Barry Costa-Pierce offers review of new ‘Ocean Prosperity Roadmap’ research
A new body of research titled "Ocean Prosperity Roadmap: Fisheries and Beyond" was recently released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, California Environmental Associates (CEA), the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the University of Washington (UW). The report explores how a transition to sustainable marine resource use will increase food production and economic growth while maintaining the health of the oceans and their species.
Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Marine Sciences and director of the UNE Marine Science Center, refers to the research as "a timely action plan for the recovery of capture fisheries in both developed and developing nations." However, according to Costa-Pierce, the studies "are incomplete and do not go far enough."
"The 'Roadmap' does not give enough attention to the rise and potential of aquaculture in its global projections for seafood security or to aquaculture’s major contribution for increased seafood production," says Costa-Pierce.
He makes the point that "fisheries" are no longer just capture fisheries but include the burgeoning areas of culture fisheries (aquaculture), capture-based aquaculture, and aquaculture-enhanced fisheries—areas of major production and future potential that he says are woefully underrepresented in the "Roadmap."
He also asserts that "professional planning and regulatory decision-makers responsible for aquaculture and fisheries are so separate structurally and functionally in many countries to the point that they have lost track of their common goal of delivering environmentally responsible, safe seafood supplies from both fisheries and aquaculture."
Integrated planning for both aquaculture and fisheries and the development of a more comprehensive allied regional infrastructure for them together is a necessity in Costa-Pierce’s view. "An acceleration of the production of aquatic foods for the world can only occur when aquaculture developments are planned as part of a singular fisheries profession, and when fishing livelihoods include innovations from aquaculture," he says.