This is the first report of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) to summarize status and trends in biotic elements in the arctic marine environment. The effort has identified knowledge gaps in circumpolar biodiversity monitoring. CBMP is the cornerstone program of Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF).
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfortunately, baseline assessments of the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before these spills either were not available, or the data had not been systematically compiled in a way that would help scientists assess the potential short-term and long-term effects of such events. This 2-volume series compiles and summarizes thousands of data sets showing the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 2 covers historical data on commercial and recreational fisheries, with an analysis of marketing trends and drivers; ecology, populations and risks to birds, sea turtles and marine mammals in the Gulf; and diseases and mortalities of fish and other animals that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico.
Responsible fisheries management is of increasing interest to the scientific community, resource managers, policy makers, stakeholders and the general public. Focusing solely on managing one species of fish stock at a time has become less of a viable option in addressing the problem. Incorporating more holistic considerations into fisheries management by addressing the trade-offs among the range of issues involved, such as ecological principles, legal mandates and the interests of stakeholders, will hopefully challenge and shift the perception that doing ecosystem-based fisheries management is unfeasible. Demonstrating that EBFM is in fact feasible will have widespread impact, both in US and international waters. Using case studies, underlying philosophies and analytical approaches, this book brings together a range of interdisciplinary topics surrounding EBFM and considers these simultaneously, with an aim to provide tools for successful implementation and to further the debate on EBFM, ultimately hoping to foster enhanced living marine resource management.
This circular stems from a study carried out for FAO projects “Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation of Deep-Sea Living Marine Resources and Ecosystems in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” (GCP/GLO/366/GFF) and “Deep-Sea Sponge Grounds Ecosystems of the North Atlantic: An Integrated Approach Towards their Preservation and Sustainable Exploitation” (GCP/GLO/679/EC). These projects included outputs related to the economic valuation of goods and services provided by the deep seas in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This study compiled an estimate of the total economic value (TEV) of the deep seas, which considered the provision of deep-water fish, the harvest of precious corals, the use of substances of marine origin as pharmaceuticals, the extraction of deep and ultra-deep oil and the potential mining of mineral resources from the seafloor, carbon sequestration carried out by the deep seas, the importance of scientific research in the deep seas, and touristic activities with submersibles to visit sites such as the Titanic shipwreck. Comprehensively, the TEV assessed for the deep-sea ecosystem as a whole is estimated at USD 267 billion per year. Ninety two percent of the economic value originates from abiotic resources (oil and minerals), 5 percent from biotic resources (fish, corals and pharmaceuticals of marine origin), 2 percent from cultural services (scientific research and tourism/recreation), and 1 percent from carbon sequestration.
This book provides a timely analysis of the role that information-particularly scientific information-plays in the policy-making and decision-making processes in coastal and ocean management. It includes contributions from global experts in marine environmental science, marine policy, fisheries, public policy and administration, resource management
This document provides a review, commentary and tabulations of the main trends that have occurred in exploitation of fisheries resources since the 1970s, largely as they are reflected in the FAO database on fishery landings, supplemented with selected information from the fishery literature. Reviews were prepared separately for the 15 main areas into which FAO divides the world's oceans for statistical purposes. They are then compared from a global perspective to reveal relative trends by species and areas, which are highlighted. Several special topics are reviewed, including tuna and tuna-like species, whales and dolphins, and environmental issues in fisheries.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the practice of sustainability through a diverse range of case studies spanning across varied fields and areas of expertise. It provides a clear indication as to the contemporary state of sustainability in a time faced by issues such as global climate change, challenges of environmental justice, economic globalization and environmental contamination. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability explores three broad themes: Environmental Sustainability, Social Sustainability and Economic Sustainability. The authors critically explore these themes and provide insight into their linkages with one another to demonstrate the substantial efforts currently underway to address the sustainability of our planet. This handbook is an important contribution to the best practises on sustainability, drawn from many different examples across the fields of engineering, geology, anthropology, sociology, biology, chemistry and religion.
Answers to environmental issues are not black and white. Debates around policy are often among those with fundamentally different values, and the way that problems and solutions are defined plays a central role in shaping how those values are translated into policy. The Environmental Case captures the real-world complexity of creating environmental policy, and this much-anticipated Sixth Edition contains 14 carefully constructed cases, including a new study of the Salton Sea crisis. Through her analysis, Sara Rinfret continues the work of Judith Layzer and explores the background, players, contributing factors, and outcomes of each case, and gives readers insight into some of the most interesting and controversial issues in U.S. environmental policymaking.