Tag archives for marine protected areas
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This past weekend I spent an afternoon with Barbudan fisherman Josiah “Papa Joe” Deazle and his family. 82 years old, still fishing, lucid, and so wise. I interviewed him as part of the Waitt Foundation’s Barbuda Ocean Initiative, and it was an honor. He was in the midst of his children and grandchildren who jogged his memory and…
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On April 3, 2013, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala and a team of colleagues from around the world published a scientific paper called “A General Business Model for Marine Reserves” in the journal PLoS ONE. Building on the work of National Geographic’s Pristine Seas Expeditions (see clickable map below), the team analyzed available data to show…
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John-Michael Lee caught thresher sharks off Redondo Beach in California when he was a boy. “We’d float on a mat in the water, reach down with our hands and just catch them by the tail,” recalls John-Michael. “They were about three to four feet long, but most of that was tail.”
“When I go diving now,” he remarks, “I don’t see many sharks anymore.”
“When it comes to the Ross Sea and Antarctica we’re not going to wait for a crisis to take action,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a crowd at National Geographic headquarters yesterday evening. Kerry was joined at the podium by Terry Adamson, EVP of National Geographic; Karen Sack of The Pew Charitable Trusts,…
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Marine protected areas (MPAs) are part of the management toolbox that can ensure sustainable use of the oceans and provide the world with fish proteins. Yet, even as benefits of MPAs related to food security, ecosystem services, and livelihoods are known, we currently fail on our commitments to protect 10% of the oceans by 2020.…
In January, I was in the Bahamas to learn about efforts there to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs), meet the key players, and help strategize about how to make these efforts more successful more quickly (see previous blog post). I’m back because a critical step of that strategy has just been completed. Last week a…
Last month I had the pleasure not only of traveling among Bahamian islands, but of seeing them through the eyes of local conservation organizations. As manager of the Waitt Foundation’s grant to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), I was there looking for ways we could further ensure successful expansion of the Bahamas’ network of Marine Protected…
Hi. My name is Ayana. I’m a marine biologist, and I’m thrilled to join National Geographic’s stellar group of ocean bloggers. Big shoes to fill. My plan is to use this space to share stories of what I have begun to call my “adventures in ocean conservation.” As Director of Science and Solutions at the Waitt…
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Over the past 20 years, scientists have been assembling compelling data that show the world’s oceans are in deep trouble. Once-abundant species are disappearing, habitats are being destroyed, and fisheries are collapsing across the globe (Jackson et al. 2001, Lotze et al. 2006). For example, studies estimate that biomass of tunas and billfish have decreased…
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Recently, while working on an article for National Geographic Traveler, I had the opportunity to interview Jay Nelson, director of the Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy project. His group seeks to conserve and protect marine ecosystems by helping to establish large no-take marine reserves, where extractive activities like fishing and drilling are prohibited. To…
100% Pure? New Zealand’s Green Image Shows Cracks in Antarctic Fishing
Posted by Claire Christian of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition in Ocean Views on September 26, 2012 New Zealand enjoys its green image, branding itself as “100% pure.” Yet when it was given an opportunity to make a truly bold move to protect a uniquely undisturbed marine ecosystem, it balked. Last month, the NZ cabinet rejected a proposed U.S.-NZ plan to turn a large swath of the Ross Sea, which is part…
Posted by We have taken too many fish out of the sea, faster than they can reproduce. We will run out of fish – and the livelihoods they support – unless we do something. Fortunately, there is something we can do, now, with proven results. Watch Mel, a ‘very weird’ fish who will show you how we can have our fish and eat them too.
“Industrial fishing has never been sustainable, it’s always been using the capital, not the interest,” Daniel Pauly, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre, told a rapt audience at the Aspen Environment Forum 2012 in late June. Pauly explained that since the advent of modern industrial fishing, spurred by such inventions…
“People often pit the economy against the environment, making us choose between one or the other, but that’s a futile dichotomy,“ says NOAA’s Jane Lubchenco. Discover how leaders from both areas at the World Oceans Summit are working to improve that relationship.
By Meigan Henry — With the South China Sea as backdrop, the first ever World Ocean Summit officially opened this morning to a packed room, followed by debates, discussions, and a special presentation from NG Photographer David Doubilet.
World Oceans Summit in Singapore Kicks Off Today
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on February 22, 2012 By Meigan Henry — Singapore is playing host this week to The Economist’s World Ocean Summit. Presented in association with National Geographic, the event will bring together over 200 global leaders, including scientists, businesses, and representatives from governments, NGOs, and other key stakeholders. They’re all at the Summit to talk about sustainability, economics and the world’s oceans.
Posted by The Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary, an area of the central Pacific Ocean four times the size of California, The Pew Environment Group confirmed in a news announcement today. (Read the full announcement.) The Washington-based conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit that works globally to establish…
This weekend’s Blue Vision Summit in Washington, D.C. wasn’t just about inspiration and idea generation. From the start, action was a top goal and priority, and today is when it really will come into play. Freshly updated on the latest issues and stats about the need to protect the ocean, some two hundred volunteers are…
NG Explorer’s Letter to The New York Times
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on April 25, 2011 By Enric Sala, NG Ocean Fellow The following post was originally published as a letter to the editor in The New York Times, April 20, 2011. In “Let Us Eat Fish” (Op-Ed, April 15), Ray Hilborn writes that studies showing a worldwide decline in fish stocks are exaggerated and that most fish stocks are stable.…
Leaders Gather in Monaco to Promote Marine Protection
Posted by Ford Cochran on February 14, 2011 European national leaders and environment ministers have gathered in Monaco to discuss the need for more marine protected areas and other strategies to conserve life in the oceans. National Geographic Executive Vice President for Mission Programs Terry Garcia addresses European environment leaders about the United States system of marine protected areas (MPAs) at the Monaco…
Who will restore the ocean?
Posted by Ford Cochran on September 17, 2010 National Geographic Fellow Enric Sala explains why a healthy reef is a landscape of fear, how our perception of what’s “natural” in marine ecosystems has evolved, and what we can do to restore balance to the seas. By Ford Cochran National Geographic hosted a live recording of National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation at…
New Havens for Manta Rays, Whale Sharks
Posted by Ford Cochran on June 29, 2009 Here’s good news from the Indian Ocean: Three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Maldives will help shelter exquisite manta rays, along with whale sharks, the ocean’s largest fish. The newly protected waters also harbor an abundance of other reef sharks. Maldives Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam announced the MPAs to commemorate World Oceans Day…
