For more information about the event, check out this article in The Telegraph. Details about the ISU are available on the ISU website.

In his speech at the event, the Prince will warn of “dire” long-term consequences unless action is taken to manage fish stocks more effectively. Dr. Sumaila will present his economic perspective on the issue of global overfishing and the harmful impacts of subsidies to the Prince and approximately 200 invited guests.

Char species, so critical to first nations communities, now face similar threats. Globally, fisheries are at risk because of overfishing exacerbated by climate change. Human apathy may be the biggest threat to declining fish species, though, as too many governments and individuals remain in denial about the urgency of the problem.

The warning signs of a growing crisis are clear: the Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning population, estimated at just 40 per cent of its peak in 1974, is now a “species of concern,” along with its cousin, the Pacific bluefin. In British Columbia, ling cod have nearly disappeared.

Read the full article in The Vancouver Sun.

His proposal, published in the January 2012 issue of Nature, could solve the problem faced by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators, whose efforts to broker an all-inclusive deal that encompasses domestic and international, small- and large-scale fisheries, have stalled. Efforts, he says, that have been hindered by national interests.

Read the article in Nature.

Listen to the interview: Rashid Sumaila on the economic impacts of climate change on global oceans and fisheries.

Global climate change is altering the physical and chemical conditions of the ocean. This in turn affects marine ecosystems in ways that ultimately exacts a toll on fisheries and human well-being. To ensure sustainable marine fisheries well into the future, we need to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. These policies will require credible scientific assessments of the close linkages between the physical, ecological, and socioeconomic systems on which fisheries depend. Specifically, we need to forecast future ocean conditions based on climate change scenarios, and use this information to assess the biological and ecological responses to these changes. A global assessment is emerging that draws genuine linkages between these elements on several fronts, and in this symposium, we will present a series of tightly knit interdisciplinary papers that account for the entire spectrum from physical oceanographic changes on up to socioeconomic impacts as a result of climate change–altered fisheries. The panel will illustrate how projected climate changes will ultimately lead to global shifts in fish catches, from global to regional scales, and how this will affect the contribution of marine fishery resources to human welfare.

Apr 28-29, 2011

Location:

Institut Oceanographique de Paris
195 Rue Saint-Jacques
75005 Paris

OBJECTIVES:

Interdisciplinary in nature, the symposium will provide an opportunity to reflect on the policy and strategic
implications of growing integration between four systems of central importance for the sustainable
development of the planet:
- the ocean considered as a global ecosystem,
- the marine transportation system,
- the energy system,
- the global regulation system.

METHODOLOGY:
To promote a cross-disciplinary, cross-sector dialogue, the symposium will look successively at each of the four
systems in light of its interrelationship with the other three, placing the long-term sustainable use of the ocean at
the center. The symbol of this approach will be a tetrahedron of which each of the four systems will be an apex.

The perspective associated with each single apex (e.g. the perspective of the shipping industry on the development
of marine transportation) can then be reassessed within the holistic perspective of the four systems seen as a
whole.
A financial market perspective will help analyze how markets themselves have begun to reflect increasing levels of integration between the four systems. At the present stage, this integration maybe observed for instance between
commodities markets and forward freight Agreements markets. In the future, carbon markets or carbon instruments of various types may be able to capture the higher levels of integration that are developing between the energy
system, marine transportation system and the ocean ecosystem.

TENTATIVE PROGRAM:

The symposium will begin with an introductory session at which a keynote speaker will lay out an integrated
perspective, in support of the objectives and methodology of the symposium. Each of the four half days of Thursday
and Friday will be devoted to one of the four systems in the perspective of its interrelationship with the other three.
Two main themes will be discussed during each of these four sessions: the dynamics of the market and governance
issues.
The first system to be addressed will be the ocean ecosystem as it begins to be better understood in terms of
changing currents, temperature, living renewable resources and of its role as a global climate stabilizer–or possibly
destabilizer. The symposium will conclude with a session on global governance assessing the extent to which the interrelated nature of these four systems is presently reflected in terms of governing principles, rules and
institutions.

SPONSORS:

- The Chair Finance and Sustainable Development (University Paris-Dauphine, Polytechnique, EDF, Credit
Agricole CIB, Caisse des Depets et Consignation)
- The Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy (Columbia University)
- The Fisheries Economics Research Unit, and the Sea Around Us Project, University of British Columbia
- The government of Monaco

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

Rene Aed (EDF), Albert Bressand (Columbia University), Robert Calcagno (Institut Oceanographique), Pierre-Andre
Chiappori (Columbia University), Ivar Ekeland (University of British Columbia), Damien Fessler (Universite Paris-
Dauphine), Roger Guesnerie (College de France, tbc), Delphine Lautier (University Paris-Dauphine), Michel Petit
(Institut Oceanographique), Rashid Sumaila (University of British Columbia)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Ivar Ekeland (University of British Columbia), Damien Fessler (University Paris-Dauphine), Delphine Lautier
(Universite Paris-Dauphine), Laurence Pecou (Institut Oceanographique)

Contact:

Damien.Fessler@dauphine.fr

*The State of the Ocean

more information can be found at the following websites:

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE OCEAN, GREEN SHIPPING AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Université Paris Dauphine

Symposium, USSEE 2009 Conference, May 31-June 3 2009:

Pathways and Policies toward Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

Conveners: Glenn-Marie Lange, Karin Limburg, Rashid Sumaila

SYMPOSIUM ABSTRACT:  Modern fisheries constitute a quintessential ecological-economic problem, wherein 60 years of “rational” management has led to unimaginable erosion of fish stocks along with their habitats, food webs, and ecosystems.  Unless fishing behaviors are altered, we face an unprecedented, global collapse of a critical source of protein for an increasing human population.  In this symposium, we expose the pathologies of current practices, and explore approaches that will restore, revive, and sustain ecosystem support for fisheries.

There will be 6 presentations in 2 sessions.  Each speaker (in boldface below) will have 25 minutes, and following the third speaker in each session, there will be 15 minutes for discussion.

Part I: Diagnosis of the problems

1. U.R. Sumaila: Managing fishery resources for all generations
2. G.-M. Lange: Economic value of marine ecosystem services in Zanzibar:  implications for marine conservation and sustainable development
3. K.E. Limburg & J.R. Waldman: Dramatic declines in diadromous fishes: How socio-economic pathologies lead to lost ecosystem services

Discussion

Part II: Prescriptions for sustainable fisheries and marine ecosystem management
(4) K. Kellehar:  Recovering the sunken billions
(5) M. Schulter and H. Leslie: Managing tradeoffs in the use of aquatic ecosystem services
(6) T. Agardy: Brave new worlds in marine fisheries management
Discussion

* ussee-conference-symposium-2009-pathways-and-policies (PDF 67KB)

More information about the Symposium can be found by contacted Dr. Rashid Sumaila.  More information about the 2009 USSEE Conference can be found on the conference website.

A background and intended deliverables was sent to invididuals invited to participate in the planning workshop.  Invitees listed below represent diverse backgrounds from all corners of the globe.

1. Jon Sutinen (University of Rhode Island, USA)
2. Rolf Willmann (FAO, Italy).
3. Glenn-Marie (Columbia University, USA)
4. Patrizia Abdallah (Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil)
5. Kieran Kelleher (World Bank, USA)
6. A.K. Armah (University of Ghana)
7. Scott Farrow (University of Maryland, USA)
8. Margaret Bowman (Lenfest Ocean Program, USA)
9. Ragnar Arnason (University of Iceland)
10. Shekar Bose (University of Tasmania)
11. Gordon Munro (UBC)
12. Daniel Pauly (UBC)
13. Wilf Swartz (UBC)
14. Vicky Lam (UBC)
15. Ben Starkhouse (UBC)
16. William Cheung (UBC)
17. Dirk Zeller (UBC)
18. Brooke Campbell (UBC)
19. Rashid Sumaila (UBC)

Documentation:

Purpose, background and deliverables for the planning Workshop (PDF 23KB)

Planning Workshop Attendees List (PDF 17KB)