2.5 MARINE AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS
Cruise ships are a significant source of global marine sewage pollution, as well as of oil, solid waste and hazardous waste (US EPA 2008). This industry is growing nearly twice as fast as any other travel sector, with about 20 million passengers per year (CLIA 2011). In their wake cruise ships leave about 3.8 billion litres of sewage in the world’s oceans each year (FOE 2014).
Sewage contains many contaminants and inputs, including inorganic nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disruptors, sediments and heavy metals, and has a wide range of impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems (Wear and Thurber 2015). Nutrients from sewage run- off contribute to nutrient enrichment of coastal waters, resulting in the growth of algae that can displace slow- growing organisms such as corals. Nutrient enrichment increases the susceptibility of reef coral to bleaching. The large amounts of freshwater that often accompany sewage dilute saline water and can lead to changes in the biota of marine systems. Suspended solids and particulate matter can cause water to become more turbid, resulting in significant changes to the structure of ecosystems and the ability of animals to thrive. Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), often flushed into oceans along with the sewage, are common pollutants in coastal marine systems and have profound impacts on wildlife, including slowing the growth of coral and producing intersex reproductive systems in many animals (whereby male testes develop eggs instead of sperm). EDCs are widely implicated as a cause of breast cancer in humans.
Coastal communities – change, insecurity and well-being: Coastal areas and islands occupy less than 5% of the Earth’s surface but provide goods and services to over 2 billion people. Half the world’s major cities are within 50 kilometres of a coast and more than one-quarter of the world population lives within 100 kilometres of one; coastal areas are three times more densely populated than those inland (Kay and Alder 2005). Intense population and extractive pressures result in degradation of fragile ecosystems such as estuaries, coral reefs and mangroves, critically important food producing habitats (Figure 2.5.2) which are also threatened by the effects of climate change. Coastal habitats are the basis of most of the world’s fish production in both wild (or capture) fisheries and aquaculture. A significant share of the world’s food comes from coastal zones.
Small-scale fishing communities tend to be marginalized in social, economic, political and often geographical terms and frequently lack representation at the national or regional levels (Ratner et al. 2014). Cross- cultural research on poverty and fishing communities reveals a number of gendered vulnerabilities: income and assets in fishing communities are unevenly distributed between women and men, and incomes are highly variable in relationship to people’s roles in the community and over time; both female and male fishers are often excluded from other income- earning opportunities, social services and political representation; and these fishers are exposed to higher than average levels of risk because they are marginalized and have a limited ability to cope with shocks due to resources collapse, climate change or changing social dynamics (Allison et al. 2012). Women are marginalized in distinctive ways, within already marginalized communities, with inequalities stemming from differences in identity, roles, relationships within the marketplace, and household dynamics that affect asset accumulation, market opportunities, social capital and social norms (Thorpe et al. 2014; Béné and Merten 2008; Sen 2000).
Higher rates of risk and disease have serious
implications for women and children living in fishing communities (Box 2.5.2). Women frequently have fewer financial assets or other coping mechanisms with which to respond to injuries or other health threats such as decreased food availability or access to clean water. When fish are scarce, women often have little choice but to forgo nutrients (Mendoza 2009), take on additional jobs, and supplement food and fuel with other natural resources. More extreme coping mechanisms include loans from “loan sharks”, often resulting in debt bondage or child marriage to settle debts (Hossain 2009; Mendoza 2009). When local fisheries collapse, as is happening in many parts of the world, there is increasing documentation of women undertaking transactional sex to compensate for lost income (Box 2.5.3) (Neis et al. 2013; Lwenya and Yongo 2012; Béné and Merten 2008).
In marine governance systems, the notion of “rights” has historically focused specifically on access to fishing rights (Allison et al. 2012). Little attention has been given to human rights in coastal zones, even in the face of growing human rights abuses there. However, since 2007 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has increasingly framed policy support and advice
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