Abrolhos Seascape: Brazil and Conservation International work together to form MPAs

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have shown themselves to be both effective ocean management tools and providers of economic renewal for local fisheries.  The forces that resist the establishing of an MPA are typically represented by the local fishing community as they are concerned that the no-take zones usually put in place within a marine protected area will mean reduced revenue.

Time and time again, the opposite has proven to be true.  By defining a potentially productive area fish-wise as off limits to commercial fishing, then the resident populations are given a chance to recover.  And, as fish do not recognize man-made boundaries, the inevitable spillover supplies the fishery with a catch sufficient to sustain the business.

This has happened in South America along the South Atlantic coast: the Abrolhos Seascape.  Within this region, the state of Bahia in Brazil has established two marine protected areas.  The first was the Abrolhos Marine National Park.  Over time, this park was expanded and recently the Corumbau Extractive Marine Reserve was added.  These MPAs were the end result of the efforts by the Brazilian government supported by Conservation International and other organizations.

According to Conservation International, "Through the establishment of both protected no-take zones and areas that allow fishing, the fish populations not only recovered — they thrived. And, as the fish from the no-take zones spilled over into the fishable waters, local fishermen saw an increase in their catch — nearly tripling their take of some commercially important species alone."

"This bounty not only directly improved the livelihoods of local communities, it revitalized the regional economy as well, bringing with it the expansion of services like electricity and secondary education — services to which many in the region had never before had access. These positive changes also led to new, more sustainable opportunities in tourism, now the primary source of income in the region."

The Abrolhos Seascape coral reefs and shoreline mangroves were suffering from illegal fishing and destructive aquaculture practices.  Organizations like Conservation International have the scientific and research resources to assist governments in determining both the extent of the problem and how best to deal with it.  This is the beauty of large organizations that can support and influence ocean management policy through more than just words, thereby becoming real instruments of change. 

At nearly 37,000 square miles, the Abrolhos Seascape is not the largest marine area to see mandatory protection.  There are some MPAs that are as many as 10x larger or more. But it is proving to be a very productive reserve for the marine ecosystem and the local fisheries.  Success need not be measure in big steps; little steps can make a big difference too.

Source: Conservation International       

Underwater Eden: new book explores the Phoenix Island Protected Area

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) came into existence in 2006.  It was, at the time, the largest marine protected area in the world and was the result of a courageous step by the government of the Republic of Kiribati - a South Pacific nation consisting of what was once known as the Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line Islands.  With scientific support from Conservation International and other research institutions, like the New England Aquarium, an area of over 157,000 square miles was designated as a protected area, including eight islands, several major submerged reefs, hundreds of square miles of corals ecosystems and vast areas of open ocean protected from commercial fishing.  In 2010, PIPA was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site and, while it has been surpassed in size by other marine protected areas, it still stands as a major success in forward-thinking ocean management.

But how did such a monumental step in marine ecology management come to pass?  How did the government of Kiribati come to this ground-breaking decision?  What did marine researchers find in assessing the area?  What makes PIPA so special in terms of sealife? And what are the plans for the future?  To answer these questions, many of the people involved in the development and study of PIPA have put pen to paper and a new book will be available in November, Underwater Eden: Saving the Last Coral Wilderness on Earth.

Edited by Greg Stone, PhD., chief ocean scientist at Conservation International, and David Obura, PhD., adjunct senior scientist with the New England Aquarium, Underwater Eden details the evolution of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area from the difficult political decision-making (the formation of PIPA would entail the loss of international commercial fishing licenses totaling in the millions of dollars), the initial scientific expeditions to catalog the various species of animal and plant life - from fish to seabirds to invasive insects, to the future plans to ensure not only the health and vibrancy of PIPA but the economic well-being of the Kiribati people.

The Kiribati people figure prominently in this book.  Their culture is one that has been forever tied to the sea.  While the ocean is an important key to their survival, they also understand that the ocean, too, must survive.  Both their fates are intertwined and their commitment to PIPA is both heart warming and encouraging.  If only the rest of the planet could see the oceans through the eyes of the Kiribati people.

Through words and striking pictures from top notch photographers like Brian Skerry, Paul Nicklen, and Cat Holloway, Underwater Eden presents the treasures of the Phoenix Islands that rest just beneath the waves.  From 2000 to 2009, four scientific expeditions set out to observe the variety of sealife and document the condition of the coral reefs.  Such studies established a baseline by which the health of the protected area could be monitored and assessed.  However, even in a pristine environment, there can be threats.  Early in PIPA's history, it was impacted by shark fishing poachers (who were ultimately apprehended) and by a coral bleaching event in 2002.  Fortunately, the shark population rebounded as did the coral reefs, serving as examples of nature's resiliency when given a chance to recover.

Greg Stone has often said that through the Phoenix Islands he is able to get a glimpse as to how the oceans were a thousand years ago.  And through Underwater Eden: Saving the Last Coral Wilderness on Earth, we are able to get our own glimpse as to just what he was talking about.  Full of personal first-hand accounts, interesting sidebars, and great photos, this is a book that will strengthen the resolve of dedicated ocean conservationists and enlighten those who do not yet understand the importance of marine protected areas.

You can pre-order Underwater Eden through Amazon in its hard copy edition, just in time for the holiday gift season.  It is very reasonably priced and, most importantly, all of the proceeds go to support the Phoenix Islands Protected Area.  In bringing the back story of one of the most significant steps taken in ocean conservation, this book also provides you with the opportunity to make a contribution to preserving an amazing coral wilderness which continues to serve as a model for critically-needed protected areas worldwide.

Available at Amazon.com. 

Pacific Oceanscape: ambitious plan taking shape with Cook Islands marine protected area

 Probably one of the most encouraging developments in ocean conservation of the past several years has been the formation of the Pacific Oceanscape - a plan to establish the planet's largest network of marine protected areas in the South Pacific. Another piece of the Pacific Oceanscape puzzle is falling into place with the Cook Islands MPA that will be, for the moment, the world's largest at more than 600,000 square miles. 

"It is a major contribution to the well-being of humanity," stated Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna stated. "This is the Pacific challenge we face. Do we take this challenge on with a name and identity that makes us small and not linked with the ocean in our own eyes and the eyes of the world? Or do we stand together with renewed pride and commitment as the world's largest ocean-island states?"

This is the result of ongoing efforts by the Pacific Forum, a co-operative between 16 Pacific island nations and supported by international conservation organizations, most notably Conservation International.  Starting with the Phoenix Islands marine protected area, in which Dr. Greg Stone, Conservation International's Chief Scientist of the Oceans worked closely with the Kirabati government that oversees the Phoenix Islands, the Pacific Forum has further plans beyond the Cook Islands MPA.  Forum member New Caledonia is planning a marine protected area of some 870,000 square miles.  Ultimately, the Pacific Oceanscape plan is to include a total surface area of protected ocean reaching 25 million square miles, roughly 10% of the entire planet's oceans.

"We believe, in fact, I know, that this is the largest multinational conservation initiative in history," said Peter Seligmann, co-founder and CEO of Conservation International. "This is the largest number of nations and the largest area geographically."

You can read about the development of the Pacific Oceanscape at Conservation International's website and there is a free iPad ebook on the subject available. (Click here to download.) 

Source: Conservation International
Source: International Business Times

Catching Sharks On Camera: study of shark populations inside and outside protected areas

A press release from the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science has been making the rounds lately, explaining the Institute's research on reef shark populations within and outside of protected areas. Using techniques borrowed from researchers who study jungle cat populations, the ocean researchers used "chum cams" to attract and record sharks within two protected areas and two areas open for fishing. Their results add to the growing need for more marine protected areas.

'Chum cam' underwater video survey shows that reef sharks thrive in marine reserves

Study led by scientists from the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University uses video cameras to count reef sharks, showing that marine reserves benfit these top predators on the world's second largest barrier reef

STONY BROOK, NY -- A team of scientists, led by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, used video cameras to count Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) inside and outside marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the Caribbean Sea. Using survey data collected from 200 baited remote underwater video (BRUV) cameras, nicknamed "chum cams," the scientists compared the relative abundance of these reef sharks in two marine reserves with those in two areas where fishing is allowed, and demonstrated that the sharks were more abundant in the reserves.

The research findings appear in the paper, "Reef sharks exhibit site-fidelity and higher relative abundance in marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef," published online today in the journal PLoS ONE. The purpose of the study, conducted from 2005 through 2010, was to test the hypothesis that carcharhinid shark species, which include requiem and whaler sharks, are more abundant inside no-take marine reserves where fishing for sharks and their prey is prohibited. The authors tested the hypothesis by using BRUV surveys to determine the reef sharks' numbers, and combined these results with acoustic monitoring to measure their site fidelity (remaining within the same local area) in Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, Caye Caulker Marine Reserve, and two reefs where fishing is allowed, all located in Belize.

"Although we know that relatively sedentary reef fish and lobsters benefit from marine reserves, this study now presents visual proof that large, active sharks are also dramatically more abundant inside these protected areas, too," said Mark Bond, lead author and doctoral student at Stony Brook University. "Nearly four times as many chum cam deployments in the marine reserves recorded reef sharks than on similar fished reefs. These areas provide the sharks and other coral reef species a respite from fishing, which means decreased fishing mortality for the sharks and more prey for them to eat."

The video cameras were enclosed in protective housing, and placed on the sea floor with small bait-filled cages positioned in front of them. Sharks, attracted by the smell of the bait, swam to the cameras, which allowed the research team to record, count, and compare shark populations in the marine reserves to those in the areas where fishing is permitted, at no stress to the sharks. In addition to the BRUV surveys, the scientists fitted 34 reef sharks with acoustic transmitters, and tracked their movements, using moored underwater listening stations. They found that the sharks, both juveniles and adults, live year-round within the reserves.

"Scientists who study tigers or jaguars in the wild use camera traps to count them," said Dr. Demian Chapman, assistant professor in the School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at Stony Brook, leader of the research team and assistant director of science of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. "It is just as difficult to count sharks in the ocean, so we took a page from the big cat researchers' playbook and deployed baited video cameras to count the sharks. It's only fitting since these large apex predators are the 'big cats' of the sea, and like their feline counterparts, their continued existence on Earth is threatened."

Due to intense fishing, Caribbean reef sharks are listed as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) but it is possible they will be upgraded to "Vulnerable" by IUCN as more data are collected. They live in the western Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Bermuda to southern Brazil, and are the only Atlantic requiem shark species that undergoes its entire life cycles within coral reef ecosystems.

"Caribbean reef sharks and other shark species around the world are threatened by overfishing," said Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, a professor in the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, who co-authored the paper and is executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. "Our study demonstrates that marine reserves can help protect shark species that live on coral reefs. Moreover, the use of underwater video monitoring provides us with an excellent tool to determine if populations are recovering and thriving inside these reserves."

"As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words," said Bond. "As Caribbean nations and other countries consider developing marine reserves, chum cams can virtually transport policy makers and the public beneath the waves and show them the benefits of these protected areas."

###

This research was funded by the Roe Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and other sponsors of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science.

Source: Eurekalert.org
Source: Institute for Ocean Conservation Science

Antarctic Ocean Alliance: committed to protecting critical areas in the Southern Ocean

The Antarctic's Ross Sea is considered by many to be one of the most pristine marine environments to be found down under. Facing New Zealand to the north, it has had proposals for basic protection sponsored by the United States and New Zealand, but now a more coordinated and international plan is being initiated, one that will possibly lead to the world's largest fully protected marine reserve.

The recently launched Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA) represents the coming together of several leading international conservation organizations, along with renown ocean conservation experts and even celebrities - all bound by one common purpose: to protect the Antarctic's marine resources. As a first step, they hope to establish a protected marine reserve in the Ross Sea, one that will ultimately expand to reach over 2.2 million square miles.

“The Ross Sea is one of the most amazing and relatively untouched marine environments on earth,” said the Alliance’s Chuck Fox. “While there are two proposals on the table to protect some of it, our report shows that we need a much broader and ecosystems-focused approach if we are to ensure this environment remains healthy and stable.“

The AOA includes, as its supporters, Greenpeace, WWF, Humane Society International, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), the Blue Marine Foundation (UK), Mission Blue (US), Oceans 5 (US), Deep Wave (Germany), The Last Ocean, Forest & Bird (NZ), the Environment and Conservation Organizations of New Zealand, and many others, along with individuals like oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, and actor/conservation activist Edward Norton.

While the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR) is the regulatory body that has agreed to work with AOA to establish a network of marine protected areas in and around the Ross Sea, they tend to work more behind the signs. The AOA will take a more proactive position when it comes to public exposure and media attention. This is meant to help ensure that all nations involved in implementing plans for marine protection will be better held accountable for the policies and plans they put in place.

“The fate of the Antarctic’s Ross Sea is likely to be decided by 24 countries and the EU this year and the global public knows nothing about it,” said Alliance Campaign Director Steve Campbell. “Now is the time to protect this amazing environment but we’ll need the global public involved to make that happen.”

Antarctic waters, which include the Southern Ocean, the Ross Sea, the Weddell Sea, and the Amundsen Sea, represents some of the richest marine ecosystems on earth with as many as 10,000 species calling it home. This environmental bounty has, over the years, been seen as a commercial bounty, too, with industrial fishing taking a heavy toll on many species.

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance seeks to curb commercial overfishing in the Antarctic and, with the Ross Sea protections as a start, the Alliance will be identifying 16 other critical habitats within the Southern Ocean that need protection.

To learn more about the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, including videos and AOA's initial report, visit its website at www.antarcticocean.org.

Source: World Wildlife Fund Global
Source: Antarctic Ocean Alliance

AAAS Conference: new developments in the science of ocean conservation presented

This Thursday marked the first day of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) conference in Vancouver, Canada. The annual meeting, which concludes this coming Monday, covers a wide range of scientific topics, but the ocean and the environment play a major role.

Mobile Marine Protected Areas
The opening day of the conference saw a presentation on developments in mobile marine protected areas. Marine protected areas have proven to be invaluable in protecting and nurturing marine ecosystems whether they are small - designed, say, to protect a particular reef ecosystem or animal - or expansive like the Phoenix Islands or Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Sanctuaries which cover thousands of square miles. However, whether big or small, they all have boundaries - borders to which ocean inhabitants do not pay much attention.

Ocean science is now reaching a point where researchers can study the migration of animals and the factors that influence their movements so that protected areas can, in essence, move along with them.

Commenting on this new development, Stanford University marine biologist Larry Crowder said, “We’re getting to the point where we can design a habitat in three dimensions. I think there are new doors opening.”

Climate change is playing a role in all of this. As ocean temperatures continue to warm, they change currents and overall ocean conditions and so animals will migrate toward the most optimal conditions. Improvements in the miniaturization of electronic tagging devices are better enabling researchers to study animal movements, such as fish moving toward the poles seeking colder water as ocean temperatures rise. With this data, adjustments or shifts can be made to protected conservation areas making for more effective marine fishery conservation and management.

“We’re going to have to plan across national borders because of climate change. We can’t expect the ocean in the future to look the way it has in the past or even as it does now,” said Brad DeYoung, a professor of physical oceanography at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada. Technology that is now allowing scientists to better study water depth, circulation and winds will add to our understanding of and ability to predict the movement of marine species. “With this knowledge we can better define management measures . . . to preserve fish stocks and improve fisheries management,” he said.

Predicting the Ocean's Future
On Saturday, the AAAS conference will include a symposium on predicting the future of the oceans using what is called the Nereus model. It incorporates three key elements that are impacting the oceans of the world: climate change, human activity (including fisheries and river run-off) and food web dynamics (fish eating fish). The model currently details the status of the oceans from 1960 to 2060 and incorporates and analyses data from four linked global models – Earth System, Ocean Life, Biodiversity Envelope, and Fisheries Management and Governance – to generate 3D scenarios based on different fisheries management choices and policies.

Preliminary results show that, based on current management policies (or the lack of), the trend has been a strong decline in the biomass of larger fish while some small fish may actually be increasing. The Nereus model is able to predict various results from hypothetical fishery management choices, thereby taking it from just being a historical reference tool to a valuable "crystal ball", alerting scientists as to potentially critical changes in ocean biodiversity.

Initially formed by an international team of scientists and supported by the Nippon Foundation and the University of British Columbia, the Nereus model program will soon include participation from Duke University, Princeton University, University of Stockholm, Cambridge University, and the United Nations Environment Program's World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP/WCMC). With the addition of such heavyweight centers of scientific study, the ability to expand on the predictive capabilities of the Nereus model will provide critical information to decision makers.

Professor Jorge Sarmiento, director of Princeton's Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, observed, "We now have many of the world's best fisheries, climate, conservation, and social scientists working together, and it is only through this kind of interdisciplinary effort that we can begin to understand what humanity will need to do to save our oceans, the seafood we get from it, and the human communities that rely on it."

Source: The Province
Source: Physorg.com

Marine Mammals & Human Impacts: new study details a higher risk of extinction

New research from an international team of researchers indicates that humans pose a higher risk of extinction for marine mammals. Now, for many ocean conservation advocates I can hear the collective "Duuuuuh" right now, complete with eyes rolling round in their sockets. But wait. This particular study, "Drivers and Hotspots of Extinction Risk in Marine Mammals" published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, has the potential for catching the attention of international ocean management organizations because of the methodologies used by the researchers to draw their conclusions.

There are computer models that have been successfully used to determine the status of terrestrial mammals. These predictive models incorporate a variety of factors including habitat, body mass, rate of reproduction, social group size, and more. Each factor is weighted based on the particular species. All have an impact on how well a particular species survives and what their future may have in store when certain factors change, such as pollution, loss of habitat, or climate change.

Marine mammals currently include 128 different species from whales and dolphins to seals and sea lions to manatees and dugongs. And right know the status of nearly 40 percent of them are unknown due to a lack of data. Even with that limitation, the IUCN Red List considers 25% as endangered. However, this new study's predictive model pushes that figure closer to 37 percent.

While factors such as a slow rate of reproduction, a small geographic area of distribution, or a tendency toward small social groups, when combined with environmental factors could have an effect on predicted risks of extinction, according to Dr. Ana Davidson, lead author from the University of New Mexico, “species’ traits were the most impor­tant pre­dic­tors of risk over­all, under­scor­ing the impor­tance of under­stand­ing species’ basic biolo­gies and ecolo­gies, which is unfor­tu­nately lack­ing for many marine mam­mals, even some of the most well-known groups like dolphins.”

A press release issued by the University of New Mexico reported, "Using their pre­dic­tive model, the team also gen­er­ated new maps of species at risk. They illus­trate that at-risk species mostly occur in coastal regions and in pro­duc­tive areas of the open ocean, which are also areas sub­ject to high lev­els of human impact. The mod­els iden­ti­fied 13 global hotspots where high num­bers of at-risk species occur, and show how they over­lap with lead­ing human impacts on the world’s oceans (fish­ing, ship­ping and pol­lu­tion, and cli­mate change) and Marine Pro­tected Areas."

“We found that three-quarters of marine mam­mal species expe­ri­ence high lev­els of human impact in their envi­ron­ment, and these include the cumu­la­tive effects of numer­ous fac­tors, includ­ing fish­ing, ship­ping, pol­lu­tion, sea sur­face tem­per­a­ture change, ocean acid­i­fi­ca­tion, inva­sive species, oil rigs, and human pop­u­la­tion den­sity,” said Dr. Ali­son Boyer, another researcher from the Uni­ver­sity of Tennessee involved in the study.

This new research adds to a growing body of work that supports the concept of Marine Protected Areas and other recognized marine parks or sanctuaries, while also recognizing the need for more international management policies. There is much to be learned about marine mammals, more than most people think. However, studies like this make the case that we cannot just sit on our hands and wait for data on each and every species to arrive. Predictive models that have been shown to be of value on land can also show that time is running out for marine mammals as well if decision makers choose to hesitate and strong preventative measures are not taken.

Source: UNM Today

Bahamas MPA in Need: Summit Series group raising funds to support South Berry Island

Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be an effective means in protecting and conserving natural marine resources. By defining a specific boundary and then managing - and in some cases prohibiting - activities such as commercial fishing, marine ecosystems are allowed to flourish, which can have a beneficial effect on marine life even outside of the MPA. Worldwide, there is only a small percentage of the ocean's surface that has been designated as a protected area, even with recent record-breaking MPAs like the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Phoenix Islands, and Chagos Archipelago.

But designating a marine protected area is just the first step. The next step can be an imposing hurdle: establishing the infrastructure to support, maintain, and enforce all related regulations. Without those components, an MPA becomes nothing more than a good intention.

In 2009, the Bahamian government set aside 6 new marine protected areas, bringing the total to 25 MPAs in the Bahamas. One of those areas, the South Berry Island Marine Protected Area, covers only 70 square miles but is considered one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the Bahamas and includes coral reefs, a conch nursery, and a 6,000 feet deep trench known as the Tongue of the Ocean. Unfortunately, it is also sadly lacking in a functional infrastructure and so the area is largely unregulated.

Hoping to come to the South Berry Island MPA's rescue is an organization of influential entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators - members of a group that sponsor the Summit Series, a kind of creative brain trust of individuals who are dedicated to giving back to the planet in one way or another. This past April, the Summit Series held a Summit at Sea aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas and donations came forth to meet the $500,000 price tag that was determined to be what was needed to implement and sustain the South Berry Island MPA infrastructure.

To date, they have reached over $475,000 of the needed total. Individual donations are being managed by The Nature Conservancy and accepted through Crowdrise.com, another of the growing number of online fundraising sites, and there are some enticing prize drawings for donors including a $1000 Zappos gift certificate (Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, has offered a dollar-for-dollar match to $25,000) and 600-foot submarine ride off the south coast of Florida, compliments of my friends at OceanGate Expeditions.

If you would like to learn more, here are several website you can visit:
Click here to learn about the Summit Series.
Click here to learn about the Summit at Sea.
Click here to visit the Crowdrise.com website to donate and enter in a drawing.

Antarctic Ocean Alliance: coalition to protect fertile seas of the South Pole

It was many decades ago that several leading nations essentially carved up the continent of Antarctica, and so you had nations like the U.S. Russia, Great Britain, and others exploring and studying this hostile, austere, but starkly beautiful landscape. In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was put into place which effectively demilitarized Antarctica, recognizing its primary value as a scientific laboratory. And in 1991 (made fully effective in 1998), the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty banned all mining and designated Antarctica as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science."

So much for the protection of the continent. But what about the seas that surround it?

The oceans that surround Antarctica are extremely rich in marine life including krill which is one of the fundamental building blocks of a marine ecosystem. And it has been a source of major commercial fishing for several nations including Russia, Norway, Korea, New Zealand, the UK, and Spain. The Ross Sea, which hugs the Antarctica coast almost equi-distant between South America and Australia, is a particularly fertile ground for commercial fishing. However, as the rest of the world's seas are showing evidence of overfishing, it's only a matter of time for Antarctica to potentially suffer the same fate.

To address the future of the seas of Antarctica, several leading conservation organizations have banded together to promote the Antarctic Ocean Alliance. The Alliance's mission is to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) and no-take reserves around the icy continent, thereby providing the same measure of protection for the oceans as is afforded the land.

The organizations include the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), Oceana, Greenpeace, Mission Blue, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), The Last Ocean, Oceans 5, Forest & Bird, and several others. Famed oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, head of Mission Blue, has been an avid spokesperson for the coalition and its goals (see video below) and through her public promoting and that of the other organizations, it is hoped that there will be a sufficient groundswell of support to help motivate the policymakers.
“As the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has set a time frame for a representative system of marine protected areas by 2012, there is an unprecedented window of opportunity to establish this network in the oceans around Antarctica as a legacy for future generations,” said the Antarctic Ocean Alliance in a public statement.

Developing Antarctic MPAs would be an ambitious project and the cumulative end result would be the establishment of the largest collection of MPAs on the planet.

Steve Campbell of the Alliance said, "The biggest marine reserve in the world at the moment is about 600,000 sqkm but we know that there are areas around Antarctica which could certainly add up to a lot more than that. We've identified about 19 regions around Antarctica where there could be a marine reserve or marine protected areas set up and this would establish a network of areas all the way around the continent of Antarctica and would be put in place for all time we hope."

The Antarctic Ocean Alliance has produced a brief video that clearly explains the situation and their goals. It shows how, due to commercial overfishing, the Antarctic's seas stand as an oasis surrounded by depleted waters. With the impact of climate change already threatening the continent's ice masses and surrounding ocean temperatures (which has worldwide implications as the world's polar regions act as generators of current, temperature and weather patterns across the globe), it would seem that protecting the marine life which call these chilly waters home would be a positive step. However, getting consensus from nations and being able to effectively enforce the security and integrity of the MPAs could be the greatest challenge.

"The problem at the moment is that as fisheries resources around the world come under more and more pressure, there are going to be more distant water-fishing nations who want to go to the oceans around Antarctica to extract protein," said Campbell. "And they are going to do it either legally or illegally."



Read about the Antarctic Ocean Alliance in Fish Info & Services.
Visit the Antarctic Ocean Alliance website.
Read about the history of Antarctica in Wikipedia.

Dr. Gregory Stone: understanding ocean conservation on the world stage

I first met Dr. Greg Stone some years back when he was heading up research and expeditions for Boston's New England Aquarium. I was there conducting a screening and meet-and-greet for my documentary, Island of the Great White Shark. We spent some time chatting about the oceans and he was kind enough to give me a copy of his book, Ice Island, about Antarctica's largest iceberg.

We next met when I corralled him to be on the shark conservation discussion panel for the inaugural BLUE Ocean Film Festival and Ocean Summit. Soon after that event, Greg took the position of Chief Scientist for Oceans with Conservation International. In that capacity he has been instrumental in working with the Kiribati government to establish the Phoenix Island Marine Reserve, the second largest marine reserve in the world.

Greg was kind enough to once again join the shark conservation panel I organized for the BLUE Ocean Film Festival this past August. His contributions were most insightful as he has not only an extensive grasp of the scientific issues surrounding many of our most pressing ocean conservation issues, but also has a mastery of the political, economic, and diplomatic realities that are crucial in making quantitative progress. We continue to stay in touch and I look forward to meeting up with him again soon, although he has lately been racking up frequent flyer miles like nobody's business. He's currently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which follows recent meetings in London, Washington D.C., and Australia. He heads back to his new home base in New Zealand when schedules permit.

Greg has been a featured presenter for TED.com and a new interview was just posted on Treehugger.com. Below are a few interview excerpts followed by the Ted.com presentation. Greg is someone who understands both the critical issues of marine conservation and how the world works. And with that, he gets things done.

"Part of Conservation International's (CI) work builds upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration. We empower societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature and our global biodiversity, for the well-being of people. That last part is key. We humans need healthy ocean ecosystems and abundant natural resources to thrive."

"The issue of profitability is less critical than the understanding and belief that sustainably
managing nature actually improves lives by providing new, diversified or more stable income opportunities. For example, if there are abundant fish and healthy coral reefs, eco-tourism and small-scale fisheries that depend on these resources are more likely to grow and succeed. If people see the livelihood benefits in responsible stewardship of ocean resources, they are more likely to become incentivized to support conservation."

"In order to save the oceans we need to begin to look at the issues in a collective way. In the past marine conservation has been issue driven and hasn't looked at the bigger picture. Now through marine reserves, marine protected areas, seascapes and now oceanscapes we can focus efforts on larger areas of ocean and can work with governments on collectively managing them. As we scale up in size, these areas will provide healthy habitats for diverse and abundant marine life, and also provide homes and income for millions of people."

Marine Protected Area Benefit: study shows drfiting larvae aid fish and fisheries

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often viewed by commercial and sport fishing interests as a total invasion of the rights of fishermen to harvest bounty from the sea where ever and when ever they can find it. Thought of as a bureaucratic intrusion, compliments of fish-hugging environmentalists, MPAs have actually proven not only to repair and improve the health of the marine ecosystems within their boundaries, but have also shown spillover effects that actually can prove beneficial to sustainable fisheries.

Scientists have known for some time that as fish stocks improve within a marine protected area, the population also begins to improve within the surrounding area. Larger fish establish larger territories, often well outside the boundaries of the MPA (after all, they're not interested in arbitrary borders set by us humans).

Now researchers from Oregon State University have concrete evidence that fish larvae, emanating from within an MPA, can travel distances of over 100 miles and thereby increase stocks of fish well outside of the protected area.

The researchers worked with the MPAs that were established in the late 90's around the big island of Hawaii. Their study focused on the yellow tang, a popular reef fish in the aquarium trade and one whose numbers were declining - not good for commercial interests and certainly not good for the yellow tang. Since the inception of the Hawaiian MPAs, the population of yellow tangs has improved. But there was also seen an increase in numbers many miles outside of the protected areas. Could this be due to a spillover effect from more yellow tangs venturing outside of the protected zone? That would appear to be the case except for one fly in the ointment: yellow tangs are sedentary and settle into an area on the reef not much greater than a half mile in diameter.

To solve the puzzle, the researchers used the same techniques used by police detectives and paternity suit lawyers - DNA. By taking tissue samples from various groups of yellow tangs both within the MPA and beyond, they were able to establish direct relationships with yellow tangs that were as much as 114 miles apart. Only the transportation of larvae, aided by ocean currents, could explain the familial connection.

"This is similar to the type of forensic technology you might see on television, but more advanced," said researcher and lead author of the study, Mark Christie. "We're optimistic it will help us learn a great deal more about fish movements, fishery stocks, and the genetic effects of fishing, including work with steelhead, salmon, rockfish and other species here in the Pacific Northwest."

Oregon State University marine biology professor, Mark Hixon, added, "Tracking the movement of fish larvae in the open ocean isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. It's not like putting a radio collar on a deer. This approach will provide valuable information to help optimize the placement of reserves, identify the boundaries of fishery stocks, and other applications."

One area of concern that grew out of the study was the importance of having good breeding stock by which to provide sufficient and healthy larvae yields. Larger fish are often the target of commercial fishing but these fish have a much greater capacity to produce larvae than smaller ones. Previous studies at the university had shown, as an example, that a single two-foot vermillion rockfish produces more eggs than 17 females that are 14 inches long.

While we continue to establish Marine Protected Areas across the world - some small, some covering many tens of thousands of square miles - the total coverage is but a mere sliver, approximately 1 percent of the world's oceans. And yet, as minuscule as they currently are in size, they have a tremendous impact on the overall health of countless marine species.

Read the Oregon State University news release on EurekAlert!.

Oregon's Proposed Marine Reserves: politics in getting MPAs in the US northwest

Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs, are aquatic reserves that are designed to restrict or prohibit activities deemed harmful to the marine environment. This has typically meant strict regulations on commercial or sport fishing activities but in some cases it has extended further to include other industrial or recreational activities. What is or is not allowed depends on where the reserve is located, its size, and the environmental and economic considerations impacted by the reserve.

Some reserves are quite large, like the South Pacific's multi-national Pacific Oceanscape or Hawaii's Northwestern Islands. Or they can be smaller and localized, like California's central coast marine sanctuaries that include the Channel Islands. But as a global total, marine protect areas cover only a mere one percent of the world's oceans.

The challenge with all MPAs is that they are the end result of a political process, and to deal with that can be as exciting as watching paint dry. Thought-provoking pictures and images and reams of scientific data are all part of the process in considering a marine reserve, but ultimately it boils down to government officials, conservation and environmental interests, and economic interests all trying to hammer out a compromise that the interested or effected parties can live with. And this can be a drawn out process at best.

Along the U.S.'s Oregon coast lies some of the country's most rugged and beautiful coastline and marine ecosystems. Rugged, but just as fragile as any tropical reef system when faced with overfishing, pollution, or any other man-made abuse. The state has been at work to determine the scope of possible MPAs along the Cape Arago area, developing as many as eight different proposals. A recommendation committee has been formed to whittle that number down to just three for public comment.

MPAs follow a process very similar to our legislative process in the U.S. A proposal is put forth, much like a bill, and then it goes to a committee where it is tweaked and amended, then brought forth for public comment, and then ultimately voted on - that's it in a simplified nutshell. Anywhere along the way, it can be derailed by lobby groups or public sentiment and pushed from an internal governmental process to an open ballot initiative, which can be a more drawn out and openly politicized battle.

In 2008, Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski asked the state's Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) for recommendations for coastal marine reserves. Thus began a lengthy process that included environmental groups and commercial and sport fishing interests. Oregon has several major commercial fishing industries, including salmon and crab, and so the delicate political maneuvering began to reach a suitable compromise. A committee was formed to try and develop proposals that would be at least close to acceptable to all involved.

As reported in the Oregon The World, OPAC committee chair Jim Pex said, "There's a strong political force trying to get as much area in reserves as possible, and a strong force wanting no reserves at all. . . As with any group that is diverse, it takes time to get everyone to move in one direction."

To insure that the process would move forward, the committee adopted several interesting rulings:

• No proposal would be considered that inhibited salmon fishing or crabbing.
• There is no known biological problem that a marine reserve would solve at this time.
• Additionally, funding for ongoing government research would be required to justify the reserve. No funding, no reserve.

Personally, I found these to be some interesting concessions. Once again, an economic consideration (salmon fishing and crabbing) was given a higher priority over the environmental benefit. If it's bad for business then nature will just have to wait. The problem is, as we have seen with other commercial fishing industries, nature doesn't wait; it continues to degrade until the industry collapses due to a decimated fish population.

The second point is a curious one. If the position is to not recognize any biological problem that a marine reserve would solve, then why have the reserve? Or is it a case of getting commercial interests to cooperate by not ascribing any problem specifically to their activities? MPAs have already been shown to increase sealife populations and this has even had a positive effect on commercial fish populations outside of the reserves boundaries. And as I have reported in previous posts, there is a growing issue of increased populations of Humboldt squid all along the eastern Pacific - a situation which possibly could be mitigated by marine reserves which would support an increase in natural predators to the squid (right now, Humboldt squid can pose a serious threat to a multi-million dollar salmon fishery).

In addressing the research funding issue, to insure that there will be continued research to justify any reserve established, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating ways of procuring funding, made difficult in a "no more government spending" climate. Non-governmental funding is being looked into through the use of foundations, trusts, and even federal appropriations.

OPAC is hoping that the final proposals will be brought before the public for comment by the end of the year. The process is an elaborate one and, as we have seen with other U.S. legislation, the end result can be considerably watered down from what was perhaps once envisioned. It certainly is not the "sexy" part of ocean policy but beyond all the fund-raising or issue-raising parties and events, after all the videos and slide presentations, this is what it boils down to: hard-fought negotiations and back room politics.

Hopefully the end result is something that provides the oceans with a real benefit. And, hopefully, mankind learns that by doing that, it too becomes a beneficiary.

Read about Oregon's MPA politics in The World.

Sweden's First Marine Park: protecting cold water environments

Marine parks serve a vital role in protecting regional marine ecosystems which then often serve to benefit the biodiversity of larger open ocean areas by providing a sheltered breeding ground and/or food source for many different species - in essence, a safe haven that serves an even larger community.

We often think of marine parks as being located in temperate to tropical waters. Indeed, recently designated parks have been in such places as governing agencies realize the importance of these fragile ecosystems (Read prior post). But the purpose and value of marine parks is not limited to just such regions. Kathleen Kobbe of The International Office recently brought to my attention the Kosterhavet National Marine Park in Sweden. This park, designated in September, 2009, is Sweden's first national marine park and is home to thousands of marine species, from sponges and coral to sea birds and harbor seals that use the park as a breeding ground.

The blog Explore West Sweden interviewed the park's head biologist, Martin Larsvik. "In the Kosterhavet Marine National Park there are about 6000 marine species. More than 200 of those have not been found elsewhere in Sweden, but can be found further west in the Atlantic Ocean. There are, for instance, large brown macroalgae (kelp), sponge animals, polychaete worms, crabs, starfish, sea cucumbers and fish. The most spectacular species is the eye coral (Lophelia pertusa), forming coral reefs at a depth of 85 meters," Larsvik explained.

Commercial fishing is highly regulated in the park and this is an important feature of a cold water protected zone like at Kosterhavet (41 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit). Many of the major fish species sought by commercial fishermen are cold water species. So, while we are inclined to preserve and protect the more obvious beauty of tropical reefs and other warmer water environments, we must also keep an eye on protecting those chillier environments that can be threatened by large-scale industrial fishing.

Grattis, Sweden!

Australian Marine Reserves: government review approves the science that supports their parks

One of the bright spots in ocean conservation has been the worldwide adoption of marine reserve areas. From Hawaii to Australia to the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, marine reserves or parks that prohibit or strictly limit recreational and commercial activities are being recognized as a positive step in preserving delicate marine ecosystems and allowing biodiversity to flourish. A lot more reserves are needed but what we have is a start.

But what defines a marine reserve? What is the method or methods by which the boundaries are determined? Well, this is where scientific research - past and ongoing studies - plays a crucial role. It requires research that examines a whole range of factors - biodiversity, population studies of specific species, water quality and movement patterns, topographical seabed mapping, and more. No one study can do it all, so research accumulates and from this wealth of knowledge, recommendations are made to determine the location and size of the protected area.

But not everyone agrees on the science. Lobbying forces that represent recreational or commercial fishing, and other business interests such as mining and mineral exploration, often question the validity and accuracy of the science. And so the battle rages for the attention and vote of the politicians and decision makers in charge.

Recently, Australia's Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Water commissioned an independent review of the scientific research used to determine its marine reserves, and the results heavily favored the available scientific research. Newly designated areas in New South Wales (NSW) had been heavily criticized, but it would appear by the review that the research that, both, had been done and was planned for the future was sufficient to support the marine reserves.

''The independent review panel found evidence of much ongoing or completed research and monitoring that has taken advantage of established marine parks within NSW,'' the authors of the review wrote, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

''These are resulting in presentations at conferences and scientific papers published in the international literature, and the reputation of the work being done is, on the whole, excellent.''

The Sydney Morning Herald also quoted Dr. Klaus Koop, the department's conservation and science director, who felt that marine parks not being supported by science was an idea that has been debunked. However, he did make one interesting observation.

''One of the things that we haven't done well enough, perhaps, is communicating exactly what we've done and … what we've found,'' Dr Koop said.

I am a proponent of good media communications for scientific research and that often means a lot more than just published articles in academic journals. Researchers need the assistance of those with media expertise, like myself, in communicating their work to a broader audience - one that includes policy makers, commercial interests, and the general public. The more the information is disseminated in easy-to-understand results and implications, the more challenging it becomes for opposing forces to dismiss or question its legitimacy.

Read the Sydney Morning Herald article.

Chagos Archipelago: Britain designates world's largest marine reserve

In a historic move that one-ups the United States, Britain has designated the Chagos Archipelago as a marine reserve, making it the largest such marine protected area in the world. At 210,000 square miles, the new reserve surpasses the U.S.'s Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the Northern Hawaiian Islands by 70,000 square miles.

"In 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, the UK has secured a conservation legacy which is unrivaled in scale and significance, demonstrating to the world that it is a leader in conserving the world's marine resources for the benefit of future generations," said Alistair Gammell of the Pew Environment Group.

The archipelago is home to a wide variety coral and fish species, numbering in the many hundreds, along with substantial sea turtle and sea bird breeding areas. The archipelago - which contains the world's largest coral atoll, the Great Chagos Bank - is positioned right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, making it a sort of oceanic oasis to support many species while also developing endemic species because of its isolation.


In fact, when you look its position in the Indian Ocean and the size of the marine reserve, one can see how small the world's largest marine protected area actually is in relationship to the size of the Indian Ocean and, by extension, the entire ocean area on the planet. That's the only downside. The British government is to be applauded for their efforts, but more needs to be done - more critical marine areas need to be identified and protected across the globe.

Time and time again, marine protected areas have proven themselves to have a positive effect on marine ecosystems, including increased fish populations, even beyond the borders of the actual reserve. Bad things can spread throughout the oceans - but so can good things.

Marine Protected Areas: are they the hoped for success?

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and No Take Reserves (NTRs) have been instituted worldwide, from the South China Sea to the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean, as a method to not only preserve marine environments but also provide a means to ensure a reasonable population outside of the zone for commercial fishing. While common sense might dictate that these zones would logically improve the health of a marine environment, there are many challenges in empirically proving it.

While an MPA or an NTR may have a defined boundary, those limits have not been, shall we say, "communicated" to the marine life below the surface and so spatial density, or spillover as it is sometimes called, becomes a critical component. A healthy zone that generates populations of species that extend beyond its borders and provides a reasonable commercial yield, does not do so in a vacuum. There must be a proper flow of incoming influences including plankton, coral, and fish larval stages and other biosystem factors - all of which pay no attention to a zone's arbitrary boundaries.

While preliminary results appear positive, there is a considerable amount of challenging research taking place:

• Studying the impact of political/public use influences on the size (reduction) of a zone versus initial environmental recommendations (preliminary research indicates the negative effect is disproportionately larger than the amount of size reduction).
• Researchers are often challenged by a lack of extensive baseline studies of ecosystems prior to the zone for use in evaluating against post-zone studies.
• Much research needs to be done to document the relationship/effect of multiple MPAs or NTRs and how they interact with each other.

To date there have not been any major negative ecological effects attributed to MPAs and NTRs, but let's hope with more research over time, we will have the body of data to undeniably prove their effectiveness and how we can maximize or improve on that success for both environmental and commercial interests.

Marine Protected Areas: scientists studying the impacts

The continuing efforts to establish marine protected areas (MPA) or reserves worldwide has been an important issue with many conservation and scientific groups for obvious reasons. Activities ranging from overfishing to pollution have needed to be addressed because of the negative impact they have on marine ecosystems and marine life populations. The juggling act has always been in trying to meet the needs or at least compromise with the various stakeholders: commercial fishing, recreational activities, conservationists, scientists, and more.

Challenging as it is, MPAs continue to be established and now a new challenge facing scientists is the careful monitoring of these areas to see what effects - good or bad - the MPA may be having. I was reading interesting information from a SeaWeb.org Marine Science Review (Marine Protected Areas & Reserves #288). Worldwide, there is a considerable amount of research taking place regarding MPAs. Some of the issues they are studying have to do with bio-dispersion - the movement of marine species within a given area. We humans may define an area as "protected" but marine species don't read the fine print and may not stay within safe borders. Depending on the size, sex, and bio-density, a species that moves into harvesting areas, outside an MPA's borders, could be severely impacted. On the other hand, species of less commercial value could profligate within the MPA and perhaps upset the overall ecosystem - one example I read concerned increased populations of parrotfish which consume coral.

While the overall concept of marine protected areas and reserves seems to make environmental sense, scientists are hard at work developing new methodologies and research methods to be able to properly monitor the long term consequences of our efforts to preserve and protect our oceanic resources.

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: needed expansion to protect seamount

It was announced this past Friday that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will be expanded to include a 585 sq. nautical mile area to safeguard Davidson Seamount, one of the largest underwater mountains in U.S. waters. The expansion will be finalized on November 1 and managed by NOAA and the National Marine Sanctuaries agencies.

Davidson Seamount, 70 miles off the California coast, is 4,120 feet below the surface but extends another 7,784 feet to the ocean floor. It is home to a variety of deep, cold water animals and its location attracts a variety of sealife in the waters above the peak, providing nourishment for other fish, sea birds, and whales. The seamount and its slow growing/slow reproducing inhabitants are susceptible to the ravaging effects of commercial bottom-trawling, where weighted nets are dragged across the seafloor.

There are several state and federal marine sanctuaries or protected areas along the California coast and, through effective government agency enforcement and overall public and commercial cooperation, they have proven to be successful in not only just providing protection but in improving the health of the marine ecosystems that have in the past been threatened or damaged by commercial fishing, oil exploration, and pollution.

Good news. Put a check in the win column.