Yoshitaka Ota

• University of British Columbia

The blue economy was originally conceptualised as having a strong focus on social equity; however, in practice, these equity considerations have been overshadowed by neo-liberal capitalist agendas, which have become dominant in blue economy discourse. A continued expansion of ocean industry developments and activities has resulted in an inequitable...

Sustainable development should promote equity with benefits for coastal communities. Many conservation and development initiatives promise to contribute to an equitable future without being designed to do so. Here, we promote an assessment tool to help interventions plan to promote equity through forecasting and evaluating the risks of contributing...

Plastics and plastic waste have emerged as one of the major challenges of the Anthropence, a so-called “wicked problem” complicated by a myriad of political, economic, cultural, and historical factors. The ubiquity of plastic waste has garnered increased attention from governments, non-profit organizations and the media, in turn expanding mitigativ...

Mangrove forests of Ecuador’s Gulf of Guayaquil are ecologically, culturally, and economically important to local communities relying on them for artisanal fishing, ecotourism, and related businesses. However, these ecosystems have experienced significant degradation by anthropogenic impacts such as anthropogenic marine debris. On one hand, plastic...

Macroplastics, microplastics, and nanoplastics are increasingly becoming pollutants of great concern in the world’s oceans. Many studies have revealed adverse health impacts in marine ecosystems and organisms resulting from microplastic and nanoplastics exposure, ingestion and contamination. Marine biodiversity is readily affected by plastic pollut...

Sustainable development is often represented as contributing to desirable outcomes across economic, environmental, and social goals, yet policies and interventions attempting to deliver sustainable development often disagree on the order in which these categories of goals should be addressed. In this Essay, we identify and review 5 approaches (call...

In the scientific literature on fisheries, the concept of community is often used broadly to indicate a place-based group whose members are dedicated to fisheries and have relatively homogeneous economic, social, and cultural interests. However, this categorical perspective to scope a “fishing community” is not necessarily an insightful approach to...

Calls to address social equity in ocean governance are expanding. Yet ‘equity’ is seldom clearly defined. Here we present a framework to support contextually-informed assessment of equity in ocean governance. Guiding questions include: (1) Where and (2) Why is equity being examined? (3) Equity for or amongst Whom? (4) What is being distributed? (5)...

Labor issues and human rights violations have become the subject of rising concern in fisheries and seafood production. This paper reviews recent research on labor issues in the fishing industry, especially by environmental researchers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) which are emerging as key players in research and policy arenas. Recent r...

Coral reefs worldwide are facing impacts from climate change, overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution. The cumulative effect of these impacts on global capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services is un- known. Here, we evaluate global changes in extent of coral reef habitat, coral reef fishery catches and effort, Indigenous consum...

Climate-driven redistribution of tuna threatens to disrupt the economies of Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and sustainable management of the world’s largest tuna fishery. Here we show that by 2050, under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (RCP 8.5), the total biomass of three tuna species in the waters of ten Pacific SIDS could...

Marine fisheries in African waters contribute substantially to food security and local economies in African coastal nations. Recently, there are growing concerns about the sustainability of living marine resources in these countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) due to increased risks from climate change, pollution and potential over‐exploitatio...

The future of the global ocean economy is currently envisioned as advancing towards a ‘blue economy’—socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable ocean industries1,2. However, tensions exist within sustainable development approaches, arising from differing perspectives framed around natural capital or social equity. Here...

Ocean conditions can affect human health in a variety of ways that are often overlooked and unappreciated. Oceans adjacent to Canada are affected by many anthropogenic stressors, with implications for human health and well-being. Climate change further escalates these pressures and can expose coastal populations to unique health hazards and distres...

Through a historical lens, this paper illustrates the differing economic, legal, institutional, social and cultural relationships people of varying cultures have with the ocean. Focusing on the institutions that affect access and rights, this paper addresses concerns about the appropriation of marine resources and displacement of indigenous vision...

The United Nations are currently negotiating a new international legally-binding instrument to govern the global ocean commons, a vast area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) owned by everyone but not cared for by any single entity. Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) have been underrepresented in the debate about governance of ABNJ d...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to prohibit harmful fisheries subsidies, thereby achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6. An effective agreement should be viewed as an opportunity for nations to proactively transition towards sustainable and equitable fisheries and pave the path for...

Fishers’ economic status is hard to assess because fisheries socio‐economic data, including earnings, are often not centrally available, standardized or accessible in a form that allows scaled‐up or comparative analyses. The lack of fishing income data impedes sound management and allows biased perceptions about fishers’ status to persist. We compi...

The term ‘Blue Economy’ is increasingly used in various marine sectors and development frameworks. For it to be a truly useful approach, however, we argue that social benefits and equity must be explicitly prioritized alongside environmental and economic concerns. This integration of social dimensions within the Blue Economy is required to ensure t...

Climate change is impacting marine ecosystems and their goods and services in diverse ways, which can directly hinder our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), set out under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through expert elicitation and a literature review, we find that most climate change effects have a wide var...

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the seafood industry is on the rise. Because of increasing public awareness and non-governmental organization (NGO) campaigns, seafood buyers have made various commitments to improve the sustainability of their wild seafood sourcing. As part of this effort, seafood suppliers have developed their own CSR prog...

Sustainability standards for seafood mainly address environmental performance criteria and are less concerned with the welfare of fisheries workers who produce the seafood. Yet human rights violations such as slavery and human trafficking are widespread in fisheries around the world, and underscore the need for certification bodies and other seafoo...

Literature search strings. (DOCX)

Seafood is the world's most internationally traded food commodity. Approximately three out of every seven people globally rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein (1). Revelations about slavery and labor rights abuses in fisheries have sparked outrage and shifted the conversation (2, 3), placing social issues at the forefront of a sect...

Marine conservation actions are promoted to conserve natural values and support human wellbeing. Yet the quality of governance processes and the social consequences of some marine conservation initiatives have been the subject of critique and even human rights complaints. These types of governance and social issues may jeopardize the legitimacy of,...

For Pacific Island communities, social change has always been a part of their socio-political lives, while environmental changes were always transient and reversible, so that they understood and engaged with their ocean as a provider for food, culture and life. However, recent unprecedented and irreversible changes brought on by global climate chan...

Marine ecosystems play a central role in economic and social life in the Republic of Palau, a Small Island Developing State in the Western Pacific. Marine resources underpin subsistence and commercial fisheries, as well as tourism activities, contributing substantially to Palau's GDP and employment. Since 1992, Palau has been actively developing co...

The world's oceans are highly impacted by climate change and other human pressures, with significant implications for marine ecosystems and the livelihoods that they support. Adaptation for both natural and human systems is increasingly important as a coping strategy due to the rate and scale of ongoing and potential future change. Here, we conduct...

Marine conservation actions are promoted to conserve natural values and support human wellbeing. Yet the quality of governance processes and the social consequences of some marine conservation initiatives have been the subject of critique and even human rights complaints. These types of governance and social issues may jeopardize the legitimacy of,...

Seafood is the world's most internationally traded food commodity. Approximately three out of every seven people globally rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein (1). Revelations about slavery and labor rights abuses in fisheries have sparked outrage and shifted the conversation (2, 3), placing social issues at the forefront of a sect...

Achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) results in many ecological, social, and economic consequences that are inter-related. Understanding relationships between sustainability goals and determining their interactions can help prioritize effective and efficient policy options. This paper presents a framework that integ...

Achieving ocean sustainability is paramount for coastal communi es and marine industries, yet is also inextricably linked to much broader global sustainable development—including increased resilience to climate change and improved social equity—as envisioned by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This report highlights the co-bene ts fr...

Over the past two decades, there has been a proliferation of consumer-facing, market-based initiatives for marine conservation—most notably in seafood eco-labels and sustainability certifications. Yet, despite the growing recognition of these initiatives by consumers and retailers in North America and Europe and the (subsequent) acceptance of their...

Coastal Indigenous peoples rely on ocean resources and are highly vulnerable to ecosystem and economic change. Their challenges have been observed and recognized at local and regional scales, yet there are no global-scale analyses to inform international policies. We compile available data for over 1,900 coastal Indigenous communities around the wo...

Estimated Indigenous seafood consumption given assumptions on initial available data. For each exclusion ratio, a different random subset of initial data points was excluded from the analysis in each of 1,000 model runs. Points show mean consumption estimate; lines show coefficient of variation. (TIF)

Observed and estimated consumption values for initial data points. Each observed data point was omitted from model input and estimated from remaining data. Solid line is 1:1. (TIF)

Data references for Indigenous seafood consumption. References can contain information for more than one coastal Indigenous community and/or group. (DOCX)

Comparison of consumption data across global subregions. Tukey HSD test (α = 0.05) results comparing average seafood consumption ratio per capita by global subregion. Only primary data, not estimates, are used in this analysis. Pairs marked with asterisks have significantly different seafood consumption (*p<0.05; **p<0.01). (DOCX)

Number of data points (n), total number of coastal Indigenous peoples (CIPs) (N), data points as percentage of total (n/N), and coefficient of variation (CV). CV is estimated based on 5,000 model runs, where a random 10% of data points are excluded from the analysis before each iteration. (DOCX)

Sensitivity analysis methods and implications for seafood consumption estimates. (DOCX)

Climate change is projected to redistribute fisheries resources, resulting in tropical regions suffering decreases in seafood production. While sustainably managing marine ecosystems contributes to building climate resilience, these solutions require transformation of ocean governance. Recent studies and international initiatives suggest that conse...

Studies have demonstrated ways in which climate-related shifts in the distributions and relative abundances of marine species are expected to alter the dynamics and catch potential of global fisheries. While these studies assess impacts on large-scale commercial fisheries, few efforts have been made to quantitatively project impacts on small-scale...

Correlations between (A) cumulative change in relative catch potential and latitude, and (B) change in species’ catch potential (%) and latitude. Materials include cumulative change in relative catch potential by domestic fishing area (Table A) and number of species (n) whose catch potential (%) is projected to increase, decrease, or remain neutral...

Sensitivity analyses using a multi-model ensemble of projected changes in relative catch potential by species (Table A) and a multi-model ensemble of projected latitudinal range shifts by species (Table B). Results are ordered by least to greatest standard deviation. Projections from AquaMaps and Maxent obtained from Jones and Cheung (2014). (PDF)

Sample of 98 species included in the analysis, ordered alphabetically by common name. (PDF)

Projected change in relative abundance for 98 species under the lower (RCP 2.6) and upper (RCP 8.5) scenarios of climate change. Projections obtained using the Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model (DBEM). (PDF)

Projected latitudinal range shifts for 98 species by 2050 relative to 2000 under the lower (RCP 2.6) and upper (RCP 8.5) scenarios of climate change, derived from the Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model (DBEM). Ordered from greatest to least latitudinal range shift under RCP 8.5. (PDF)

Domestic fishing areas of BC First Nations included in analysis. Detailed methodology for deriving domestic fishing areas from Statement of Intent (SOI) boundaries submitted during the BC Treaty Process, with metadata and link to data source. (PDF)

First Nations’ participation in British Columbia’s commercial fisheries by percentage and number held of available licenses. Not all licenses may be active. Detailed data outlining species used to calculate aggregated impacts to each commercial fishery are available by request. (PDF)

Sample of First Nations’ traditional fisheries management approaches and analogous Western fisheries management strategies. (PDF)

Species distribution and life history data used in the analysis. This Access database includes the data used to run the DBEM. (ACCDB)

Sampled commercially-caught species aggregated by fishery. The proportion of species included in the analysis relative to those included in each fishery’s quota is noted. (XLSX)

Projected change in relative catch potential for 98 species under the lower (RCP 2.6) and upper (RCP 8.5) scenarios of climate change. Estimates obtained using projected changes in relative abundance and Eq 5. Values in red indicate an insignificant change in catch potential, with disagreement regarding the directionality of the projected change in...

The expanse of ocean which makes up all marine areas beyond national jurisdiction has been characterized as the last frontier of exploitation on the planet, a figurative final “Wild West”. Existing users of areas beyond national jurisdiction, with the exception of fisheries, currently have a limited footprint there as a consequence, in part, of sub...

Human activities have substantial impacts on marine ecosystems, including rapid regime shifts with large consequences for human well-being. We highlight the use of model-based scenarios as a scientific tool for adaptive stewardship in the face of such consequences. The natural sciences have a long history of developing scenarios but rarely with an...

Determining the distribution of the conservation burden and benefit is a critical challenge to the conservation and management of trans-boundary fish stocks. Given current levels of overfishing and overcapacity in many trans-boundary fisheries, some or all participating States must necessarily reach a compromise with regard to their interests and c...

Will there be seafood and a healthy ocean for future generations to enjoy? That is the central question for the Nereus Program, a collaborative and capacity-building effort of the Nippon Foundation, University of British Columbia, Princeton University, Duke University, UNEPs World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge University, and the Stockh...

The Channel Habitat Atlas for Marine Resource Management (CHARM) is a trans-border collaboration project between France and United Kingdom. It has become, since 2003, a growing network of scientists geared on investing in science through joint collaboration, communication and knowledge management. The initial objective of the project is to provide...

The eastern English Channel, the narrow channel of water separating northern France and southeast England is an area of intense human use of the array of resources concentrated into its relative small area. The vulnerability of living resources and their habitats brought together French and British maritime experts within a common project (called C...

Readers of our first CHARM I atlas will know that almost everything contained within the atlas was original work resulting from two years of intensive study of the Dover Strait by a dedicated and inter- disciplinary team working from bases on either side of the Channel. The present atlas has carried on this eminent precedent, though this time cover...

Smith, R. J., Eastwood, P. D., Ota, Y., and Rogers, S. I. 2009. Developing best practice for using Marxan to locate Marine Protected Areas in European waters. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 188–194.Several recent studies have investigated the use of the conservation planning software Marxan to design Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks in U...

The assessment of fishing effort is a vital part of fisheries management. However, assessing fishing effort by small-scale local fleets is often problematic, partly because of the complex socio-economic and cultural factors that govern the labour patterns of different fisheries employing different fishing practices. Often, official statistics produ...

Underwater spear gun fishing is the most popular fishing method used in indigenous inshore fishing in Palau, West Micronesia. Two major characteristics of this method are: first, the opportunity offered to fishermen to enter and experience another sphere of the seascape, the underwater world; and, second, the extreme physical challenge involved in...

Catch rates and access to fishing locations have changed in contemporary Pacific fishing owing to newly introduced technologies such as speedboats and dive gear. At the same time, fishermen have also acquired new ecological knowledge of the marine environment and have developed new fishing skills. In this arti- cle I provide ethnographic examples f...