Reuters reveals the climate crisis beneath the waves. Driven by warming waters, marine life is on the move — and life on land is forever changed.
Reuters has discovered that from the waters off the East Coast of the United States to the coasts of West Africa, marine creatures are fleeing for their lives, and the communities that depend on them are facing disruption as a result.
As waters warm, fish and other sea life are migrating poleward, seeking to maintain the even temperatures they need to thrive and breed. The number of creatures involved in this massive diaspora may well dwarf any climate impacts yet seen on land.
Julia Barnes a 16 years old learning for the first time that the world's coral reefs, rainforests, and fisheries are expected to disappear within her lifetime bought a couple of cameras, learned to dive, and set out on a mission to expose the biggest threats facing the ocean.
State of the Oceans
Mass extinction
Retains heat / global warming
Increased acidification
Plankton and coral die off
Soon more plastic than fish
The biggest problem the world has ever faced
The Blue Economy Global Seafood Industry
The seafood industry contributes US$230 billion to the global economy, creating jobs that support to 8% of the world’s population.
One billion people rely on fish as their primary source of protein. The ocean provides more than half of our oxygen. Healthy fish populations keep the ocean healthy.
Habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution, are stripping the ocean's ability to provide critical services to humanity; food, livelihoods, and climate regulation. This destruction co-encides with the rapidly changing climate and acidification of seawater, which both are reducing the ocean's to absorb carbon and to regulate global temperatures and local weather patterns.
The journal Science published a four-year study in November 2006 predicting at prevailing trends that the world would run out of wild-caught seafood in 2048. The scientists stated that the decline was a result of overfishing, pollution and other environmental factors that were reducing the population of fisheries at the same time as their ecosystems were being annihilated. This is a crisis for the industry and the global population in general. Developing and sharing regenerative aquaculture practices is not only innovative, but essential to our future.
Resources
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS - FAO.ORG
Fish continues to be one of the most-traded food commodities worldwide with more than half of fish exports by value originating in developing countries. Recent reports by experts, international organizations, industry and civil society representatives all highlight the tremendous potential of the oceans and inland waters now, and even more so in the future, to contribute significantly to food security and adequate nutrition for a global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050.
Social Responsibility in the Global Seafood Industry
BACKGROUND AND RESOURCES - FISHWISE.ORG
Across the world, reports of ethical concerns about human and labor rights issues in seafood supply chains are increasing. This white paper aims to serve as a tool to help conservation NGOs and human rights experts join forces to improve human and labor rights in the seafood industry. It also seeks to provide businesses with background on the drivers of human rights and labor abuses (e.g. trafficking and forced labor), as well as resources business can utilize to plan and implement social responsibility protocols within their supply chains.
The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment, also known as the “World Ocean Assessment I”, is the outcome of the first cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. The first World Ocean Assessment provides an important scientific basis for the consideration of ocean issues by Governments, intergovernmental processes, and all policy-makers and others involved in ocean affairs.
An important role for best practices is organizational learning. At any given time, there are various initiatives within the industry which lead to process improvements. Often, these are not codified, but informal best practices that arise from trial and error rather than a focused effort. Seafood Commons is a technical support system for meaningful collaboration between industry stakeholders that advances regeneration. Here are some examples of organizations embodying and disseminating such practices.
Resources
Global Aquaculture Alliance
The Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to advocacy, education, and leadership in responsible aquaculture. Through the development of our Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification standards, GAA has become the leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood. We uphold and engage stakeholders worldwide who are dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture practices.
Rebuilding tropical fisheries with coastal communities
Blue Ventures develops transformative approaches for catalyzing and sustaining locally led marine conservation. We work in places where the ocean is vital to local cultures and economies, and are committed to protecting marine biodiversity in ways that benefit coastal people.
GreenWave is an ocean farmer and fisherman-run organization dedicated to building a new blue-green economy that creates jobs, mitigates climate change and grows healthy food for local communities. We envision a day when there are thousands of restorative ocean farms on coasts around the world contributing food, fertilizers, energy and much more to local economies, while saving our oceans – and ourselves.
The seafood industry contributes US$230 billion to the global economy, creating jobs that support to 8% of the world’s population. One billion people rely on fish as their primary source of protein. The ocean provides more than half of our oxygen. Healthy fish populations keep the ocean healthy.
