Sustaining the World's Large Marine Ecosystems

issue in a much broader sense than before. The preservation of fish stocks and
other goods and services of the ecosystem including the protection of marine
biodiversity has to be taken care of, as must also the socio-economic
development of the region. Management goals have to be defined and defended
under the pressure of conflicting ecological interests and societal and political
constraints.
In order to address all five modules of the LME concept, specialists are needed
like ichthyologists and plankton experts, gear designers, sociologists, economists
and experts in international law. On the other hand experienced generalists and
modelers are required to put the facts and findings together and to create
management scenarios. Those generalists are rather rare and not easy to recruit.
To a certain extent, a fair division of research work between the developed and
developing countries might be envisaged. Developed countries have the capacity
and hence the responsibility of advancing science in the broadest possible way -
including the theory and analysis of interactions in the sustainability triangle of
environment, economy and society. Working in collaboration with colleagues and
institutions in other parts of the world, including developing countries, is a win-win
situation. Such division has been implemented in the Benguela Large Marine
Ecosystem, when e.g. the German R/V Meteor oceanographic cruise carried out
basic research in marine biogeochemistry of the anoxic zones, while the R/V
Africana cruise of South Africa and the cruise on the Norwegian R/V Dr. Fridtjof
Nansen studied the distribution of zooplankton and fish.
Continent-wide alliances of LMEs and global LME structure
Everyone agrees that LME programmes will benefit from a better exchange of
experiences, tools, platforms and people. So far, connections between the
projects are mainly through informal personal contacts at the top level,
particularly during the annual LME consultations at the IOC-Unesco in Paris (see
LME consultation reports at: www.lme.noaa.gov/ and also at http://unesdoc.
unesco.org/ulis/.
Interaction can be established through global and mega-regional workshops on
specific topics and in general symposia involving natural and social scientists,
administrators and civil society to further develop common scientific and
organisational concepts and strategies, as well as tools, and methods.
Up to now, the LME approach and strategy has largely been steered by a handful
of senior scientists. Meanwhile, however, within the LME projects a good number
of junior scientists are active with new knowledge and new ideas. Ways and
means have to be found to engage them in those meetings and in the decision
making process on the mega-regional and global level. The involvement of those
younger scientists in the BCLME symposia and in the Pan-African LME Forum in
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