"To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim, the rocks, the motion of the waves, the ships with men in them. What stranger miracles are there?" -Walt Whitman

Oceans are Earth’s life support system. As the largest ecosystem, covering nearly three-quarters of the globe, our oceans function as a giant thermostat, controlling temperatures and governing the climate. They produce more than half of the oxygen in our atmosphere and absorb excess carbon we produce. We’ve counted 230,000 different species in the ocean, but there are likely 2 million more that we’ve yet to discover.  

Because our seas are so immense and powerful, our ancient cultures held the view that we could never take too much from their abundance, and that they would always be able to recover from pollution and contamination. To the Greeks, the ocean was at once a monster, a god, and a vast river that circled the world. The sea could defeat any mortal and its distances were immeasurable, like outer space.

Today we understand the ocean better, and we know that humans can, and do, threaten the ocean with global climate change, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. As a result of dramatic increases in greenhouse gas production, ocean surface waters are 30% more acidic today than they were before the Industrial Revolution. A majority of ocean fisheries are now fully fished or overfished. If current pollution trends continue, by 2050 there will be as much plastic in the ocean by weight as there are fish. Half of our coral reefs have been destroyed, and the rest are threatened. We are losing the food, jobs and ecosystem services that a healthy ocean provides.

Oceans are the origin and engine of all life on our planet. They regulate our climate by absorbing excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases, acting like an enormous heat sponge, protecting us from dangerous atmospheric extremes. Scientists estimate that oceans have absorbed about 90% of the heat produced by global warming since 1995. This is a huge service, but we can’t take it for granted, because the ocean is steadily getting warmer, causing more extreme storms, rising sea levels and loss of coral reefs.

Oceans also absorb carbon dioxide. How much exactly is an active area of research, but it ranges from 30 - 40% of the extra carbon in the atmosphere each year produced by human activity. This is a critical “ecosystem service” that the ocean provides to us, but it comes with a cost -- absorbing carbon makes the waters more acidic. This sets off a biological cascade that decreases the population of phytoplankton, which forms the base of the marine food chain and produces over 50% of the oxygen in the atmosphere.

“Of course, the problem that confronts all of us today is that we’re asking far too much of our ocean in asking it to adapt to us.”

Barack Obama

 

Oceans are not only important for the climate and atmosphere, they also nourish 3 billion people who eat seafood as their primary source of protein. Hooking all these fish and processing them supports the livelihoods of 200 million households. When fisheries are sustainably managed, they are able to feed the world and generate jobs and income. Now, a combination of industrial fishing, small-scale fisheries, and illegal fishing have depleted the sea with over 80% of fisheries already fully fished or overfished. If fishing continues at the current pace, every fishery population is poised to collapse by the year 2050. Yet we have seen plummeting populations recover before with careful stewardship.

Conserving marine ecosystems and life will require a multitude of strategies, many of which are appropriate for governments or multilateral institutions to pursue. Battery Powered will target some of the areas where funding from the private sector can support targeted wins or enable a tipping point in projects that aim to conserve the ocean and its inhabitants.

Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas are large designated areas of ocean that protect ecosystems, allow fisheries to rebound and act as a buffer against climate change. The global community has set goals to have 10% of the ocean designated as marine protected areas by 2020; to date, only 2% of the world's oceans are strongly protected, the most effective economically and ecologically, and another 1.7% have some protection. Every major new protected area created in the last ten years was supported by philanthropy. There are many meaningful opportunities to accelerate the expansion of strongly protected areas and to support local management of those already protected.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii is the second largest marine protected area in the world, covering 583,000 square miles, larger than all the U.S. national parks on land combined.

Technology & Transparency

Transparency is key to managing sustainable fisheries and eliminating illegal and unregulated fishing, which accounts for up to half of the reported catch globally. Due to their immensity, oceans have allowed bad actors to conceal their activities. But technology can lift the shroud of anonymity and create accountability across the seas. Technology is now being used to highlight suspicious ocean activities and to track and monitor catches. This includes inexpensive solar powered trackers for small-scale fishers to real-time data from vessel transponders and satellite imagery. There are also innovations to prevent bycatch, such as LED lights that attract younger fish to escape fishing nets. Philanthropy has a role to play in supporting expanded use of these technologies.

Sustainable Livelihoods for Small-Scale Fishers

High-income countries are slowly rebuilding their fisheries, but small-scale fisheries in low-income countries — responsible for 30% of the catch — appear to be seriously overexploited.  Small-scale fishers rely on coastal fishing for income and food; they are often among the poorest and most vulnerable in their country. Thus small-scale fisheries are at the intersection of social development and conservation. There are many models to improve small-scale fisheries governance and empower local leaders to protect marine ecosystems while preserving livelihoods, such as small, no-fishing protected areas combined with limited access areas known as TURFs (Territorial Use Rights for Fishing).

Small-scale fishers in Caring Island, Philippines.  Photo Credit: Jason Houston / Rare

When it comes to protecting our oceans, consumer behavior matters, from the seafood you eat to the plastic you throw away. Choosing sustainable seafood, using tools such as the Seafood Watch app, can reduce the threat to endangered species. Reducing your use of single-use plastics can also minimize ocean pollution. For example, did you know that plastic straws are one of the top 10 items found during beach cleanups?

Companies also control key levers for promoting sustainable consumption. A shift in policy and practice from a Starbucks or Unilever to reduce plastic use, increase recycling or source more sustainable products can alter the market for millions of customers, making a significant impact.

YOU CAN REDUCE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CULPRITS OF PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEAN BY REDUCING SINGLE-USE PLASTICS. START BY ELIMINATING PLASTIC STRAWS AND COFFEE LIDS FROM YOUR ROUTINE. 

 

CALIFORNIA TURNING THE TIDE

As Californians, we know the benefits of our 840 miles of coastline, which brings us incredible surf, seafood, and sunsets every day. With this enjoyment comes a responsibility to protect the habitats and health of our ocean. Many of our established institutions are leading the way not only locally, but globally.