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THE STRATEGIC RELEVANCE OF MARINE

SPATIAL PLANNING FOR THE BLUE ECONOMY

Alexandre Rocha Violante
Frederico Medeiros Vasconcelos de Albuquerque
Rodrigo de Campos Carvalho

I will rescue here the famous lecture by Thomas Huxley, in 1883,
in front of Real British Society, when he was tasked with understan-
ding the reason for the decline of fisheries in British waters. In those
years fishing technology was much less advanced than it is today.
However, he was convinced that there was no reason to be concer-
ned about the sustainability of this exploration. And he said: “No
matter what a man does to the sea, his riches are inexhaustible”.
This was in 1883, an expression of an authority like Huxley who, by
the way, was Charles Darwin‘s great mentor. However, this misun-
derstanding of Huxley‘s remained present for several decades. Even
today there is a certain conviction that the resources of the sea are
inexhaustible, that they are so numerous and so comprehensive that
no matter what we do with them, they will always be there.
(Jorge Pablo Castelo, Professor at the Federal University of
Rio Grande, FURG – Roundtable 3- VIII EBERI, October 2021)

1. Introduction

Using the sea to open up opportuni- the government. According to naval and
ties for the country’s future, as well as al- geopolitical strategist Mahan, in his clas-
leviating the scarcity of natural resources, sic 1890 book, The Influence of Sea Power
expanding the population’s well-being, upon History (1660-1783), when address-
improving the quality of life of workers di- ing the geopolitical aspects of his theory
rectly linked to the sea, generating jobs are for the development of maritime powers,
issues of decision-making policy makers he stated that governments should channel
that affect the present and years to come. their efforts, in times of peace, to econom-
The sea can bring enormous opportu- ic development (mainly of the naval indus-
nities for political, economic, and social try), the acquisition of “safe harbors”, such
development that cannot be neglected by as bases, commercial outposts, and the

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The Strategic Relevance of Marine Spatial