Rolf GroeneveldNew paper led by Amanda Schadeberg with Judith van Leeuwen and Marloes Kraan of the ENP group! https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106337 In this paper we explore the various dimensions of a #SocialLicenseToOperate for #fishing the #mesopelagic zone (1/9)
The #mesopelagic zone, also called the #oceantwilightzone because it lies at depths where only a tiny little bit of light penetrates, has huge populations of small #fish species such as pearlsides and lanternfish (2/9)
#Fishing companies have been looking at these populations as possible sources of fish feed and Omega-3 pills, but fishing them is very expensive. Moreover, biologists and climatologists warn against it. (3/9)
While resolving the various scientific uncertainties, as Andries Richter, Suphi Sen, and myself did in our #costbenefitanalysis paper (https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae108), is important, just getting the facts straight does not address all controversy (4/9)
New marine activities will be contested on more grounds than just the facts. Concerns of social, ethical, cultural, or political nature are just as important. The Netherlands has learned this the hard way in the debate on #PulseFishing (5/9)
In this paper, written under the #horizon2020 funded #MEESOproject (https://www.meeso.org/), we learn from three earlier cases (#PulseFishing, #DeepSeaMining, and #ReductionFisheries) what concerns are typically relevant in the #contestation of new marine economic activities (6/9)
For each case we consider three types of #legitimacy: pragmatic (what’s in it for us?), moral (is it the right thing to do?), and cognitive (does it conform to “what we usually do”?). We also consider how each type of legitimacy is challenged and/or established (7/9)
The result of the analysis is a landscape of concerns that reflects the current debate on fishing the #mesopelagic, and probably also feeds into future ones. A key insight for me is that such contestation should not only be anticipated, but also welcomed (8/9)
Stakeholders are more than opponents who might throw sand in the gears; they might actually spot considerations you hadn’t thought of. This also raises questions on how we do #costbenefitanalysis under #DeepUncertainty #wickedproblems #postnormalscience (9/9)