Research Lines
There is growing evidence that current management of marine resource systems may no longer be effective in the future under climate change. This will translate not only into important ecological impacts at local and global scales, but also into increasing livelihood vulnerability and inequalities. We believe these threats pose one of the major challenges humanity faces nowadays.
Our research looks for adaptation solutions in marine systems that allow for sustainable management in the long run, as well as helping achieve equitable resource sharing and livelihood support. We apply a large set of social and natural sciences methodologies to understand climate change impacts and adaptation in marine systems and work on smart solutions for future oceans sustainability.
Our work focuses along 3 main lines of research:
Social-ecological systems
We use the social ecological systems approach to understand how systems react to climate change. We develop adaptation solutions based on the interconnections of ecological, social and institutional components of the system.
Keywords: SES, SSF, artisanal fisheries, commercial fisheries, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, resilience.
Spatial management
Developing solutions for natural resource management under climate change.
Keywords: property rights, equity, MPA networks, TURF networks, bio-economic modelling, quotas, co-management.
Institutional arrangements
Analyzing the consequences of shifts in
species distribution in institutional fisheries arrangements.
Keywords: EEZs, transboundary stocks, cooperation, spatial management, stakeholder analysis.
Our Publications
Journal articles
Check soon for upcoming research outputs
- The future of food from the sea. Christopher Costello, Ling Cao, Stefan Gelcich, Miguel Á. Cisneros-Mata, Christopher M. Free, Halley E. Froehlich, Christopher D. Golden, Gakushi Ishimura, Jason Maier, Ilan Macadam-Somer, Tracey Mangin, Michael C. Melnychuk, Masanori Miyahara, Carryn L. de Moor, Rosamond Naylor, Linda Nøstbakken, Elena Ojea, Erin O’Reilly, Ana M. Parma, Andrew J. Plantinga, Shakuntala H. Thilsted & Jane Lubchenco. 2020. Nature, 19 August 2020.
- Adaptation of Fishing Communities to Climate-Driven Shifts in Target Species. Elena Ojea, Sarah Lester, Diego Salgueiro, 2020. OneEarth
- Realistic fisheries management reforms could mitigate the impacts of climate change in most countries. Christopher M. Free, Tracey Mangin, Jorge García Molinos, Elena Ojea, Merrick Burden, Christopher Costello, Steven D. Gaines, 2020. PLOS ONE, in press.
- Strategically designed marine reserve networks are robust to climate change driven shifts in population connectivity. A. Rassweiler, E. Ojea, C. Costello. 2020. Environmental Research Letters, in press.
- Southward re‐distribution of tropical tuna fisheries activity can be explained by technological and management change. Iratxe Rubio, Unai Ganzedo, Alistair J. Hobday and Elena Ojea. 2020. Fish and Fisheries, in press.
- Sovereign states in the Caribbean have lower social-ecological vulnerability to coral bleaching than overseas territories. K.J. Siegel, R.B. Cabral, J. McHenry, E. Ojea, B. Owashi and S.E. Lester. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 20 February 2019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2365.
- Impacts and responses to environmental change in coastal livelihoods of south-west Bangladesh. Hossain, M.A.R., M. Ahmed, E. Ojea, J.A. Fernandes. 2018. Science of the Total Environment, 637-638, 954–970.
- Benefits From Water Related Ecosystem Services in Africa and Climate Change. Pettinotti, L., A. de Ayala, E. Ojea. 2018. Ecological Economics 149, 294-305.
- The role of non-natural capital in the co-production of marine ecosystem services. L. Outeiro, E. Ojea, J. G. Rodrigues, A. Himes-Cornell, A. Belgrano, Y. Liu, E. Cabecinha, C. Pita, G. Macho, S. Villasante. 2017. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 13(3): 35-50.
- Fisheries regulatory regimes and resilience to climate change. E. Ojea, I. Pearlman, S.D. Gaines, S.E. Lester, 2017. Ambio, 1-14.
- Socioeconomic impacts of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. M. Pascual, M. Rossetto, E. Ojea, N. Milchakova, S. Giakoumi, S. Kark, 2016. Ocean & Coastal Management 133, 1-10.
Scientific Posters
- Socioeconomic implications of the observed climate change distributional impacts in commercial marine species. Aguión, A., Salgueiro-Otero, D., Rubio, I., Ojea, E. 2017. Conference poster, ICES ASC Florida 2017
- Management solutions for shifting transboundary fish stocks under fixed catch shares. Xiaozi Liu, Elena Ojea and Mikko Heino, ECCWO 2018, Wshington DC.
- The socio-ecological vulnerability of artisanal fisheries to climate impact. Ruíz-Díaz, R., Liu, X., Ojea,E. IMBRSea 2018, Ostend
- Ecological, Socioeconomic and Institutional Resilience to shifting fish stocks. Ojea, E. and Fontán E. ICES ASC Hamburg 2018
Reports & book chapters
- The expected impacts of climate change on the ocean economy. S. Gaines, R. Cabral, C.M. Free, Y. Golbuu, R. Arnason, W. Battista, D. Bradley, W. Cheung, K. Fabricius, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, M.A. Juinio-Meñez, J. García Molinos, E. Ojea, E. O’Reilly and C. Turley. Blue Paper for the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
- The future of food from the sea. C. Costello, L. Cao and S. Gelcich, M.A. Cisneros, C.M. Free, H.E. Froehlich, E. Galarza, C.D. Golden, G. Ishimura, J. Maier, I. Macadam-Somer, T. Mangin, M.C. Melnychuk, M. Miyahara, C. de Moor, R. Naylor, L. Nøstbakken, E. Ojea, E. O’Reilly, G.C. Osio, A.M. Parma, F. Pina Amargos, A.J. Plantinga, A. Tacon, and S.H. Thilsted. Blue Paper for the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
- Socioeconomic Impacts of Networks of Marine Protected Areas. E. Ojea, M Pascual, D March, I Bitetto, P Melià, M Breil, J Claudet, 2017. Management of Marine Protected Areas: A Network Perspective, 103.
- Operationalizing the ecosystem approach to resolve mismatches in ocean governance. Garmendia, M., A. Markandya, E. Ojea, M. Pascual, 2016. In: Handbook on the economics and management of sustainable oceans. Edited by P.A.L.D. Nunes, L.E. Svenssonand and A. Markandya. Edward Elgar Publishing.
New study in Nature finds that sustainably managing the oceans can significantly increase global seafood production
Elena Ojea contributes to this new research article led by UCSB
19/08/2020New research from UCSB and global collaborators finds that sustainably managing the ocean can significantly increase seafood.
“Mediterranean MPAs facing Climate Change” a second MPA-ENGAGE training
Francesca Barazzetta travelled to Sardinia for a second training with Mediterranean MPAs on Vulnerability Assessment
13/08/2020On the last week of July, from the 27th to the 30th, Francesca Barazzetta travelled to Sardinia, (Italy), to join the rest of the MPA-Engage team to provide a second training on the Vulnerability Assessment to some of the MPAs involved in the project. The meeting hosted by the MPA of Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo […]
Learning good practices in scientific communication
Xochitl attended a Seminar on scientific writing
10/07/2020This week, the Ph.D. student Xochitl Elias from the Do*Mar doctoral program and member of the FOL, took part in the Seminar on Scientific Writing imparted by Prof. Dr. Henrique Queiroga from Universidade de Aveiro. The seminar was imparted virtually and covered a broad range of topics including philosophical currents on how to conduct science, […]