From coast to coast: Public perception of ocean-derived benefits in Canada

The ocean provides many benefits, such as food provision, tourism opportunities, and coastal protection, to people around the world. To manage ocean uses in a sustainable way, managers need to limit some activities, but which benefits are most important to preserve? To answer this question, an opinion survey of 2000 Canadians was conducted, combining a best-worst scaling experiment and a Likert-scale choice instrument, to determine their perception of 10 ocean-derived benefits. Both approaches showed that 'Clean Waters' is highly important across all Canadians. The importance of other benefits such as 'Food Provision' and 'Biodiversity' varied with respondent age, political affiliation, and/or seafood-eating frequency. A majority (83%) of Canadians favoured non-extractive over extractive benefits. This case study demonstrates how survey approaches can reveal the values and preferences of the general public and provide an inclusive means to help managers align environmental policies with public priorities.