The second part of this book is concerned with the social and economic aspects of marine EBM/EAF. The distinction is not sharp and it includes several of the background presentations that addressed topics other than commercial fisheries and governance institutions. Bearing in mind that marine EBM does not stop or start at the shoreline, Sweeney and Corbin address the implications of land-based activities in small islands for marine EBM (Chapter 4). They show how important terrestrial influences can be for the nearshore environment and activities within it, as well as reminding us how these influences extend offshore and are transboundary given the hydrographic conditions associated with the Caribbean Sea and its major river inflows. This topic is taken further in Chapter 5 by Gil and Wells who specifically address the impacts of land-based marine pollution on ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea and the consequent implications for EBM.

Bustamante and Vanzella-Khouri write in Chapter 6 about building capacity and networking among managers as essential elements for an effective large-scale, transboundary ecosystem-based management through effective marine protected area (MPA) networks. They remind us that marine protected areas often have multiple objectives related to both commercial use and biodiversity conservation. Some see MPAs as the ultimate conservation tool, while others are sceptical. In the chapter their focus is, however, on how the human resources to manage MPA can be enhanced through social networking to build capacity. McConney and Salas ask “Why incorporate social considerations into marine EBM?” and then proceed, in Chapter 7, to answer by dissecting the principles of the ecosystem approach to illustrate the relevance of social perspectives.

Schuhmann, Seijo and Casey (Chapter 8) tackle the economic considerations for marine EBM in the Caribbean. This is an important topic, especially in terms of resource valuation, as scientists and managers seek a common currency for communicating with policymakers and the public on marine environmental matters in ways that everyone can appreciate. The final contribution (Chapter 9) in this section is about an ecosystem approach to fisheries: linkages with sea turtles, marine mammals and seabirds by Horrocks, Ward and Haynes-Sutton. It is a fitting bridge to the next part on fisheries and applies many of the perspectives in the previous chapters to the conservation and utilisation of these animals, many of them prized as ‘charismatic megafauna’.