RESUMEN
The study examines the governance of low trophic species mariculture (LTM) using Sweden as a case study. LTM, involving species such as seaweeds and mollusks, offers ecosystem services and nutritious foods. Despite its potential to contribute to blue growth and Sustainable Development Goals, LTM development in the EU and OECD countries has stagnated. A framework for mapping governance elements (institutions, structures, and processes) and analyzing governance objective (effective, equitable, responsive, and robust) was combined with surveys addressed to the private entrepreneurs in the sector. Analysis reveals ineffective institutions due to lack of updated legislation and guidance, resulting in ambiguous interpretations. Governance structures include multiple decision-making bodies without a clear coordination agency. Licensing processes were lengthy and costly for the private entrepreneurs, and the outcomes were uncertain. To support Sweden's blue bioeconomy, LTM governance requires policy integration, clearer direction, coordinated decision-making, and mechanisms for conflict resolution and learning.
RESUMEN
Harvesting beach-cast can help mitigate marine eutrophication by closing land-marine nutrient loops and provide a blue biomass raw material for the bioeconomy. Cost-benefit analysis was applied to harvest activities during 2009-2018 on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, highlighting benefits such as nutrient removal from the marine system and improved recreational opportunities as well as costs of using inputs necessary for harvest. The results indicate that the activities entailed a net gain to society, lending substance to continued funding for harvests on Gotland and assessments of upscaling of harvest activities to other areas in Sweden and elsewhere. The lessons learnt from the considerable harvest experience on Gotland should be utilized for developing concrete guidelines for carrying out sustainable harvest practice, paying due attention to local conditions but also to what can be generalized to a wider national and international context.
