Open your minds: Technological development and job opportunities from marine environmental legislation

摘要

Recent marine legislation worldwide (e.g. Oceans Act in USA, Australia or Canada; Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in Europe, and National Water Act in South Africa) has been developed in order to protect and restore ecological quality or integrity within estuarine, coastal and offshore systems (Borja et al., 2008, 2010). Now, with the world economy facing a deep crisis, perhaps this marine environmental legislation can be a source of technological development and job opportunity in different marine sectors. Hence, the European Maritime Policy recognises that the maritime industries and services encompass a wide range of sectoral economic activities, from shipbuilding to shipping and ports, to fisheries and aquaculture, to recreational activities and tourism, to offshore energy exploration and extraction, and to a large number of related technical and economic services.