Factors behind increasing ocean use: the IPAT equation and the marine environment

This chapter provides an introduction to the main factors behind increasing ocean use, which—more often than not—tend to lead to increasing pressure on the marine environment. In this way, it aims on a very general level to account for the root causes of the different developments that have led to the need for specific management and governance intended to protect the marine environment. With reference to a few, selected examples related to fishing, which is one of the main anthropogenic stressors of the marine environment, it is illustrated how increasing ocean use—and associated pressure on the marine environment—can be seen as rooted in a combination of increasing population and human development. In doing so, the chapter departs from the IPAT equation, which is a classic way to explain changes in the environmental impacts of human activities as a product of three factors: population, affluence and technology.