Focus on the valuation of marine ecosystem services benefits to society at this year’s Marine Economics and Policy Research Symposium
The 7th Annual Marine Economics and Policy Research Symposium was held on Thursday the 24th November in the Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Galway. Organised by the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) of the Whitaker Institute, with the support of the Marine Institute, the day provided participants with an update on a wide range of policy topics related to the marine sector in Ireland, with a particular focus this year on the valuation of marine ecosystem services benefits to society.
Until recently, very little information was available in relation to the value of the many ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, waste assimilation, coastal defence, aesthetic services and recreational opportunities, provided by the marine environment and these services have, by and large, gone unvalued. Harnessing our Ocean Wealth – the integrated marine plan for Ireland (2012), highlighted as a key action the need for further research into generating “economic values of marine biodiversity and ecosystem services to ensure best practice planning and management of the ocean resource”. Indeed, from an economics perspective, Harnessing our Ocean Wealth is all about maximising the net benefits to society from the use of our substantial marine resources. This symposium highlighted ongoing research in this area from across Ireland and further afield. In particular, it highlighted new policy initiatives attempting to ensure ‘blue growth’; an expanding but sustainable ocean economy, and new research that values the benefits to society generated from the continued delivery of what are often overlooked critical marine ecosystem services.
“Blue growth is about fostering development in marine economic activities in such a manner that the long term ability of the marine environment to continue to provide ecosystem service benefits is not compromised. This is exactly what Harnessing our Ocean Wealth is aimed at achieving” says Dr Stephen Hynes of SEMRU “Knowing what those benefits are and what they are worth is vital for deciding on the best use of our marine resources and to ensure blue growth for our ocean economy far into the future.”
Speakers this year included leading international experts in the field of environmental valuation: Prof Nick Hanley of St Andrews University Scotland; Dr. Kathrine Skoland of the International Research Institute of Stavanger, Norway; and Dr. Danny Campbell of Stirling University. Other speakers of note on the day included Prof Ronán Long, NUI Galway, who reviewed progress in the negotiation of a new international instrument for the protection of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and Dr Ronan Lyons of Trinity College Dublin who presented research using a house price dataset from Daft.ie to investigate if people value having a view of the coast via a window in their house more than having direct access to the coast for recreational purposes. The analysis demonstrated the addition to residential property value from having a sea view or access to coastal features such as beaches and cliffs.
Of interest from a policy perspective, Ciarán O’ Driscoll, a research associate of SEMRU, explored the impact of Brexit on European Fishing policy arguing that due to Britain’s international commitments to cooperate under UN law, post-Brexit Britain may not be able to reclaim control over setting fishing quotas and limit access to its waters by non-British vessels unilaterally. In the same session Richard Cronin, a senior advisor in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government outlined the key research needs of Irish policy makers that would support the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive in Ireland and across the EU.
The final session of the day presented a number of papers that examined the public, stakeholder and consumer attitudes toward aquaculture and seafood. These cross-country comparisons of perspectives provide information to policy makers, public planners and potential investors on how the public regard aquaculture production and identify areas of conflict and consensus between groups.
