The State of Marine Social Science: Yesterday, Today, and into the Future

Abstract

Rapidly changing ocean conditions are resulting in changes in marine species and across entire ecosystems that, in turn, affect communities and individuals who rely on these resources for their livelihoods, culture, and sustenance. Marine social science, an emerging field that embraces diverse methods to understand human–ocean relationships, is increasingly called on to contribute to transdisciplinary ocean science that can inform the evidence-based policy and management needed to address these changes. Here, we review the state of marine social science as a growing field of study. First, we outline the history of marine social science, including the emergence of the field and the social science disciplines and community it encompasses. We then discuss current marine social science research themes as a framework to understand key ocean issues, which is followed by a commentary on the future of marine social science research.