10 Solutions to a Sustainable Blue Economy

Decarbonise the blue economy

Decarbonising the blue economy to reduce and reverse impacts of climate change through actions such as:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Transitioning to renewable energy
• Adopting cleaner, more fuel efficient shipping and transport practices
• Sustainable coastal infrastructure design such as eco-friendly and climate resilient designs for ports, marinas, and tourism facilities
• Enhancing Blue Carbon potential by protecting and restoring ecosystems such as saltmarsh and mangroves
• Continue investigating ocean solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as the potential to reduce methane emissions in cattle fed with seaweed
• Investing in research and innovation in each of these areas

Conserve, protect and restore biodiversity

Conserve, protect and restore biodiversity to create healthy, biodiverse environments which boost sustainable economic potential through actions such as:

• Remediate important habitats (such as mangrove forests, salt marsh, sea grass and kelp forest) that have been degraded
• Prevent and remediate impact of pollution taking multiple stressors into consideration
• Creating more marine protected areas (MPA)
• Improve management and enforcement of fisheries legislation
• Improve biosecurity measures and utilise innovative science to detect, monitor, control, and eradicate invasive species
• Utilise innovative sampling methods such as eDNA to assist in monitoring efforts such as threatened species monitoring, dietary analysis, and early detection of introduced species
• Community education and involvement in conserving biodiversity and citizen science
• Use a transdisciplinary approach to collaboratively conserve biodiversity by inclusion of all stakeholders including Indigenous Peoples, the community, industry, science, and government at all levels

‘Team Holding Their Hands On Seashore’ by Huy Chien Tran used under a Pexels License

Build community resilience

Building human and ocean community resilience in the face of climate change through actions such as:

• Provide targeted projections of sea level rise, including changes in extreme flood events
• Better characterise catchment contaminant pathways, coastal morphologies, and environmental processes, and define envelopes of natural variability and thresholds of concern
• Understand stressor interactions and resource use, including the cumulative impacts of sea level rise; loss and continual degradation of coastal and estuarine habitats; and loss of productivity, ecosystem services and population connectivity
• Develop innovative sensing technologies, including those based on new molecular tools, to provide cost-effective monitoring in the coastal zone
• Improve data coordination and discoverability of coastal data from multiple sources
• Incorporate quantitative and qualitative social and cultural perspectives into coastal decision-making
• Develop, test and apply methods to mitigate the impact of coastal hazards, including eco-engineering and restoration approaches
• Innovative research building communities with greater capacity for resilience in the face of increased sea warming
• Building eco-friendly, coastal structures such as creating seawalls and other structures that support biodiversity

This text is from “National Marine Science Plan “ by National Marine Science Committee, which is licensed under CC BY 3.0, except for the introductory text prior to the dot points and the final two dot points, which has been added by Trish Corbett.

Pollution reduction

Pollution prevention, remediation of contaminated areas and innovative products can help to reduce the impact of pollution on the marine environment through actions such as:

• Prevent pollution entering the marine environment through improved wastewater treatment from municipal and industrial waste,
• Characterisation of pollution pathways into marine environments, modelling of distribution, and potential impact incorporating multiple stressors
• Design coastal structures and communities to have plant filtrations systems for stormwater to reduce urban runoff impacts
• Improve efficiency of agriculture application of fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides and replant riparian vegetation to create a purification buffer to reduce excess nutrients and other pollutants reaching the catchment
• Continued investigation into contaminants of emerging concern such as PFAS
• Investment in novel biotechnology solutions to enhance efficiency of wastewater purification and increase access to drinking water (Pace et al., 2023)
• Reduce plastic production through innovative biotechnology to replace plastic products such as utilising seaweed to create plastic bag and wrap alternatives
• Community education and involvement in plastic reduction and remediation efforts including citizen science programs

‘Solitary Wind Turbine in Open Sea’ by lange x  used under a Pexels License

Ocean solutions to feed the global population

In order to feed a growing global population and recognise SDG 2 – no hunger, ocean solutions need to be utilised. A number of things may contribute to feeding the worlds population including:

• Protecting and restoring ecosystems to enhance ocean biodiversity
• Responsible fisheries practices that maintain biodiversity for a healthy, prosperous marine environment
• Fisheries and aquaculture management and control measures
• Investing in seaweed aquaculture for use as a food source as well for pharmaceuticals and other products as well as potential as a sustainable food source for livestock
• Work towards self-sustaining, closed-loop polyculture systems which include investigating the potential to utilise offshore sustainable energy infrastructure to support polyculture (Pace et al., 2023)
• Utilise biotechnology to develop sustainable, nutritious feed for aquaculture organisms without the need to rely on wild caught fish
• Improving the social and economic benefits of ocean resources to promote sustainable practices which will increase food availability and livelihoods
• Research and innovative technology to provide jobs, improve efficiencies, and create sustainable, biodiverse ecosystems
• Improve biosecurity measures to prevent disease and invasive species spread
• Develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology to remotely monitor water quality and other parameters
• Work collaboratively with stakeholders including local communities, Indigenous Peoples, small and large scale industry, science and governments at all levels to achieve sustainable ocean fisheries

Ocean equity

In order to achieve ocean equity, the environmental, social and economic perspective need to be considered.  International collaboration is required to improve equity. The following things need to be addressed:

• Create socioeconomic equity through equitable distribution of ocean resources ensuring all individuals and communities have equitable access to ocean resources including as a food source, financial benefits, and recreational spaces
• Include traditional custodian knowledge and empower Indigenous Peoples in management practices
• Recognise the importance of environmental justice by addressing and mitigating inequity of impacts of pollution and environmental degradation and climate change impacts on vulnerable communities
• Create equitable education among people including genders and equity groups

‘Silhouettes of People Fishing’ by Sh-Andrei used under a Pexels License

Maintain Maritime Sovereignty, Safety and Security

To maintain Australia’s marine sovereignty, and improve security and safety, we need a long-term strategy to better understand, monitor and predict sea state (winds, currents and waves) and extreme events in Australia’s marine environment, including the vast area beyond our borders over which we have international search-and-rescue responsibilities. This can be achieved through the following actions:

• Create a comprehensive national observing system, covering open ocean to coastal and littoral zones, and which includes in situ measurements, remote sensing and a national information infrastructure
• Develop short-to-medium range (days to weeks), uncoupled and coupled biophysical models for analyses and forecasts, from open ocean to coastal and littoral zones
• Support the above capability with state-of-the-art national computational infrastructure
• Use overseas experiences and expertise through collaboration wherever possible and appropriate
• Improve delivery of information and services to the private and public sectors
• Establish a national research focus on marine extreme events and a national committee of government, research community, industry and the Australian Defence Force, for short-term, fast-track priority implementation.

This text is from “National Marine Science Plan “ by National Marine Science Committee, which is licensed under CC BY 3.0, except for the introductory sentence before the dot points, which has been added by Trish Corbett.

Ocean literacy

Building ocean literacy, community and stakeholder engagement and participation fosters a connection and understanding of the ocean which allows informed decisions to be made regarding sustainable management. Enhancing the community’s ocean literacy:

• Builds connection to the ocean and helps with sustainability
• Fosters collaboration between stakeholders and promotes sustainable practices
• Promotes inclusive approaches
• Facilitates community partnerships and projects (citizen science)

Collaborative management

In order to build a sustainable blue economy which incorporates the environmental, social and economic pillars, collaboration at a local, national and international level is required at every stage. This includes interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to innovative blue solutions and involving all stake holders including Indigenous peoples, community, science, small to large industry, and all levels of government in decision making processes.