Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden;
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Aug 22;114(34):9038-9043. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704453114. Epub 2017 Aug 7.
The ocean represents a fundamental source of micronutrients and protein for a growing world population. Seafood is a highly traded and sought after commodity on international markets, and is critically dependent on healthy marine ecosystems. A global trend of wild stocks being overfished and in decline, as well as multiple sustainability challenges associated with a rapid growth of aquaculture, represent key concerns in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Existing efforts aimed to improve the sustainability of seafood production have generated important progress, primarily at the local and national levels, but have yet to effectively address the global challenges associated with the ocean. This study highlights the importance of transnational corporations in enabling transformative change, and thereby contributes to advancing the limited understanding of large-scale private actors within the sustainability science literature. We describe how we engaged with large seafood producers to coproduce a global science-business initiative for ocean stewardship. We suggest that this initiative is improving the prospects for transformative change by providing novel links between science and business, between wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture, and across geographical space. We argue that scientists can play an important role in facilitating change by connecting knowledge to action among global actors, while recognizing risks associated with such engagement. The methods developed through this case study contribute to identifying key competences in sustainability science and hold promises for other sectors as well.
海洋是不断增长的世界人口获取微量营养素和蛋白质的基本来源。海鲜是国际市场上交易和需求旺盛的商品，严重依赖于健康的海洋生态系统。野生种群被过度捕捞和减少，以及水产养殖快速增长带来的多种可持续性挑战，这些都与联合国可持续发展目标密切相关。现有的旨在提高海鲜生产可持续性的努力已经取得了重要进展，主要是在地方和国家层面，但尚未有效应对与海洋相关的全球挑战。本研究强调了跨国公司在推动变革方面的重要作用，从而有助于提高可持续科学文献中对大规模私营行为者的有限认识。我们描述了如何与大型海鲜生产商合作，共同发起一项全球海洋管理科学与商业倡议。我们认为，该倡议通过在科学与商业之间、野生捕捞渔业和水产养殖之间以及跨越地理空间建立新的联系，为推动变革提供了新的前景。我们认为，科学家可以通过在全球参与者之间建立知识与行动的联系，在促进变革方面发挥重要作用，同时认识到这种参与带来的风险。通过案例研究开发的方法有助于确定可持续科学的关键能力，并为其他部门带来希望。
