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Recently, the role which fisheries play in the provision of marine ecosystem services has been more widely acknowledged, largely as a result in recent years of fisheries management organisations developing and adopting more ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management (EAFM). Accordingly, several important management and science challenges have been identified. We argue that these challenges represent a number of important steps which underpin effective science based fisheries management, and when taken together and integrated, offer a logical framework by which to best achieve an EAFM. The challenges, or steps of the framework, identified and described are, i. defining appropriate spatial management units based upon significant and coherent ecosystem production processes, ii. assessing multi-species stock dynamics, iii. developing mixed fisheries management approaches, and iv. assessing the impacts of fisheries on non-target species and ecosystem components. The paper considers how the knowledge gained from research on these challenges can be applied to a risk-based management framework as an essential step towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 with respect to the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources for sustainable development

This special issue contributes to ongoing discussions of SDG 14 with a special focus on its relationship with other SDGs and broader international policy and legal instruments towards a more holistic and effective interpretation and implementation of this ocean-focused Goal. The emphasis in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on the role of oceans and coasts for sustainable development, including with respect to poverty reduction, food security, nutrition, well-being and traditional livelihoods, thus offers an ideal opportunity to push the boundaries of scientific, policy and legal reflection forward towards an integrated implementation of the SDGs and the achievement of the three pillars of sustainable development. Marine biodiversity and associated ecosystem services related to ecological productivity and resilience continue to decline globally 1 due to increasing anthropogenic pressures such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, climate change and ocean acidification. The importance of marine conservation and sustainable use of its resources has been recognised as a central component of sustainable development as it contributes to poverty alleviation, food security, sustainable livelihoods. 2 This notion was reinstated by the adoption of a stand-alone Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (SDG 14) as part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To maintain and restore ocean health, productivity and resilience, SDG 14 encompasses ten targets focused on science-based ecosystem protection and sustainable management of marine and coastal ecosystems. These aim to avoid or minimise the anthropogenic pressures highlighted above, as well as underpin fisheries subsidies reform, access rights for small-scale fisheries, enhanced scientific cooperation and monitoring, capacity building and technology transfer. This special issue 3 contributes to ongoing discussions of SDG 14 with a special focus on its relationship with other SDGs and broader international policy and legal instruments towards a more holistic and effective interpretation and implementation of this ocean-focused Goal. The emphasis in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on the role of oceans and coasts for sustainable development, including with respect to poverty reduction, food security, nutrition, well-being and traditional livelihoods, thus offers an ideal opportunity to push the boundaries of scientific, policy and legal reflection forward towards an integrated implementation of the SDGs and the achievement of the three pillars of sustainable development.

The ‘Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measure’ (OECM) concept was first introduced in 2010, by the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP) in the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity conservation 2011–2020. The concept acknowledged that a range of spatial measures other than protected areas were appropriate for reaching Aichi Target 11 spatial conservation coverage. The OECM definition was adopted in 2018 in CBD COP Decision 14/8, which calls on States to mainstream OECMs into economic sectors, to recognize the current biodiversity conservation benefits and co-benefits from their area-based management measures and enhance them as much as possible. In the marine capture fisheries sector, the identification of OECMs is a work in progress and the issues addressed in this paper are key implementation issues that States and fisheries authorities are or will be encountering regarding their governance, management, and biodiversity outcomes. The purpose of the paper is to draw attention to some key OECM implementation issues arising in marine capture fisheries and to suggest possible approaches to address them. The governance issues addressed relate to enabling frameworks, industrial fisheries, legitimate authorities, long-term commitments, cross-sectoral coordination and planning, and contribution to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the CBD. The management issues considered relate to effectiveness in achieving expected outcomes, costs and benefits of OECMs, spatial relations between OECMs and fisheries, and the role of OECMs in the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF). Regarding the significant positive biodiversity outcomes expected from OECMs, issues relate to the type of outcomes expected, their current or intended nature, the level of evidence required, and their relationship to area-based conservation standards.