Changing Livelihoods: Marine Economies Then and Now

A ny seagoing experience involves change.High winds and head tides can quickly become sunny skies and fair seas.Change affects not just the voyage, but also the maritime economies related to it.Human innovation creates new industries, like offshore wind or cruise ship tourism, to create livelihoods and produce goods and services for the society at large.This issue of Mainsheet sees today's ocean economy changing in ways that empower economic activities and cause social changes, both good and bad.By looking back, we can also look forward to understanding how marine economies affect national and global development.Change can be powered by new technologies.Even if endorsed by markets, new ways of doing things face scrutiny in terms of social acceptance, which determines whether a new technology will have a lasting role in society.One need only look at public opinion moving away from fossil fuels and offshore oil due to oil spills and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to see how the public and government can question past practices.It is in this interplay of technology-based economic development and social impacts that authors in this issue insightfully probe past and present across multiple disciplines.Economists recognize the marine economy as a relationship between ocean-based industries and the resources of marine ecosystems. 1 Industries include oil extraction, shipping, and tourism.Ecosystems naturally produce goods and services that society relies upon such as water supply, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling.Interestingly, these concepts have been previewed in US discussions as national policy has evolved.Ecosystem-based management proposes that relationships among all ecosystem components including all species and their environments be included. 2Some have extended this idea by speaking of ecosystem services-or those direct and indirect contributions of nature to human well-being which, in turn, makes them amenable to economic valuation. 3For example, fish harvest, flood control, and carbon sequestration supplied by healthy natural systems all can have economic values.With this background it's fair to ask, what sectors of economic activity are defined as coastal or marine?What insights can we gain from the past to better understand technology change and other catalysts for economic development?The next section overviews the marine economy and presents its status in the US.Then each of the primary sectors are discussed.They include ports and shipping, energy, tourism, fisheries, and government, as well as finance and related activities.Many of these sectors are explored further through articles in this issue of Mainsheet.