Transforming marine conservation, one chapter at a time

"People who grow up on islands think differently than people who grow up on continents." 

So begins a parable featured in Navigating Our Way to Solutions in Marine Conservation, a new book edited by Larry Crowder, a professor of oceans at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

The parable describes how island peoples have learned over millennia to sustain limited resources by considering local land and waters as one system. Cultivated over generations, islanders’ holistic approach to stewarding the natural world – from mountain summits to the sea and the human communities therein – imparts many lessons for modern marine conservation.

“Historically, the field has been dominated by scholars who have led from a science-driven, disciplinary perspective,” said Crowder, whose first book on marine conservation was published 20 years ago. “We’ve learned that insights from rigorous scientific research are necessary, but not sufficient, for solving marine conservation challenges in the real world.”

Published in Feb. 2025, the book showcases a wide range of approaches and expertise in modern ocean scholarship, with chapters written by nearly 50 co-authors from around the globe. Chapters discuss how to bridge the natural and social sciences, ways in which Western and Indigenous knowledge systems can complement one another, and stories of how academic insights can inform and support community governance. 

“The book celebrates the variety of voices and disciplines that can take us forward,” said Crowder, the Edward Ricketts Provostial Professor. Below, several co-authors share their thoughts on the future of marine conservation. Their chapters and the entire book can be read online for free through Open Book Publishers. 

Xavier Basurto is a professor of environmental social sciences at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability where he studies self-organization, particularly how small-scale fishers and other communities prioritize the future and environmental preservation ahead of short-term personal gain.

Collin Closek is a marine scientist at the Center for Ocean Solutions in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Closek applies and optimizes molecular and computational tools to answer questions about marine ecology.

Andrea Reid is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia where she leads the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries. She is a citizen of the Nisg̱a’a Nation and a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Fisheries Science.

What changes have you observed in the field of marine conservation over the past two decades?

Basurto: The big change that I’ve seen is the acceptance that social sciences offer an understanding of human behavior that conservation measures or actions need to succeed. Prior to this realization, going into marine conservation meant becoming a biologist with sophisticated training on how to read nature but not how to read people. Biologists could measure the temperature of a metaphorical fire by looking at environmental change, but they couldn’t do a lot to stop the fire, which is human behavior.

Reid: Already in my early career in marine and freshwater conservation, I can see that the disciplines and their practitioners are beginning to shift in important ways in terms of seeing people as innate and essential parts of ecosystems. The reality that people shape systems – that they have for millennia– and that systems in turn shape people is becoming ever clearer.

The book highlights how scientific insights are necessary but not sufficient to advance marine conservation. How has this been demonstrated in your own experience?

Closek: Science cannot stand alone. Science requires the incorporation of local and historical knowledge that can only be accumulated over generations to influence current knowledge and practice. In our chapter, we highlight how advances in environmental DNA methods have enabled researchers to observe marine species off the island nation of Palau at a much larger spatial scale than before, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Combine that with historical knowledge about trends in species populations, and you get much more robust insights about change over time. These data can support policymakers or practitioners who are faced with conservation decisions like when and for how long to close an area to fishing.

 Related: Oceans in a new light

Reid:  I’m regularly reminded by Elders that I work with across Indigenous community contexts in Canada that what is all this learning for if it doesn’t transpire into action on the land and water? With knowledge comes responsibility, and that’s a responsibility to further share and build knowledge on the one hand, as well as an obligation to act on that improved understanding on the other. Simply knowing more isn’t enough; it’s about doing.

How can natural and social scientists or academics and practitioners work together to advance marine conservation?

Basurto: The key to success is working on a tangible project together. Scientists and practitioners have different incentives so working on a shared project quickly forces you to find common ground. One example from my work involved the local NGOs Niparajá and COBI, and the National Confederation of Fishing Cooperatives in Mexico, which represents 11,000 fishers across the country. Together we co-designed and implemented the first national assessment of fishing cooperatives to understand why some performed better than others. The project succeeded in part due to my ability to respond to the timing of the political environment, which operates at a much faster pace than academics typically work. Otherwise, you miss the opportunity to provide data that can inform government decisions. 

 Related: Big impacts from small-scale fisheries

Closek: It’s important to build trust between scientists and practitioners to develop confidence and value in modern tools like environmental DNA assessments, as DNA can’t be observed with the naked eye. That trust starts with a collective agreement that a certain approach to a research question is worthwhile. Ultimately, the coastal communities are often the biggest catalysts of change, and sustained placed-based applications require working together.

What brings you hope for the future of marine conservation?

Basurto: What brings me hope is that we have a better understanding of human behavior and the environment than ever before which is important for marine conservation to succeed. More often it is recognized that knowledge is not generated by academics only but also by practitioners or fishers themselves. This is an important step because solutions need to be co-produced by people who are experiencing the problem firsthand with the support of governments and academics. Twenty years ago, solutions were often helicoptered in. Now we know that approach doesn’t create long-term solutions.

Closek: What I find most exciting is the pace of technological advancement. Tools are becoming more cost-effective, approachable, and readily deployable in remote places. This means that local communities can more easily measure and observe what's happening within their coastal and ocean environments. That was less possible 20 years ago and required expensive tools that only the wealthiest organizations and countries could afford. Technology has the potential to expand our understanding of the global ocean and empower communities with more granular insights into local environmental change.

Reid: I think it’s the joy that we feel when working together on the water. There’s a certain kind of magic that happens in community-centered research – in bringing people, young and old and in between, together in this work – it feels like so much more is possible than when facing our uncertain future alone.

Crowder is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, a member of Stanford Bio-X, and a professor, by courtesy, of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Other Stanford co-authors include Nicole Ardoin, an associate professor of environmental social sciences in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Dana Briscoe, a lead data scientist in the Doerr School of Sustainability; Elena Gissi, a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow in the Oceans Department who is also affiliated with the National Research Council at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Venice, Italy, and the National Biodiversity Future Center in Palermo, Italy; Elliott Hazen, an adjunct professor of oceans who is also affiliated with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center; and Ryan O’Connor, a PhD candidate in the Oceans and Environmental Social Sciences departments, and in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). Co-author Cassandra Brooks, E-IPER PhD ’17, is now affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder and co-author Bianca Santos, E-IPER PhD ’24, is now affiliated with The Nature Conservancy.