ecosystem, e.g., tourism to be regulated). Both the social and natural sciences will
need to contribute to identifying critical interactions between policies aimed at
achieving specific SDGs and how possible negative interactions can be mitigated
through synergy solutions and possible multipurpose actions.
In addition, it is necessary to make the most of the opportunities that seas and
oceans offer to support the development of a blue economy, coordinating the efforts
at national level, by defining common priority areas to promote blue growth in order
to focus the efforts to tackle cross-sectoral and crosscutting issues, bringing together
countries and researchers from different disciplines across boundaries to provide
knowledge and conduct the research with the aim of boosting the sustainable growth
of the maritime economy (European Commission 2017).
That said, inter- and transdisciplinary science is not the only approach required.
Capacity building and institutions and institutional capacities need to be developed
to produce integrated assessments. This is necessary in order to bridge the gap
between the normative aspirations of the SDGs and the practical needs of those
who are implementing the SDGs. Capacity development is a critical challenge for
sustainable management in the Alboran Sea.
The proper implementation of an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach
is needed at regional level to ensure the conservation status of the ecosystem and its
components. Improving our understanding of how countries can design and implement long-term pathways toward sustainable development is critical. It is necessary
to remove barriers in cooperation and governance for it. A clear example of these
could be the establishment of marine protected areas beyond the national boundaries
for protecting marine diversity in the Alboran Sea. A network of such areas may act
as a stepping stone for highly mobile species and ensure connectivity over long
distances. Reducing the fishing pressure helps some depleted stocks and ecosystems
to recover. On the other hand, the establishment of fisheries-restricted areas may also
have some side effects, such as increasing the fishing pressure in the neighboring
fishing grounds and destroying ecosystems in good condition. Making the best use
of such practices requires therefore sound scientific evaluation, planning, and governance at international level.
New technologies are rapidly changing the classical approach for monitoring
fisheries and implementing marine spatial planning. Vessel monitoring systems
(VMS), electronic reporting, satellite data, and operational real-time and forecast
products of ocean physical and biogeochemical models provide a huge amount of
data that can be used and combined to propose new tools for promoting the
economic and environmental sustainability of fisheries and help to achieve some
of the SDG 14 targets. While geographic information systems (GIS) are becoming a
classical mean of developing marine spatial planning, spatially explicit modeling of
habitats, marine species distributions and ecosystems, and new methods to explore
massive data (e.g., machine learning and, more generally, artificial intelligence) have
tremendous potential for new applications and to support the sustainable exploitation
of marine resources and the conservation of healthy marine ecosystems.
806
L. Valdés et al.
need to contribute to identifying critical interactions between policies aimed at
achieving specific SDGs and how possible negative interactions can be mitigated
through synergy solutions and possible multipurpose actions.
In addition, it is necessary to make the most of the opportunities that seas and
oceans offer to support the development of a blue economy, coordinating the efforts
at national level, by defining common priority areas to promote blue growth in order
to focus the efforts to tackle cross-sectoral and crosscutting issues, bringing together
countries and researchers from different disciplines across boundaries to provide
knowledge and conduct the research with the aim of boosting the sustainable growth
of the maritime economy (European Commission 2017).
That said, inter- and transdisciplinary science is not the only approach required.
Capacity building and institutions and institutional capacities need to be developed
to produce integrated assessments. This is necessary in order to bridge the gap
between the normative aspirations of the SDGs and the practical needs of those
who are implementing the SDGs. Capacity development is a critical challenge for
sustainable management in the Alboran Sea.
The proper implementation of an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach
is needed at regional level to ensure the conservation status of the ecosystem and its
components. Improving our understanding of how countries can design and implement long-term pathways toward sustainable development is critical. It is necessary
to remove barriers in cooperation and governance for it. A clear example of these
could be the establishment of marine protected areas beyond the national boundaries
for protecting marine diversity in the Alboran Sea. A network of such areas may act
as a stepping stone for highly mobile species and ensure connectivity over long
distances. Reducing the fishing pressure helps some depleted stocks and ecosystems
to recover. On the other hand, the establishment of fisheries-restricted areas may also
have some side effects, such as increasing the fishing pressure in the neighboring
fishing grounds and destroying ecosystems in good condition. Making the best use
of such practices requires therefore sound scientific evaluation, planning, and governance at international level.
New technologies are rapidly changing the classical approach for monitoring
fisheries and implementing marine spatial planning. Vessel monitoring systems
(VMS), electronic reporting, satellite data, and operational real-time and forecast
products of ocean physical and biogeochemical models provide a huge amount of
data that can be used and combined to propose new tools for promoting the
economic and environmental sustainability of fisheries and help to achieve some
of the SDG 14 targets. While geographic information systems (GIS) are becoming a
classical mean of developing marine spatial planning, spatially explicit modeling of
habitats, marine species distributions and ecosystems, and new methods to explore
massive data (e.g., machine learning and, more generally, artificial intelligence) have
tremendous potential for new applications and to support the sustainable exploitation
of marine resources and the conservation of healthy marine ecosystems.
806
L. Valdés et al.