The world's oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to a the latest report by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) in June 2011. Ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”. In their conclusion, issues such as exploitative fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together at accelerated rate that have not been recognised before. This report is just published a few months after a major assessment on coral reefs that warned three quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk and most reefs will be gone in 50 years' time if nothing is to be done. (Black, 2011) I am going to look at the state of marine biodiversity in an ecosystem service approach.
Over-fishing
UN data shows that in 2008, over half of the world’s commercial fish stocks are fully exploited. More than 30% are over-exploited, depleted or recovering. Only 15% are under-exploited or moderately exploited. Ninety percent of the world’s large, predatory fish have been harvested since the second half of the last century. Fishermen are taking as much as can be reliably replenished by the ecosystem and in some cases more. Today, developing countries such as China are the dominant forces in aquaculture production adding a layer of complexity to the problem. (UN FAO, 2010)
Ocean acidification is also a key issue related to global warming. As more carbon dioxide is absorbed by the seawater, its pH value decreases slowly and hence the oceans are gradually acidified. There has been a considerable measurable change in recent times which is attributable to anthropogenic climate change. Acidic oceans cause problems for sea life that uses calcium carbonate to build hard shells and vertebra. It also can ‘bleach’ coral reefs; a double effect along with increasing temperatures.
What This Means
Producers are progressively moving to smaller, less valuable species further down the food chain. (Myers & Worm, 2003) The shift has triggered the rapid depletion of marine species previously considered unmarketable – such as dogfish, urchins and basking sharks – which in turn has reduced the food available to the surviving stocks of larger species. Small, lower-valued schooling fish like anchovies now dominate world fishery landings. So, we would be moving on to jelly fish and plankton in the coming years. (Weiss, 2006)
The decimation of global fisheries is caused by powerful new technologies. They allow fishermen to capture fish faster than the ocean can produce them. Radar, fish finders, satellite tracking and navigation systems, on-board processing plants and flash freezers are put aboard ever faster vessels that can work far from shore for long periods. (Woodard, 2010)
Trawling nets bring lasting damage to the sea floor habitat and the ability of marine ecosystems to sustain themselves. The heavy nets plough away the bottom plants, sponges and corals that animals use for cover, while killing large numbers of the invertebrates they feed on. Each year 7 million metric tons of seabirds, juvenile fish, sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, crabs starfish, anemones, sponges and other creatures are caught, killed and discarded by mechanised fishing. On average, this “bycatch” accounts for 8% of fishermen’s catches, but among shrimp fisherman in the tropics, it represents 56% of the haul. (Kelleher, 2005)
For example, in the Gulf of Maine, USA, the average seafloor section is trawled once a year. It creates muddy clouds thought to reduce the survival of small fish by clogging their gills. (Dorsey & Pederson, 1998) But trawling companies said there’s no proof their activities damage the ocean floor and that trawling actually may benefit seafloor species. (Woodard, 2010)
Coral Reefs
A major assessment by the World Resources Institute this year points out that three quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk due to over-fishing, pollution, climate change and other factors. Earlier, scientists have already found that more than a quarter of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed by pollution and global warming and unless drastic measures are taken, most of the remaining reefs may be dead in 20 years. 24% are under imminent risk of collapse. By 2030, roughly half of the world's reefs will experience bleaching in most years – rising to 95% during the 2050s, if climate projections really happens. Southeast Asia is the worst affected region, with 95% of reefs on the threatened list. At present, even though over a quarter of the world's coral is under nominal protection, only one-sixth of those areas offer good protection. (Black, 2011)
In some of the worst-hit areas, such as the Maldives and Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, up to 90% of coral reefs have been killed over the past two years by an increase in water temperature. The live coral cover in Caribbean reefs declined by 80% over the past 3 decades. Most of them show no immediate prospects of recovery. (Wilkinson, 2004)
Coral reefs, the “rain forests of the sea,” play a crucial role in the oceans as an anchor for most marine ecosystems. Their loss would place thousands of species of fish and other marine life at risk of extinction.
In some areas like Philippines, Indonesia and Jamaica, fishermen use dynamite or cyanide to catch fish, blowing the reefs apart or poisoning them; In other areas, governments are pumping untreated sewage and other poisonous waste directly into oceans.
The loss of the reefs would not only be a major blow to the environment, but would also threaten the livelihood of half a billion people around the world who rely on them for food and income. The reefs bring in an estimated $400 billion a year in fishing and tourism revenues. Millions of affected people in poorer countries may not be able to find alternative sources of income and may become reliant on foreign aid, but many regional governments cut their conservation budgets by up to 80 percent since the Asian financial crisis hit in 1998.
Indonesia, an archipelago nation of 13,000 islands, relies heavily on its colourful coral reefs to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists a year. The loss of the coral reefs would also be a devastating blow to the medical industry, which is exploring the possibility that the marine ecosystems may unlock secrets to new medicines. (Cooney, 2000)
Oceans in Crisis
An ocean without coral reefs is just a biological wasteland, because they do not support the growth of phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food chain. It supports a lot of fish associated with tropical reefs. Sewage and fertilizer run-off from towns, resorts, fish farms and golf courses leads to growth of seaweed, kelp and other plants smothering and eventually killing the reefs and even the all of our potential fisheries. (Woodard, 2010)
Even in the High Arctic, Inuit mother’s breast milk is dangerous to their babies health because the polar bears, seals, walruses, fish and whales they eat are contaminated by heavy metals, PCBs, and other industrial compounds now found in seawater and stored in animals’ fat. Many Inuit have concentrations of certain pesticides in their bodies which exceed safe levels 20-fold. Beached whales often must be treated as hazardous waste because of high concentrations of toxic substances in their bodies. The same is happening to both wild and farm-raised salmon. (McGinn, 1999)
Non-native, or invasive, species also damage marine ecosystems. The species are carried around the globe in the ballast tanks of ocean-going vessels, which pump water in and out of the tanks to maintain sea-worthiness. This ballast can contain the eggs, larvae or adult forms of hundreds of species. It create a dead zone of primitive ecosystems, full of jellyfish and bacteria.
In the early 1990s, a comb jelly snuffed out much of the life in the Black Sea, while a mutant form of a tropical seaweed, Caulerpa taxifolia, smothered vast stretches of the Mediterranean shore since it was accidentally released into the sea by a Monaco aquarium. (Woodard, 2002) Another example is that, in Sweden, summer blooms of cyanobacteria turn the surface of the Baltic Sea into a yellow-brown slurry that kills fish, burns people’s eyes and makes breathing difficult. Hawaiian condo owners have had to use tractors to remove piles of algae piling up on their beaches. The toxic algal blooms are responsible for massive die-off of sea lions whales, manatees and dolphins. Red tides, that make shellfish poisonous to humans, are 10 times more common than they were 50 years ago because of increased sewage and fertilizer run-off. A UBC professor said, it seems we are pushing ocean back to the dawn of evolution half a billion years ago when the oceans were ruled by jellyfish and bacteria. (Weiss, 2006) (Jackson, 2006)
According to numerous recent scientific studies including a June 2007 assessment of Europe’s seas by 100 scientists from 15 countries, humans are destroying the oceans. Laurence Mee of the University of Plymouth said, “in every sea, they found serious damage related accelerated pace of coastal development, the way we transport our goods and the way we produce our food on land as the sea. Without a concerted effort to integrate protection of the sea into Europe’s development plans, its biodiversity and resources will be lost.” (University of Plymouth, 2007)
An international group of ecologists and economists released a four-year analysis in November 2006. If current trends continue, every seafood species currently fished will be commercially extinct by 2050. These findings are also confirmed by the US Congress’s Commissions on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission, saying it will be “serious consequences for the entire planet”. In 1998, the UN International Year of the Ocean, more than 1600 marine scientists and conservation biologists from 65 nations issued a joint warning that the seas were in peril and that immediate action was needed to prevent further damage. (Woodard, 2010)
Ecosystem-based management for a green economy
We therefore need to adopt an ecosystem service approach, or a ecosystem-based management, to conserve our oceans. Some experts argue that adopting ecosystem-based approaches to regulating human activity on the seas should help ensure the system as a whole is healthy, rather than just focusing a particular species. This approach involves creation of marine reserves and other protected areas. The greatest opponent here is not business interests, but the public and political apathy.
The concept of ecosystem services is developed to ease our understanding of the human use and management of natural resources. It also helps people manage and use ecological resources sustainably. What have to be emphasised are the benefits that ecological systems provide for people, and the importance that systems based on biodiversity have in maintaining human existence and the quality of people’s lives. By definition, “ecosystem services are the processes by which the environment produces resources utilised by humans as such as clean air, water, food and material”, according to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
The UN recognises four basic categories of ecosystem service that nature provides to humanity:
- Supporting services: The services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services including soil formation, photosynthesis, primary production, nutrient cycling and water cycling.
- Provisioning services: The products obtained from ecosystems, including food, fibre, fuel, genetic resources, biochemicals, natural medicines, pharmaceuticals, ornamental resources and fresh water;
- Regulating services: The benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes, including air quality regulation, climate regulation, water regulation, erosion regulation, water purification, disease regulation, pest regulation, pollination, natural hazard regulation; and
- Cultural services: The non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation and aesthetic experiences – thereby taking account of landscape values.
(Centre for Environmental Management, University of Nottingham, 2011)
Bob Watson, chief scientific adviser to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and co-chairman of the NEA said, "Humans rely on the way ecosystems services control our climate - pollution, water quality, pollination - and that many of these regulating services are degrading.“ About 30% of the key ecosystem services that we rely on are degrading. (Black, 2011)
Since 1990, at least 70% of overall UK fish stocks have declined in their reproductive capacity and have been harvested unsustainably. The situation varies widely between species. In 2005, only 65% of assessed UK fish stocks (largely whitefish) were fished sustainably and only 35% of fish stocks around the UK were at full reproductive capacity. In 1998, UK vessels landed £137 million of cod and haddock (about 25% of UK landings by value), but this fell to just £70 million in 2002. The problem arises largely because currently, only material products such as food carry a price tag in the market. (Natural England, 2011)
The traditional view of economic growth is based on chasing GDP, but in fact we will all end up richer and happier if we begin to take into account the true value of nature. The 'ecosystem approach' (EsA) has been widely recommended, both internationally and within the UK, as a way in which the overall health or integrity of ecosystems can be assessed and the multiple benefits derived from them, i.e. goods and services, better described and managed. By emphasising the contribution of ecosystem goods and services to human well-being, the EsA approach potentially allowed the importance of ecological systems to be more fully considered in policy or planning decisions. (CEM, 2011)
Ecosystems approach
The 'ecosystems approach' is one way in which a truly green economics might be achieved. It promotes the type of inclusive, cross-sectoral decision-making needed for effective management of natural resources. The principles underpinning the EsA are consistent with the current UK Strategy for Sustainable Development. It is advocated that the state and trends of ecosystem services be considered and that relevant information used for developing policy and management responses across a number of different policy sectors.
According to UNEP, an ecosystem approach seeks to achieve the sustainable use of ecosystem products and services through a number of key principles:
- Management within natural limits - Recognising and respecting biological limits and thresholds and conserving ecosystem structures and productivity.
- Management for the long term - Optimising productivity for long-term benefits rather than short-term gain.
- Management at micro and macro scales - Recognising that ecosystems exist on many scales and are interconnected management should integrate efforts at different scales.
- Account for true value - Economic valuation should be based upon all ecosystem goods and services and not simply the commodity value of extracted goods.
- Make trade-offs clear - Ecosystem management will involve trade-offs, but these should be made transparently and equitably.
- Involve stakeholders in decisions - Major management decisions should involve all stakeholders to foster equity and inspire active participation in the stewardship of ecosystems.
Discussed in this article is the greatest marine policy challenge in history: figuring out how to manage human activities so they do not damage marine biodiversity. The Ecosystem approach is widely supported by US Commissions. A former Commissioner said, we are not going to have any fish to catch – or healthy fishing communities – unless there is a healthy marine ecosystem to provide the fish.
For the past few years, dozens of scientists in New England and Canada’s maritime provinces had developed enough knowledge to undertake ecosystem-based management in Gulf of Maine last year. They carried out a census of marine life in Gulf of Maine in 2010. It is the first pilot project for this type of management. They were fanning out across the ecosystem examining sea life, ocean currents and the relationship between habitat, predators and prey. This involves oceanography, ecology, genetics and microchemistry and has to be a very interdisciplinary piece of work that develops a basic framework by testing ideas. (Woodard, 2010)
This approach does not seek to manage the ecosystem, but rather human activity affecting the ecosystem. In any event, the ocean policy will have to recognise ecosystem principles and seek to integrate management within regional ecosystems. It has been recognised by the US Commissions since 2004 but deprecated for years because of a naïve assumption that you just learn everything you need to know about ecosystem and then you manage it (i.e. only looking at particular species and lacking comprehensive, integrated conservation strategy).
Ecosystem approach is also acknowledged by a coalition of Alaskan fishing interests as “potentially very good for commercial fishermen.” (1) it is in their long-term interest to make sure that we have healthy oceans and fish stocks and all the associated components of the ecosystem around those stocks are in good shape; (2) a lot of these companies are looking at how these fisheries are going to support their business – not two years from now but a decade from now or longer. (Woodard, 2010)
Example measures materialising ecosystem service approach
Many countries have considered privatising fisheries. Under Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ) system, scientist set quotas on the total allowable catch for a given season, species and fishing grounds; Shares of the quotas are bought and sold by private entities. Only those holding shares are allowed to fish in a similar vein to EU Emissions Trading System.
But some complained local fishermen cannot compete with big corporations under this system. In fact, in Alaska 1995, the rules limited absentee ownership and consolidation of shares and allowed communities to buy blocks of shares to divide up among individuals. Ten years on, the fishery is safer and greener.
Some governments have tried to zone the ocean bottom just as cities use zoning rules to separate incompatible land uses. They establish parks and preserves. Environmentalists, the World Bank and even the US Commissions also support this option, which is a crucial part of the ecosystem approach. Callum Roberts of the University of York said, it’s inevitable that once we developed methods to reach further and further into the sea, we would have to extend the regulatory framework we have on land to the sea. Today, less than 2% of the oceans are within marine protected areas. Less than 0.2% are classified as no-take marine reserves where no disruptive activities are allowed. Even so, running marine parks can be very expensive. (Woodard, 2010)
However, world governments in general have been acting slowly to address the ocean crisis. They only stepped in when a fishery collapsed. For example, scientists say New England stocks can recover completely if policy makers withstand industry pressure to allow more fishing. Internationally, China, Iceland, Russia and other deep-sea fishing nations blocked a 2006 UN effort to ban high-seas bottom trawling. Though whaling is banned in a treaty signed in early 1980s, Japan and Iceland continue whaling. Therefore, it seems the world still has a long way to go before a global marine conservation strategy is agreed.
References
Black, R. (2011, February 23). Coral reefs heading for fishing and climate crisis. BBC News .
Black, R. (2011, June 2). Nature 'is worth billions' to UK. BBC News .
Black, R. (2011, June 20). World's oceans in 'shocking' decline. BBC News .
Centre for Environmental Management, University of Nottingham. (2011, June). Ecosystem services - living within environmental limits. Retrieved July 7, 2011, from Ecosystem Services: http://www.ecosystemservices.org.uk/ecoserv.htm
Cooney, D. (2000, October 23). One-Quarter of World's Coral Reefs Destroyed. ABC News .
Dorsey, E. M., & Pederson, J. (1998). Effects of Fishing Gear on the Sea Floor of New England. Conservation Law Foundation.
Jackson, J. B. (2006). Habitat destruction and ecological extinction of marine invertebrates. (S. Spector, Interviewer) New York: Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation.
Kelleher, K. (2005). Discards in the world's marine fisheries: An update. In UN FAO, Technical Paper 470 (pp. xvi, 38). Food and Agriculture Organisation.
McGinn, A. P. (1999). Safeguarding the Health of the Oceans. Worldwatch Institute.
Myers, R. A., & Worm, B. (2003, May 15). Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities. Nature, p. 280.
Natural England. (2011). What are the threats to marine environment? Retrieved July 7, 2011, from Natural England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/marine/threats/default.aspx
UN FAO. (2010). The State of the World Fishereies and Aquaculture 2010. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
University of Plymouth. (2007, June 7). Major study predicts bleak future for Europe's seas. Press Release.
Weiss, K. (2006, August 1). Dark tides, ill winds. Los Angeles Times , p. 1.
Weiss, K. R. (2006, July 30). A primeval tide of toxins. Los Angeles Times , p. 1.
Wilkinson, C. (2004). Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004, Vol. 1. Australian Institute for Marine Science.
Woodard, C. (2002, August 2). Battling killer seaweed. The Chronicle of Higher Education , p. 14.
Woodard, C. (2010). Oceans in Crisis: Can the Loss of Ocean Biodiversity be Halted? In CQ Researcher, Issues for Debate in Environmental Management: Selections from CQ Researcher (pp. 353-380). London: Sage Publications.
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