Chapter 7
Governance and Offshore Aquaculture
in Multi-resource Use Settings
Gesche Krause and Selina M. Stead
Abstract The notion of the sea as a seemingly endless source of resources has long
dominated marine governance. This is despite that different perceptions and valuation
systems underlie the institutional structures that govern and manage marine systems.
Socio-political considerations cover the whole range of stakeholders and their type of
involvement in the establishment and operation of multi-use offshore systems.
However, within the vast variety of regulations inside the EU, the EU Member States
as well as in North America, their implementation for offshore multi-use settings is as
yet incipient and examples of best practice in multi-use scenarios are needed. These
need to combine different knowledge systems (e.g. authorities, decision-makers, local
communities, science, etc.) to generate effective insights into the management of
multiple uses of ocean space and to complement risk‐justified decision-making.
Pre-existing social networks can provide significant political leverage for governance
transformations as required for the move offshore. That said, a range of organizational
and social challenges related to the collective use of a defined ocean territory have to
be taken into account. For instance, the creation and compliance with defined
responsibilities and duties or the introduction of cross-sectoral management lines,
such as an offshore co-management, that integrates the different demands and practices of the involved parties within an operational scheme that is practical on a day to
day manner are in case in point. Indeed, how people perceive and value marine
environments and the resources they provide determines individual and collective
preferences, actions and strategies in the marine realm. Thus, for the effective
G. Krause (&)
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar
and Marine Research (AWI), Earth System Knowledge Platform (ESKP),
Bussestrasse 24, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
e-mail: gesche.krause@awi.de
G. Krause
SeaKult—Sustainable Futures in the Marine Realm,
Sandfahrel 12, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany
S.M. Stead
School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University,
Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_7
149
Governance and Offshore Aquaculture
in Multi-resource Use Settings
Gesche Krause and Selina M. Stead
Abstract The notion of the sea as a seemingly endless source of resources has long
dominated marine governance. This is despite that different perceptions and valuation
systems underlie the institutional structures that govern and manage marine systems.
Socio-political considerations cover the whole range of stakeholders and their type of
involvement in the establishment and operation of multi-use offshore systems.
However, within the vast variety of regulations inside the EU, the EU Member States
as well as in North America, their implementation for offshore multi-use settings is as
yet incipient and examples of best practice in multi-use scenarios are needed. These
need to combine different knowledge systems (e.g. authorities, decision-makers, local
communities, science, etc.) to generate effective insights into the management of
multiple uses of ocean space and to complement risk‐justified decision-making.
Pre-existing social networks can provide significant political leverage for governance
transformations as required for the move offshore. That said, a range of organizational
and social challenges related to the collective use of a defined ocean territory have to
be taken into account. For instance, the creation and compliance with defined
responsibilities and duties or the introduction of cross-sectoral management lines,
such as an offshore co-management, that integrates the different demands and practices of the involved parties within an operational scheme that is practical on a day to
day manner are in case in point. Indeed, how people perceive and value marine
environments and the resources they provide determines individual and collective
preferences, actions and strategies in the marine realm. Thus, for the effective
G. Krause (&)
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar
and Marine Research (AWI), Earth System Knowledge Platform (ESKP),
Bussestrasse 24, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
e-mail: gesche.krause@awi.de
G. Krause
SeaKult—Sustainable Futures in the Marine Realm,
Sandfahrel 12, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany
S.M. Stead
School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University,
Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_7
149