The objective of this thematic issue is to provide an overview of the blue economy in the Caribbean. The concept of the blue economy, relating to the use and conservation of aquatic resources and ecosystems, is increasingly being put forward to promote sustainable development of the islands (Failler and Phang). While traditional sectors, such as beach tourism, commercial and recreational fishing, and maritime transport occupy the forefront of the economic scene, several emerging sectors such as biotechnology, marine renewable energy, and deep mining are emerging (Patil et al., 2016). As can the protection of the coastline and the improvement of its resilience capacities to cope with the effects of climate change (Failler, 2020). The development of nature-based solutions in recent years on cyclone-prone islands is an example of this.

The articles could deal with the challenges of the blue economy for the Caribbean islands, the institutional changes required for its implementation, notably the new modes of governance to be established in order to coordinate such a project (Hassanali, 2020). They could have a sectoral approach by focusing on a particular sector or a holistic one by embracing both the economy and ecology. They could also provide prospective elements, particularly in the context of the implementation of national plans to combat global warming or blue accounting (Ram et al., 2019). Overall, they should consider the island's or country's plan.

Papers may address the following topics:

• Maritime spatial planning

• Blue accounting

• Blue Tourism

• Maritime transport

• Subsistence, commercial and sport fishing

• Blue governance (coordination and organisation of the blue economy)

• Énergie renouvelable en mer

• Biotechnology

• Nature-based solutions

• Resilience of coastal ecosystems

• Seabed mining

• Aquaculture

• Discovering the seabed

• Other areas related to the sea and coasts

References

Failler P. and S. Phang (2020). “Review of Blue Economy of Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, Coordination Support for Unleashing New Avenues for Growth by tackling opportunities in the Blue Economy: Series on Blue Economy, Technological Trends and Economic Opportunities”, Inter-American Development Bank, 39 p.

Failler P (2020). “The Bahamas blue Economy and Circular Economy Action Pan (2021-2025)”, Inter-American Development Bank, 72 p.

Hassanali Kahlil (2020). “CARICOM and the blue economy – Multiple understandings and their implications for global engagement”, Marine Policy, Volume 120, October 2020, 104137.

Patil, Pawan G., J. Virdin, S..M. Diez, J. Roberts & A. Singh (2016). Toward a Blue Economy: A Promise for Sustainable Growth in the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.

Ram Justin, Dindial Ramrattan, Raquel Frederick (2019), Measuring the Blue Economy: The System of National Accounts and Use of Blue Economy Satellite Accounts, CDB Working Paper No. 2019/02

Calendar

• December 31^st 2022: deadline for submission of article proposals.

• April 30^th 2023: receiving the articles.

• July 2023: publication of the issue.

Guest publishers

Dr Pierre Failler, Professor of Economics, Director of the Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth, UK

Dr Mialy Andriamahefazafy, Post-Doc, Centre for Blue Governance, University of Portsmouth, UK

Contribution

You can refer to the Guidelines for Authors and send your contributions to etudescaribeennes@gmail.com