Ecomarkets for conservation and sustainable development in the coastal zone

Because conventional markets value only certain goods or services in the ocean (e.g. fish), other services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems that are not priced, paid for, or stewarded tend to become degraded.Coastal socio-ecosystems are particularly susceptible to these market failures. Here, we describe ‘ecomarkets’ – markets and financial tools – that could generate value for broad portfolios of coastal ecosystem services by addressing the unique problems of the coastal zone, including the lack of clear management and exclusion rights.