Chapter 1

Blue Economy and Ocean Science:

Introduction

Edward R. Urban Jr. , Venugopalan Ittekkot , and V. N. Attri

Abstract The book was developed to emphasize the importance of ocean science
and technology in discussions of blue economy. The “blue economy” concept was
developed in 1992 at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which also
developed Agenda 21. The idea of the blue economy was used more commonly
following the publication of a book by Gunter Pauli in 2010. For the purposes of this
book, we adopt a World Bank definition of blue economy that balances economic,
environmental, and social sustainability considerations. This chapter will introduce
the blue economy concept and provide an introduction to the following chapters.
The book begins with an in-depth look at a few of the most important blue economy
resources (Chaps. 2–8) and threats to these resources (Chaps. 9–12). Chapter 13
focuses on the special situations of small island developing states. The need for
enhanced observations (Chap. 14) and capacity development (Chap. 15) are high-
lighted. Finally, Chap. 16 summarizes the preceding chapters and makes recom-
mendations for progress to better apply science and technology to developing and
maintaining blue economies.

Keywords Blue economy · Ocean science and technology · Sustainability

1.1 Context

The ocean, with its huge water volume and covering 71% of Earth’s surface, plays
a major role in the life of humans, even those who live far from the coast. Both

E. R. Urban Jr. (B)

Scientific Committee On Oceanic Research (SCOR) (retired), Newark, DE, USA
e-mail: [Link]@[Link]
V. Ittekkot
Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, University of Bremen (retired), Bremen, Germany
V. N. Attri
Indian Ocean Studies (CIOS), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Ebene, Republic of
Mauritius

© The Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-aligned and Other Developing 1
Countries (NAM S&T Centre) 2022
E. R. Urban Jr. and V. Ittekkot (eds.), Blue Economy,
[Link]
2 E. R. Urban et al.

products extracted from the ocean and services provided by the ocean yield benefits
to humans that can be quantified in economic terms. Products from the ocean can
be valued in a variety of ways, from their value as just-acquired raw materials to
the sales price of value-added products. It is also possible, although more difficult,
to quantify economic benefits from services provided by the ocean (Costanza et al.
1997), but not all experts agree with such valuations.
Recognition of the significance of economic benefits from the ocean for national
economies led to the development of the terms “blue growth” and “blue economy” at
the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (the “Earth Summit”) held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil from 3 to 14 June 1992 (e.g., IOC/UNESCO et al. 2011; Anon. 2012).
The Earth Summit developed Agenda 21, focusing on sustainable development and
its social, economic, conservation, and management aspects; and strengthening the
role of major organizations as a means to implement Agenda 21. The concept of blue
economy came into common use with the publication of the book The Blue Economy:
10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs in April 2010 by Gunter Pauli (2010).
The definition of blue economy has evolved since 2010, with different stakeholders
using the term in different ways. The blue economy concept was made possible by
the extension of “ownership” of coastal waters that resulted from the establishment
of 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) by the UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea, which entered into force in 1994.
The UN continued to promote global sustainable development through the 2000
UN Millennium Declaration, which contained eight Millennium Development Goals
to be achieved by 2015. Eradicating poverty and hunger; combating disease, illit-
eracy and environmental degradation; and achieving gender equality were among
the goals. These goals were replaced by the UN’s Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustain-
able Development Goals (SDGs) ([Link] in 2015. Achievement of
several of the SDGs will be made more possible by establishing blue economies. The
achievement of SGD 14 (Life Below Water) and other SDGs depend on advancing
and applying knowledge (Lee et al. 2020). Reaping benefits from the ocean while
sustaining its health is at the core of SDG 14: “Conserve and sustainably use the
oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” ([Link]
goals/goal14). A variety of other terms including the word “blue” have been devel-
oped (“blue growth”, “blue development”, “blue carbon”, “blue biotechnology”, etc.)
to indicate the importance of the ocean in environmental, economic, and social terms,
as compared to the adjective “green” used for terrestrial counterparts (e.g., Eikeset
et al. 2018).
The UN tracks progress toward achievement of each SDG and issues a progress
report annually (e.g., United Nations 2021). The Sustainable Development Goals
Report 2020 (United Nations 2021) documents that the protected percentage of
waters under national jurisdiction increased from 2015 to 2019, having reached 17%.
Likewise, the percentage of key biodiversity areas protected worldwide increased
from 30.5% in 2000 to 46.0% in 2019. Unfortunately, Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lag the global percentages in
both measures. UN (2021) reported that countries have increased implementation of
actions to curtail illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, while the proportion
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 3

of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels decreased to 65.8% in 2017. The
COVID-19 pandemic has delayed implementation of several SDGs (e.g., Naidoo and
Fisher 2020).
Identifying the necessity of ocean science and technology for blue economies
is particularly timely, given the need to progress the SDGs to completion by 2030.
SDG 14 recognizes the importance of scientific knowledge for attaining this goal.
SDG Target 14A states: “Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity
and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceano-
graphic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology
(IOC-CGTMT), in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of
marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small
island developing states and least developed countries” ([Link]
goal14).
The UN recently launched its Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Develop-
ment ([Link] hereafter referred to as the “Ocean Decade”), lasting
from 2021 to 2030. The Ocean Decade was developed to generate the global ocean
science needed to achieve the SDGs, particularly SDG 14. The Ocean Decade will
provide an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation to develop scientific
research and technologies to connect ocean science with the needs of society. It will
contribute to an overall improvement in the scientific knowledge base though capacity
development in regions and among groups where most needed. Successful implemen-
tation of the Ocean Decade will require cooperation across a range of stakeholders:
scientists, governments, academics, policy makers, business and industry and civil
society.

1.2 Blue Economy

Many different definitions of blue economy exist, depending on the goals of the
organizations promoting their versions of blue economy (e.g., see Attri 2018 and
Eikeset et al. 2018 for general discussions, Attri and Bohler-Muller 2018 for the
Indian Ocean region, Clegg et al. 2020 for the Caribbean Sea region, Keen et al.
2017 for the Pacific Ocean region, and European Commission 2021 for the Euro-
pean Union). Voyer et al. (2018) present a helpful analysis of the different definitions
of blue economy by different sectors, and the benefits and costs of the ambiguity of
the term. Their analysis identified four primary perspectives of blue economy from
the policy documents they examined: (1) “oceans as natural capital”, (2) “oceans as
livelihood’, (3) “oceans as a driver of innovation”, and (4) “oceans as good busi-
ness” (e.g., OECD 2016). Not all definitions of blue economy, as stated in many
national and regional policy documents, include environmental and social sustain-
ability (Garland et al. 2019), being focused more on the ocean as a source of funds to
support national economies. There is a movement among some experts to promote
the idea of “blue degrowth” (Ertör and Hadjimichael 2020), which rejects the idea
that economic growth must be unending.
4 E. R. Urban et al.

1.2.1 Definition

A useful definition of blue economy is that proposed by the World Bank for a “sustain-
able ocean economy”: “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth,
improved livelihoods and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems”
to achieve “triple bottom line objectives” that balance economic, environmental,
and social outcomes (World Bank and United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs 2017). This is the definition that makes the most sense when
discussing the role of science and technology in blue economies. We will use this
definition in the book without exploring other definitions in depth. The defi-
nition does not explicitly include the idea of intergenerational equity in protecting
national economies, environments, and culture, but sustainability implies continued
availability of such resources into the future. WWF (2015) also presents principles
for a sustainable blue economy.
The blue economy concept has become particularly attractive in recent years.
Ocean resources have been recognized as important national assets, particularly in
developing countries, as a key element of national ocean strategies to harvest ocean
resources to support national economies (Okafor-Yarwood et al. 2020) (Table 1.1).
Blue economy is particularly important to island nations, in which the areas of their
exclusive economic zones far surpass their land areas, and land-based resources are
scarce (see Chap. 13). However, some nations with large land areas (e.g., Australia
and the United States) also have developed blue economy plans (CSIRO 2008; NOAA
2021), even though the ocean is a less substantial part of their overall economic
development plans than for small island nations, and is likely to remain so. Natural
resources are not distributed equally among nations’ EEZs and not many nations
are able to develop multiple resources simultaneously (Cisneros-Montemayor et al.
2021), which can impact a nation’s blue economy goals. Developing multiple blue
economy resources at the same time requires that a nation be able to balance
among the environmental and social effects of each one, which may affect different
stakeholders.
The term “sustainable ocean economy” has been gaining ground recently (Sumaila
et al. 2021) and may supplant the term blue economy in the near future.

1.2.2 Blue Economy Components and Industries

The major components of blue economy are given in Table 1.1. Several of the indus-
tries based on these components already exist. Table 1.2 gives an idea of the existing
and emerging blue economy industries. For this book, we selected a few of the most
prominent resources found in blue economy plans worldwide and which most need
inputs from ocean science.
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 5

Table 1.1 Components of blue economy (from World Bank and United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs 2017)
Type of activity Activity Related Drivers of
subcategories industries/sectors growth
Harvesting and trade Seafood harvesting Fisheries (primary fish Demand for food and
of marine living production) nutrition, especially
resources protein
Secondary fisheries Demand for food and
and related activities nutrition, especially
(e.g., processing, net protein
and gear making, ice
production and supply,
boat construction and
maintenance,
manufacturing of fish-
processing equipment,
packaging, marketing
and distribution)
Trade of seafood Demand for food and
products nutrition, especially
protein
Trade of non-edible Demand for cosmetic,
seafood products pet, and
pharmaceutical
products
Aquaculture Demand for food and
nutrition, especially
protein
Commerce and trade Transport and trade Shipping and Growth in seaborne
in and around the shipbuilding trade; transport
oceans Maritime transport demand; international
regulations; maritime
transport industries
(shipbuilding,
scrapping,
registration,
Ports and related Seafaring, port
services operations, etc.)
Coastal development National planning Coastal urbanization,
ministries and national regulations
departments
Tourism and National tourism Global growth of
recreation authorities tourism
private sector
other relevant sectors
(continued)
6 E. R. Urban et al.

Table 1.1 (continued)

Type of activity Activity Related Drivers of
subcategories industries/sectors growth
Indirect contribution Carbon sequestration Blue carbon Climate mitigation
to economic activities
and environments
Coastal Protection Habitat protection, Resilient growth
Restoration
Waste Disposal for Assimilation of solid Wastewater
land-based nutrients, waste management
industry
Existence of Protection of species, Conservation
biodiversity habitats

Table 1.2 Blue economy

Established Emerging
industries (those discussed in
this book are shown in Capture fisheries Marine aquaculture
boldface type) Seafood processing Deep-and-ultra-deep water
oil and gas
Shipping Offshore wind energy
Ports Ocean renewable energy
Shipbuilding and repair Marine and seabed mining
Offshore oil and gas Maritime safety and
(shallow water) surveillance
Marine manufacturing and Marine biotechnology
construction
Maritime and coastal High-tech marine products and
tourism services
Marine business services Other
Marine R&D and education
Dredging
Source OECD (2016)
Note Marine aquaculture may be misplaced as an “emerging”
sector, as it has been practiced in some form for hundreds of years,
but some aspects of this sector, such as open-ocean aquaculture
and use of deep-ocean water sources, are relatively new.

1.2.3 Blue Economy and General Limitations

Discussions of blue economy in some countries put most of the emphasis on maxi-
mizing economic benefits without balancing the three blue economy factors. Coun-
tries sometimes approach blue economy resources as if they are inexhaustible,
waiting to be extracted from the ocean, as though money is floating in the sea
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 7

waiting to be netted, to fuel national economies. The reality is much more compli-
cated because some resources are not renewable and there are environmental conse-
quences to all resource extraction. Exploitation of one resource may diminish a
nation’s ability to exploit other resources or may damage local communities while
primarily enriching large corporations located outside the country whose resources
are being extracted. In addition, resource extraction can have negative impacts beyond
a nation’s waters to impact neighboring countries. Use of non-extractive ocean
services can also diminish their availability, if care is not taken in their use. Costs
and benefits can occur at different scales, both within a nation and regionally. Marine
spatial planning (MSP) can help link different scales and different SDGs (Ntona and
Morgera 2018). MSP is being used throughout the world to balance different user
activities in different areas of a nation’s EEZ and can be used in conjunction with
ecosystem-based management (see Box 16.1).
The Rio + 20 concept paper on blue economy (Anon. 2012) identified equity for
developing countries as a fundamental aspect of blue economies:
• “Optimize the benefits received from the development of their marine environ-
ments e.g. fishery agreements, bioprospecting, oil and mineral extraction.
• Promote national equity, including gender equality, and in particular the genera-
tion of inclusive growth and decent jobs for all.
• Have their concerns and interests properly reflected in the development of seas
beyond national jurisdiction; including the refinement of international gover-
nance mechanisms and their concerns as States proximate to seabed development”
(Anon. 2012).
Another key requirement for developing successful blue economies lies in the
idea of “circular economies”, in which resources are recycled, rather than being used
once and discarded (e.g., Dantas et al. 2021). Circular economies require planning
to design material flows and technologies for recycling that may require technology
transfer from developed nations. Blue economies inevitably must be tied with land-
based economic activities (“green economy”). These concepts, though important,
are beyond the scope of this book.
Cisneros-Montemayor et al. (2021) point out that natural resources are a neces-
sary, but insufficient, factor making blue economies possible. Also needed are stable
political systems with limited corruption, equitable social systems, regulations to
manage resources and balance among use sectors, and infrastructure necessary for
harvesting resources and monitoring the effects of harvesting. Many countries have
insufficient environmental impact assessment processes and favor development over
protection. Enabling conditions are correlated with the human development index of
nations and enabling conditions differ among regions (Cisneros-Montemayor et al.
2021).
8 E. R. Urban et al.

1.2.4 Measuring Performance of Blue Economy

It is important to evaluate the performance of blue economic sectors and their

effectiveness in terms of economic, social and environmental (ecological) sustain-
ability (see also Sect. 1.2.5). This requires the development of methods to effec-
tively measure the performance of ocean-based industries and economic sectors, and
their contribution to the overall economy. The System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting (United Nations et al. 2021), and the Experi-
mental Ecosystem Account (European Environment Agency 2011) are discussed in
Sect. 1.2.5 (see Colgan 2016). Blue economy plans should explicitly identify appro-
priate metrics of success, including metrics for social and cultural objectives, which
are often missing from tools for implementation of blue economies such as marine
spatial plans (Zuercher et al. 2022).
From an ocean science perspective, sustainability indicators need to be developed
for the various products and services derived from the ocean, as well as adequate
methodologies to effectively measure and monitor the indicators. While making more
effective decision making possible, appropriate indicators also could demonstrate
the relevance of ocean research and observation in the practice of sustainable blue
economy. Technology transfer and capacity development will be necessary to make
the application of science and technology indicators of blue economies commonplace
worldwide. As mentioned in Sect. 1.1, SDG Target 14A specifically mentions the
use of IOC-CGTMT. Chapters 14 and 15 highlight the importance of the transfer and
implementation of observational technologies and the means available for capacity
development in developing economies, including least developed countries and small
island developing states. A variety of constraining factors need to be overcome to
accomplish technology transfer and maintenance of technology and expertise once
developed.

1.2.5 Science and Technology for Sustainable Blue Economy

Among steps needed for improving the use of science and technology for establishing
national blue economies are the following:
1. Commitment of national policymakers and administrators to the threefold goals
of sustainable blue economies. This commitment should be demonstrated by
the establishment of new laws and regulations needed to create and maintain a
national blue economy.
2. Adoption of methods to properly quantify the costs and benefits of the extrac-
tion of renewable and non-renewable marine resources. This step should include
periodic measurement and assessment of the performance of blue economy
sectors, and the overall contribution of blue economy to national GDPs, as well
as environmental and social objectives.
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 9

3. Investment in ocean science (natural and social science) in areas needed to

fill information gaps related to understanding marine and human systems well
enough to quantify costs and benefits.
4. Investment in technologies needed to observe ocean systems and the effects of
resource extraction, and to mitigate the negative impacts of resource extraction.
5. Commitment to developing capacity for ocean science and technology to carry
out the previous steps.
The first two steps above are beyond detailed discussion in this book, but are
fundamental to implementing steps 3–5. We introduce some thoughts about steps 1
and 2 in the following paragraphs, but these do not capture the wealth of information
available in the literature on these topics (see Chap. 16 for further discussion of steps
3–5).
1. Commitment to Balancing Economics, Environmental Protection, and Social
Equity
This first step is probably the most difficult, but also the most important, because
acceptance of the need to balance the three goals of blue economy underlies all the
other steps and requires a commitment to the various investments described in the
following steps. National policymakers can be tempted to focus on the economic
benefits of harvesting tangible ocean resources and stop there, with no balancing of
goals or investments to understand the impacts of the resource extraction activities.
This inevitably leads to unsustainable resource-based economies, degraded envi-
ronments, and/or social instability. National policymakers and government agen-
cies have especially important roles to play in establishing and maintaining blue
economies, by creating the necessary legislative and administrative frameworks,
and prioritizing funding for ocean science and technology activities to underpin
sustainable development coupled with environmental and social protections. Sumaila
et al. (2021) identify means of financing sustainable ocean economies, and noted
that an “enabling environment” is a necessary pre-condition for attracting finances
for sustainable ocean economies. As pointed out by Cisneros-Montemayor et al.
(2021), enabling factors within a nation are more important in predicting success in
the establishment of blue economies than are the availability of natural resources.
Tools related to Marine Spatial Planning, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and
Ecosystem-Based Management can be used to help balance among blue economy
sectors.
An important part of national discussions in establishing blue economies relates
to ensuring social equity among sectors that may be helped or harmed by government
actions and policies. For example, if offshore mining reduces fish catches, how can
fishers be compensated as they sacrifice income to benefit the national economy? If
the creation of marine protected areas removes fishing areas from access by traditional
fishers, how will they be compensated? Every policy created by governments creates
winners and losers, resulting in conflict among competing sectors, and resistance to
the new policies (e.g. Österblom et al. 2020).
Individual nations can increasingly rely on international organizations and
projects to gain support and information for developing national blue economies.
10 E. R. Urban et al.

For example, the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy ([Link]
[Link]/) was established in 2018 to advocate for sustainable use of the ocean,
complementary to UN activities on SDG 14. The panel’s report Ocean Solutions
That Benefit People, Nature and the Economy (Stuchtey et al. 2020) proposed five
“building blocks”: (1) Using data to drive decision-making, (2) engaging in goal-
oriented ocean planning, (3) de-risking finance and using innovation to mobilise
investment, (4) stopping land-based pollution, and (5) changing ocean accounting
so that it reflects the true value of the ocean”. Their first building block indirectly
emphasizes the role of ocean research and observations.
2. Quantification of Costs and Benefits: Adopting Necessary Measurement and
Data-Collection Methods
After national governments commit to establishing a balanced and sustainable blue
economy, the next tangible step is to determine how products and services related
to the ocean will be valued and tracked. Placing values on resources and ocean
processes is necessary to evaluate the costs and benefits of various policies and deci-
sions properly. Methods of accounting for resources and environmental values have
evolved over recent decades. Colgan (2016) shows how tracking of economic activity
related to the ocean can use national income accounts. He extensively discusses
the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA: United Nations
Statistics Division 2014). The Experimental Ecosystem Account (EEA: European
Commission et al. 2013) provides methods for bringing ecosystem services (provi-
sion, regulating, and cultural) into the evaluation of costs and benefits. Successful
accounting for ecosystem services requires the use of models that couple ecosystems
and human actions, requiring investments in ocean science (see Step 3 in Chap. 16).
EEA also brings in the concept that ecosystems and the services they provide vary
by location (Colgan 2016). Designing systems to value natural products and services
is a difficult step, but there is room for pilot activities related to resources for which
there are abundant data, such as fisheries, mineral extraction, and tourism. Fenichel
et al. (2020a) expand on the need for national accounts to include ocean economic
activities and show an example of how ocean accounts can be presented in the form
of “dashboards”. A “Blue Paper” from the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean
Economy (Fenichel et al. 2020b) further notes that national accounts can be used to
provide information related to three areas of blue economy decision making: “output
or national means—a measure of production; outcomes or policy ends—a measure
of real income and its distribution; and sustainability—indicated by changes in the
national balance sheet.” They cautioned that, although some countries already esti-
mate their “ocean Gross Domestic Product”, this can be the wrong metric because
it ignores sustainability issues. Also important are tracking of ocean assets (natural
and human-produced) and ocean income. Some changes in international standards
for national accounts will be necessary to achieve this step. Ocean national accounts
can be a useful tool for marine spatial planning. Box 1.1 provides the High-Level
Panel’s advice on principles for national accounts that would help track blue economy
activities.
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 11

Box 1.1. Principles of Accounting for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (from

Fenichel et al. 2020b)

1. Ask multiple questions and expect multiple answers, especially questions about
income and sustainability (balance sheets) in addition to production. This means
that the impacts of policies and decisions about the ocean economy should be
evaluated based on at least three indicators: income, production and ocean wealth.
2. Build on the existing structure of the System of National Accounts and System
for Environmental-Economic Accounting so that ocean accounts are compatible
with existing national accounts, and with international statistical standards.
3. Avoid an overreliance on GDP, which is not an indicator of either sustainability
or the societal ends of economic activity. Do not use a hammer when you need
a wrench.
4. Lead or contribute to collaboration efforts to improve national ocean accounting
systems, including global partnerships to share best practices and build capacity.
Such efforts will likely involve creating new integrated data management systems
for ocean accounting and other purposes.

Blue economies must be adaptive and management approaches may need to be

adjusted as more experience is gained. Adopting appropriate methods for valuing
resources and for cost–benefit analyses should make it easier to attract external
investments to help establish blue economies.
A major barrier to instituting blue economies is that it is relatively easy to quantify
benefits from resources harvested from the ocean, but difficult to quantify the value of
services derived from healthy ocean environments that would be lost from improper
use of resources or damage to environmental and social values. In such a situation,
it is easy for governments at all levels to treat the potential losses equal to zero,
or at least of lesser cost than the tangible benefits received. In any resulting cost–
benefit analyzes, the benefits of using resources outweigh the costs of using those
resources. To approach such situations, some social scientists have attempted to
assign monetary values to environmental and social benefits by asking consumers
about their willingness to pay for various products and services. For example, as
noted in Chap. 6, scientists in Palau compared the income of ecotourism related to
diving with sharks to the income related to harvesting those sharks, and found that
the ecosystem value of shark ecotourism vastly outweighed the value of harvested
sharks (Vianna et al. 2010). Another effective means of assigning values to intangible
benefits is to get someone to pay for the benefit, in terms of “debt-for-nature” swaps,
“blue bonds” (Christ et al. 2020), or similar mechanisms. A key to establishing blue
economies is to quantify and share benefits derived.
12 E. R. Urban et al.

1.3 Ocean Services and Products, Threats from Human

Activities

1.3.1 Services Provided by the Ocean

The ocean helps regulate many functions important to humans, from local to global
scales. The ocean affects global temperature by absorbing heat and redistributing it,
moderating temperatures on land. Evaporation of water from the ocean is the major
source of moisture in the atmosphere, leading to rain on land and fueling the global
hydrologic cycle. Phytoplankton and other plants in the ocean help control the levels
of atmospheric gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. Coastal areas provide
opportunities for commercial activities that can bolster local to national economies.
Some other services that will be discussed in later chapters include the following:
Coral Reefs: Coral reefs provide a multitude of services to coastal populations
in tropical areas, including food resources, protection from storm waves, cultural
values in many island nations, ecotourism activities, and others. Coral reefs and
the resources they provide are threatened by increasing ocean temperatures, ocean
acidification, pollution, and direct human impacts from unsustainable fishing and
tourism activities. See Chap. 2.
Blue Carbon: Atmospheric carbon dioxide is removed and stored by ocean
plants (phytoplankton, seaweeds, mangroves, seagrasses), as so-called “blue carbon”
(Nellemann et al. 2009; UNESCO 2020). Blue carbon intersects with blue economy
(UNESCO 2020) because creation of certain types of blue carbon creates environ-
ments necessary for productive fisheries, tourism, and the health of ocean environ-
ments and removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which slows atmospheric
warming and ocean acidification. Like coral reefs, blue carbon ecosystems also help
protect coastlines and may someday provide economic benefits from carbon seques-
tration credits. Negative effects of human activities on seagrass beds and mangrove
forests can offset economic and environmental gains from the activities, releasing
stored carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere, and disrupting the nursery grounds of
important fish species. See Chap. 3.
Marine Tourism: The beauty of coastal and ocean areas provides tourism opportu-
nities that enrich human lives and provide jobs in the service sector. Marine tourism
is a major source of income for many developing countries, particularly coastal and
island nations, and can help promote the protection of natural habitats and expan-
sion of blue carbon, if conducted in a responsible way. Preservation of coral reefs,
mangrove forests, and seagrass beds—and the populations of organisms they host—
can be extremely important for developing and maintaining ecotourism, in additional
to their importance for fisheries and coastline protection and carbon sequestration.
However, negative effects of tourism can include increased production of wastewater
and garbage, increased damage to environments and organisms by tourists who are
not informed of or do not follow rules for sustainable tourism, and destruction of
natural areas to build tourist facilities. See Chap. 6.
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 13

1.3.2 Products from the Ocean

A major use of the ocean by humans since ancient times has been to harvest food
and other resources for personal use, and to barter with or sell to others. Centuries
ago, primitive human technologies for ocean use made it difficult to exhaust ocean
resources, except in small areas near human settlements. As technologies developed,
humans became more efficient at removing renewable resources such as fish, whales,
shellfish, and seaweed faster than the organisms could replenish their populations.
A variety of management approaches have been developed to make the removal of
products from the ocean more sustainable and less environmentally destructive.
A multitude of products are available from ocean areas to help support blue
economies:
Coastal Fisheries: National EEZs are the most productive areas for fish and shell-
fish on a global level, and harvest of fish and shellfish is one of the most traditional
blue economy activities practiced at local artisanal to national scales. Thus, fisheries
are at the forefront of most blue economy plans. However, fisheries not conducted
in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner might not be considered as
contributors to a nation’s blue economy. Aquaculture can also be an attractive and
responsible industry, but has led in many locations to destruction of local habi-
tats, over-enrichment of local environments with nutrients, and potential for genetic
alterations of natural populations by organisms that escape from culture. See Chap. 4.
Oil and Gas: Petroleum products were first found on land, but production moved
offshore and to progressively deeper waters as the new exploration and production
technologies were developed. Ocean petroleum resources are important components
of blue economy plans for nations with these resources in their EEZs, but extraction
of oil and gas presents a host of local environmental issues and implications for
continued global temperature increases, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise, as
highlighted in the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC 2021). Despite the carbon emissions from carbon-based fuels, these will need
to be used for some time as transitional energy sources until non-carbon energy
sources are adequately developed. See Chap. 7.
Mineral Resources: Minerals found offshore and in coastal dunes can provide a
variety of resources in terms of metals, diamonds for jewelry and industrial use, and
the nutrient mineral phosphorite. Deep-sea mining is being implemented by more
developed blue economies, but are of limited interest for most developing countries
because of the expensive technology required for mineral extraction in deep waters far
from shore. Most deep-sea mining is being explored in Areas Beyond National Juris-
diction, under the purview of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) established
under UNCLOS, which granted 18 exploration contracts in 2019, held by countries
including China, India, Japan, Russia and the UK for poly-metallic nodules.1 Coastal
minerals are an important blue economy resource for many developing nations, but
their extraction can pose significant environmental challenges. See Chap. 8.

1 [Link]
14 E. R. Urban et al.

Renewable Energy: In recent decades, energy has been extracted from the atmo-
sphere above the ocean, from the emplacement of “wind farms”, but has mostly
been done in the coastal areas of developed countries, so will not be considered in
more detail here. Likewise, other means of renewable energy production (e.g., wave
and tidal energy, thermal energy conversion) are not common contributors to blue
economies of developing countries (see Chap. 8).
Freshwater Resources: Freshwater is an enabling resource that makes coastal
areas habitable by humans and may be necessary to maintain the sources of goods and
services from nations’ coastal zones and EEZs. In many coastal regions, freshwater
extraction from coastal areas has been done at unsustainable rates, causing coastal
subsidence and salinization. See Chap. 5.
Marine Natural Products: The enormous biodiversity of oceanic organisms has
provided genetic and biologic information that is just beginning to be deciphered.
We do not discuss natural products in greater detail in this book, but note that the
Convention on Biological Diversity ([Link] has provisions for the
sustainable use of biodiversity (Article 10). Natural products from pharmaceuticals
has been proposed as a major future blue economy resource in many countries (see
Chaps. 2 and 3).

1.3.3 Human Impacts on the Ocean

Stuchtey et al. (2020) provide a well-documented summary of human effects on the

ocean and the economic benefits that the ocean can provide. Although the moder-
ating functions of the ocean benefits humans, the increased heat and carbon dioxide
absorbed by the ocean from the atmosphere damage ocean products and services,
including important ecosystems, such as coral reefs, and the ability of the ocean
to continue to absorb carbon dioxide. Non-renewable resources may be extracted
in ways that damage renewable resources. As concepts of ecology and ecosystems
developed, the interconnection of all species, and of species with the non-living envi-
ronment, have become more obvious. At the same time, the concept of “ecological
economics” has made it possible to estimate economic values of services provided
by ocean environments. For example, fisheries, aquaculture, transport shipping, oil
and gas extraction, and tourism are estimated to support an ocean economy worth
trillions of dollars per year (e.g., Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2015), and ocean-related
industry and commerce sustain the livelihoods of large populations by providing
opportunities for about half a billion jobs. Losses to the economy from the degrada-
tion of the natural ocean environment from changes in the climate and other global
systems—resulting from human activities such as overfishing, pollution and hypoxia,
ocean acidification, habitat loss, extreme oceanic events—are estimated to be almost
a trillion dollars (Hudson 2012).
Coastal Pollution: Pollution is a major problem affecting blue economic resources,
especially in developing countries. Pollution from conventional nutrients (nitrogen
and phosphorous) causes eutrophication in coastal areas and creates oxygen-poor
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 15

conditions, both of which are detrimental to marine biota (e.g., fish, corals) and their
potential as blue economic resources. On the other hand, heavy metals, organic pollu-
tants, and radionuclides interfere with physiological functions of marine organisms
and in some cases are harmful to human health. Overall, pollution affects sectors
such as human health, fisheries, and tourism. See Chap. 9.
Harmful Algal Blooms: Harmful algal blooms (HABs, both high-biomass and
toxic) have been a feature of coastal ecosystems throughout history, but there is some
evidence that bloom organisms are expanding their ranges, due to climate change
and/or transport of causative organisms by human activities. HABs cause significant
impacts on blue economies, by reducing fisheries and mariculture production, nega-
tively affecting tourism due to the stigma of toxic fish and shellfish, and respiratory
effects from some phytoplankton, and additional costs for monitoring and human
health interventions. See Chap. 10.
Ocean Acidification and hypoxia (deoxygenation): Ocean acidification poses a
widespread danger to blue economies, both acting alone and combined with other
factors, such as seawater temperature increases and decreases in seawater oxygen
levels. The most obvious impact of decreasing ocean pH will be the gradual decrease
in the health of tropical coral reefs and all the negative consequences that will ensue.
However, ocean acidification will also affect cold water corals that provide shelter
for many fish and shellfish species in temperate and polar regions. Finally, ocean
acidification may have pervasive negative impacts on the foundation of marine food
webs as it becomes more difficult for single-celled algae and other small plankton and
pteropod molluscs to calcify. Such effects would ripple up to fish, marine mammals,
seabirds and turtles, and humans. In addition to ocean acidification, the extent of low-
oxygen regions in the ocean is increasing, with adverse effects on many of the blue
economy-relevant ecological functions (Zhang et al. 2010; Breitburg et al. 2018).
See Chap. 11.
In summary, changes to the global ocean (increasing temperature, decreasing pH,
decreasing oxygen, harmful algal blooms, pollution and others) complicate efforts to
achieve blue economies. Sustainable blue economies must acknowledge that Earth
and its ocean are changing in ways that complicate sustainable resource extraction and
that environmental consequences of global change may require more conservative
practices of resource extraction and other human uses of the ocean (see Chap. 12).
Blue economies must be adaptable to changes ranging from local to global. Each
of these changes can reduce the availability of living coastal resources, such as fish,
coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses. National management must develop and use
scientific knowledge to respond to such changes using proactive approaches.

1.4 The Role of Science in Blue Economies

Blue economy has recently begun to attract the attention of ocean scientists (see e.g.,
Rayner et al. 2019; Wenhai et al. 2019; Okafor-Yarwood et al. 2020). The importance
of sustainable use of ocean resources has also been highlighted by The High-Level
16 E. R. Urban et al.

Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Stuchtey et al. 2020), which noted that
“using science and data to drive decision-making” is an important building block for
sustainable use of the ocean. Advances in science and technology has allowed humans
to better understand and locate ocean resources and then exploit these resources, often
excessively. Ocean observations are key to monitoring and understanding ocean
conditions and changes (see Chap. 15). Scientific understanding is important for
sustaining blue economies in an unchanging world, but even more so as the ocean
and coastal areas are constantly changing due to human forces (Stenseth et al. 2020).
Although the value and need for development of scientific information about
the ocean and its resources has become more apparent, science often does not
receive enough national funding to support wise management, particularly in devel-
oping countries, which experience pressing economic pressures to meet basic human
needs of their populations. However, inadequate knowledge about natural and
human systems or ignoring the available scientific knowledge (e.g., making fish-
eries management decisions based more on political considerations than science)
can lead to resource extraction that is not sustainable, damaging the resource, the
natural environment, and human societies in ways that reduce the benefits avail-
able. To sustain blue economies, adequate observing systems must be deployed and
capacity for science and observations must be built in countries that rely on blue
economies (Rayner et al. 2019).
This book limits its attention generally to the land–ocean interface and activi-
ties other than shipping and transport within nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones,
while recognizing that what happens on land and the area beyond national jurisdic-
tions also affects nations’ blue economy activities. We focus mostly on regions where
there is inadequate scientific information to serve as a foundation for developing blue
economies, which are often developing regions of the world. The book recognizes the
transboundary nature of ecosystems supporting blue economic development and the
related impacts, which will require novel approaches of ocean management. Voyer
et al. (2021) document the potency of voluntary commitments from the stakeholders
involved in blue economic development. As shown by Cisneros-Montemayor et al.
(2021), most blue economy potential exists within EEZs, although these authors
admit that a lack of data for both resource availability and enabling conditions for
the high seas influence their conclusions. This book also focuses on natural science
aspects of the applications of science to blue economy, while acknowledging that
social science aspects are equally important, but would merit an entire book on the
topic. Specifically, the bridges between knowledge and application of knowledge
(from funding to generate knowledge to political will to implement science-based
approaches to management of resources) must be built and maintained to simulta-
neously achieve the three blue economy objectives. This book provides insights into
why sufficient knowledge in natural sciences and technology needs to be developed
through research and observations, and applied in well-designed management, to
serve as a foundation for blue economies. The chapters of the book highlight the role
of science and technology in using ocean resources and mitigating environmental
problems that plague the ocean and detail examples of how science has stimulated
blue economies and how ignoring science can damage blue economies.
1 Blue Economy and Ocean Science: Introduction 17

For the purposes of this book, we do not categorize human activities in the ocean
as “good” or “bad”, since such valuations depend on the care with which resources
are used. Different countries have different resources available and may not have
the “luxury” to leave the resources in place while their population is impoverished.
Countries must use their available resources sustainably to ensure current and future
health of their economies, environments, and societies. Our main concern is how the
development and application of scientific knowledge affects the triple-objective of
blue economy. We discuss these issues in greater detail in the final chapter of the
book. We view blue economy as a potential means for developing countries to create
sustainable income streams, if developed wisely.

1.5 Goals of the Book

We assembled a team of lead authors about equally comprised of developing and

developed country individuals and with roughly equal gender balance among lead
authors. The aim of this book is to highlight the potential of ocean science and
technology to enable implementation of sustainable blue economies and to provide
practical information for developing country scientists, managers, and policymakers
about how ocean science can and should be used to create sustainable blue economies,
and to respond to environmental threats to economies based on coastal ocean
resources. The ideas in this book were presented to the broader community on 8–9
November 2021 in a virtual workshop jointly convened by the Centre for Science and
Technology of the Non-Aligned & Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre),
New Delhi and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), Newark,
Delaware (USA). More than 200 scientists, researchers, government officials, policy
makers, marine-sector professionals, managers and representatives from 37 coun-
tries participated in the workshop. Presentations at the workshop raised questions
that helped authors refine their chapters for final publication.2
The following chapters describe how science has been used (or not used) to ensure
the sustainability of all forms of coastal resources and to mitigate the threats to such
use.
The goals of the book are to provide the following:
1. Definitions of “blue economy” in science and technology contexts.
2. Information about selected blue economy-relevant coastal ecosystems, their
services and products, as well as the current threats to their sustainability.
3. Information about applying science and technology to promote economically
and environmentally sustainable use of coastal resources.
4. Examples of how scientific information has been used in relation to sustainable
management of various coastal resource types in specific locations.

2See [Link]
ember_8-9_2021.pdf for workshop report.
18 E. R. Urban et al.

5. Examples of environmental/economic problems that have arisen from inade-

quate/improper interaction of science and economics in management of coastal
resources.
6. Recommendations for enabling ocean science and technology actions for the
practice of blue economy.
We hope that the information provided in this book will advance the use of science
and technology as a basis for blue economies worldwide.

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