Seafarers and the land based jobs market: The present UK situation

Concern has existed for some time that the decline of the British shipping industry is resulting in the UK economy losing its maritime skills base. The effects of this loss could extend beyond the shipping industry because former seafarers are employed in other maritime related businesses ashore besides shipping. A study undertaken during 1995 and 1996 identified the economy’s requirement for people with seafaring experience in land based jobs and assessed the implications of a shortfall in supply of seafarers to fill such jobs. This paper is concerned with the demand aspects of that study.     

The land-based jobs market for seafarers: Consequences of market imbalance and policy implications

Concern has existed for some time that the decline of the British shipping industry is resulting in the UK economy losing its maritime skills base. The effects of this loss could extend beyond the shipping industry because former seafarers are employed in other maritime related businesses besides shipping ashore. A study undertaken during 1995 and 1996 identified the economy’s requirement for people with seafaring experience in land based jobs and assessed the consequences of a shortfall in supply of seafarers to fill such jobs. This paper is mainly concerned with the supply aspects and policy implications of that study.     

UK fish marketing — a fresh approach

The past decade has witnessed a decline in UK fish consumption, concomitent with an increase in fish imports and a dramatic shift in consumer preferences towards frozen fish. The marketing problems that these trends have caused the fish industry were investigated in a recent report commissioned by MAFF, the conclusions of which are appraised in this article. The author finds particular fault with the report's emphasis on fresh fish and the implications of this for intra-industry cooperation.     

Implications of defining fisheries closed areas based on predicted habitats in Shetland: A proactive and precautionary approach

During 2010 a set of 22 voluntary closed areas, distributed around Shetland, were proposed by local industry in order to help protect and conserve threatened habitats from potential physical disturbance from scallop dredging. Initially, closed areas were implemented on a precautionary basis over predicted beds of maerl and horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) derived from historical data. Horse mussel and maerl beds are classed as priority habitats which have been identified as being threatened and requiring conservation under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). Legalisation of the voluntarily adopted closed areas occurred in 2011. Detailed surveys were conducted to map each closed area with specific reference to the defining features located within. Closed areas were surveyed using a hull mounted multibeam system and ground-truthed with an underwater camera system. Information was imported to a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to create georeferenced habitat maps of the two species of interest. The appropriateness of each closed area was assessed and a proposed methodology and procedure outlined for any future closed areas. The primary aim was to provide information on which to test the validity of initial closed area boundaries and subsequently allow managers to refine and add to them in the future. The survey illustrated the need to have good quality acoustic and visual survey work undertaken whenever areas have been closed based on historical data and/or predicted habitats. Predicted beds were not found to be representative of the survey findings. The survey highlighted the lack of good quality, robust, accurate, and up to date species information for the waters around Shetland, especially with regard to priority marine features. Although some were neither fully protecting the UK BAP habitats they were designed to protect nor were protecting any UK BAP habitats, a degree of protection had been conferred to some priority features in the first iteration of implementation of closed areas. Survey data were subsequently used to legally alter the closed area boundaries to more appropriately reflect the distribution of priority features. Recommendations were made on appropriate procedures for defining a species bed and on the wider implications of the study’s findings for other fisheries areas developing spatial management plans.     

United Kingdom ports policy: Changing government attitudes

The United Kingdom ports industry has been at the forefront of international trade and, therefore, cargo movement since the industrial revolution. Its contribution to the wider economy is still pivotal, handling the majority of the UK's trade. At this point in time, particularly with the government in the process of reviewing the future of its policy for the ports industry through it Ports Policy Review, it is pertinent to assess the forces, which are both driving port development and seeking to restrain unfettered growth. This paper, therefore considers the role of government and how it has shaped, and is continuing to shape, the UK ports industry.     

The stamp of neoliberalism on the UK tonnage tax and the implications for British seafaring

In 2000 the UK adopted a tonnage tax strategy on ships and related businesses as the main strategy for revitalising its declining shipping industry. In line with EU policy on shipping, UK registered shipping companies were offered fiscal incentives based on reduced corporation taxes while labour was offered support for training. Almost a decade since the introduction of the tax it is clear that the strategy has delivered for business but not for labour. This paper considers the nature and limits of state intervention per se in declining economic sectors in the context of globalisation and a neoliberal approach to governance. It concludes that the problem is often not state intervention but rather the form of intervention, namely one that panders to, and is constrained by, neoliberalism.     

Producers'' organizations and devolved fisheries management in the United Kingdom: Collective and individual quota systems

In the United Kingdom responsibility for the management of national catch quotas has since 1984 been extensively devolved to producers' organizations, Institutions created by the European Community in order to implement the common organization of the Community market for fish. The paper describes the development of the UK quota management system and the approaches adopted by different producers' organizations to the internal management of their quota allocations. Because of changes in the UK fishing vessel licensing rules as well as developments in the quota allocation system, there is an emerging market in quotas at both individual and collective levels. The implications of these developments are discussed, including the possible evolution, largely through industry-led innovation, of some sort of individual transferable quota (ITQ) system for the UK.     

英国海洋能开发利用分析

以英国为代表的发达海洋国家非常重视海洋能在应对全球气候变化、调整能源结构、培育新兴产业中的战略地位。在积极的海洋能政策和先进的海洋能基础设施支持下,英国海洋能技术和产业发展均处于国际领先地位,文章全方位分析了英国海洋能开发利用进展,并分析了其对我国海洋能技术产业化发展的借鉴意义,建议明确海洋能中长期发展目标,制定阶段性海洋激励政策,并提升海洋能基础设施能力。     

英国海上风电行业发展前景展望 ——基于差价合约制度的分析

英国海上风电产业起步较晚,但发展迅猛,成为全球海上风电产业的领头羊。英国海上风电产业扶持政策依次经历过非化石燃料义务制度、可再生能源义务制度、差价合约制度等阶段。差价合约制度作为可再生能源义务制度的后继制度,在制度上有较多的创新之处,有效地推动了英国海上风电产业的发展。文章基于差价合约制度与可再生能源义务制度的分析和比较,结合英国海上风电2030年规划目标,深入分析发现差价合约制度对英国海上风电产业发展具有较大的推动力。研究表明,差价合约制度改进了可再生能源义务制度的不足之处,能够充分利用市场机制提高海上风电企业的投资热情,降低消费者的电力消费成本,并可减轻政府的财政压力,从而推动英国海上风电产业的快速发展,这对我国具有一定借鉴意义。     

Oysters thrive in the right environment: The social sustainability of oyster farming in the Eyre Peninsula,South Australia

This paper reports on a study of the oyster industry in the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, where oyster farming has become a significant component of the economy since the late 1980s. Whilst the environmental and economic impacts of this industry have been studied, there is a lack of research on the social impacts of oyster farming on the communities and the individuals who reside therein. The study extends a Five Capitals Framework (environmental, produced, social, institutional and human assets) for assessing rural sustainability by applying it to address the social impacts of the oyster industry in the Eyre Peninsula’s five principal oyster farming communities. The study combines quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, with triangulation of the data, to demonstrate that oyster farming has had a predominantly positive effect on the social fabric. More young people are staying in the communities because of the availability of oyster-related employment. This is generating more participation in local sporting teams alongside other benefits, including more government funding for infrastructure, better educational opportunities, increased community spirit, being ‘on the map’, global oyster sales and tourism, as well as economic growth. There are also more social network linkages, increased community pride, and strengthened social capital, though competition for employment from the state’s fast-growing mining sector may threaten the industry’s future. Success has been due to workers in the oyster industry as well as business owners and managers having long-term membership of the local community. The results have implications for future consideration of social factors as a key to success of this industry in small communities.     

三大海洋经济区的海洋产业结构变动对海洋经济增长的贡献研究

20世纪90年代后期以来,我国海洋产业发展迅速,海洋产业结构变动巨大,各地区海洋经济差异显著。文章基于多部门经济模型,对1996—2015年我国三大海洋经济区的海洋产业结构变迁对海洋经济增长的贡献能力进行研究,运用回归分析对海洋三次产业结构变动的贡献度进行测算。结果表明:1996—2005年海洋产业结构变动剧烈,2006—2015年趋于平稳。三大海洋经济区中环渤海地区海洋产业结构总体变动较大,长三角次之,珠三角最小。海洋三次产业结构变动对海洋经济增长具有显著正向推动作用,1996—2005年海洋第一产业贡献能力明显,2006—2015年海洋第三产业贡献能力最大,第二产业次之。     

New Zealand’s quota management system: the first ten years

This paper has two aims. First, New Zealand’s quota management system is analysed using a simple analytical economic model. Second, the paper describes how the system has evolved in response to pressures since implementation. The quota management system has provided a remarkably robust platform for addressing fisheries management problems during its first ten years of operation. It also provided the government with an instrument for settling Maori fishing claims. In 1996, the unsubsidised New Zealand fishing industry exported most of its harvest to highly competitive international markets. The paper concludes with a discussion of contemporary challenges.     

The environmental management of oil tanker routes in UK waters

The recent Haven, Braer, Aegean Sea and Sea Empress incidents have highlighted the need for protective measures against the risks posed by the shipping industry to the UK coast. This is particularly the case in the vicinity of environmentally sensitive areas. The principal objectives of this paper are to investigate the state of environmental management of tanker traffic in the UK by putting the geography of shipping into its environmental context. Regional traffic levels, accident rates, oil spills, and their potential consequences upon the environment have been summarised via a risk assessment which also considers coastal sensitivity. An assessment of measures available at international level then sets the scene for a review of marine traffic management schemes in operation around the UK. The state of management and its approaches are also discussed and a number of recommendations put forward during marine conferences in the last welve months are considered.     

Abrupt environmental shift associated with changes in the distribution of Cape anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus spawners in the southern Benguela

Cape anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus spawners in the southern Benguela showed an eastward shift in their distribution on the Agulhas Bank that occurred abruptly in 1996 and has since persisted. We assessed whether this shift was environmentally mediated by examining sea surface temperature data from different regions of the Agulhas Bank, which showed that in 1996 the inner shelf of the Agulhas Bank to the east of Cape Agulhas abruptly became 0.5°C colder than in previous years and has since remained that way. In addition, signals, coherent with the 1996 shift recorded in sea surface temperatures, were also found in atmospheric surface pressure and zonal wind data for that region; interannual coastal SST variability is also shown to be correlated with zonal wind-stress forcing. As a result, increased wind-induced coastal upwelling east of Cape Agulhas is proposed as the main driver of the observed cooling in the coastal region. The synchrony between the environmental and biological signals suggests that the eastward shift in anchovy spawner distribution was environmentally mediated and arose from a change in environmental forcing that altered the relative favourability for spawning between regions to the west and east of Cape Agulhas. The results highlight how a relatively minor change in environmental conditions can lead to a drastic spatial reorganisation of the life history of one species in an ecosystem.     

黄河三角洲清水沟河口区近期冲淤演变特征

黄河三角洲清水沟流路1996年汛前实施清8改汊工程后,河口区的冲淤发生了变化。据1996年10月至2005年9月清水沟滨海区固定断面测深资料的分析表明:新河口区总体上出现淤积,老河口区在总体上发生侵蚀。通过区域泥沙净冲淤量与入海沙量相关分析计算表明:新河口区的淤积速率与入海沙量呈正相关,老河口区的侵蚀速率与入海沙量互不相关。其原因在于:前者位于河流入海口,被海洋动力蚀失的泥沙能得到河流输沙的充足补给,属河流动力为主的河控型海岸;后者远离河流入海口,被海洋动力蚀失的泥沙得不到河流输沙的补给,属海洋动力为主的海控型海岸。     

Chinese women seafarers: A case study of the women cadets in Shanghai

In the maritime sector, seafaring has been predominantly a male industry. The industry had developed its own culture which denied or precluded women's participation. This paper draws on the data and analysis of the Gender, Empowerment and Multi-cultural Crew (GEM) Project, an international study aiming to examine seafarers’ welfare, focusing on gender issues arising from a multi-cultural crew environment in three countries: China, Nigeria and the UK. The main research findings, which relate to China, are reported under the headings of motivation, training, employment opportunities and barriers, and career prospects for women. The paper concludes with a discussion on an important new state policy concerning gender equality in university recruitment and with recommendations to move things forward.     

Issues at the fore in the land of Magnuson and Stevens: A summary of the 14th Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries

The Magnuson–Stevens Act is the United States׳ premier law governing fisheries conservation and management. Congress has revisited the Act multiple times since its inception in 1976—most recently in 1996 with the Sustainable Fisheries Act and in 2006 with the Magnuson Stevens Act—and is currently in the process of reauthorizing the Act. The University of Washington focused the 14th annual Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries on issues surrounding reauthorization. The symposium featured a diversity of stakeholders, including fisheries scientists, managers, policy analysts, students, non-governmental organizations, Tribes, and industry. The symposium explored the Act׳s history, means of ending overfishing and ensuring accountability, lessons from U.S. West Coast and North Pacific fisheries, and challenges and solutions to ecosystem-based fisheries management.     

New directions in shipbuilding policy

The capacity of the world’s shipbuilding industr y has exceeded the demand for new ships for more than three decades. Thus shipyards have been protected for many years by some form of state aid in practically every country where shipbuilding is carried on. Negotiations aimed at restoring normal competitive conditions to the industry began in 1989. They were conducted under the auspices of the OECD and involved all the major shipbuilding blocs then in existence. Five years later an agreement was reached, but it is not yet in force. Thus, the European Council has decided to act unilaterally by introducing measures that will put into effect a state aid regime which is consistent with the main provisions of the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement and which places the shipbuilding industry on the same footing as other industries within the European Union. This paper traces the background to the development of this policy and considers some of its implications.     

Regulating wave and tidal energy: An industry perspective on the Scottish marine governance framework

The emerging ocean energy industry, which seeks to utilise waves and tides to generate electricity, is developing in many jurisdictions. The UK, and Scotland in particular, is strongly interested in these technologies, and has made considerable efforts to reform its marine governance processes to better meet the needs of innovative new marine industries. This paper provides an industry perspective on this regulatory framework, reporting on the experiences of ocean energy project and technology developers. Semi-structured interviews with companies with practical experience with Scotland's regulatory framework provide evidence of a number of legal and regulatory challenges, as well as interesting insights into how developers are interacting with new marine governance systems. The paper details the findings of these interviews and offers some suggested directions for future research.     

Population trends of New Zealand fur seals in the Rakiura region based on long-term population surveys and traditional ecological knowledge

We estimated population abundance of New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) pups on Bench Island off Stewart Island, New Zealand seven times between 1996 and 2012. Overall, there was a 29% increase in pup abundance from 1996 to 2012 at the Main Beach colony, corresponding to a mean annual growth rate of 1.6% and a doubling time of approximately 40 years. At the Sprat Point colony, there was an overall increase of 29% between 2003 and 2012 corresponding to a mean annual growth rate of 2.9% and a doubling time of approximately 25 years. The area occupied by both colonies has also increased. In 2006, we surveyed East Beach and counted a total of 201 pups. We obtained traditional ecological knowledge of fur seal distribution and breeding status from local Māori for 46 locations around Stewart Island, 36 of which have not been surveyed since Wilson in 1971–1974; this supports an expansion of fur seal presence and breeding areas in the region in the last 41 years.