MRE 2024 Publication of Enduring Significance Awards

Marine Resource Economics (MRE) is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of the journal’s Publication of Enduring Significance Award:  Kenneth Ruddle, Edvard Hviding, and Robert E. Johannes for their 1992 article, “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” and Frank Asche for his 2008 contribution entitled “Farming the Sea.” 
 
In “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” Ruddle, Hviding, and Johannes use a case study-based analysis to show how and why customary marine sea tenure systems that rely on traditional ecological knowledge can deliver sustainable use of marine resources. Of the article’s merit, MRE editors note that it “clearly identifies the social, political, and economic principles necessary for success in these systems. The research priorities it proposes continue to anticipate and influence a growing literature on community-based fisheries management, traditional ecological knowledge, and socio-ecological systems.”

“Farming the Sea” by Frank Asche, a comparative analysis, sheds light on numerous parallels between agriculture and aquaculture. In a cross-industry comparison of production trajectories and their drivers, Asche suggests a significant potential for growth in the aquaculture industry through increasing control over the production process. The article also examines industry-specific environmental impacts, highlighting the importance of understanding the net environmental impact of aquaculture production, which can offset environmental impacts of terrestrial food production. In the words of MRE Editor-in-Chief Sunny Jardine, this “highly cited article introduces several topics for further exploration, making it an invaluable resource for contemporary aquaculture research.”

The Publication of Enduring Significance Award recognizes articles published in MRE that remain important for contemporary researchers either by significantly influencing the subsequent academic literature or by illuminating important ongoing policy issues. Two articles were selected this year; both were ahead of their time and continue to be relevant. Award winners are selected from the archive of articles published at least eight years ago in any of the journal’s sections, aside from book reviews.