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Octopus vulgaris was identified as a new marine resource to be commercially exploited through an experimental fishery. A recent policy on developing fisheries in South Africa emphasizes the importance of investigating the economic feasibility of a fishery as part of its management framework. The study reported here generated baseline information necessary in the design of the experimental fishery, giving guidelines as to which vessels, fishing gear and markets would be most feasible. The proposed fishery, gear and vessel type, fishing techniques and expected catch rates are described, the results of market research are outlined, and the cost of fishing is estimated. The potential business should consist of small and medium-sized vessels deploying unbaited pots attached to long lines. The longline pot fishery could be economically feasible, provided a 30% catch in 6600 pots/month is attained. Only existing, debt-free vessels should be used. The minimum catch per unit effort (CPUE) for various fishing operation scenarios was calculated to determine economic feasibility. This is an estimated minimum CPUE, based on assumptions that cannot be confirmed until the fishery starts. Furthermore, this economic analysis also needs to be assessed by stakeholders with experience of fishery operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected and conserved areas (PCAs) are key ecosystem management tools for conserving biodiversity and sustaining ecosystem services and social cobenefits. As countries adopt a 30% target for protection of land and sea under the Global Biodiversity Framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, a critical question emerging is, which 30%? A risk‐based answer to this question is that the 30% that returns the greatest reductions in risks of species extinction and ecosystem collapse should be protected. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List protocols provide practical methods for assessing these risks. All species, including humans, depend on the integrity of ecosystems for their well‐being and survival. Africa is strategically important for ecosystem management due to convergence of high ecosystem diversity, intense pressures, and high levels of human dependency on nature. We reviewed the outcomes (e.g., applications of ecosystem red‐list assessments to protected‐area design, conservation planning, and management) of a symposium at the inaugural African Protected Areas Congress convened to discuss roles of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems in the design and management of PCAs. Recent progress was made in ecosystem assessment, with 920 ecosystem types assessed against the IUCN Red List criteria across 21 countries. Although these ecosystems spanned a diversity of environments across the continent, the greatest thematic gaps were for freshwater, marine, and subterranean realms, and large geographic gaps existed in North Africa and parts of West and East Africa. Assessment projects were implemented by a diverse community of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers. The assessments have influenced policy and management by informing extensions to and management of formal protected area networks supporting decision‐making for sustainable development, and informing ecosystem conservation and threat abatement within boundaries of PCAs and in surrounding landscapes and seascapes. We recommend further integration of risk assessments in environmental policy and enhanced investment in ecosystem red‐list assessment to fill current gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support sustainable growth of ocean-based economies, many countries are engaging in marine spatial planning (MSP) processes, which require robust decision-support tools. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is commonly used in decision-making to guide spatially efficient protected area expansion. Here we contend that SCP can also be used to streamline MSP negotiations by developing a coherent, integrated portfolio of sites for multiple sectors that depend on biodiversity being maintained in a good state, as a counterpoint to spatial priorities for those commercial and industrial activities that have negative environmental impacts. We demonstrate this in Algoa Bay, South Africa, given the social-ecological complexity of the bay, and its central location in the first national MSP process. In anticipation of this national process, a civil-society-led Community of Practice was established with a core team to lead stakeholder engagement, data acquisition and management, and SCP analyses. More than 500 stakeholders participated in the project and many contributed spatial data or engaged in expert-based participatory mapping. Spatial products were supplemented with existing, published datasets. Altogether, conservation targets were set for 115 biodiversity features and 22 nature-based activities, with the cost layer built from data on 10 commercial and industrial activities, cumulative pressures (n = 31) on ecosystems, and planning-unit area. All targets were met in 15% of the study area, of which only a third (4%) was outside of marine protected areas, demonstrating that it is possible to align multi-sector priorities for intact biodiversity. This approach can be widely applied in MSP to support sustainable ocean economies. • An efficient spatial outcome is designed for a bay with conflicting marine uses. • Marxan input features include both biodiversity features and nature-based activities. • Six recommendations for undertaking local-scale spatial prioritization are provided. • Coastal spatial planning is complex because there are many users and stakeholders. • Coastal planning should focus on smaller areas because of this complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]