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14th July 2025
6 minutes read
Blog by Stefania Asta Karlsdottir, Hollie Booth, Tim Davies and E.J. Milner-Gulland, based on a paper by Stefania Asta Karlsdottir, Hollie Booth, Tim Davies, E.J. Milner-Gulland and Joe Bull.
From ‘sustainable fishing’ to ‘Nature Positive’ contributions: Charting a new course for fisheries
If we are serious about reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 and realising a world where people live in harmony with nature by 2050, fisheries cannot be left behind. As one of the largest sources of pressure on marine systems and biodiversity globally, fishing businesses need to go above and beyond aiming for sustainable use to actively contribute to the recovery of our oceans. But what does that look like in practice?
Our study, a collaboration between the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science and the Marine Stewardship Council, offers a practical first step. We propose a framework for how fisheries’ direct operations could contribute to the global Nature Positive goal. To test its feasibility, we applied the framework to real-world case studies using an example biodiversity metric and gathered input from experts. This allowed us to explore what Nature Positive contributions for fisheries could look like in practice, how they could be quantified, and where key challenges remain.
What does ‘Nature Positive’ mean for fisheries?
Nature Positive is gaining traction as a global societal goal across public and private sectors, and expectations around corporate accountability for nature are growing. At its core, Nature Positive envisions more nature in the future than we have today – one in which people and nature are living in harmony.
While this vision is increasingly embraced by actors across a range of sectors, the fishing and seafood sector remains far behind in terms of nature-related commitments. Although fisheries management strategies typically strive for sustainable use of resources, in practice this is rarely achieved. Moreover, Nature Positive calls for going above and beyond sustainable use to both mitigating ongoing impacts and taking proactive positive steps for the ocean, including restoring degraded ecosystems. Given that fisheries are both a key sector in the global economy and a major driver of marine biodiversity loss, defining clear pathways for their contribution to Nature Positive should be a high priority.
Several initiatives are already shaping what Nature Positive means in the marine context, including WWF’s Nature Positive Oceans Pathways report, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)’s guidance for fisheries, and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN)’s Science-Based Targets for the ocean. These initiatives are laying the groundwork for a Nature Positive transition in the marine realm, and our study contributes to these efforts by offering a practical framework specifically tailored to the direct impacts of fisheries operations, helping to bridge the gap between ambition and implementation.
A practical framework to help fisheries start contributing to Nature Positive
Our study introduces a conceptual framework grounded in the mitigation hierarchy – a well-established approach that prioritises avoiding impacts, then minimising, remediating, and finally compensating for residual negative impacts on nature. While common in terrestrial systems, this approach had not yet been applied to the direct impacts of fisheries operations on ocean ecosystems and target species.
Using data from the Marine Stewardship Council – an internationally recognised voluntary certification programme for sustainable fishing – we trialled the framework across three diverse MSC-certified fisheries. As part of this, we adapted a biodiversity metric to the context of fisheries. We used the biodiversity net gain metric (BNG) from the UK’s terrestrial planning system as it is one of the few net gain metrics that is simple, tested, and practical for companies to use. By applying the metric to fisheries’ direct operations, we provide an example for how their Nature Positive contributions could be quantified in practice. Finally, we interviewed experts to gain insight into how industry stakeholders perceive the Nature Positive concept to inform future avenues.
The results are promising but also highlight important complexities. Our findings suggest that the proposed framework could be applied to real-world fisheries operations to help guide action and begin quantifying their contributions towards a Nature Positive goal. However, they also highlighted that pathways towards Nature Positive contributions will differ considerably between fisheries, with critical knowledge gaps hampering the potential for net positive outcomes in all fisheries. For some fisheries the path to Nature Positive could be via practical actions like restoration of nearby areas, while for others it is difficult to see how like-for-like compensation could work.
Interview responses suggested that many stakeholders are relatively positive about the idea of a Nature Positive approach to fisheries management, acknowledging its potential benefits while also identifying key challenges. Some felt the concept may be too aspirational given the current state of many fisheries, and noted that the industry already feels under pressure – making it likely to resist new initiatives that could further affect operations. However, stakeholders also offered constructive suggestions for how to gain wider support for the concept. These included using a clear, positive framing that highlights potential benefits to fisheries, and presenting the goal as a step-by-step journey that recognises progress and milestones along the way.
The proposed conceptual framework for actions towards Nature Positive fisheries operations
A first step towards Nature Positive fisheries operations
Our study offers a first, practical step in defining how fisheries can actively contribute to a Nature Positive future. By adapting tools from land-based systems and applying them to fisheries operations, we offer a new way of thinking about the role of fisheries in global biodiversity recovery. To meet the world’s global goals for nature, fisheries must be made part of the solution, not just less of an issue.
Next steps
With further refinement and testing, this framework could be developed into a practical tool to support fisheries in demonstrating their contributions to the Nature Positive goal. One potential avenue could be its adoption as an optional add-on within the Marine Stewardship Council’s certification system, offering a voluntary pathway for fisheries seeking to go beyond sustainability. Real-world case studies, expanded stakeholder engagement, and more data will be key to refining the approach and ensuring it is both scientifically robust and operationally feasible. Ultimately, this could help enable fisheries to contribute meaningfully to global biodiversity targets and help build momentum toward broader, system-level transformation.
For more detail, here’s the preprint of our paper: https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/9060/
Author
Author
I completed my DPhil in the Biology Department in 2021 on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Shark and Ray Conservation, with a focus on small-scale fisheries in Indonesia. Since then I have been working with local researchers, NGOs and decision-makers in Indonesia to put my findings into practice, by designing and testing incentive-based approaches for marine biodiversity and human wellbeing outcomes with support from the Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) and the UK Darwin Initiative. This includes running the world's first Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of an incentive-based marine conservation program for Critically Endangered sharks and rays. In parallel, I have been working on mechanisms for improved accountability for nature-related impacts and dependencies in the private sector, through approaches to operationalise ambitious and evidence-based Nature Positive commitments which mitigate the negative environmental impacts of corporate value chains and channel funding towards measurable, additional and socially-just biodiversity outcomes. I am generally interested in conducting applied interdisciplinary research to make conservation more effective and socially just.
Aside from my research work at Oxford, I have also worked in the non-profit and private sector, with roles spanning community-based tourism and protected area management in East Africa; shark and ray fisheries and trade in SE Asia; and global environmental policy and corporate biodiversity strategies.
I grew up in Birmingham, and was the first person from my family to go to university after attending a poorly-performing state school. As such, I am passionate about promoting participation of women, minority groups, and people from low-income backgrounds in academia and conservation.
Author
E.J. Milner-Gulland is Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford. Previously she was Professor of Conservation Science at Imperial College London, and she has also held lectureships in Resource Economics and Mathematical Ecology. Her PhD, at Imperial College London, was on the wildlife trade, with a focus on ivory, rhino horn and saiga antelopes. Her research group, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, undertakes a wide range of research, outreach and engagement projects, on five continents and in both marine and terrestrial settings. These include developing and applying methods for understanding, predicting, and influencing human behaviour in the context of local resource use in developing countries, and working with businesses to improve their environmental and social sustainability. Her team also works on controlling the illegal trade in wildlife and on designing, monitoring and evaluating conservation interventions in order to improve their effectiveness. She aims to ensure that all the research in her group is addressing issues identified by practitioners, and is carried out collaboratively with end-users, and builds the capacity of young conservationists, particularly in developing countries. She is the founder and chair of the Saiga Conservation Alliance and has launched a number of initiatives which aim to change the real-world conversation around conservation, including the Conservation Hierarchy approach to meeting a global vision of restoring nature and the Conservation Optimism movement. She is the Chair of the UK Government's Darwin Expert Committee and a Trustee of WWF-UK
Finally, I am passionate about the conservation ecology of the saiga antelope in Central Asia, and co-founded the Saiga Conservation Alliance in 2006.