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Ecosystem-based management: From theory to practiceWalMart has agreed to sell seafood products from sustainably managed species. Boaters willingly pay more for slips at clean marinas. There is public support for saving Chesapeake Bay, buying dolphin-safe tuna, and protecting coral reefs. But good ecosystem-based management faces a myriad of challenges and has suffered a host of failures. The successes, failures, and challenges of ecosystem-based management were the subject of the joint 6th Annual Marine Law Symposium and 5th Annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium that took place last October. Keynote speaker Dorinda Dallmeyer, director of the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program at the University of Georgia, called humans a “profoundly terrestrial species” who have only recently begun to see oceans as more than a “cornucopia” of fish and other resources and a “conveniently flushing toilet.” She said that even with the growing acceptance of the view that humans are a part of natural systems, the ability to protect or restore ecosystems, particularly marine ones, may be limited. She pointed out that terrestrial species are much more protected than marine endangered species list. She also spoke of the need to shift from protecting individual species to protecting habitats. In addition, people’s perception of the environment depends largely on its condition during their lifetime. “We forget, if we ever knew, what our marine environments were like historically.” Dallmeyer said. “The Stellar sea cow could have been mythological if we didn’t have a skeleton. What do we mean when we talk about ‘restoration’? It makes a lot of difference where you start as to where you end up.” Nevertheless, Dallmeyer sees a growing public awareness of ocean issues, an awareness enhanced by a physical connection to the ocean: “We’re sort of getting people to wade into the water a little bit. We have a lot of benefits of technology, but there’s no substitute between watching something on a television screen versus being out there in it, and it doesn’t have to be some great once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Other speakers touched on a variety of examples where management has begun to consider an ecosystem perspective—sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Cathy Roheim, URI environmental and natural resource economics professor, spoke about the momentum behind eco-labeled seafood. Sales of seafood labeled sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, which she advises, increased 16.5 percent from 2004–05 to 2005–06, and WalMart has committed to selling Marine Stewardship Council–labeled fish. While many market-based attempts to promote sustainble fisheries—including boycotts of overfished species and wallet cards of seafood to buy or avoid—have been controversial, Roheim says that the council effort, while “not perfect,” is transparent, includes stakeholder involvement and objections procedures, and follows consistent standards. Michael Keyworth, vice president and general manager of Brewer Cove Haven Marina in Barrington, R.I.,was introduced by Dennis Nixon, URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences associate dean, as “representing the face of the new marina”—much cleaner than its predecessor. Keyworth said that an environmentally friendly approach to marina management can be financially rewarding. “Our prices are higher, and we’re completely full,” he said. “Clean water is something we need to protect, because without it, we won’t have a business,” he added. Brewer Marina charges an environmental fee, Keyworth said, adding, “the interesting thing is there’s really no negative reaction to it.” He also feels that green marinas are spawning green clients: “They recycle at home because we do it at the marina.” He said that a shrink wrap recycling program, initiated in 2005 by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, had collected and recycled 94,000 pounds of shrink wrap. Not every undertaking discussed at the symposium has been a success. The management of Chesapeake Bay has been “a splendid failure, but we’re doing it with style,” said William Dennison, professor of marine science and vice president for science applications at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “It’s intensively managed, everybody around the bay knows about it, we get a lot of money—we’re close to D.C., that helps—but Chesapeake Bay continues to degrade,” he said. He said that over 8 million data points are collected each year, but determining what the data mean remains elusive. “It’s like a firehose of data, but we can’t get a drink,” he said. Effective actions are also needed, he added, noting that the seagrass and oysters that had been reintroduced in restoration attempts have died. He said that while Chesapeake Bay efforts have produced solid science, good partnerships, public awareness, and political support, the health of the bay continues to suffer from the pressures of a high population in its watershed as well as from nutrient pollution originating outside Maryland’s border—namely from Pennsylvania farms. He said that to address the latter problem, efforts must be made to make the issue relevant to Pennsylvania farmers, telling them “not that they are affecting crabs in Maryland, but that they are affecting their own streams and their kids’ ability to fish in them.” Ronald Baird, former National Sea Grant director in whose honor the symposium was named, gave a keynote address about using the best available science to support ecosystem-based management. He said that scientific literacy among the public is needed to support such approaches. He also stressed the need for outreach and extension specialists to translate and disseminate scientific information to policymakers. “Ecosystem-based management has our attention at high levels of government and academe,” he said, noting that one of the key issues, particularly in the face of rapid population growth, is whether institutions can respond to challenges quickly enough. “They’ve never had to evolve at this pace before.” Integrating the best available science into management is essential, he said. “We’re facing the century of the environment.” More information about the 5th Annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium is on-line at seagrant.gso.uri.edu/research/ baird_symposium/index.html. —Monica Allard Cox |
Rhode
Island Sea Grant |
Coastal Institute |