Marine Business Parks: Can Nature and Industries Be Balanced at Sea?
Fisheries, aquaculture, and offshore and subsea energy sources have long dominated popular conceptions of the use of the ocean in the Arctic. However, despite the vastness of the ocean and the significant long-term potential of both seafood and sea energy, it is the maritime areas close to coastlines that are most useful for the people living there. In these areas, activities compete for space. The Center for the Ocean and the Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic at UiT The Arctic University of Norway recently presented a policy brief to the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy, Cecilie Myrseth. The document provides specific recommendations on “how marine co-location can strengthen Norwegian sustainability and competitiveness” in a manner that mitigates the climate crisis “while creating positive ripple effects for nearby coastal communities.”
Why Marine Business Parks Are Significant
Marine business parks are areas where at least two ocean activities are located together and benefit from each other. One example could be colocating offshore wind turbines providing renewable energy for land-based use and electric ships, carbon-capture projects for industrial storage and use, and seaweed, mussel, or oyster farming. Such a model would deliver cost savings for all stakeholders involved and reduce water pollution. Establishing marine business parks requires cooperation between several actors to plan the parks, harmonize regulations, collaborate with local governments, ensure businesses see the long-term benefits, and consult with external stakeholders. These external stakeholders could be local fishers who have knowledge in areas of specific interest for fisheries and can advise on where such parks could be established.
How to Establish Marine Business Parks in Norway Today
The current Norwegian regulatory framework complicates the establishment of marine business parks because they span several industries, types of businesses, and policy areas across multiple municipalities. Therefore, they require harmonizing regulations covering these sectors and government entities. As explained in the policy brief, “A clear legal framework must be established that simplifies the procedures for obtaining permits, licenses and rules for impact assessments for marine business parks. At the same time, the environmental requirements for impact assessments and licenses must not be reduced, and the body dealing with this must possess considerable environmental expertise.” According to the center’s preliminary study on marine business parks, in Norway this legislation “must include both the licensing process (granting of permits), provisions regarding impact assessments, regulation of technical conditions (if a multipurpose platform is to be used), as well as provisions concerning health, safety, and environment (HSE). Furthermore, a tax and duties regime must be designed.”
Permanent marine business parks cannot be established until more research and innovation has taken place. In the long term, aspects such as pollution, the implications for the surrounding marine ecology, the influence of technological installations, and economic returns will vary depending on the specific environment and businesses involved with each park. This research and innovation should therefore analyze the topic through the lenses of biology, technology, economy, and social sciences in an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates stakeholders from coastal municipalities and the private sector, not just academia.
Future Sustainable Business Development in the Ocean
Given the severe ongoing climate and nature crisis affecting Arctic areas, the establishment of maritime businesses needs to be handled with care. There is a fine balance between conserving and exploiting the ocean and between traditional fishing and new businesses such as aquaculture, oil and gas exploitation, offshore wind power, and seabed mining. Policymakers and private sector stakeholders should pay attention to the global demand for food and energy, the health of the ocean, and the well-being of populations living on the coast before planning for the sustainable development of ocean businesses.
In this context, combining ocean businesses in multiuse parks could reduce the oceanic areas in use, develop relationships among private sector stakeholders, and free up resources to protect biodiversity. The sustainable use of ocean resources would contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals related to hunger, energy, climate, and oceans. However, no municipality, region, or nation can solve this problem by itself. If maritime business parks are shown to be the most sustainable way of organizing ocean businesses, then international regulations and cooperation will be required. In this context, several international projects are exploring multiuse parks in the ocean with an array of involved stakeholders and regulatory frameworks. Among them is UNITED, an EU- and industry-funded project that “aims to provide evidence of the viability of ocean multi-use through the development of five real-life ocean multi-use pilots that combine different marine activities.” This project is exploring the economic, environmental, societal, legal, and technological aspects of marine business parks.
Regardless of ongoing activities, more research and investments are needed to ensure the long-term viability of marine business parks. The Norwegian government is uniquely positioned to finance such projects to explore their functionality, effects, economic profitability, and impact on the health of oceans and coastal populations. The Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic at UiT The Arctic University of Norway stands ready to advise the government throughout this process and provide a forum for dialogue on marine colocation issues in Norway.
Anne Husebekk leads the Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Silje Elde is a project manager at the Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and Else Kristine Welde is a communications advisor at the at the Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.