Marine Conservation and Fisheries Management

by

Jaime Speed Rossiter, David López-Carr

• LAST REVIEWED: 11 October 2019
• LAST MODIFIED: 26 February 2013
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199874002-0073

Introduction

Overfishing has occasioned the collapse of many coastal and marine ecosystems globally. With these collapses come increased pollution and a degradation of water quality that can have adverse effects on human health. In addition, significant numbers of people rely on marine ecosystems for their livelihood, either from extractive uses, such as fishing, or from tourism. Diverse policy approaches have been used in order to combat marine degradation, including marine protected areas, ecotourism, catch shares, and community-based marine conservation. This bibliography reviews relevant literature regarding current threats to marine ecosystems, approaches to marine conservation policy, and fisheries management approaches aimed at sustainable fisheries development.

General Overviews

Given the broadness of marine conservation as a topic, texts that provide general overviews can be hard to come by, especially those targeted to undergraduates. Hinrichsen 2011 accomplishes this rare feat, however, in a short and accessible text. Both Vallega 2001 and Leslie 2005 broadly examine policy approaches to marine management, while Carneiro 2011 reviews connections between marine management and human development. Chapters in Dallmeyer 2003 cover a diverse set of topics related to the connections among environmental ethics, the marine environment, and its management. The websites of the Marine Conservation Institute and the Nature Conservancy: Oceans and Coasts are valuable resources for understanding current threats and conservation efforts. Veitch, et al. 2012 reviews twenty years of progress, and sometime lack thereof, regarding international commitments for sustainable management of marine capture fisheries.

• Carneiro, Gonçalo. “Marine Management for Human Development: A Review of Two Decades of Scholarly Evidence.” Marine Policy 35.3 (2011): 351–362.

  DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2010.10.015

  Carneiro reviews two decades of marine management literature to decipher the impacts such systems have had on human development.

• Dallmeyer, Dorinda G., ed. Values at Sea: Ethics for the Marine Environment. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2003.

  This edited volume explores environmental ethics with regard to the marine environment, such as native versus exotic species, traditional ecological knowledge, and fishermen’s rights. This text may be more appropriate for upper-class undergraduate or graduate students.

• Hinrichsen, Don. The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans: Ecosystems, Threatened Resources, Marine Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.

  This short and accessible text gives a brief overview of a wide range of topics affecting marine ecosystems, such as climate change, aquaculture, and management issues. Vibrant and easy-to-read graphics make it a suitable resource for undergraduates.

• Leslie, Heather M. “A Synthesis of Marine Conservation Planning Approaches.” Conservation Biology 19.6 (2005): 1701–1713.

  DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00268.x

  This article provides a comprehensive synthesis of marine conservation approaches globally.

• Marine Conservation Institute.

  The Marine Conservation Institute is a nonprofit organization that works with scientists, politicians, and other organizations in order to conserve our oceans. Its website is a good resource for current issues as well as several publications on a variety of topics, including climate change, fisheries enforcement, and marine spatial planning.

• Nature Conservancy: Oceans and Coasts.

  The Nature Conservancy is America’s largest environmental nonprofit organization and is active around the globe. Its Ocean and Coasts website provides overviews of current threats to marine and coastal environments, as well as current projects.

• Vallega, Adalberto. Sustainable Ocean Governance: A Geographical Perspective. New York: Routledge, 2001.

  This book is an excellent reference for the history and composition of marine policy and its relation to ocean geography. This text may be more appropriate for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students.

• Veitch, Liane, Nicholas K. Dulvy, Heather Koldewey, et al. “Avoiding Empty Ocean Commitments at Rio+20.” Science 336.6087 (2012): 1383–1385.

  DOI: 10.1126/science.1223009

  The authors review the status of sustainable marine management goals outlined at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.