AUTHOR=Knott Christine , Fusco Leah M. , Daly Jack , Andrews Evan , Singh Gerald Gurinder 

TITLE=Equity zombies in Canada’s blue economy: a critical feminist analysis for equitable policy implementation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1277581

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2024.1277581

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=Ocean equity is a key aim of blue economy frameworks globally and is a pillar of the international High Level Panel for A Sustainable Ocean Economy. However, the Panel offers only a general definition of ocean equity, with limited guidance for countries. Canada, as a party to the High Level Panel Blue Economy agenda, is developing its own Blue Economy Strategy, seeking to reshape its ocean-based industries and advocate for new industries. How equity will be incorporated across scales is not yet known but has implications for how countries like Canada will develop their ocean-based industries. This raises the questions, what are Canada’s equity commitments in relation to its Blue Economy? How will they be met? Currently, the industries identified in Canada’s emerging Blue Economy narratives are governed through both federal and provincial legislation and policies. These will shape how equity is implemented at different scales. In this paper, we examine how the term equity is defined in relevant federal and provincial legislation, and look to critical feminist, environmental justice, and climate justice scholarships’ robust understandings of equity to inform policy and its implementation within Canada’s Blue Economy. We investigate two industries that are important for Canada’s Blue Economy: offshore oil and gas, and marine salmon aquaculture in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We investigate how existing legislation and policy shapes the characterization, incorporation, and implementation of equity in these industries. Our analysis highlights how a cohesive approach to ocean equity across the scales of legislation and policy is needed to ensure more robust engagement with social and environmental equity issues in Blue Economy discourse and implementation.