Coastal habitats such as tidal marshes, swamps and mangroves, yet also the shallow coastal zone of the Southern North Sea, are known or thought to have a very high value in terms of productivity, nutrient recycling and reproduction grounds. Not only the entire coastal ecosystem, from primary production to top predators, is depending on these attributes, it often concerns species with a high economic value.
With the increasing demand for seafood, a healthy and sustainable balance will have to be found between fisheries and aquaculture. Coastal regions have historically been important for both, albeit in a non-compatible way.
The economic value of the coastal ecosystem, however, does not stop at harvesting seafood. Other ecosystem services, which are often more difficult to identify and measure, include coastal protection and tourism. The former is closely related to the conference theme of innovations in coastal infrastructure, the latter to the theme of nature conservation in coastal areas.
The challenge is to manage coastal ecosystem resources in such a way that food requirements on the one hand and intangible ecosystem services on the other hand are not cancelling each other out, yet strengthening each other. This is the only way to fully capture the high productivity of our coasts of tomorrow.
Participants are invited to present papers that cover any of the following subjects related to coastal productivity:
- Demonstration of the value of coastal productivity;
- Concepts of sustainable fisheries and/or aquaculture, or the integration of both, in coastal regions;
- Ecosystem services that conflict or coincide with coastal productivity;
- Multi-use of coastal productivity with other functions;
