Achieving good environmental status in the Black Sea: scale mismatches in environmental management

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The Black Sea has suffered severe environmental degradation. Governance of the Black Sea region is complex and results in a series of scale mismatches which constrain management. This paper develops a simple classification of spatial scale mismatches incorporating the driver, pressure, state, welfare, response (DPSWR) framework. The scale mismatch classification is applied to two major environmental problems of the Black Sea, eutrophication and small pelagic fisheries. A number of scale mismatches are described and classified and potential solutions are identified.

Sustaining Europe’s seas as coupled social-ecological systems

“…This mismatch may result in incompatible policy objectives in certain areas unless there is concerted effort at the institutional level to harmonize the implementation processes of MSP, MSFD, and CFP. Another example of spatial mismatch comes from the Black Sea (O'Higgins et al 2014b). Two major environmental problems in the Black Sea are the depleted fisheries (which is a basin-wide phenomenon) and the coastal eutrophication of the North West shelf.…”

“…Social-ecological systems scales are much more complex, however, partly because the people who use marine systems live on the land, so their activities and institutions operate at different scales than the natural systems they exploit. Socialecological systems can operate at multiple scales: managing Black Sea fisheries requires the six coastal countries to cooperate (Goulding et al 2014) to achieve tangible results, whereas controlling eutrophication requires the joint efforts of the 14 countries in the Danube and Dnipro basins (O'Higgins et al 2014b). Moreover, resolving the problem of invasive species may require global-scale cooperation.…”

“…The BSC has an ambitious environmental remit: to pursue an ecosystem approach to management (a major legacy of the lead author, the late professor Mee). In this issue, O'Higgins et al (2014b) under the frame of decision space analysis, identify with hindsight that an analysis of spatial and temporal scales could have provided a more efficient focus on the eutrophication issue. Focusing efforts on the states of the northwestern Black Sea instead of pursuing a regional seas agreement would have obviated the need for protracted negotiation and compromise among the reluctant Black Sea nations for a regional sea-based agreement.…”

“…Economic disparity, political instability, and resulting differences in priorities and values are recurrent themes in the shared regional seas (Cinnirella et al 2014, O'Higgins et al 2014b, Varjopuro et al 2014, Potts et al 2015. If European governments have difficulty prioritizing GEnS in the relatively affluent nations, then achieving GEnS on the regional sea basis (as mandated by the MSFD), which will require effective cooperation and collaboration with the states of North Africa, the Middle East, and the Russian Federation, is a major, if not insurmountable, obstacle.…”

Marine spatial planning and Good Environmental Status: a perspective on spatial and temporal dimensions

“…Aside from economic considerations, stakeholder resistance, and licensing agreements, legacy effects, and the effects of committed behaviors (see O'Higgins et al 2014) may mean that plans are not adaptable.…”