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A New Decade and a New Beginning for Our Blue Planet

As we embark on this new year, we also are plunging into a new decade. And the journey ahead for our blue planet is cloaked in uncertainty. We must remember, however, that we have come a long way. The ocean and its issues are now being recognized as not just the concern of a community, country or region but at a global level and by all the key constituencies. Policy and industry leaders worldwide are increasingly coming to understand what science has been telling us for some time—that not only are marine ecosystems critical to regulating our global climate, protecting our shores and providing resources that fuel our economy, but that biodiversity is key to their function as well as to the health and well-being of billions of people.

Today, the United Nations officially launches 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity at a ceremony in Berlin. The year’s theme, “Biodiversity is life, biodiversity is our life,” is certainly applicable to the ocean, as so many species and livelihoods depend upon functioning, diverse marine ecosystems.

The urgency of recognizing this need was underscored during the climate talks last month in Copenhagen. Small island developing states rallied to tell the world how their homes are being increasingly bombarded by storms as protective reefs decline and that they may disappear altogether while the sea level slowly rises around them. Although no legally binding agreement was reached on the target level of emissions, attending nations did reach an accord and several larger nations pledged to contribute $30 billion in financial assistance to developing countries to try to help them cope with effects of a changing climate.

As SeaWeb works with journalists, scientists and Pacific Island residents to encourage reporting on what is happening to the Asia Pacific environment, we endeavor to help decision makers realize these ocean issues are also critically important human issues. For the first time in the history of our world, we now have climate refugees. Our job is to make sure that the stories and voices of these people will resonate and result in positive change for our world. One of the successes in the Asia Pacific region has been the initiation of community-based or locally managed marine protected areas—a successful model for protecting marine biodiversity. There, locally managed marine areas have helped protect marine species while bringing income and sustenance to island residents. To help enhance the understanding of marine science and conservation, and to strengthen this work, SeaWeb and its partners in Fiji are running an ecosystem-based management communications project. This aims to translate complex issues and concepts into a simpler, non-specialist language so that local stakeholders can undertake relevant and much-needed action to conserve and sustain their marine environment.

Rich ocean biodiversity supports healthy food webs, which in turn supply a global seafood industry feeding hundreds of millions of people at both the commercial and subsistence levels. At the end of this month, SeaWeb’s Seafood Choices Alliance will host its annual Seafood Summit in Paris, France—a gathering that every year brings together a growing array of seafood experts to talk about sustainable solutions. Renowned fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre and the Sea Around Us Project will open the conference by helping us to think differently about the world’s fisheries. Julie Packard of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation will inspire us to action as she brings the Summit to a close. A special highlight of this year’s Summit will be our half-day workshop focusing on the challenges in the global tuna industry, from bycatch to declining populations. If you have not registered, I encourage you to do so quickly as the deadline is rapidly approaching and you don’t want to miss this event!

Plummeting tuna populations have been a growing concern for those in the industry as well as for the conservation community and local fisherman who have seen their catch steadily decline. The Northern bluefin tuna, eight species of sharks and red and pink coral are being considered for protection and the iconic polar bear is being considered for further protection at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of Parties being held this March in Qatar. Obtaining international protection of red and pink corals, or Corallium and Paracorallium, would be a significant victory for SeaWeb’s Too Precious to Wear campaign, which along with TRAFFIC North America and WWF, is working to include them in CITES’ Appendix II. This would not prohibit their trade, as they are often used for jewelry or home décor, but it would ensure international trade is carefully monitored and so could reduce unsustainable use of these long-lived, slow-growing species. Stay tuned as SeaWeb staff will be attending and reporting from the CITES conference in Qatar.

Finally, as we think about this new decade for the oceans, we take hope in the new leadership in the U.S. government as it endeavors to tackle the serious concerns about ocean health. We expect that we will soon not only have our first national ocean policy, but one that is ecosystem based. The newly appointed U.S. Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force submitted its recommendations to President Obama and the proposed legislative solutions could be finalized soon after the public comment period concludes in February. You can show your support for this historic step forward by being one of the many around the country who will be wearing blue this Wednesday, January 13. More about the events being held on this day on both coasts can be found at wearblueforoceans.org.

Indeed, while the challenges facing the ocean seem as vast as its seascapes, we should take a moment to reflect on how far we have come. More and more, decision makers are realizing that the ocean is integral to so many of our discussions about our global environment, climate and economy. We salute our colleagues for their good work and we are hopeful that this next blue decade will bring real progress toward making our ocean healthier, full of diverse, resilient ecosystems that will continue to sustain this changing planet and its inhabitants. With your help, we can make sure that the International Year of Biodiversity brings more good news to our ocean planet.

Photo credits, top to bottom: Joshua Cinner, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies/Marine Photobank. Marco Carè/Marine Photobank. A.A. Rosenfeld/Marine Photobank