Eva Roth

A discussion of the use of the sustainability index: 'ecological footprint' for aquaculture production.

This paper critically reviews the theoretical and practical implications of adopting the original ‘ecological footprint’ concept as an index of the sustainability of aquaculture production systems. It is argued that the concept may provide a reasonable visioning tool to demonstrate natural resource dependence of human activities to politicians and the public at large. However, due to its inherent weaknesses, the ‘ecological footprint’ fails to provide a cohesive analytical tool for management. From an ecological perspective, its two-dimensional interpretation of complex ecologically and economically interacting systems is one major weakness. From an economic perspective, the ‘footprint’ fails to recognise factors such as consumer preferences and property rights which have a major influence on the allocation and sustainable use of resources. The interactions among social, ecological and economic factors are discussed in an attempt to foster a broader inter-disciplinary view of criteria required for a sustainable use of aquatic resources.

Temporal constraints on ecosystem management: definitions and examples from Europe’s regional seas

Our ability to meet environmental targets is often constrained by processes and events that occur over long timescales and which may not be considered during the planning process. We illustrate with examples and define three major types of temporal scale phenomena of relevance to marine managers: Memory and Future Effects (jointly called Legacy Effects) and Committed Behaviors. We examine the role of these effects in achieving marine environmental targets in Europe under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the implications for future management, indicating the increased importance that these temporal phenomena give to reducing future pressures.

Mussel Production and Water Framework Directive Targets in the Limfjord, Denmark: an Integrated Assessment for Use in System-Based Management

Growth of human activities often conflict with nature conservation requirements and integrated assessments are necessary to build reliable scenarios for management. In the Limfjord, Denmarks largest estuary, nutrient loading reductions are necessary to fulfill EU regulations criteria, such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Cuts in nutrient loadings do not necessarily result in corresponding reductions in eutrophication impacts or in improving primary and higher trophic-level production. Similarly, the socioeconomic consequences of a mussel fishery and aquaculture production are complex and hard to predict. This study focuses on the usefulness of a System Approach Framework (SAF) implementation for stakeholder understanding of complex systems and development of sustainable management. Ecological-social-economic (ESE) model simulations clearly demonstrated the potential problems of WFD implementation for mussel fishers and mussel farmers. Simulation of mussel fishery closures resulted in a tenfold increase in the hitherto fishable mussel biomass and a similar decrease in the biomass of shallow-water mussels and medium-sized ones in deep water. A total closure of the mussel fishery could result in an annual profit loss of ~€6.2 million. Scenario simulation of the introduction of one, two, three, and four mussel culture farms of ~19 ha showed that the introduction of line-mussels would decrease the biomass of wild mussels both in shallow and deep waters, affecting the catch and profit of fishers. The SAF, which included consultation with stakeholders at all stages, differs from the traditional public consultation process in that (1) communication was verbal and multilateral, (2) discussion among stakeholders was facilitated, and (3) stakeholder opinions and priorities formed the focus of the ESE assessment.

Development and Use of a Bioeconomic Model for Management of Mussel Fisheries under Different Nutrient Regimes in the Temperate Estuary of the Limfjord, Denmark

Coastal ecosystems worldwide are under pressure from human-induced nutrient inputs, fishing activities, mariculture, construction work, and climate change. Integrated management instruments handling one or more of these problems in combination with socioeconomic issues are therefore necessary to secure a sustainable use of resources. In the Limfjord, a temperate eutrophic estuary in Denmark, nutrient load reductions are necessary to fulfill EU regulations such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The expected outcome of these load reductions is an improved water quality, but also reduced production of the abundant stock of filter-feeding blue mussels, Mytilus edulis. This is expected to have significant economic consequences for the million-euro mussel fishing industry taking place in the Limfjord today. We developed a bioeconomic model that can be used to explore the consequences of load reductions for mussel fishery as practiced today, as well as potential management options, to obtain an economically and ecologically sustainable mussel fishery. Model simulations clearly demonstrate a substantial decrease in mussel production after the nutrient load reductions necessary to obtain the targets in the WFD. With todays practice, the mussel fishery in the Limfjord will not be profitable in a future, less eutrophic estuary. However, model simulations also revealed that mussel fishery can be profitable after implementation of the WFD with a reduction in the total fishing quota, fewer fishing vessels, and a higher fishing quota per vessel.

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Public Labelling Scheme of Fish Quality

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new method capable of evaluating the economic welfare for quality graded fish products using the hedonic price method for plaice in Denmark. Today, no labelling scheme exists for the final consumers of different qualities of fish. A scheme only exists at the first hand market. On this basis, a general applicable, theoretical and empirical method is developed to compare the costs and benefits of the hypothetical choice between the total absence of labelling and the presence of a public labelling scheme, which fully informs consumers on the quality and simultaneously allows the producers to differentiate prices between quality grades. It is shown that the economic welfare associated with a public labelling scheme is at minimum €263,000. Sensitivity analysis shows that this result is robust. The policy implication is that a public labelling scheme should not be implemented as the demand and cost functions have low elasticities, implying that the welfare gain is low.

The estimate of world demand for Pangasius catfish (Pangasiusianodon hypopthalmus)

ABSTRACT This research described in this article aimed to investigate international market potentials for Pangasius catfish (Pangasianodon hypopthalmus). The monthly export data from Vietnam, which accounts for more than 95% of the global export value, in the period 2007 to 2014, were used to estimate a non-linear Inverse Almost Ideal Demand System of the seven market regions. Prices in all markets are found very inflexible, with own-price flexibilities on −0.200 to −0.917, or −0.419 on average, revealing the option of expanding global production and export without inducing a substantial price reduction. Consumers in all markets except Latin America evaluate Pangasius as a necessary good, indicating that the Pangasius industry is relatively little affected by recessions and booms in the world economy. The major markets are substitutes for each other; therefore, if demand at one market region is reduced, the presence of substitution leads suppliers to find other markets. The results reveal that demand provides stable framework conditions for the Pangasius industry.

Framing a Nordic IPBES-like study

Natural resource depletion and adverse impacts from environmental degradation, including loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and their associated knowledge, add to and exacerbate the list o ...

Integrating the Common Fisheries Policy and the Marine Strategy for the Baltic: Discussion of Spatial and Temporal Scales in the Management and Adaptation to Changing Climate

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020 and the adoption of the Ecosystem Approach. The former sectoral approach to management must be transformed to adhere to the requirements of the new directive. Fishery is a particularly important example, because it relies heavily on the ecosystem, sustains many coastal communities and still has large economic impacts at national level. We examine the cod fishery in the Eastern Baltic and the feasibility of integrating the intermediate and final ecosystem services and benefits associated with the fishery into the ‘programmes of measures’. We use Decision Space Analysis to visualize the spatial challenges concerning competing priorities and expectations for uses of the marine area, as well as the temporal challenges of achieving GES under the very short time constraints of the MSFD.

THE ROLE OF AQUACULTURE IN INSHORE FISHERIES

Aquaculture is an old established system of food production. The Romans were reputedly farming shellfish in the Mediterranean coastal lagoons some two thousand years ago; freshwater fish husbandry was developed on the monastic estates of western Europe during the medieval period. But it is only with the rapid expansion of marine aquaculture in the last quarter of a century that it has come to be recognised both as a significant contributor to global food supplies and as a potential problem for the aquatic environment.