Ecosystem-Based Integrated Ocean Management: A Framework for Sustainable Ocean Economy Development

Simple frameworks to help understand these sys- tem dynamics have existed for decades, a promi- nent one in ocean management being the DPSIR framework (Patrício et al. 2016). This is an analyti- cal and management framework designed to break down drivers of human behaviour, the pressures that human behaviours cause on ecosystem com- ponents, the changed state of system components that result from those pressures, the ecological and (in more recent versions of the framework) human wellbeing impacts of those changes in state, fol- lowed by the formulation of an appropriate man- agement response . This response can target the drivers, mitigate the pressures or mitigate the sys- tem changes and impacts that result from them. There are also well-established tools to help model ecosystem dynamics, such as Ecopath with Eco- sim and Ecospace 13 , which started as a tool to model a static snapshot of a system, before being expanded to include modules for modelling dynamic changes within the ecosystem, along with impacts of spatial management measures of human activities. Such tools can be used to evalu- ate ecosystem effects of human activities, such as fishing, as well as to explore the potential ecosys- tem impacts of management options, but they are not yet routinely used as decision-support tools in ocean management. A key challenge for research is to develop tools and approaches that not only enable better futures to be envisioned, but that also help make those visions a reality through improved understanding of complex systems (Bai et al. 2016). Interdiscipli- nary research is now starting to develop a wider range of socio-ecological models that have the potential to predict complex systems dynam- ics (Elsawah et al. 2017, Schlüter et al. 2019) and new technologies have created opportunities for dynamic approaches in management by imple- menting measures in response to real-time remote monitoring of ecosystems, for example (Dunn et al. 2016, Maxwell et al. 2015, Rose et al. 2015). With continued advances in interdisciplinary mod- elling, computer technology and remote-sensing technology, such tools may soon become part of ocean mangers’ standard repertoire.

13 See https://ecopath.org/

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