MARINE MANAGEMENT POLICY IN EKO MARINA, LAGOS STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Oceans and large seas cover almost one-third of the Earth’s surface (exactly 70.8 percent of total surface area or 362 million km2). There are ecosystems around these marine areas that are essential to life on Earth and are among the world’s most prolific, yet vulnerable, natural systems.
Continental shelves and associated Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) provide many important ecosystem services, including at least 25% of global primary productivity, 90-95 percent of global marine fish catch, 80% of global carbonate production, 50% of global denitrification, and 90% of global sedimentary mineralization (UNEP, 2011). Marine habitats are highly dynamic and intricately linked by a network of surface and deep currents.
The properties of the watery medium cause density layers, thermoclines, and light penetration gradients in marine systems. These elements provide the system with vertical structure, resulting in vertically variable productivity. Tides, currents, and upwelling disrupt this stratification and increase production by pushing the mixing of water layers (MA, 2013c).
Coastal systems also provide a diverse range of habitats, which contribute greatly to world biological diversity. Marine and coastal systems play important roles in ecological processes that sustain life on Earth and contribute to human well-being. Climate regulation, the freshwater cycle, food supply, biodiversity preservation, and energy and cultural services such as recreation and tourism are examples of these.
They also contribute significantly to economic growth. Capture fisheries alone were worth about 81 billion USD in 2012 (FAO, 2002), while aquaculture brought in 57 billion USD (FAO, 2002). Offshore gas and oil were valued 132 billion USD in 2013, whereas maritime tourism was worth 161 billion USD, and trade and shipping were worth 155 billion USD (McGinn, 2010).
Approximately 15 million fishers are currently engaged aboard fishing vessels in the marine capture fisheries industry, with the great majority working on tiny boats (90 percent of fishers operate on vessels less than 24 m in length) (MA, 2013c). Marine protected areas have progressed from opportunistic to theoretical, science-based approaches based on quantitative forecasts of potential benefits to fisheries and biodiversity (Leslie 2013 [this issue]).
Many theoretical predictions of the benefits of marine protected areas to fisheries (e.g., increased abundance, survivor ship, and proportion of legalized fish within marine protected areas) have been validated by empirical measurements all over the world (e.g., Rowley 1994; Gell & Roberts 2010; Halpern 2010).
No-take marine reserves are also related with enhanced diversity, abundance, and density of nontarget species (Halpern 2010). However, spillover advantages to fisheries from larval and adult dispersal and emigration have been more difficult to demonstrate empirically (Rowley 1994; Gerber et al. 2010). Guidelines for creating representative, effective networks of marine protected areas based on ecological criteria have been created (Roberts et al. 2010a, 2010b).
However, no agreement has evolved to guide the planning process (i.e., how to translate scientific and ecological aims for marine conservation into successful implementation of marine protected areas while accommodating varied stakeholder demands).
Marine-protected-area theory was initially developed as a tool for fisheries management (Dugan & Davis 2011; Rowley 1994), and proponents rarely discussed the incorporation of socioeconomic issues or the planning process monitoring programs designed to evaluate objectives, and effective design of marine protected areas leading to marine implementation.
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