature of ecosystems supporting blue economic development and the related impacts, which will require novel approaches of ocean management. Voyer et al. (2021) document the potency of voluntary commitments from the stakeholders involved in blue economic development. As shown by Cisneros-Montemayor et al. (2021), most blue economy potential exists within EEZs, although these authors admit that a lack of data for both resource availability and enabling conditions for the high seas influence their conclusions. This book also focuses on natural science aspects of the applications of science to blue economy, while acknowledging that social science aspects are equally important, but would merit an entire book on the topic. Specifically, the bridges between knowledge and application of knowledge (from funding to generate knowledge to political will to implement science-based approaches to management of resources) must be built and maintained to simultaneously achieve the three blue economy objectives. This book provides insights into why sufficient knowledge in natural sciences and technology needs to be developed through research and observations, and applied in well-designed management, to serve as a foundation for blue economies. The chapters of the book highlight the role of science and technology in using ocean resources and mitigating environmental problems that plague the ocean and detail examples of how science has stimulated blue economies and how ignoring science can damage blue economies.

For the purposes of this book, we do not categorize human activities in the ocean as “good” or “bad”, since such valuations depend on the care with which resources are used. Different countries have different resources available and may not have the “luxury” to leave the resources in place while their population is impoverished. Countries must use their available resources sustainably to ensure current and future health of their economies, environments, and societies. Our main concern is how the development and application of scientific knowledge affects the triple-objective of blue economy. We discuss these issues in greater detail in the final chapter of the book. We view blue economy as a potential means for developing countries to create sustainable income streams, if developed wisely.

1.5 Goals of the Book

We assembled a team of lead authors about equally comprised of developing and developed country individuals and with roughly equal gender balance among lead authors. The aim of this book is to highlight the potential of ocean science and technology to enable implementation of sustainable blue economies and to provide practical information for developing country scientists, managers, and policymakers about how ocean science can and should be used to create sustainable blue economies, and to respond to environmental threats to economies based on coastal ocean resources. The ideas in this book were presented to the broader community on 8–9 November 2021 in a virtual workshop jointly convened by the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned & Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre), New Delhi and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), Newark, Delaware (USA). More than 200 scientists, researchers, government officials, policy makers, marine-sector professionals, managers and representatives from 37 countries participated in the workshop. Presentations at the workshop raised questions that helped authors refine their chapters for final publication.²

The following chapters describe how science has been used (or not used) to ensure the sustainability of all forms of coastal resources and to mitigate the threats to such use.

The goals of the book are to provide the following:

• 1. Definitions of “blue economy” in science and technology contexts.

• 2. Information about selected blue economy-relevant coastal ecosystems, their services and products, as well as the current threats to their sustainability.

• 3. Information about applying science and technology to promote economically and environmentally sustainable use of coastal resources.

• 4. Examples of how scientific information has been used in relation to sustainable management of various coastal resource types in specific locations.

• 5. Examples of environmental/economic problems that have arisen from inadequate/improper interaction of science and economics in management of coastal resources.

• 6. Recommendations for enabling ocean science and technology actions for the practice of blue economy.

We hope that the information provided in this book will advance the use of science and technology as a basis for blue economies worldwide.