Transcript International Marine Conservation Summit 2020

International
Marine Conservation
Summit 2020
Reviewing progress since the International Year of
Biodiversity -2010
Statistics
Fishing rates currently over 2.5 times
greater than the sustainable level
Statistics
Statistics
Recovering
Statistics
By 2048 – ALL species currently fished for
as food will collapse
Salmon
Tuna
Atlantic Cod
Sea Bass
Causes
 Technological advancements
Advanced Tracking
Faster Ships
Bigger Nets
Causes
 Technological advancements
 Too many fleets
o Over 4 million commercial fishing vessels in 2005
 Unfair Fisheries Partnership Agreements
o Allow foreign fleets to over fish in the waters of developing
countries




Pirate Fishing
Bycatch
Destructive techniques
Lack of conservation
Consequences
Consequences
Fish
o Decline in Population
o Possible extinction of specie
Consequences
Food Chain
o Decline in species higher up the food chain
Consequences
Food Chain
o Decline in species higher up the food chain
Including:
Seals
Whales
Sea Otters
Dolphins
Sea Birds
Consequences
Food Chain
Humpback Whales
Case-Study
o Humpback whales in Canada's Bay of Fundy appear to be
suffering from lack of food due to competition with fishing
fleets for herring (wwf)
Consequences
Food Chain
o Decline in species higher up the food chain
o Greater number of smaller organism – those previously
eaten by commercial fish
o Decline in some species further down the food chain
as fishing fleets and larger predators change their
target catch
Consequences
Humans
o 1 in 5 people rely on fish as their main source of protein
o World’s poorest suffer most
o 200 million people world wide rely on the ocean for their lively
hood
o Over fishing by large international corporations leave local
fishermen without fish
Consequences
Food Chain
Newfoundland
Case-Study
Consequences
Food Chain
Newfoundland
Case-Study
 For centuries was a thriving fishing town
 In the early 1990s, the fishing industry provided
employment for 110,000 people
“Waters so rich that one
had only to let a basket
into the water and it
would be filled with cod”
Consequences
Food Chain
Newfoundland
Case-Study
 Mid 1950s – 1980s experienced mass over fishing
Consequences
Food Chain
Newfoundland
Case-Study
o 1992 – Cod fishery officially declared collapsed
o 40,000 people lost their jobs overnight
o A further 70,000 became unemployed as a result
o Canadian government spent billions in relief packages
o A Great Bank cod fishing moratorium was
implemented immediately – this ban has continued on
and off ever since
o 28 years later – Cod still not recovered
Humans
o Annual global economic loss as a direct result of over fishing -$36 Billion
o Annual global economic loss when potential economic gain from
wider industry (distributors, supermarkets, boat builders etc) is
taken into consideration -- $72 Billion
o Loss from non-industrial use of ocean -- $45 Billion
Including:
• Whale-watching
• Diving
• Sports fishing
o Mass unemployment
$
Solutions
Ecosystem-Based Management
Three Goals:
o Improve Fishing Management
o Reduce the impact of fishing
o Develop and support sustainability
Improved Fishing
Management
Marine Protect Areas
 Like National Reserves… except for the sea
 A protected area in which no fishing is permitted
Fish Responses to Marine Reserves
Marine Reserves Increase Fish Biomass
Since the IYB
2010
~ 5, 000 MPAs
around the world
8% of world’s oceans
protected
2020
~ 9,000 MPAs
10% of worlds oceans
protected
Target 11: By 2020, at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of
particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through
effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected
systems of protected areas
Kenya: Case-Study
Reduce Impact
Bycatch – Definition
Organisms not of the target
species that are caught and
killed unintentionally during
fishing
Bycatch
 In total, 1 in 3 fish caught is wasted
 Every year 29 million tons of fish, seabirds, sea
turtles, and marine mammals are killed and
discarded into the sea as incidental or unwanted
by-catch
Bycatch
 Is the single largest cause of cetaceans mortality
 Has pushed dozens of species to the point of
extinction
Annually kills
 Over 300,000 small whales, dolphins, and porpoises
 100 million sharks
 20 percent of the seafloor fauna and flora over which a
trawler has passed
 Around 100,000 albatrosses
Bycatch by Gear Type
Ratio of intended
catch to bycatch
1:20
Solutions
 Setting bait hooks in longline fishing nets below 100m
 Pingers
Electro-acoustic devices attached to nets – alert
cetaceans to the presence of the net – less likely to
become tangled
Bycatch
Solutions
 Circular Hook – reduces turtle deaths
 Change in hooks on long nets – has drastically reduced
death of sea birds
Since 2010
 Change in fishing gear
 70% of costal states have banned dynamite fishing in
their waters
Since 2010
 Change in fishing gear
 70% of costal states have banned dynamite fishing in
their waters
 Strong movement away from trawlers
Since 2010
 Change in fishing gear
 70% of costal states have banned dynamite fishing in
their waters
 Strong movement away from trawlers (20% less)
 Encouragement of scuba-fishing especially for shallow
water shrimp and lobster.
 Regulations on net size – allows infant fish to escape
Develop and Support
Sustainability
Fish Farming
 2010 -- Provided one-third of the fish people consumed
 2010 -- worth US$58 billion globally
 2020 – worth US$70 billion globally
Farmed
Seafood from Fish Farms (mt)
Mass of Farmed Seafood
Year
Types of Fish Farming
In the Ocean
Types of Fish Farming
On Land
Types of Fish Farming
Acidification of the
OCEAN
Process of acidification
1. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed into the ocean
2. This CO2 combines with seawater (H2O) to form carbonic acid (H2CO3),
lowering the pH and thus making it more acidic
3. This raises the concentration of hydrogen ions in the water hence decreasing
the concentration of carbonate ions making it harder for organisms to obtain
carbonate ions which are needed for them to build shells.
What is it?

As the name implies acidification of the
ocean refers to the phenomena of lowering
pH in the ocean.
How it Happens

Acidification of the ocean occurs when CO2 in
the atmosphere is absorbed into the ocean
Carbon
Dioxide
Water
Carbonic Acid
Statistics

CO2 is being absorbed into the worlds oceans at a rate
of over 22 million tons per day.
22,000,000
Tons/Day
Statistics


CO2 is being absorbed into the worlds oceans at a rate
of over 22 million tons per day
¼ of human induced CO2 emissions are absorbed into
the ocean
Absorbed
Statistics



CO2 is being absorbed into the worlds oceans at a rate
of over 22 million tons per day
¼ of human induced CO2 emissions have been
absorbed into the ocean
Ocean surface pH dropped approximately 0.13 between
1750 and 2000:
8.25
1750
8.12
2000
Statistics




CO2 is being absorbed into the worlds oceans at a rate
of over 22 million tons per day.
¼ of human induced CO2 emissions have been
absorbed into the ocean
Ocean surface pH dropped approximately 0.13 between
1750 and 2000:
This constitutes a 30% raise in ocean acidity since preindustrial times
Statistics
“This rate is 100 times faster than any change in
ocean acidity in the last 20 million years”
(Thomas Lovejoy, former chief biodiversity advisor to the world bank)
Downward Spiral
¼ absorbed
into oceans
Oceans become
acidic & therefore
corrosive
CO2 released into
atmosphere
Mass extinction
Lowers carbonate
saturation
Entire food
chain affected
Without protection
these species
quickly decline
Dead
Seas
Organisms shells
corrode and
dissolve
It is harder for calcareous
organisms to make their
shells
Acidification continues
and water become
corrosive
Consequences

Millions of marine species build shells for
themselves using calcium (Ca) and carbonate
(CO3) molecules from seawater.
Consequences

However, increased acidity results in a decrease
in the availability of carbonate molecules and
hence it becomes increasingly difficult for these
organisms to build their shells.
Acid
Low Acidity
Carbonate
Water
High Acidity
Consequences

Consequence: they must spend more energy on
making their shells
They have less able to do
other activities such as feed and reproduce
decline in population of species
Greater Threat


Even after 250 years of acidification pH is still
greater than 7 – the water is alkali
However… if pH < 7 water becomes corrosive
Shells will actually dissolve
Affected Organisms
Include:
Mussels
Sea Urchins
Calcareous
phytoplankton
Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs
Take Millions of Years to form
 Home to ¼ of marine species
Acidity
= corrosion
 Extremely
sensitive
to changeof
in coral
pH
 Require
high
of around
carbonate
build
Already
seen
inamounts
most
reefs
the
world.
The lossbeing
ofvery
coral
reefs
will be
devastating
forto
both
Left
unaddressed
extinction
of coral.
theskeletons
biodiversity
of will
this result
planetinand
the millions
of

people who rely on them for a living and protection
Where we stand


Cold water coral reefs are almost entirely gone
Coastal communities in such places as Kenya,
the Caribbean and Fiji are suffering as tourism
has decreased
Where we stand

For the last 2 decades coral reefs have been
declining at an alarmingly fast rate and if the
current trend continues will completely gone in
less than 25 years
Polar Regions
First Affected
Polar Seas
●
Acidification is particularly high in the polar
oceans because gas dissolves more easily
into cold water
Polar Seas: 2010
●
Effects already beginning to be seen
Polar Seas: 2010
●
Calcareous phytoplankton – an important
species at the bottom of the food chain –
declining because of acidification
Polar Seas: 2010
Polar Seas: 2010
●
●
Terrapod shells in arctic dissolving
First signs of dead oceans
Where We Stand


Despite the Aichi targets CO2 emissions have
continued to rise since 2010 and reached an all
time high in December of 2017.
In last 2 years – CO2 emissions/capita begun to
decline due to:
•
•
•
Legislation
Improved farming techniques
Implementation of renewable energy
Where we Stand
However:
 CO2 still greater than in 2010
Global CO2 Emissions
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Where we Stand
However:
 CO2 still greater than in 2010
 Levels still too high to stop ocean acidification
Solutions
Preserve

Coral Banks
- Take samples of coral species to be preserved
Preserve
 Aquariums
 Creates
desire within population for ocean preservation
 Allow people to see what no longer exists in the wide
Preserve

Unfortunately these actions do not solve the
problem.

However, they do ensure that species will survive
for future generations to see as well as medicinal
purposes
Reduce CO2
 Acidification
can only be prevented by
reducing atmospheric CO2
Reduce CO2
2010 CO2 Emissions
2010
Air 2%
Solutions
 Renewable

Energy Sources
Changing the way we get energy has been a key factor in
reducing global CO2 emissions
Thank-you
International
Marine Conservation
Summit 2020