Marine permaculture: Design principles for productive seascapes

Summary Expanding production in the ocean is expected to help address many challenges of the 21st century, from climate change to food insecurity. However, already declining ocean health and the legacy of socio-ecological harms from conventional agricultural practices on land suggest that a non-conventional approach to marine cultivation will be required. We explore marine permaculture as a possible system-design framework for future ocean stewardship that could lead to enhanced production alongside positive ecological and social outcomes. On land, permaculture has taken root as a framework for designing socio-ecological systems that seek to be productive, resilient, and equitable in the long term. Here, we imagine how permaculture's design principles and ethics might manifest in the ocean and describe how it dovetails with recent scientific advances in ocean technologies and governance. Further developing and implementing marine permaculture could enable the realization of productive seascapes that avoid undermining progress toward sustainable development.