An approach that encompasses the human and natural dimensions of ecosystems is one that the Wider Caribbean Region knows it must adopt and implement, in order to ensure the sustainable use of the region's shared marine resources. This volume contributes towards that vision, bringing together the collective knowledge and experience of scholars and practitioners within the Wider Caribbean to begin the process of assembling a road map towards marine ecosystem based management (EBM) for the region. It also serves a broader purpose of providing stakeholders and policy actors in each of the world's sixty-four Large Marine Ecosystems, with a comparative example of the challenges and information needs required to implement principled ocean governance generally and marine EBM in particular, at multiple levels. Additionally, the volume serves to supplement the training of graduate level students in the marine sciences by enhancing interdisciplinary understanding of challenges in implementing marine EBM.

One of the main goals in fisheries governance is to promote viability and sustainability in small-scale fishing communities. This is not an easy task given external and internal pressure, including environmental change and competition with other economic sectors searching for development in the coastal region. A comprehensive understanding of small-scale fisheries in their own context, and from a regional perspective, is an important step in supporting the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). This book contributes to the global effort by offering knowledge, insights and lessons about small-scale fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 20 case studies included in the book make explicit the various dimensions that are intrinsic to small-scale fisheries in the region, and identify conditions and situations that affect the wellbeing of fishing communities. The book offers insights regarding the challenges faced by small-scale fisheries in the region, and, aligning with the objectives of the SSF Guidelines, provides lessons and experiences about how to make small-scale fishing communities viable while maintaining sustainable fisheries. This important book illustrates the complexity, diversity, and dynamics of small-scale fisheries in the Latin American and Caribbean region and presents experiences, tools, and approaches to lead towards sustainable and viable fisheries. The reader will gain a new understanding on the range of actions, approaches, and information needed for their successful management. John F. Caddy, International Fisheries Expert This book, prepared by the Too Big To Ignore partnership, constitutes a very valuable resource for policy makers, fisheries scientists, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and fishing communities interested in putting in place sound management strategies, research, and actions to contribute to the sustainability of small-scale fisheries and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Juan Carlos Seijo, Professor of Fisheries Bioeconomics at Marist University of Merida

Many coastal communities in Latin America and the Caribbean depend on the resources provided by reefs for their livelihoods. The Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean project is a response to an information need. The primary goal is to raise awareness and improve management by improving the knowledge base on the status of and threats to coral reefs.

The Blue Economy is emerging on the global scene as a powerful and persuasive new concept for sustainable development based on economic activities associated with the ocean. Several regions globally have adopted this concept at national and regional levels, including the Caribbean. Given the complex, multisectoral and multilevel nature of the Blue Economy, it is clear that different approaches will be needed for different regions. Hence, this volume explores the opportunities, threats and risks involved in operationalising the Blue Economy in the Wider Caribbean Region, defined as northern Brazil to the USA and all mainland and island countries and territories in-between. The first part of the book looks at where the region stands in the global picture regarding adoption of the Blue Economy and what is planned. The second set of chapters examines key crosscutting issues such as ecosystem services, climate change and governance at national and regional levels that could make or break the Blue Economy initiative. The book then goes on to explore the main sectoral activities that will constitute the Blue Economies in the region: fisheries, tourism, shipping and transport, renewable energy, oil and gas, seabed mining and waste management are all considered. The book ends with a synthesis of the political and technical requirements to overcome threats and take advantage of opportunities in the Blue Economy.

Illuminating the entangled histories of the people and commodities that circulated across the Atlantic, Sharika D. Crawford assesses the Caribbean as a waterscape where imperial and national governments vied to control the profitability of the sea. Crawford places the green and hawksbill sea turtles and the Caymanian turtlemen who hunted them at the center of this waterscape. The story of the humble turtle and its hunter, she argues, came to play a significant role in shaping the maritime boundaries of the modern Caribbean. Crawford describes the colonial Caribbean as an Atlantic commons where all could compete to control the region's diverse peoples, lands, and waters and exploit the region's raw materials. Focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Crawford traces and connects the expansion and decline of turtle hunting to matters of race, labor, political and economic change, and the natural environment. Like the turtles they chased, the boundary-flouting laborers exposed the limits of states' sovereignty for a time but ultimately they lost their livelihoods, having played a significant role in legislation delimiting maritime boundaries. Still, former turtlemen have found their deep knowledge valued today in efforts to protect sea turtles and recover the region's ecological sustainability.