Challenges and Opportunities in the Integrated Economic and Oceanographic Analysis of Deoxygenation Impacts on Marine Fisheries and Ecosystems

Abstract

We argue that a multidisciplinary approach is essential to identify deoxygenation impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries, bridging across the traditionally separate fields of oceanography and economics. Oceanography reveals physical and chemical drivers of deoxygenation, and assesses potential biological impacts based on the physiological and ecological characteristics of organisms and communities. Economics identifies the consequences of human activities associated with the utilization of the changing ocean, particularly in relation to deoxygenation. Economic data, models and analysis can contribute to determining the future directions toward achieving a healthy ocean in the context of deoxygenation. However, differing perspectives on the value of the ocean may lead to conflicts between short-term economic gains and long-term sustainability. Uncertainties in fish populations and deoxygenation modeling add complexity. Despite the difficulties involved, the interdisciplinary view of economics and oceanography offers a more comprehensive understanding of the complexities of ocean deoxygenation and its impacts on both the ocean and people. In order to address the challenges posed by deoxygenation and its impacts, and to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies, it is essential to establish a strong collaboration between experts of oceanography and fisheries economics.

1. Introduction

Oxygen is essential for the survival of marine organisms, and its availability significantly influences the distribution, behavior, and composition of marine life [1,2]. Ocean deoxygenation is a complex phenomenon influenced by both physical and chemical factors, including ocean warming, nutrient supply and ocean circulation [3,4,5,6]. The ocean has experienced both chronic and acute oxygen depletion in recent decades, which has been observed and projected to cause significant impacts on the growth rate, migration, and reproduction of marine species [3]. These changes ultimately lead to alterations in marine ecosystems, thereby affecting fisheries, food security, and economies that heavily rely on marine species [7].

Understanding these sequential changes in and beyond the ocean requires an integrated view of oceanography and economics. Oceanographic studies of marine chemistry and biology provide insights into the physical, chemical, and biological processes that may contribute to oxygen variability. Economics, on the other hand, could offer methods to quantify how ocean deoxygenation impacts human activities such as fisheries. Research on ocean deoxygenation has gained attention more recently than studies on other climate stressors affecting marine ecosystems and fisheries, such as warming and acidification [5].

Early foundational studies on ocean acidification date back to the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including seminal works by Kleypas et al. [8] as well as Caldeira and Wickett [9], highlighting the potential for ocean acidification—primarily driven by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions—to negatively affect coral calcification and reef building. Similarly, research on ocean warming gained significant momentum following the landmark reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [10], with studies such as Levitus et al. [11] providing critical early assessments that documented measurable increases in ocean heat content, emphasizing implications for thermal stratification, shifts in marine species distributions, and changes in ecosystem productivity.

In contrast, comprehensive recognition of ocean deoxygenation emerged primarily during the 2010s, with growing awareness of its implications for marine ecosystems and fisheries driving a rapid increase in scientific attention over the past decade [12]. Indeed, a recent study has suggested that oxygen loss may constitute the most significant stressor among climate-dependent ocean changes due to its pervasive impacts on marine biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and fisheries productivity [13]. Such stressors particularly affect oxygen-sensitive species and ecosystems, influencing species distribution, physiological performance, and fisheries landings globally [2,14]. While integrated studies specific to deoxygenation are still emerging, valuable lessons can be drawn from the more established research on ocean warming and acidification [10]. In these mature fields, analytical frameworks have already been developed to link physiological thresholds with economic impact projections, offering a methodological template that can be readily adapted for deoxygenation studies. Despite the growing scientific understanding of deoxygenation and its consequences, studies on the effects of deoxygenation on human societies remain limited [12].

As the ocean provides invaluable resources and ecosystem services, it is imperative to integrate the distinct approaches of natural sciences—particularly marine biogeochemistry, ocean ecology, and fisheries science—with those of social sciences, including fisheries economics and resource governance, to better achieve the shared goal of a sustainable and healthy ocean [15]. Bridging these fields can advance the development of effective and equitable policy options for coastal communities and nations. This integration enables the development of concrete policy tools—such as tradable catch quotas that account for shifting stock distributions, or co-management frameworks involving local communities—to mitigate and adapt to deoxygenation while supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems.

This paper aims to identify the challenges to interdisciplinary research on the impacts of deoxygenation on marine fisheries and ecosystems. We explore potential strategies to overcome these challenges, with the goal of developing sustainable fisheries and resilient marine ecosystems.

2. Interdisciplinary Nature of the Study

Understanding the extent of deoxygenation impacts on marine life requires interdisciplinary approaches incorporating marine chemistry and physics, alongside biology and ecology, and such studies have become increasingly common in recent years [5,12,16,17,18]. It is worth noting that in this paper, we use the term ‘oceanographer’ in a broad sense to encompass not only physical and chemical oceanographers but also biological oceanographers and fisheries scientists who study the dynamics of marine ecosystems. At the same time, economic considerations in fisheries must also be considered to ensure the sustainable use of fisheries resources under deoxygenation [19]. A perspective from various disciplines is thus necessary to adequately measure the broader impacts of deoxygenation on human societies. While fisheries science has a long history of integrating biology and economics (i.e., Bioeconomics), the specific incorporation of detailed oceanographic constraints—particularly chemical stressors like deoxygenation—into these frameworks remains limited due to the complexity of integrating information and expertise between the physical and social sciences.

As a part of the economic approach to natural resources, fisheries economics plays a key role in fisheries management. This discipline explores stakeholder behavior in relation to exploitation level of fisheries resources and examines the consequences of different management strategies on future stocks [20]. Such an economic analysis requires understanding of the basic characteristics of naturally renewable resources, including the biological and ecological factors that impact the renewal of fisheries resources, such as alterations in fish populations, growth, and distributions across space and time (e.g., [21]). Consequently, robust fisheries management also demands an understanding of the human fishing pressure on different stocks, and economic factors that influence the profitability of fisheries, including supply and demand, as well as the financial structures of fishery and management options.

Fisheries economics plays a key role in management by exploring stakeholder behavior and resource exploitation. Key biological reference points, such as the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), are widely used to define sustainable catch limits. However, traditional bioeconomic models often assume environmental equilibrium and may fail to explicitly account for complex ecological interactions or environmental variability like deoxygenation [22]. Relying solely on these reference points without integrating changing oceanographic conditions can lead to the oversimplification of ecosystem dynamics and risks of overfishing. Therefore, a comprehensive management approach necessitates the integration of realistic oceanographic parameters into these economic frameworks. However, it is important to acknowledge that fisheries management cannot be effectively addressed by solely relying on economic or biological considerations separately. Rather, a comprehensive understanding of management reference points necessitates the integration of both biological and economic perspectives.

3. Different Perspectives on Value

The value of the global ocean can be understood in a variety of contexts and through different perspectives. Encompassing more than 70 percent of our planet, the world’s oceans are responsible for producing roughly half of the essential oxygen required for living organisms, and they absorb a significant portion (25–30%) of anthropogenic carbon emissions [23]. Furthermore, the oceans serve as a crucial source of protein and income, sustaining the livelihoods, economies, and cultures of billions of people around the world [24].

3.1. Economic Valuation Approaches

Economic perspectives on ocean value are closely linked to people’s behavior in relation to the utilization of ocean resources. The key to understanding the economic value of the ocean lies in the choices and trade-offs made by people based on their preferences (i.e., willingness to pay) for utilizing the ocean, for example, through fisheries, tourism, and recreation, [25,26,27]. For this reason, economic theory often emphasizes the quantification of monetary resource potential, particularly through the assessment of net present value (e.g., [28]). This approach typically involves the use of market transactions involving goods and services as monetary indicators to compare and evaluate value.

3.2. Oceanographic and Ecological Valuation Approaches

In contrast with economics, oceanography and ecology use a different lens to assess the value of the ocean, focusing on “inherent value,” which recognizes the worth that ecosystems have based on their ecological integrity and natural processes, while acknowledging that these same processes often provide essential benefits to human societies. However, unlike economic approaches that quantify value through market mechanisms and willingness to pay, ecological valuation emphasizes the fundamental ecological processes and system integrity that underpin these benefits. This perspective encompasses the ecological, physical, and chemical significance of the ocean and its ecosystems.

For example, part of the ocean’s inherent value lies in its ability to regulate the carbon cycle of the planet, by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and transferring it to the ocean interior, through the “ocean carbon pump” [29]. This pump is characterized by three main components: (1) a ‘biological pump’ associated with photosynthetic uptake of CO₂ by phytoplankton; (2) a ‘carbonate pump’ associated with the formation of the mineral calcium carbonate in the skeletons of organisms that sink to the ocean floor; (3) a ‘solubility pump’ associated with the physical dissolution of carbon dioxide into cold and dense water masses that sink to the bottom as part of the global ocean thermohaline circulation. These natural biogeochemical processes operate independently as fundamental ecological functions, while simultaneously providing critical climate regulation services that are essential for human well-being. To illustrate the methodological difference, while economists might assess this carbon sequestration function through carbon credit markets and pricing mechanisms, ecological valuation emphasizes the integrity and complexity of the biogeochemical cycles themselves, regardless of their market value.

In addition to the ocean’s role in regulating atmospheric CO₂ levels, the maintenance of marine food webs and biodiversity carries inherent ecological significance as complex, interconnected natural systems, and also contributes essential benefits to human societies, such as food security, ecosystem resilience, and cultural values [23,30].

3.3. Challenges in Reconciling Value Perspectives

Contrasting perspectives of ocean value can lead to different priorities and valuations of potential deoxygenation impacts on marine ecosystems. From an economic perspective, the focus is often on maximizing net benefits under different constraints, such as fish stock status, management options, international treatments and related policies. Seen through this lens, the impact of deoxygenation on fisheries can result in winners and losers, particularly in the case of shared transboundary fish stocks involving multiple countries [31]. Ocean deoxygenation can lead to spatial shifts in the distribution of marine species, resulting in habitat loss for some and the emergence of new suitable habitats for others [2,3]. These changes in habitat suitability can significantly alter the distribution of transboundary fish stocks, potentially destabilizing cooperative international fisheries arrangements, as the bargaining positions of individual countries are influenced by their relative gains or losses in access to shared resources.

In contrast, while disciplines such as oceanography are primarily focused on describing and understanding physical and ecological processes rather than prescribing conservation priorities [32], researchers within these fields may still highlight the inherent ecological value of marine systems and the transboundary impacts of anthropogenic climate change on these ecosystems. The difference in disciplinary perspectives—such as between economics and oceanography—can result in differing valuations of ecosystem changes in the ocean [33,34,35]. For instance, when examining ocean warming and associated changes, economists typically focus on quantifiable market impacts such as changes in fishery yields, shifts in tourism revenue, or costs of climate adaptation measures. In contrast, oceanographers emphasize understanding the complex biogeochemical processes and ecological interactions that may be affected.

Consider the case of ocean stratification and its potential effects on marine systems. Increased stratification, driven by surface warming, inhibits the exchange of oxygen-rich surface waters with deeper layers, intensifying subsurface oxygen loss while simultaneously altering nutrient transport and primary productivity [36]. These physical changes create complex biogeochemical feedbacks—such as alterations in the biological carbon pump and carbon sequestration efficiency—that are difficult to capture in traditional economic models. While oceanographers prioritize understanding these mechanistic processes to assess ecosystem integrity, economists may overlook these foundational feedbacks if they focus solely on short-term market valuations. This disconnect highlights the need for valuation frameworks that account for the non-market services regulated by these complex physical processes. While economists seek to monetize these changes through market valuations, oceanographic inquiries typically emphasize understanding mechanistic processes and system-level consequences, often distinct from their immediate economic implications. This fundamental difference in analytical frameworks can lead to divergent assessments of the same environmental changes, with economists emphasizing measurable economic impacts and oceanographers focusing on ecosystem integrity and long-term ecological stability.

However, while such biogeochemical feedbacks are increasingly well understood in oceanographic research, they are often difficult to capture in economic assessments. When marine organisms are harvested or otherwise used by humans, their economic value can often be quantified based on factors such as changes in their potential abundance and geographic distribution. In contrast, ecosystem functions that do not directly reflect human preferences—such as carbon regulation (i.e., the ocean’s role in capturing and storing atmospheric CO₂ through biological and physical processes)—are more difficult to value economically. This presents a key challenge in marine ecosystem valuation: certain ecological changes, particularly those involving non-market ecosystem services, are not easily monetized. For instance, the economic consequences of ocean deoxygenation are typically assessed through potential changes in the distribution of commercial fisheries [21]. However, it is difficult to estimate the economic impact on oxygen-sensitive species that are not targeted by commercial or recreational fisheries. As a result, there is a risk of underestimating the broader economic consequences of deoxygenation.

To address this, it is essential to expand economic analyses to encompass a wider range of ecosystem-level changes, including those affecting non-market values. In particular, ecosystem services such as biodiversity maintenance, ecosystem resilience, and carbon regulation represent critical components of ecosystem value. These functions, while difficult to monetize, are foundational to long-term sustainability and human well-being [37,38]. Another challenge is that economic analysis often focuses on short-term gains (years to decades; [39]), while oceanographic studies tend to have a longer time horizon, projecting out to century-scale impacts in some cases [40]. This difference in timescales can lead to under- or overvaluation of the changes that occur in marine ecosystems [41]. For example, fisheries data are typically reported on an annual or monthly basis, and the economic analysis of these data is conducted using similar time-steps. On the other hand, some model-derived oxygen simulations are projected over significantly longer time intervals due to the relatively low signal of ocean deoxygenation [40]. As an illustration, the Northeastern Pacific Canadian Ocean Ecosystem Model provides mean dissolved oxygen hindcast data for the period 1986–2005, as well as future projections for the period 2046–2065. These longer time intervals may obscure shorter-term variability that is apparent in high-frequency fisheries data [41]. Accounting for this short-term variability is critical in economic valuation, as stakeholders—such as fishers, processors, local communities, and policymakers—respond directly to interannual or even seasonal fluctuations in catch and revenue. Valuation models that rely solely on either long- or short-term averages may fail to capture these fluctuations, potentially misrepresenting the true socio-economic implications of ecosystem change [42].

In climate science, a critical juncture is commonly referred to as a “tipping point,” beyond which significant—and sometimes irreversible—changes occur in both the climate system and human societies [43]. Similarly, deoxygenation can drive abrupt ecological shifts once critical thresholds in oxygen concentration are crossed. For example, many marine species exhibit reduced feeding, impaired growth, altered distribution, and even reproductive failure below species-specific oxygen minima [44,45]. In fisheries economics, measurable impacts of ecological responses may only become evident after biological thresholds are exceeded. For instance, Huang et al. [46] found that in the North Carolina brown shrimp fishery, hypoxia led to a significant 12.9% annual decrease in catch, indicating that economic consequences become apparent primarily after critical oxygen thresholds are crossed. Likewise, although catch and revenue might appear stable near threshold conditions—assuming other variables remain constant—crossing a hypoxia threshold can result in sudden declines in fish availability or shifts in stock distribution, thereby reducing profitability and increasing fishing costs [47]. This non-linear relationship between dissolved oxygen levels and economic outcomes underscores the importance of incorporating species-specific oxygen thresholds when evaluating the potential socioeconomic impacts of ocean deoxygenation. However, it is important to acknowledge that there is ongoing debate regarding the definition of hypoxic thresholds. While some researchers use absolute oxygen concentrations (e.g., mg/L), others argue that partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂), which varies with temperature and depth, provides a more biologically meaningful metric—especially when assessing metabolic constraints in marine species [45,48].

4. Uncertainty

Beyond the discipline-specific approaches to valuation, the integration of models and data in fisheries economics and oceanography must account for a high level of uncertainty and variability in both fields. Importantly, the nature of this variability differs significantly across the two disciplines. Fisheries economics relies heavily on fish population dynamics to build bioeconomic models. The input data for these models are inherently uncertain and variable, due to factors such as random variations in fish stock sizes that result from environmental changes and cannot be predicted in specific patterns [49]. Similarly, studies on ocean deoxygenation encounter significant uncertainty due to the variability in oxygen projections across different ocean models, which reflects an imperfect ability to simulate relevant physical, chemical and biogeochemical processes [50]. In assessing potential long-term impacts of ocean deoxygenation on marine fisheries, it is essential to account for these uncertainties in long-term oxygen projections. It is also crucial to consider variability resulting from different fishery scenarios or assumptions, such as changes in fishing intensity and shifting management reference points, such as the MSY and MEY. Additionally, economic analysis requires the conversion of future economic value into present-day values, through a process of “discounting”. The derived future economic impacts can vary significantly depending on the discounting rates applied, which in turn can lead to completely different directions in fisheries management (see details in [28]).

While the disciplines of economics and oceanography have largely evolved in parallel, their integration remains limited. This lack of integration contributes to increased uncertainty, posing a challenge for the development of accurate models to support informed fisheries management decisions. At the same time, it offers a valuable opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, as researchers work to create new approaches for addressing uncertainty and complexity across both fields.

5. Bridging Natural and Social Sciences

In addition to the different types of data and information used by economists and oceanographers, differing academic ‘world-views’ between these disciplines can lead to misunderstandings and communication challenges between the two fields. Perhaps the biggest challenge in integrating fisheries economics and oceanography is the need to incorporate human and social dimensions into oceanographic models. Regional ocean models, which primarily aim to simulate physical and biogeochemical processes in specific areas, could be extended to consider human-induced pressures such as coastal development and nutrient runoff. While the direct feedback from socio-economic factors to deoxygenation remains less well understood, integrating human dimensions into these models offers opportunities to better capture the coupled nature of social and ecological dynamics. This bilateral relationship is particularly complex, since data on human and social factors are often collected at different scales and from different perspectives than data on physical and biological factors. As a result, it can be difficult to integrate these different data types into a single model to capture the interactions between marine ecosystems and human use of ocean resources. Given that most commercial fisheries are localized to specific coastal areas, it is important to consider the regional scale of changes in fisheries exposure to deoxygenation, rather than relying on global-scale projections, such as those derived from earth system models. Smaller scale ocean models that accurately reflect the unique characteristics of a particular region and typically provide higher resolution of simulated oxygen levels can be effectively matched with regional fisheries data (e.g., [21]). Coupling regional ocean models with fisheries requires effective communication and collaboration between fisheries experts and oceanographers for understanding the existing uncertainty and the integration of different data sets into a combined ocean model.

6. Challenges in Communication and Data Integration

Based on the authors’ experience, effective communication and collaboration between oceanographers and fisheries economists requires patience and sustained effort. It is crucial for fisheries experts to gain a deeper understanding of oceanographic data and processes, including knowledge of the distribution of dissolved oxygen in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, as well as uncertainties of regional ocean models and their evaluation against observation such as Argo floats [51]. At the same time, collaborative efforts between disciplines require that participating oceanographers develop a basic background in the biological and ecological characteristics of marine species (e.g., the lifecycle and habitat preference of fish), as well as an understanding of fishery characteristics, such as the distribution of different management areas, and the deployment of vessel fleets and catch gear (i.e., nets vs. trawls). Such an integration of knowledge was essential in a recent analysis of regional impacts of ocean deoxygenation of Pacific Halibut in the coastal NE Pacific [21].

A final challenge is the relative scarcity of fisheries data. Such data can be derived from two distinct sources: fishery-dependent data, which are obtained directly from fishing activities, and fishery-independent data, which are gathered through surveys and sampling conducted separately from fishing activities. The former type of data provides valuable information on the temporal aspects of fish presence, while the latter data type offers insights into the spatial distribution of fish [52]. As each type has complementary strengths, they can be combined to obtain a comprehensive understanding of fish population dynamics. However, in many cases, the collection of fisheries data is limited not only by funding constraints—due to the high initial investment and maintenance costs of ocean monitoring systems and the need for coordinated electronic data archives [53]—but also by concerns over data privacy and confidentiality. For example, detailed vessel-level data on fishing locations and catch quantities are often considered commercially sensitive and may be withheld or anonymized to protect fishers’ competitive interests [54].

At present, there is a lack of fishery-independent survey data, and information on only a few fish species can be matched with oxygen data. In addition, fishery-dependent data are mainly collected using manual paper-based systems, which can lead to under-reporting or missing data. As fishing effort is a critical factor in fish production, the use of fishery-independent surveys can provide a standardized unit of effort. However, it may be challenging to generalize fishing effort across data sets due to the use of various fishing efforts despite targeting the same fish species, such as different capacity (e.g., commercial or artisan) or gear types (e.g., longliners or trawls but note that even the same gear may have different units of effort by region or country) [55]. At present, there exists a wide range of approaches to characterize fishing effort. Going forward, it is imperative for these techniques to undergo verification and evaluation by other generalization methods across various scenarios pertaining to fish stock status [56]. These data limitations can make it difficult to accurately assess the impact of oxygen levels on fish populations and the overall health of marine ecosystems.

7. A Roadmap for Interdisciplinary Integration

To move beyond theoretical discussions and foster practical collaboration between oceanographers and economists (and by extension, other social scientists such as sociologists and anthropologists), we propose the following strategic roadmap:

• Harmonization of Terminology: Researchers must first establish a common language. For instance, defining ‘hypoxia’ not just by chemical concentrations (e.g., mg/L) but by physiological thresholds relevant to specific commercial species (e.g., metabolic scope) can align biological data with economic impact assessments.
• Alignment of Spatiotemporal Scales: A key step is developing methodological protocols to downscale global climate projections to the regional scales where fisheries operate. Conversely, fisheries data often collected annually must be resolved to match the seasonal or monthly variability captured in oceanographic models to detect acute deoxygenation events.
• Co-design of Research Frameworks: Collaboration should begin at the project design phase, not at the analysis stage. Economists should identify key variables driving fishery profitability (e.g., fuel costs related to shifting fishing grounds) so oceanographers can tailor their models to output relevant environmental predictors.
• Data Sharing Protocols: Establishing secure platforms for sharing sensitive fishery-dependent data (e.g., vessel locations) while protecting confidentiality is essential. Anonymized, aggregated data layers can be integrated with oceanographic grids to allow joint analysis without compromising commercial secrets.

8. Conclusions and Future Perspectives

This paper examined the challenges and opportunities in integrating oceanographic and economic analyses to better understand the impacts of ocean deoxygenation on marine fisheries and ecosystems. Ocean deoxygenation, while increasingly recognized as a key climate stressor, still poses complex, interdisciplinary challenges that hinder the development of effective policy responses. We found that the differing disciplinary worldviews, valuation methods, spatial and temporal scales, and treatment of uncertainty between oceanography and economics make integration difficult. Nevertheless, these challenges also present significant opportunities for innovation in interdisciplinary research and management.

From a disciplinary standpoint, oceanographers tend to emphasize biogeochemical feedback, long-term ecological consequences and inherent ecosystem values, while economists often focus on market-based impacts, short-term fluctuations, and stakeholder behavior. These differences can lead to divergent assessments of deoxygenation impacts, particularly for non-commercial species and ecosystem services, such as biodiversity and carbon cycling. Furthermore, mismatches in spatial and temporal resolution between biophysical and economic models can obscure short-term socio-economic signals critical for management. The paper also identified uncertainty in oxygen projections, communication barriers between disciplines, and data scarcity as key constraints that require cross-disciplinary attention. Despite these difficulties, this paper highlights that integrated modeling—if designed with sensitivity to disciplinary constraints and communication barriers—can help advance both ecological resilience and economic sustainability. Case studies such as the Pacific halibut analysis demonstrate that collaborative research can yield actionable insights when regional ocean models are effectively coupled with fishery datasets. Achieving this integration requires not only technical compatibility but also mutual understanding and respect across disciplines.

To foster such collaboration, initiatives like the OceanCanada Partnership and the Food-Climate-Biodiversity (FCB) Partnership provide valuable frameworks for co-design, inclusive governance, and the integration of indigenous and local knowledge systems. These models of engagement show that meaningful interdisciplinary work extends beyond academia and must include stakeholders such as fishers, managers, and communities in both the design and implementation of research.

However, addressing the specific challenges identified in this paper requires more than institutional frameworks—it demands targeted methodological innovations. Future work should consider the development of bioeconomic models that incorporate biogeochemical feedback loops, enabling economic assessments to capture the complex interactions between ocean chemistry, ecosystem function, and fishery productivity. Additionally, multi-temporal modeling frameworks that integrate seasonal fishery data with decadal ocean projections are essential to bridging the temporal scale mismatches between disciplines. Furthermore, expanding economic valuation beyond market-based metrics requires innovative approaches such as applying social cost of carbon estimates to ocean carbon sequestration functions and developing replacement cost methodologies for ecosystem services that are difficult to monetize. Addressing communication barriers and data limitations necessitates improved data-sharing protocols, standardized fishery-independent survey methods, and collaborative modeling platforms that facilitate knowledge exchange between oceanographers and fisheries economists. These methodological advances will enable the development of management strategies that are both scientifically rigorous and responsive to economic and social realities.

In summary, while the integration of economic and oceanographic approaches to ocean deoxygenation remains methodologically and institutionally challenging, it is essential for producing the kind of holistic understanding needed to support resilient and equitable fisheries management. Future work must prioritize the co-development of models, data-sharing mechanisms, and valuation frameworks that bridge disciplinary divides. Through such interdisciplinary collaboration, it may be possible to develop management strategies that are both scientifically sound and responsive to economic and social considerations.