Coastal Societies Ecology Second International Seminar 17-19 June 2019

The Politics and Pitfalls of Maritime Governance challenges were highlighted by an international network (funded by the ESRC) that looked into issues now facing local coastal communities.

Second international seminar was held at the University of Aberdeen, by the UK-Japan Network on the Political Ecology of Coastal Societies to investigate local protests against changes to coastal landscapes, and the regulations impacting those who make a living from the coast. 

The various topics discussed ranged from the barriers or enablers of coastal life to theoretical perspectives on political ecology and the new blue-green economy in sea algae harvesting, to coastal conservation, amongst others. 

Professor Hiroki Takakura and Professor David Anderson (Principal Investigators) formally welcomed all to the reception in the Sir Duncan Rice Library, at the University of Aberdeen.  Followed by a conference dinner at a nearby hotel - MacDonald Pittodrie House. 

Numerous short presentations were made with panel and rountable discussions as detailed below, around ongoing research, for example ‘The Foreshore - Tenure Rights between Land and Sea’.  There was also a visit to the city centre to see the Aberdeen Harbour area with a trip to Newburgh beach and the mouth of the River Ythan: 

• Political Ecology of Coastal Societies – Professor David G. Anderson (Aberdeen)
• Disaster Studies from the Perspective of Political Ecology – Professor Hioki Takakura (Tohoku)
• The local perception of coast on/off disaster among Iso fishermen in Miyagi – Professor Hiroki Takakura (Tohoku)
• Communal Wellbeing among Competitive Fishermen – Professor Taku IIDA (Minpaku)
• Who owns the sea? Investigating enclosure and privatisation in Scotland’s seas – Stephanie Weir (Herriot Watt)
• Beach-Combing and the Entangled Relationship with the Sea – Rebecca Ford (UHI Orkney)
• Coastal walking and path-making – Dr Jo Vergunst (Aberdeen)
• Golf courses and conflict in a social-ecological seascape in Scotland – Dr Tavis Potts (Aberdeen)
• How does cultural context influence reactions to marine development?: A case study looking at community responses to marine energy development – Dr Sandy Kerr (Herriot Watt)
• Resumption of Coastal Whaling in Japan – Professor Jun Adamine (Hitotsubashi)
• Lives and lifeways in a new “seawall era” – Professor Alyne Delaney (Tohoku)
• The logic of fishing village over the height of the seawall – Nao Sakaguchi (Tohoku)
• “It is what binds people together”.  Maintaining the dyke in North Ronaldsay, UK – Laura Goyhenex (UVSQ Versailles)
• Working with nature: the social and cultural values of saltmarshes – Emma McKinley (Cardiff)
• What Matters for Natural Kelp Collectors and Kelp Aquafarmers? Physical and Social Factors Taken in Account – Professor Taku IIDA (Minpaku)
• From ‘Black diamonds’ to ‘back paper:’ Nori seaweed cultivation in northeastern Japan – Professor Alyne Delaney (Tohoku)
• Traditional and Contemporary Uses of Sea Weed Resources in Rural Japanese Communities – Professor Shiaki KONDO (Hokkaido)
• Seeing through the weeds of Ireland’s kelp harvesting: how practices and politics threaten a traditional tenure system – Dr Liam Carr (Galway)
• Seaweed, industrial salts, and iodine: Booms and busts in Scottish seaweed industries and the implications of harvesting rights – Dr Rob Wishart (Aberdeen)
• The SIFT campaign to ban the mechanical dredging of kelp in Scotland – Dr Alex Watson Crook (SIFT)
• A Right to Survive with Dynamite fishing?: a coastal community’s history severely affected by WWII – Professor Kyoko Ueda (SophiU Tokyo)
• Research Proposal for Comparative Studies of Brent Goose Conservation Issues in Northern Communities – Professor Shiaki KONDO (Hokkaido)
• Geese across boundaries in the UK and beyond – Dr Andrew Whitehouse (Aberdeen)
• Implementation of a precautionary approach for the harvest of the commercial seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum in North Uist, Scotland – Malcolm Gibson & Raul Ugarte (Uist Asco)

Thanks go to three student ambassadors, Sarah, Anastasia and Laura who all made sure that this academic seminar ran smoothly and were around to help delegates.