Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-10DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106998
Dandan Miao , Zhihua Xue
{"title":"Assessment of marine inspection--China’s marine management and protection supervision mechanisms","authors":"Dandan Miao , Zhihua Xue","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106998","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106998","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The implementation of marine management policies is an important but less studied area in marine governance. China's marine inspection mechanisms have undergone more than 10 years of continuous evolution and development, forming a relatively effective mechanism for checking and supplementing the effectiveness of marine management policies and laws. This article systematically reviews and analyzes China's marine inspection mechanisms, which consist of two parts: the marine inspection of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection. By examining the evolution and implementation of these two inspection systems, the article analyzes the reasons for their effectiveness and lessons learned. This article provides a reference for other countries' marine management inspection systems and proposes suggestions for future improvements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106998"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145746894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-20DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106966
José L. Fernández Sánchez , Ignacio Llorente , Rubén Aldaco
{"title":"Economic evaluation of seafood mislabeling in Spain","authors":"José L. Fernández Sánchez , Ignacio Llorente , Rubén Aldaco","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106966","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106966","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Food fraud, which affects different food products, is a global and old problem with negative effects for society and whose economic impact is difficult to estimate. Seafood mislabeling (a specific food fraud) constitutes a pervasive issue worldwide with significant environmental, social, and economic repercussions across the entire value chain. The aim of this work is to conduct an economic evaluation of the seafood mislabeling in Spain. Our estimations are based on the annual seafood consumption and expenditure by the Spanish households as well as on the mislabeling rates of varied species groups, product formats, and retail selling points, obtained through a systematic review of different studies. We have used the jackknife resampling method to estimate the mean rates of mislabeling in Spain because it provides better estimations with biased samples as well as statistical confidence intervals. Gadoid and scombrid are the two species groups most affected by mislabeling due to the high expenditure of these species and their high mislabeling rates of around 20 %. On the other hand, retail channels, as fishmongers and traditional markets, and product formats, as canned and prepared food, present the highest rates of seafood mislabeling in Spain. We have estimated that the consumers’ economic loss caused by seafood mislabeling in Spain is €320.1 million (7 % of the total annual expenditure on the fish species analyzed in this research). Our recommendation to reduce seafood mislabeling is a combination of improvements in the products' traceability, a larger control over the enforcement of the labeling legal norms, as well as an increase of the seafood buyers' or consumers' awareness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106966"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106964
Keila Stark
{"title":"A blue conservation economy framework for meeting Canada's marine biodiversity targets","authors":"Keila Stark","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106964","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106964","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Canada has committed to protecting 30 % of its marine environment by 2030 alongside other targets aimed at halting biodiversity loss in adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Separately, Canada is developing a sustainable blue economy strategy that includes conventional marine sectors such as commercial fisheries, aquaculture, seafood processing, shipping, and tourism, as well as emerging renewable energy industries and technological advancements. Some of these blue economy activities may have conservation benefits and contribute to Canada’s stated marine biodiversity targets, whereas others may detract from them. Clear guidelines for identifying which marine activities simultaneously meet both conservation and blue economy objectives are needed. The conservation economy is a burgeoning concept that has received less attention in policy spaces than the blue economy, but has been championed in recent years by numerous grassroots and Indigenous-led initiatives. Here, I present a “blue conservation economy” framework for determining whether a given marine activity also confers conservation benefits. I introduce a screening tool that evaluates whether a marine activity has positive, negative, indirect, or neutral biodiversity outcomes. Throughout, I highlight examples of existing conservation economy activities across Canada’s three coastlines. This framework is intended to help decision-makers prioritize investment in Canadian marine activities that further reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, meet biodiversity targets, and grow a sustainable marine economy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106964"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-04DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106989
Wegit Triantoro , John Mangan , Katharina Rietig
{"title":"Towards maritime transport decarbonisation in developing countries: A systematic literature review","authors":"Wegit Triantoro , John Mangan , Katharina Rietig","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106989","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106989","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Driven by landmark international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to decarbonise the maritime transport sector, particularly international shipping, by or around 2050. This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive assessment of the progress, rationale and challenges related to maritime transport decarbonisation, with a particular focus on developing countries. The review finds that operational and technical measures are more readily implemented, especially at the ship-port interface. The wider use of market-based/economic and energy-related measures, however, is offering the sector increased opportunities to reduce its emissions. The emergence of these measures is observed through the lens of policy and regulatory initiatives as well as industry-led practices. The review also points out long-standing tensions between the sector's core climate-governance principles, problems with assigning responsibility across jurisdictions, gaps in technology and infrastructure, limited finance, weak coordination and institutions, and an adaptation gap for developing countries. The review posits that developing countries are not simply \"lagging\" but rather engaging in unique and context-specific decarbonisation pathways compared to developed countries. The review further expands the discussion on the deep adaptation concept by applying it to developing countries. This concept demonstrates its utility as an important framework for addressing systemic climate vulnerability and the challenges linked to incremental mitigation strategies, such as localised shipping and resilient port development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106989"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-24DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106970
Chloe Victoria Robinson
{"title":"Bridging borders: Toward alignment of environmental regulations in the Salish Sea for whale conservation","authors":"Chloe Victoria Robinson","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106970","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106970","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Salish Sea is a dynamic and ecologically significant inland sea on the west coast of North America. This area has supported Indigenous and Tribal communities for millennia. With increasing human activity, this area is now one of the most heavily used coastlines in the world, and as such, has been experiencing declines in both biodiversity and ecosystem health. Within the Salish Sea, cetacean species, especially killer whales (<em>Orcinus orca</em>) and humpback whales (<em>Megaptera novaeangliae</em>), are under pressure from vessel disturbance, prey availability, water pollution, and habitat degradation. Numerous policies and regulations across both Canada and the United States have been enacted to protect coastal ecosystems and reduce these threats on cetaceans, however there are challenges in ensuring adequate overlap of protections between state, provincial, and federal measures. This study gathered information and insights on alignments and gaps in policies and regulations covering the Salish Sea which pertain to killer and humpback whales and some key prey species. Numerous discrepancies were highlighted, especially concerning vessel approach distances, fisheries management, critical habitat designation criteria, and pollution standards. These discrepancies are contributing to the imminent extinction risk for the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population. This study proposes that establishing aligned recovery strategies, especially for Southern Residents and salmon, leveraging new science to expand existing protections to further reduce vessel disturbance and strike risk, and increasing Indigenous and Tribal co-management of the Salish Sea ecosystem will enhance transboundary cooperation and improve the long-term outlook for whales and their prey.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106970"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sea level rise: A plea for taking the viewpoint of the ocean","authors":"Roberto Casati , Augustin Portier , Clément Astruc Delor , Bernadette Baird-Zars , Christophe Cerino , Oscar Julian Esteban-Cantillo , Damien Eveillard , Stefano Malatesta , Marcella Schmidt di Friedberg","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106972","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106972","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sea levels have risen an average of 1.5 mm/y over the twentieth century and are predicted to further rise by 2100, in particular under the SSP5–8.5 scenario. Although the consequences of rising sea levels for coastal areas have been observed, predicted, and discussed in the literature, the concerns predominantly addressed are understandably issued from a land-centric perspective. Little consideration has been devoted to systematically studying <em>the consequences of submersion for the sea itself</em>. We suggest that the viewpoint of the ocean should be included in future research and policy-making, inviting the coordination of three main research areas: 1. What parts of land will be submerged? 2. What human infrastructure and non-human features will be reclaimed by the sea? 3. What kind of effects will the submerged infrastructure and features have on the marine environment and its inhabitants? We detail some models and challenges, and advocate for an integrated study of the Marine Impacts of Sea Level Rise (MISR).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106972"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106969
María Gabriela Cueva-Jiménez , David Jacome-Ponce , Víctor Hugo Masson Fiallos , José Luis Castillo Egüez , Ana Belén Tulcanaza-Prieto
{"title":"Bayesian strategies in the South Pacific: Geopolitical dynamics of fisheries, sovereignty, and power","authors":"María Gabriela Cueva-Jiménez , David Jacome-Ponce , Víctor Hugo Masson Fiallos , José Luis Castillo Egüez , Ana Belén Tulcanaza-Prieto","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106969","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106969","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the governance of high seas fisheries in the Southeast Pacific, focusing on Ecuador’s dual challenge of safeguarding maritime sovereignty and sustaining trade relations amid intensifying geopolitical competition between China and the United States. The purpose is to assess how structural capacity constraints, coupled with global power dynamics, shape Ecuador’s ability to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Methodologically, the research integrates qualitative geopolitical analysis with a two-stage Bayesian Stackelberg game model to simulate sequential strategic interactions among Ecuador, China, the United States, and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO). Findings reveal that Ecuador faces persistent incursions by China’s distant-water fishing (DWF) fleet, limited enforcement capacity in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the continental and the insular area, growing United States-China rivalry, and the risk of significant biomass degradation in key species. The implications are twofold: Ecuador must pursue cooperative mechanisms, such as regional anti-IUU alliances and stricter SPRFMO measures, while safeguarding critical economic agreements like its 2024 Free Trade Agreement with China. The contribution lies in bridging geopolitical, environmental, and economic perspectives within fisheries governance and offering a game-theoretic framework for policy design. Limitations include reliance on open-source datasets, focus on Ecuador’s perspective, and simplified modeling assumptions. Future research should adopt comparative, interdisciplinary, and data-intensive approaches to strengthen fisheries governance in contested maritime zones.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106969"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-03DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106994
Louise Bennett-Jones , Christopher D. Hepburn , Brendan Flack , Nigel J. Scott , Gaya Gnanalingam
{"title":"Integration of Indigenous practices into fisheries legislation: Obstacles and opportunities for the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar)","authors":"Louise Bennett-Jones , Christopher D. Hepburn , Brendan Flack , Nigel J. Scott , Gaya Gnanalingam","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106994","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106994","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There are demonstrable ecological and social benefits of applying Indigenous knowledge in the management of natural resources. In New Zealand, establishment of customary fisheries management areas is, in part, to enable communities to apply local knowledge and practices in managing local resources. The management committee for a customary fisheries management area in southern New Zealand wishes to incorporate the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar) into the regulation of the pāua (blackfoot abalone, <em>Haliotis iris</em>) fishery. Like lunar calendars across the Pacific, the maramataka informed preferable times to undertake activities such as fishing for millennia. This knowledge is increasingly applied in a community-based setting, though barriers remain to its incorporation into central management policy. Interviews were conducted to investigate what fisheries management based on the maramataka might look like, and to analyse whether this would be possible through the existing legislative framework. Integration of the maramataka may be possible via a fishery closure and issuance of harvest authorisations, however several obstacles remain. Firstly, closures have only been approved for conservation of degraded fisheries, and not solely for introducing management measures for a healthy fishery. Secondly, distilling customary practices onto paperwork risks distorting the original practice, so a balance must be found between ensuring enforceability of new measures whilst retaining their ethos. Lastly, we argue that integration of Indigenous knowledge must go a step further, to integration of knowledge holders themselves in properly funded, resourced, and authorised managerial positions, rather than the use and enforcement of Indigenous knowledge and practices by non-Indigenous people.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106994"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106996
Juei-Cheng Jao , Chiao-Wen Lin , Pin-Chien Chen , Yi-Cheng Chang , Yi-Juen Chen , Wen-Hong Liu
{"title":"Development of an artificial intelligence (AI) marine scientific research model: The case of marine science and technology policy and its legitimate practice in Taiwan","authors":"Juei-Cheng Jao , Chiao-Wen Lin , Pin-Chien Chen , Yi-Cheng Chang , Yi-Juen Chen , Wen-Hong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106996","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106996","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), marine science, and legal governance in Taiwan, with the project Development and Application of Marine Exploration and Ecological Survey Technologies under Climate Change as a case study. It highlights Taiwan’s integration of AI into biodiversity monitoring, underwater exploration, and environmental analysis, while addressing legal challenges in intellectual property, data protection, and national security. A governance model was developed to enhance the legality, security, and credibility of marine datasets through data collection policies, legitimating measures, and inspection protocols. Comparative insights from the EU, United States, Japan, and Korea stress the need for Taiwan to refine AI policies, strengthen cross-agency coordination, and align with international frameworks, particularly the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) and the Ocean Decade. Taiwan’s experience provides a replicable prototype for emerging maritime AI nations, linking innovation with legal compliance and sustainable ocean governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106996"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marine PolicyPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106975
Tiago Novaes Mathias , João Marcelo Leal Gomes , André Caron Zanezi , Rui Carlos Botter , Daniel de Oliveira Mota
{"title":"Maritime logbooks as strategic infrastructure: Policy, technology, and the future of port operations","authors":"Tiago Novaes Mathias , João Marcelo Leal Gomes , André Caron Zanezi , Rui Carlos Botter , Daniel de Oliveira Mota","doi":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106975","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106975","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study we re-frame an important data instrument in maritime operations named logbooks proposing a strategic and standardized event-based framework for vessels activity reporting. Designed from international policy instruments, historical milestones, and technological advancements, the study identifies critical shortcomings in the current fragmented and non-standardized logbook systems used across global maritime sectors. Through a comprehensive literature synthesis and policy review, the research outlines how digital logbooks integrated with other systems such as Automatic Identification System (AIS), Vessel Management System (VMS), Terminal Operating System (TOS), Vessel Traffic Management and Information System (VTMIS) and Port Community System (PCS) can improve operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and data interoperability. A structured timeline for the vessel is proposed, mapping key operational events from anchorage to departure and evaluating the automation potential of each phase. This timeline serves as both a practical tool for port performance management and as a foundation for predictive analytics, risk management, and sustainability assessment via time-related indicators. The paper highlights the dual implications for policy: improved traceability, legal accountability and coordination between port authorities, terminal operators, and regulatory agencies. The findings suggest that harmonizing logbook semantics with improved formats is essential to understand the potential of maritime digitization. The proposed timeline framework supports the development of globally aligned data taxonomies, scalable to varying institutional and technological capacities. Ultimately, the study also calls for inclusive international cooperation to institutionalize digital logbooks as dynamic governance tools central to future maritime logistics and policy frameworks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48427,"journal":{"name":"Marine Policy","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 106975"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145624748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}