Global Change in Marine Systems

"This book fills a gaping hole and comes at just the right time. Pulling together experience from a diverse set of examples – from around the globe, across scales and cultures – it provides a quick reference guide for managers and others interested in dealing with the effects of global change on marine socioecological systems. This is the kind of go-to guide that will see us jump from simply identifying problems to doing something about it and finding our way to robust solutions."

—Beth Fulton, Research Group Leader Ecosystem Modelling and Risk Assessment, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere; Adjunct Professor Centre of Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania

"This is a brave, important attempt to deal with uncertainty in global fisheries. Using case studies from around the world, it seeks to come to grips with both the local and the global, generating a rich and sophisticated analysis that recognises the complexities inherent in global change for marine systems, their interdependent social systems and the range of governance behaviours that exist across the globe. Taking into account many aspects of the social-ecological systems involved (including such difficult issues as poverty, equity, gender, migration, power, biodiversity, for example) the authors make a compelling case for flexibility in the governance of social-ecological systems. They also make a convincing plea for a widely-informed context for scientific (including humanities and social sciences) research, through the use of a template that can point to strengths and weaknesses in such systems and hence provide guidance for policy makers as they wrestle with the seemingly intractable problems of marine ocean governance."

—Rosemary E. Ommer, Adjunct Professor, Departments of History and Geography, University of Victoria, and University Grantscrafter, Office of Research Services

"This unique and timely collection of case studies from many parts