Reef-World has expanded its impact, welcomed new team members, and embraced growth while prioritising employee well-being

The Reef-World Foundation — the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism and the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative —released its Impact Report for 2022 – 2023, outlining a year of significant achievements, innovative initiatives and groundbreaking collaboration.

In a year marked by global challenges, The Reef-World Foundation has been resilient and continued to excel in its mission to protect and conserve coral reefs and related ecosystems. The organisation has expanded its impact, welcomed new team members and embraced the opportunity for growth, all while remaining dedicated to the well-being of its employees.

Chair of The Reef-World Foundation, Vic Hancock Fell, said, “The past year has been both challenging and transformative. We’ve embraced new faces and a culture of care, further igniting our passion for safeguarding coral reefs and our natural world. We’ve redefined our strategic objectives to drive immediate, collective action in the marine tourism industry.”

Impact Report Highlights

• Our Programmes: Green Fins, Reef-World’s flagship program, continues to set environmental industry standards and has made significant strides in protecting coral reefs globally. The Green Fins network now covers over 60 countries, an expansion from 14 in the previous year! Through the Youth Ambassador Programme, 2,432 students in the Dominican Republic are educated about marine ecology, creating Youth Ambassadors for reef protection.
• Sustainability Targets: Reef-World diligently works toward achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water). 
• Impactful Partnerships: In partnership with Reef-World, PADI established Eco Centers to recognise continuous conservation commitments. Reef-World’s supported survey, featuring partners like PADI, RAID, PSS, and ZuBlu, garnered 2,400 responses from April to June 2022, uncovering evolving travel trends and sustainability’s growing role in post-COVID-19 tourism.
• Expanding Communications: Reef-World’s refined approach amplifies its global message of sustainable marine tourism through increased social media engagement, press coverage, and a reformed communications strategy.
• Diversity and Inclusion: Reef-World’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion is reflected in its core values, culture of care and workforce capacity-building.

In the face of pressing climate change impacts, the need for immediate climate action is undeniable. The Reef-World Foundation has set the stage for a future where marine tourism will champion sustainable practices as the norm, offering solutions and hope for the world’s coral reefs.

Looking Forward

As Reef-World continues to grow and innovate, it remains committed to promoting environmental conservation and employee well-being. The organisation’s dedication to a Culture of Care and its efforts in fostering Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) set a shining example for the marine conservation sector and beyond.

“The launch of Green Fins Hub is positively a dream come true for us all, seeing the fruits of our labour over the years, and this is only the beginning. There is lots more work to be done, and now Reef-World has stronger foundations upon which to build, the only way is onwards and upwards,” said JJ Harvey, Operations Director at the Reef-World Foundation 

The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IDB Lab, The Matthew Good Foundation, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and GIZ (German development agency) in Jordan.

Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; WildSocks, Charitable Travel and Seven Dragons, without whom these achievements would not be possible. 

Find the full 2022–2023 Impact Report on Reef-World’s website.

Thursday 29th June, Westminster: The Shark Trust is celebrating as The Shark Fins Act passes into UK law, effectively reinforcing existing shark finning regulation through the broad application of global best practice.

“The Shark Fins Act now enshrines Fins Naturally Attached into UK law,” said Ali Hood, Director of Conservation for the Shark Trust. The Act not only applies to UK fisheries but also prohibits the import and export of detached shark fins, whether loose or in products. And whilst not an all-out ban on shark fin consumption and trade, Hood says, “this creates a more challenging environment for would-be traders, simplifying customs checks, and enabling the UK to hold other countries to the same standards to which we hold ourselves.”

Earlier this month The Shark Fins Act completed its passage through both Houses of Westminster supported unanimously by MPs and Peers from all sides. The Shark Trust has engaged in proceedings with interest, acknowledging this historic step in a 20 year journey from the first Shark Finning Regulation in 2003.

Shark finning (the removal of shark fins at sea and the discard of the carcass overboard) was banned in Europe and as a result the UK in 2003, following a campaign championed by UK Members of the European Parliament. In 2009 the UK took steps to further tighten shark finning regulation requiring sharks to be landed with their fins still naturally attached. The EU took a further four years to adopt equivalent legislation (2013), finally prohibiting the landing of detached fins by EU vessels.
Christina Rees MP introduced the Act to The House of Commons in 2022 as a Private Members Bill, which successfully garnered cross-party support. The Bill then passed to ‘the other House’ in January 2023, where Baroness Jones of Whitchurch led the debate in the Lords. The Peers demonstrated a clear grasp of the issues involved, and shark finning and the fin trade were discussed as a facet of overfishing, which is widely accepted as the greatest threat to sharks.

“I’m pleased to have played a small part in bringing an end to this cruel and wasteful practice,” said Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, “but the real thanks should go to the shark and marine conservation charities who did so much to highlight the need for a ban.”

Christina Rees, MP for Neath and Port Talbot added, “It has been a great privilege to take this hugely important Act through the House of Commons, and I am delighted to see it receive Royal Assent.”
Rees continued saying, “I want to put on record my thanks to campaigners in the marine conservation charities, including the Shark Trust, Shark Guardian, and Bite-Back, who have worked tirelessly to highlight the need to establish a law. My thanks also go to Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, for all her hard work in ensuring the Act’s orderly passage through the Lords.”

“This Act represents years of work and is the culmination of the leadership role taken by the UK on shark finning regulation. Banning the import and export of detached fins is a important addition to the fins naturally attached policy.” Hood went on to say, “The Shark Trust is pleased to have been able to play its part, providing briefings and expertise at many junctures. Massive thanks to all the organisations and members of the public who have so passionately campaigned for tighter finning regulation over the years.”

Manufacturing companies around the world create plastic products using synthetic polymers. These products have affected our marine ecology for years, and understanding their effects will help you learn how to help ocean life. Read on to learn more about the effects of synthetic polymers in the ocean and why keeping them away from water sources is essential.

What Are Polymers?

Polymers are combinations of different chemicals that form a new product. These polymers have two varieties: synthetic and natural. The difference between synthetic and natural polymers is in how they’re made. 

Natural polymers occur naturally, such as from the adhesion found in tree bark, while people manufacture synthetic polymers. Synthetic polymers may come from natural or synthetic molecules that combine to make a new product, and in most cases, that polymer will make a type of plastic product.

Harmful Chemicals

Synthetic polymers degrade over time, and their environment will significantly impact how they break down. In wet environments such as a lake or the sea, the chemicals of the polymer will “wash” away because of the water and mix with the liquid. This mixture presents a toxic threat to marine life, such as fish and amphibians.

The ingested toxins will also present a danger to people who fish as the fish they catch may cause sickness when not cooked correctly. Keep synthetic polymers away from water as much as possible. Even small streams eventually lead to larger bodies of water where fish may come into contact with chemicals.

Choking Hazards

Many animals eat various objects that humans wouldn’t consider eating, such as paper or old food scraps. Animals may unintentionally ingest plastic, thinking it’s food due to the smell or substances on it. Synthetic polymers may have a sharp point or an awkward shape that could cause the animal to choke.

This is a common effect synthetic polymers have on the ocean. Many water-dwelling animals suffer from choking, strangulation, or severe sickness when they ingest synthetic polymers. Smaller plastics are a problem because more animals can eat them, and larger animals tend to accumulate them.

Take time to recycle plastics or prevent them from falling into a water source. Since animals are everywhere, they will eventually find plastic and may take a bite.

Reduction in Populations

The dangerous effects of synthetic polymers will lead to more marine life dying or becoming too sick to fend for themselves. The resulting deaths will eventually decrease certain populations and create a domino effect that harms other species. Many animals rely on the presence of other animals, and when one species has a depression in its population or a new threat takes the stage, the ecosystem will feel it.

Keeping synthetic polymers away from bodies of water is essential to protecting and conserving marine environments. Remember these effects as you walk in nature, throw away the trash, or sort through recycling; synthetic polymers are everywhere, and protecting marine life will ensure that there aren’t as many harmful effects on the planet.

On Saturday 20th May thousands of people united on their local beaches to protest against sewage in our seas. The Surfers Against Sewage event brought people together to shout about keeping the water they loved spending time in clean.

Surfers Against Sewage is a marine conservation charity working with communities to protect oceans, waves, beaches and marine life. It was created in 1990 by a group of Cornish surfers from the villages of St Agnes and Porthtowan on the north coast of Cornwall.

The event created a stir nationally and invited anyone and everyone to be heard, to voice their concerns and worries about the condition of the water that they interact with and in. It allowed people to say that enough is enough. 

Protesters took to the water around the country to demand change. The organised and peaceful demonstrations were led by surfers, paddle boards, divers, kayakers and swimmers. Everyone of them having the same goal, to just feel safer in the water.

Thankyou SAS for continuously fighting for all of us and for bringing us together. 

Learn more about SAS at: https://www.sas.org.uk

Preservation of the oceans and water systems has become one of the most important challenges of the modern era. Water and the life of the oceans are crucial for life on our planet and this is why it’s worth knowing how to protect it. We got some expert fishing tips from FindYourFish regarding the preservation of wildlife through sustainable fishing. 

The Problem of Overfishing 

Before we jump into the information about sustainable fishing, let’s talk about one of the biggest problems with this activity. Overfishing is very common nowadays. It can result in an immediate payoff for those who catch fish. However, it also causes a drastic reduction in the already very small fish population. 

When too many fish are taken from the ocean, there is no time and opportunity for species to reproduce, and in effect, we can even face species extinctions. If the balance is not kept, fishing can destroy waters which has dreadful consequences not only on marine ecosystems but also the lives of many people. 

The Importance of Sustainable Fishing 

Sustainable fishing is usually practiced on a small-scale and can be called artisanal. This type of fishing considers economic, social, and environmental problems. The goal of it is to protect fragile ecosystems, as well as support local communities, and to help people benefit from artisanal fishing. 

In sustainable fishing, respect for the marine ecosystem is very important. This type of fishing is adapted to the reproductive rate of fish. In effect, the balance of fish is kept, and that provides a higher probability for the survival of all species. 

The idea of sustainable fishing is to catch only the species that are not endangered and which can be used for commercial purposes. The bycatch rate is decreased to the minimum. 

Thanks to the locality of sustainable fishing, over 66% of all catches go directly to local populations. This increases food security and reduces pollution connected to fish transport. 

It might be hard to believe but 90% of employment in the global fishing industry is provided by artisanal fishing. Because of that, small fishing communities can develop and people can have better chances for employment.  

How Anglers Can Fish More Sustainably 

If you are an angler, perhaps you wonder how you can make your fishing more sustainable and eco friendly. There are a few ways to do it. 

Using a rod with only a few hooks is already quite a sustainable choice. You can monitor which fish bite and quickly remove those that shouldn’t leave the waters. When you learn how to unhook fish correctly, they can easily go back to the water unharmed. Choose more modern gear, especially hooks that were designed to not damage fish, even when caught. 

As an angler, you should always check the rules about species you can catch and take home with you. Be sure to always refresh those rules, as they can change depending on the region, as well as on the time of year. Many fish cannot be caught during their breeding season. 

University of Arizona Professor achieves an underwater first – ‘camping’.

A May 2023 diving science and technology exercise successfully demonstrated the concept of an ‘underwater camping trip’.

The project took place within the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 facility, which is best known for its enclosed environments for earth science research, as well as studying human performance within such environments. The Biosphere 2 recently celebrated the recent accomplishment of enabling terrestrial Mars simulations at the Biosphere.

Within the Biosphere is an ‘ocean’, which for three years has been utilized as a testbed to advance lightweight, portable underwater tent technology. The technology’s co-inventors, Michael Lombardi of Lombardi Undersea LLC (Rhode Island), and Dr. Winslow Burleson of the University of Arizona were awarded a patent for the technology in 2018 entitled “Portable Inflatable Habitat with Modular Payload, System and Method”. The patent was licensed to Subsalve USA, also of Rhode Island, the leader in engineered inflatables for underwater applications who supplies commercial and defense customers worldwide. Subsalve Founder & Chief Growth Officer Rick Fryburg commented, “We are very proud to contribute our 40 years of manufacturing expertise within the subsea inflatable space to making these important scientific advances.”

The ‘tent’, or habitat, provides a relatively dry and protected space underwater for divers to enter, remove their equipment, and carry out any number of tasks before returning to the surface. Michael Lombardi commented, “Underwater habitation and the quest to live beneath the sea has been a dream for over half a century, though is met with very complex challenges – the reality of human physiology and expense make it a difficult proposition. Techniques in saturation diving, where humans live under pressure for weeks or longer, are well established and used in the offshore oil and gas industries via mobile diving saturation vessels. By contrast, marine science has sporadically made use of fixed permanent habitats resting on the seafloor. Both rely on high operational costs and heavy infrastructure. In the last 20 years, techniques in ‘technical diving’, typically for sport, have made dive excursions in excess of 5 hours using only personal life support fairly routine. We’ve leveraged technology and techniques from that sector to afford a new lightweight mode of intervention, akin to camping, where we’ve demonstrated these 5 hours can be extended to a day or more all without the massive infrastructure of the current paradigm”. 

During the recent tests at Biosphere 2, the Ocean Space Habitat® system was deployed by a small team, then Professor Win Burleson entered the habitat using life support carried independently, and spent an overnight. Total cumulative time spent underwater by Burleson along with safety divers was 26 person hours. He stated, “I was able to get comfortable enough to sleep through the night and be reliant on the ultra portable self-contained life systems engineered for the habitat. This capability results in orders of magnitude less expense than conventional fixed habitats and saturation diving, and exposes a new cross section in human intervention that might make advances in marine sciences possible”.

In today’s marine science paradigm, researchers require being mobile, visiting multiple sites, even within a single field mission. Lombardi went on to state, “…the underwater value is analogous to a backpacking excursion – we certainly learn more from an overnight in the environment than a short walk [scuba]in the park. When coupling our portable habitat technology with modern rebreather (gas recycling) apparatus, spending up to a few days underwater is well within reach. Within this model, an environment can be responsibly studied, but not beat up and destroyed by heavy dive traffic over lengthy periods of time which has been the case with previous permanent stations.”

During the recent Biosphere 2 mission, Northeastern University’s Ocean Genome Legacy (OGL) partnered with the project. Burleson and Lombardi collected marine organism tissue samples which have been isolated within Biosphere 2’s ‘ocean’ for 30 years, and processed them within the Ocean Space Habitat® to demonstrate use as a viable science station. Genomic libraries will be constructed by the OGL and maintained in repository such that researchers not having access to the Biosphere’s ocean may still study its novel biodiversity. Lombardi shared, “there are numerous very challenging ocean environments that are far from fully understood, and the reality is that accessing them requires considerable specialization. Our team has been developing these capabilities since the early 2000s, initially within the now defunct NOAA Undersea Research Program (NURP) framework and now also privately, and we’re now ready to meet the call for unlocking the ocean’s many secrets in ways that robotic intervention cannot. A core team of ‘Aquanauts’ can be trained and mobilized using our habitat systems along with associated technology and techniques to afford science with dexterous manipulation [hands], spatial awareness [eyes], and rapid decision making [brain]within these environments.”

Research and development efforts are ongoing.

This Earth Day, Explorer Ventures Fleet is celebrating the planet by donating $100 per person from each new Caribbean booking to ocean conservation! Whether you’re a dedicated conservationist or a diver just wanting to do the right thing, you can feel good about booking a trip this April. 

How it works: Reserve a liveaboard holiday on two Green Fins’ certified vessels Caribbean Explorer II or Turks & Caicos Explorer II between April 19-26, for travel now until the end of December 2023. Then Explorer Ventures will donate $100 per person to local marine conservation efforts. Donations will be sent to Saba’s Sea & Learn Program (Caribbean Explorer II) or the Turks & Caicos Reef Fund (Turks & Caicos Explorer II).

This month’s donation offer is a small part of Explorer Ventures Fleet’s Dive Green environmental management program. They are constantly taking steps towards more sustainable operations. Other recent steps have included:

• Creating a new Dive Green downloadable conservation toolkit. This info package goes pre-trip to the Caribbean & Turks & Caicos guests. However, it’s now available in one spot online for everyone to read to encourage all guests to help protect our reefs. 
• Reducing paper usage at the head office and at tradeshows. 
• Donating free trips to help raise funds for conservation organizations like Shark Angels.
• Implementing anchor policies that minimize impact on marine life. 
• Conducting two beach cleanup events, a third coming soon.  
• Starting micro-plastic monitoring with Sint Maarten Nature Foundation.
• Assisting the local community with mooring installation and reef surveys.
• Adding more fleet vessels as Green Fins members, completing assessments and starting their individual action programs.

Learn more about Dive Green here.

Help Explorer Ventures celebrate the planet. Book a trip today! – https://www.explorerventures.com

Terms & Conditions: The Earth Day Special is valid for new reservations only, booked and deposited between April 19-26, 2023 for travel from April 19-December 31, 2023. The donation offer cannot be combined with group comps or FAM trips. Not applicable on existing bookings made before April 19, 2023. Additional booking terms and requirements may apply, contact us for details.

Three years after the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), a global conference will bring together the Ocean Decade community and partners to celebrate achievements and set joint priorities for the future of the Decade.

Hosted by Spain and co-organized with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO), the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference will take place on 10-12 April 2024 in the coastal city of Barcelona.

The event will be a key moment for governments, leaders, maritime sectors, philanthropy, universities, private sector, NGOs and more, to take stock of the achievements of the first three years of the Decade and define a collective vision for the coming years.

More details about the programme, registration process and calls for proposals for satellite events will be available soon.

Learn more in our Event Calendar or if you would like to receive updates, please sign up here

The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup (DRCC) executes the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) on behalf of a community-based partnership dedicated to protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Detroit River ecosystem. The federal, provincial, and municipal governments, local industries, scientific researchers, local environmental organizations, and many concerned citizens are vital partners in the cleanup effort. Member organizations of the DRCC take the lead in identifying partnerships and funding opportunities to support and implement clean-up goals.

Read The Scuba News Article on “Detroit River is a Graveyard of Artifacts”

As a strait in the Great Lakes system, the Detroit River flows west and south for 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. The river separates the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, known as the Detroit-Windsor area, and forms part of the border between Canada and the United States. The cities are linked by the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel.

About the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup

Partnerships within the DRCC aim to promote and implement the Remedial Action Plan to restore the beneficial uses of the Detroit River, with the ultimate goal of removing the Detroit River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. We are managing the health of the local environment and working to reduce the harmful effects of increased urbanization on our natural spaces in collaboration with community groups and partners such as Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA). These organizations’ representatives manage the Detroit River Canadian Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and contribute to projects that improve the Great Lakes’ environmental conditions.

Detroit River Cleanup

A South Tyneside Council-led project aims to strengthen North Eastern coastlines and communities in the face of flooding, erosion and the impacts of climate change

South Tyneside Council has secured £6.9m in funding for the region’s Stronger Shores initiative, which will take a new approach to making British coastlines and communities stronger in the face of flooding, erosion and the impacts of climate change.

The project explores how to use the power of nature to restore our ocean’s health while cementing a more sustainable, healthy and prosperous future for coastal communities. Through Stronger Shores’ game-changing potential, the North East is trailblazing a path for the UK to be a world-leader in establishing proven, affordable and long-term solutions to the climate crisis.

This project is funded by Defra as part of the £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to help communities become more resilient to the effects of flooding and climate change.

Councillor Ernest Gibson, Lead Member for Transport and Neighbourhoods at South Tyneside Council and Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG) said: “Our coastline is one of our greatest treasures but, over the years, important natural habitats have been lost. Many areas are threatened by flooding, erosion and storms and climate change will only make this worse. If we do nothing, habitats, man-made coastal defences and communities could all suffer. That’s why we’re proud to have secured this funding for Stronger Shores, which will allow us to turn to the hidden habitats below the waves for an affordable, long-term solution.”

Councillor Gibson continued: “Traditional man-made coastal protection solutions are often expensive to install, maintain and replace. Sand dunes and saltmarshes offer protection but are themselves threatened by rising sea levels and development pressures. However, marine habitats such as seagrass meadows, kelp forests and oyster reefs can act as natural buffers that protect coastlines, enhance community benefits and reduce maintenance costs for existing coastal protection. By investing in protecting these seabed habitats now, we hope to see ongoing benefits for people and planet.”

Through Stronger Shores, a network of experts will test new restoration approaches to better understand how these habitats can benefit communities in the North East and beyond through: improving water quality, reducing erosion and structural damage, helping to stabilise shorelines, reducing wave impacts, creating rich wildlife, protecting against pollution, improving fisheries, protecting against climate change, providing community recreation areas, and extending the lifespan of man-made coastal defences.

The project is supported by: Newcastle University, University of Plymouth, Tees Rivers Trust, The North Sea Wildlife Trusts, Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Groundwork North East & Cumbria (GWNEC).

Celine Gamble, Restoration Project Manager, Zoological Society of London added: “This Stronger Shores funding will help us and Groundwork North East and Cumbria build on our previous work on the Wild Oyster Project. By allowing us to scale up, this investment will mean we can increase our habitat restoration efforts and deliver a more extensive, longer-term monitoring programme. As a result, we’ll be able to better understand and quantify the benefits of native oyster reefs for local habitats and communities. Even more exciting is the potential to transform how the UK government approaches coastal protection. Proving the success of affordable, long-term solutions to coastal threats – such as native oyster reefs – could justify policy change and unlock future funding for marine habitat restoration.”

Clare Fitzsimmons, Professor of Marine Ecosystems and Governance, from Newcastle University, said: “We are very excited to be working with Stronger Shores in the delivery of ground-breaking, interdisciplinary research to determine the roles of natural and restored kelp, seagrass and oyster beds in protecting our coasts. We will pilot restoration of key habitats testing new techniques to support recovery, while making sure our innovative measurement and monitoring methods can identify the most effective solutions. Then, working with University of Plymouth, we can identify critical links between ecological outcomes and benefits for society, filling significant knowledge gaps and testing a robust framework for future projects to follow.”

Mark Dinning, Head of Conservation, for Durham Wildlife Trust, said: “Connecting people with the marine environment is vitally important in securing its protection and restoration. Durham, Northumberland and Tees Valley Wildlife Trusts are excited to be delivering this element of the Stronger Shores programme. Stronger Shores offers opportunities to boost existing conservation projects by sharing resources, expertise and information with other organisations. Expertise from the North Sea Wildlife Trusts will allow the development of important seagrass restoration work along the North East England coast by testing innovative methodologies for seed planting and monitoring. This is a practical, value-for-money approach that can save money, assets and infrastructure later if we can create a proven framework for others follow – not just in the North East but across the UK and beyond.”

Simon Wilson, Environment Agency Area Flood and Coastal Risk Manager for the North East, said: “We’re excited to be supporting Stronger Shores, which has huge potential to help communities become more resilient to the effects of flooding and climate change. It’s one of 25 innovative projects being funded by Defra as part of the £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, which is managed by the Environment Agency. Climate change is happening now and we will see future impact on people, communities, wildlife and the economy. Stronger Shores will be key in finding long-term solutions to protect communities across South Tyneside and the rest of the country. We look forward to using the evidence gathered to inform future management approaches around the coast.”

Stronger Shores is expected to launch in Spring 2023 and there will be lots of opportunities for members of the public to get involved through volunteering, citizen science and more. In the meantime, South Tyneside Council is keen to hear people’s views on the project. For more information or to share views, email strongershores@southtyneside.gov.uk

The following is adapted from the prologue to the 25th anniversary edition of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature (Greystone Books), released in December.

As host of the long-running television series The Nature of Things, I learned of the battle over clearcut logging on Haida Gwaii, off the coast of British Columbia, in the 1970s. For thousands of years, the islands have been home to the Haida. Forest companies had been denuding much of the islands by clearcut logging, which had generated growing opposition.

In the early 1980s, I flew to Haida Gwaii to interview loggers, forestry officials, government bureaucrats, environmentalists and Indigenous people. One of the people I interviewed was a young Haida artist named Guujaaw who had led the opposition to logging for years.

Unemployment was high in Haida communities, and logging generated desperately needed jobs. So I asked Guujaaw why he opposed the logging. He answered, “Our people have determined that Windy Bay and other areas must be left in their natural condition so that we can keep our identity and pass it on to following generations. The forests, those oceans, are what keep us as Haida people today.”

When I asked him what would happen if the logging continued and the trees were cleared, he answered simply, “If they’re logged off, we’ll probably end up the same as everyone else, I guess.”

It was a simple statement whose implications escaped me at the time. But on reflection, I realized that he had given me a glimpse into a profoundly different way of seeing the world. Guujaaw’s statement suggested that for his people, the trees, the birds, the fish, the water and wind are all parts of Haida identity.

Ever since that interview, I have been a student learning from encounters with Indigenous Peoples in many parts of the world. From Japan to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Borneo, the Kalahari, the Amazon and the Arctic, Indigenous people have expressed to me that vital need to be connected to the land. They refer to Earth as their Mother, who they say gives birth to us. Moreover, skin enfolds our bodies but does not define our limits because water, gases and heat dissipating from our bodies radiate outward, joining us to the world around us. What I have learned is a perspective that we are an inseparable part of a community of organisms that are our kin.

With this realization, I also saw that environmentalists like me had been framing the issue improperly. There is no environment “out there” that is separate from us. We can’t manage our impact on the environment if we are our surroundings. Indigenous people are absolutely correct: we are born of the Earth and constructed from the four sacred elements of earth, air, fire and water. (Hindus add a fifth element, space.)

Once I had finally understood the truth of these ancient wisdoms, I also realized that we are intimately fused to our surroundings and the notion of separateness or isolation is an illusion. Through reading I came to understand that science reaffirms the profundity of these ancient truths over and over again.

We are no more removed from nature than any other creature, even in the midst of a large city. Our animal nature dictates our essential needs: clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean energy. This led me to another insight, that these four “sacred elements” are created, cleansed and renewed by the web of life itself. If there is to be a fifth sacred element, it is biodiversity itself. And whatever we do to these elements, we do directly to ourselves.

At the most basic level, we require the five sacred elements to live rich, full lives. But when those basic necessities are met, a new set of needs arises. We are social animals, and the most profound force shaping our humanity is love. And when that vital social requirement is fulfilled, then a new level of spiritual needs arises as an urgent priority. This is how I made the fundamental re-examination of our relationship with Earth that led to The Sacred Balance.

The challenge of this millennium is to recognize what we need to live rich, rewarding lives without undermining the very elements that ensure them.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation.

Learn more at https://www.davidsuzuki.org

Court of International Trade bans import of fish from certain New Zealand fisheries to protect the Māui dolphin.

Today, in a lawsuit brought jointly by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Sea Shepherd New Zealand (collectively Sea Shepherd) to protect the critically endangered Māui dolphin, the United States Court of International Trade ordered a ban of imports of nine fish species caught off the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. The ban specifically applies to set-net and trawl fisheries operating in Māui dolphin habitat. 

The Māui dolphin is found only in New Zealand waters and most recent estimates suggest between only 48 and 64 individual dolphins over the age of one year remain. Sea Shepherd brought its lawsuit against the United States Department of Commerce under the Marine Mammal Protection Act because set-net and trawl fisheries that overlap with Māui dolphin habitat result in injury and death to dolphins in excess of United States standards. The preliminary import ban will remain in place until the United States makes a valid finding that New Zealand’s regulatory program for the fisheries is comparable in effectiveness to the U.S. regulatory program or until the court case is fully resolved. 

“The Court’s ruling sends a strong signal to New Zealand and other countries that unless they can show their fisheries regulatory program is comparable to the U.S. regulatory program, they risk an import ban,” said Pritam Singh, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “The Court found we are likely to succeed on two of our legal claims and that a preliminary import ban for these nine species was in the public interest. We agree.” 

“This is a victory for independent science, which, in this case clearly demonstrated the technology used by the fisheries at issue – indiscriminate set nets and trawls – were putting the endangered Māui dolphin at greater risk of extinction,” said Michael Lawry, Managing Director of Sea Shepherd New Zealand. “We’re happy the Court of International Trade recognized the urgency of this situation for the Māui dolphin and agreed with us that an import ban was legally required.” 

The nine fish species included in the Court’s injunction are: 1) snapper; (2) tarakihi; (3) spotted dogfish; (4) trevally; (5) warehou; (6) hoki; (7) barracouta; (8) mullet; and (9) gurnard deriving from New Zealand’s West Coast North Island multi-species set-net and trawl fisheries. 

Sea Shepherd is represented in the lawsuit by Lia Comerford and Allison LaPlante of Earthrise Law Center, at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. 

Learn more about Sea Shepherd and Sea Shepherd New Zealand at: https://www.seashepherd.org and http://www.seashepherd.org.nz/

Fisheries Analyst

Preferred location: Halifax, NS or Vancouver, BC

Period: January 9 to August 31, 2023, temporary full-time

Reports to: Director of Science and Fishery Scientist

Summary

Oceana Canada was established as an independent charity in 2015 and is part of the largest international advocacy group dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana Canada has successfully campaigned to end the shark fin trade, make rebuilding depleted fish populations the law, improve the way fisheries are managed and protect marine habitat.

Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with an ocean surface area of 7.1 million square kilometres, or 70 per cent of its landmass. Oceana Canada believes that Canada has a national and global obligation to manage our natural resources responsibly and help ensure a sustainable source of protein for the world’s growing population.

Oceana Canada works with civil society, academics, fishers, Indigenous Peoples and the federal government to return Canada’s formerly vibrant oceans to health and abundance. By restoring Canada’s oceans, we can strengthen our communities, reap greater economic and nutritional benefits, and protect our future.

Oceana Canada seeks a Fisheries Analyst to play a key role in support of its campaigns. The position requires of strong quantitative research abilities and communication skills. The Analyst will provide new projections assessing fisheries recovery in Canada, using the best available research findings and consultations with experts. The Analyst will also provide science support for developing the 2023 Fishery Audit.

Principal duties and Responsibilities

1. Produce a report and dataset that describes the rationale for positive biomass trajectories of stocks if Canada implements the rebuilding plans expected by 2025 and if quota decisions are consistent with advice. Estimate the increase in the number and biomass of healthy stocks over different time frames e.g. 5 & 10 years, incorporating vulnerability to climate change.
2. Synthesize information through literature searches, government reports, management plans and other sources that will be used to update our Fishery Audit in 2023.

Requirements

• Graduate level degree in a relevant scientific discipline with practical and relevant experience.
• Strong knowledge of fisheries science and conservation.
• Strong quantitative and statistical skills and the ability to interpret, build and analyze large datasets.
• Excellent writing, editing, communication and research skills required.
• The successful candidate must be available for full-time work in Canada.

Oceana Canada is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with Nova Scotia Accessibility Act, support will be provided in the recruitment process and accommodations for disabilities will be provided on request wherever appropriate.  All offers of employment are conditional upon the successful completion of reference checks and a criminal background check.

While we thank all candidates for their interest, only those short-listed will be contacted.

TO APPLY: Please apply at the link below no later than Monday, December 12, 2022, for the best consideration. Applications will be assessed upon receipt; therefore, we encourage early submission.

Apply Here: Fisheries Analyst

Scuba divers rally to protect an unprecedented 60 threatened species

PADI^® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors^®) is celebrating a major win today in their fight to save sharks. At the 19^th meeting of CITES (the Convention on Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in Panama City, government representatives agreed to restrict international trade for all requiem sharks, one of the biggest family of species, all hammerhead sharks, and all guitar sharks adding an extra 60 species to the list of shark species protected by CITES on Appendix II.

This positive outcome follows PADI being asked by the host nation of Panama to provide specialist advice and research to all attending government representatives to help secure support for a critical vote to double the amount of protected shark and ray species.  In the lead-up to this important vote, PADI actively mobilized their global community of 128,000 PADI Professionals, 6,600 PADI Dive Centers and Resorts, and the over 29 million certified PADI Divers to take part by urging their own local governments to take action at CITES – and asking all ocean torchbearers (whether a diver or not) who are passionately committed to creating positive ocean change to sign the petition that urged governments to vote “YES”.

“Today’s decision to restrict the unsustainable global trade in some of the most threatened species on the planet provides us all with a hope and optimism that we are not too late to end the dramatic declines in the ocean’s most iconic, and critical, animals,” said Ian Campbell, Associate Director of Policy and Campaigns for the PADI AWARE Foundation^TM, which is PADI’s global non-profit. 

“The listing of requiem sharks, an iconic group of species that includes diver favorites such as the blacktip reef shark, bull shark and grey reef shark sends a strong signal that healthy populations of these animals are economically important far more than just the trade in their harvested fins, meat and organs.”

Shark tourism generates hundreds of millions of dollars globally, contributing to the economies of countries around the world and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. Previous studies of the tourism sector indicate shark-based tourism is on track to generate over three-quarters of a billion dollars a year over the next decade.

With the global pandemic having a significant impact on the economies of island nations such as Fiji, the Maldives and the Bahamas, the growth in shark tourism is likely to play a significant role in the financial recovery of countries with healthy shark populations around the world.

“This result, to limit the international trade in shark species that are found at the world’s most popular dive spots, will bring a huge economic boost to communities across the globe,” says Julio Salvatori, the South America Regional Manager for PADI and technical adviser to the Panamanian government. “The prospect of diving with sharks in their natural environment is a major attraction for the recreational dive sector, many of which made their concerns known to the decision-makers. We are optimistic that this can be a turning point for shark populations worldwide.”

Recent studies have indicated that sharks – and their close relatives the rays – are one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Over a third of all species are classed as facing an increased risk of extinction, mainly due to overfishing, habitat loss and unsustainable trade.

“We commend the strong leadership and commitment to conservation shown by the government of Panama, supported by many others, to secure this much-needed trade restriction,” continues Campbell. We also realize that this decision is only the start of the recovery for many shark species, and the revenue-generating recreational diving sector is primed to play its role in implementing the commitments made today.”

Protecting sharks is a core component of PADI’s Blueprint for Ocean Action, with the established goal of reducing the number of sharks and rays facing extinction by 25% in the next decade. To date, PADI has already helped secure protection measures for 51 species of sharks and rays, with today’s vote more than doubling that number to a total of 105 species. 

To learn more about how to support PADI’s continued conservation efforts to save vulnerable marine species like sharks, visit https://www.padi.com/aware

Reef-World reveals developments that will create lasting and systemic change for the marine environment

The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – today released its 2021-2022 annual report highlighting its major developments to spur inclusive growth of the Green Fins initiative for coral reef protection globally. The report shows the resilience of the organisation amid unprecedented times.

“Not only did they manage to navigate the disruption and stresses of pandemic life from different parts of the world, but they also used this time to reflect, resourcefully adapt, and prepare for the eventual resumption of international travel and dive tourism. As the world gradually reopened over the last year, the team were more than ready to hit the ground running across the various project countries, with even more drive and determination,” said Viv Stein-Rostaing, Chair of The Reef-World Foundation.

One of the year’s main highlights is the rebranding of Green Fins, a brand which has not changed since it was created in 2004. The rebrand comes as the urgency of Green Fins’ work ramps up due to climate change impacts. It represents the initiative’s global expansion, the evolution of its network and the inclusivity of all its stakeholders. Another major milestone includes the release of the new Green Fins Diver e-Course, further increasing the accessibility of marine environmental knowledge and tips on reducing environmental impact whilst diving.

Green Fins activities at popular diving destinations started to buzz again, and Reef-World supported the national governments of  Costa Rica and Japan to launch Green Fins and trained new Green Fins assessors in the Dominican Republic and the Philippines. Other major developments such as the Green Fins Hub, a new type of digital membership and Green Fins membership structure updates are now launched in September 2022, months after the annual report operational year.

Green Fins collection of educational materials, which covers guidance on tackling every environmental challenge facing the diving industry has also been bolstered. Four new guidelines for environmental best practices, two new language translations (Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia) and two posters were updated to expand the reach of its conservation message. The revamped Green Fins website, which loads faster and is more mobile-friendly, saw a 16% increase in web traffic, and communications efforts to broaden the charity’s audience resulted in a 200% increase in web traffic on Reef-World’s website.

With the growth in impact and scale, and as an exemplary marine conservation organisation, Reef-World’s Directors have embarked on the Great Organisational Shakeup, integrating a culture of care alongside an ambitious recruitment plan to meet a new strategy to ensure the long-term success of the team personally and professionally. To support staff in navigating the challenges of working remotely, the charity engaged a coach to provide regular one-to-one coaching sessions, and the results have been invaluable. In May 2022, Reef-World was ranked number six for Escape the City: Top purpose-led companies to ‘escape’ to in 2022, as one of the most progressive organisations to work for amongst 13,000 company nominations.

“The Reef-World team dreams big, and we’ve proven in the past that when we do so, big things happen. We’re super excited about the coming year. To lead and innovate for lasting change, to continue to deliver on the needs of local communities and further secure the long-term sustainability of the marine resources they rely on.” said Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation.

Reef-World would also like to thank its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IDB Lab and TUI Care Foundation; symbiotic partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for the ocean: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); The Matthew Good Foundation; Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; WildSocks, Charitable Travel and Seven Dragons. 

The full 2021–2022 Annual Report is available on Reef-World’s website.

Today, the Madagascar Whale Shark Project is announcing a new way for ocean-lovers to support its efforts to protect endangered whale sharks. The project has launched a donation-based Patreon page to enable followers to support its vital work through a monthly subscription while benefitting from brilliant insights and exclusive content at the same time!

Stella Diamant, Founder of the Madagascar Whale Shark Project, took the initiative to set up the Patreon to share the knowledge she’s gathered from setting up her project so other scientists and conservationists can benefit. On the Patreon page, Stella and her team will open the doors of the project to share exclusive content and behind-the-scenes snippets for everyone that loves the ocean as well as advice for those progressing in their conservation careers. She’ll interview inspirational figures from her network of marine scientists and experts to find out about their epic ocean stories, expertise and fieldwork. Supporters will also have early access to trips, volunteering opportunities and even the chance to name a whale shark before anybody else! 

Stella said: “When I set up the Madagascar Whale Shark Project, I learned how to set up a conservation not-for-profit simply by doing it. I felt there was a stark lack of information about the realities of working in the conservation sector and running a successful organisation. Lots of charities are happy to talk about their successes. But when it comes to the challenges, delays and frustrations, it’s often hard to find the truth about what it’s really like.”

She continued: “I don’t think it’s helpful – for individuals or the sector as a whole – if we’re only sharing what went well. That’s why I invest my time to empower other conservationists, particularly women and younger generations, to set up their own projects and share actionable advice. I also want to help people realise that you don’t have to be a marine biologist to make a difference. Marine conservation NGOs need lots of other skills: from marketing and photography to finance and project management. 

I’ve set up this Patreon to give people the knowledge that will help them thrive in their conservation careers – whether or not they come from a science background. This kind of practical information is lacking on so many topics relevant to the conservation industry which means there’s a large knowledge gap in NGOs around the world. And, of course, we’re so grateful to everyone who joins for their support to keep our project thriving too.” 

Supporters can choose how deep to dive by selecting one of four levels:

·       Shallow (€3 per month): becoming part of a passionate community dedicated to protecting the ocean by making a regular monthly donation

·       Mid-water (€8 per month): for exclusive project updates, behind-the-scenes insights and a sneak peek into Stella’s monthly interviews with conservation experts

·       Deep (€15 per month): with monthly hour-long chats with the world’s leading conservation experts to benefit from their life-changing advice

·       Abyss (€150 per month): early access to trips and volunteering opportunities, one-to-one time with Stella and the chance to name a whale shark

When Stella saw her first ever whale shark in Nosy Be, Madagascar in 2014, no work had been undertaken to establish population size, trends or how they connect with other regional groups. So, Stella set up a project with tourism operators in the region to find out this important information. Since then, the project has identified over 400 individual whale sharks, published several peer-reviewed studies, implemented a code of conduct and initiated a local education programme. Now, she’ll be sharing her extensive expertise with other conservation professionals and ocean-lovers through the Patreon page. 

For a no bullsh*t deep dive into the behind the scenes of a conservation not-for-profit (not just the exciting Instagram-worthy highlights), sign up at https://www.patreon.com/madawhalesharks. 

The five-day workweek is an anachronistic relic of a time when conditions were far different than today.

Back in 1930, renowned economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that technological advances, slowed population growth, increasing capital (or “material things”) and changing economic priorities would make three-hour shifts or a 15-hour workweek possible and desirable within 100 years.

Then, he wrote, “The love of money as a possession — as distinguished from the love of money as a means to the enjoyments and realities of life — will be recognised for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those semicriminal, semi-pathological propensities which one hands over with a shudder to the specialists in mental disease.”

Keynes cautioned, however, that the “age of leisure and abundance” could be met with dread: “For we have been trained too long to strive and not to enjoy. It is a fearful problem for the ordinary person, with no special talents, to occupy himself, especially if he no longer has roots in the soil or in custom or in the beloved conventions of a traditional society.”

Still, he remained optimistic: “I feel sure that with a little more experience we shall use the new-found bounty of nature quite differently from the way in which the rich use it to-day, and will map out for ourselves a plan of life quite otherwise than theirs.”

We’re eight years from Keynes’s 100-year prediction. Technology has advanced, more than he could have imagined. Population growth has slowed, although not stabilized. Capital has increased, albeit much wealth has been hoarded and monopolized by a few. And environmental and social crises have led many to question economic priorities. So, why are we still working hours similar to 70 years ago?

Part of the answer lies in the postwar adoption of “consumerism” as an economic model. It may also relate to the concern Keynes raised: the “dread” that people won’t know how to occupy their leisure time.

But with so many people feeling overwhelmed by an out-of-whack work-life balance, the latter isn’t an insurmountable problem. Women, especially, are feeling the crunch. Unlike in the 1950s, most have joined the workforce, but as in those days, they still do most of the housekeeping and child care.

Keynes distinguished between “absolute” and “relative” needs. The latter, he argued, “satisfy the desire for superiority,” and “may indeed be insatiable.” But Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz notes that society moulds our choices. We “learn how to consume by consuming,” he writes, and how to “enjoy leisure by enjoying leisure.”

Because we’ve failed to reduce work hours gradually, as Keynes envisioned, we’re unlikely to achieve 15-hour workweeks by 2030. But environmental and social conditions have sparked a move toward a four-day workweek. (David Suzuki Foundation staff have enjoyed a four-day workweek since its founding in 1990.)

The biggest trial is in the U.K., where 3,300 workers at 70 wide-ranging companies, from small to large, recently started working four days a week with no loss in pay. The experiment — led by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think-tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge and Oxford universities and Boston College — will “measure the impact on productivity in the business and the wellbeing of its workers, as well as the impact on the environment and gender equality,” a Guardian article says.

Governments are also backing trials in Scotland and Spain, and countries like Iceland and Sweden have run successful trials. Along with other benefits like increased vacation time and flexibility, and working from home, shorter workweeks not only give people better lives, they’re also good for the environment. Fewer people commuting means reduced pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion.

The pandemic taught us it’s possible to rapidly shift our ways of thinking and acting, especially as they relate to work. It’s past time to recognize that life isn’t given meaning through excessive consumption and toil, but by having time to spend with friends and families and by pursuing interests outside of work. That will even benefit employers by helping staff be happier, healthier and more productive.

We may not achieve Keynes’s predicted 15-hour workweeks by the end of this decade, but we can surely aim for a better balance.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington.

Learn more at davidsuzuki.org

From direct action to marine conservation research, Sea Shepherd protects endangered wildlife in some of the most fragile ecosystems.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s contributions to the scientific community are featured in the prestigious academic journal Science.

Founded in 1880, Science is internationally recognized as a top-tier academic journal, publishing the best in scientific research across a variety of disciplines. Its articles are among the most cited in the world, and the journal is a trusted primary source of high-profile, peer-reviewed scientific research.

The article highlights Sea Shepherd’s transformation from a grassroots activism organization into an international marine conservation organization, collaborating with governments and researchers worldwide. Sea Shepherd’s scientific campaigns contribute to the research needed to shape policy and enhance protections for all marine wildlife. The non-profit environmental group has expanded efforts to work with the scientific community in recent years, establishing multiple campaigns focused on supporting conservation research.

In Mexico, Sea Shepherd’s collaborative campaign with Dr. Gustavo Cárdenas Hinojosa of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, referenced in the Science article, has helped to establish one of the largest photo identification databases of Cuvier’s beaked whales in existence. In 2020, the project led to the possible discovery of a new species of whale. In 2021, researchers on board Sea Shepherd’s vessel Sharpiesighted multiple vaquitas – the rarest marine mammal in the world – contributing to updated population estimates for this critically endangered animal. This work ties closely to Sea Shepherd’s Operation Milagro, a collaborative campaign with the Government of Mexico which aims to protect the vaquita by removing illegal fishing gear from the Zero Tolerance Area of the Vaquita Refuge.

“I am grateful to Science magazine for featuring Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s science focus,” said Dr. John Payne, Sea Shepherd’s Director of Science. “Ocean life is threatened by global warming, acidification, fishing, and pollution, and it will take a concerted effort by the world’s science community to best address those threats. Sea Shepherd’s goal is to support the best scientists from countries around the world and help advance their work to protect the oceans.” 

Learn more about Sea Shepherd at: https://seashepherd.org

To reduce the pressures on coral reefs and increase the value of sustainable marine tourism

The Reef-World Foundation, the Onna Village Diving Association, the local government, and Oceana are delighted to announce that Japan is now the 14th country globally to implement the Green Fins initiative – a UN Environment Programme initiative. Onna Village in Okinawa is the first Japanese tourist destination to adopt Green Fins environmental standards to reduce the threats associated with diving and snorkelling on the marine environment.

Green Fins is piloted in Onna Village, Okinawa prefecture, an area renowned for its marine sports and has been working to protect its reefs for many years. Green Fins is implemented as part of the national Sustainable Development Goals project, which aims to manage and illustrate to the local industry how sustainable tourism can play a role in reef conservation. The economic benefits of the reefs benefit not only the fisheries industry but also the tourism industry as it has rocketed in recent decades. 

If the project is successful – proving the value of sustainable tourism – the model has the potential to be escalated to a national level. A wide rollout would allow Reef-World to focus on uptake and expansion into other marine tourism and biodiversity hotspots across Japan. Green Fins implementation in Japan would provide practical solutions to many of the common problems faced in the area. It would also help to promote high standards for diving in the country. Improving the quality of the diving industry through Green Fins would demonstrate the added value of Onna Village’s tourism product. This, in turn, will encourage tourists to spend more time and money diving in the region.

Following a week of training by Reef-World (23 to 28 May 2022), Japan now has a national Green Fins team comprised of four fully certified Green Fins Assessors and two Green Fins Coordinators from Oceana and the local government. They will be responsible for recruiting, assessing, training and certifying dive and snorkel operators to become Green Fins members in the country. This involves providing training about the ecology and threats to coral reefs, simple and local everyday solutions to these threats and Green Fins’ environmental standards to dive and snorkel operators. Green Fins membership will help marine tourism operators improve their sustainability and prove they are working hard to follow environmental best practices as a way of attracting eco-minded tourists.

James Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “We are really excited to finally introduce Green Fins in Japan. We have been planning this for almost three years, but the travel restrictions related to the pandemic hindered progress. The diving industry in Okinawa and the marine life upon which it has been built is so unique, it must be preserved for generations to come. The Okinawa diving community is very passionate about protecting their marine environment, and Green Fins has given them an opportunity to collectively work to reduce their environmental impact and pursue exemplary environmental standards.”

Diving and snorkelling related damage to sensitive marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, is becoming an increasingly significant issue. This damage makes them less likely to survive other local and wider stressors, such as overfishing or plastic debris and the effects of climate change. Based on robust individual assessments, the Green Fins initiative helps identify and mitigate these risks by providing environmental consultation and support to dive and snorkel operators. Through Green Fins implementation in Japan, Reef-World aims to reduce negative environmental impacts in the region by reaching 10 marine tourism operators, training 50 dive guides and raising awareness of sustainability best practices among 10,000 tourists in the first year.

Yuta Kawamoto, CEO of Oceana, said: “Green Fins will help to unify all the conservation efforts in Okinawa by applying the guidelines in many areas and raising tourists awareness. We hope this will increase the sustainable value in the diving industry and in turn increase the diving standards in the country.”

Green Fins is a UN Environment Programme initiative, internationally coordinated by The Reef-World Foundation, which aims to protect and conserve coral reefs through environmentally friendly guidelines to promote a sustainable diving and snorkelling tourism industry. Green Fins provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for the diving and snorkelling industry and has a robust assessment system to measure compliance. 

To date, four dive operators in Onna Village have joined the global network of 600+ trained and assessed Green Fins members. These are: Benthos Divers, Okinawa Diving Center, Arch Angel and Pink Marlin Club. There has also been significant interest from other operators, even those that are not located in Onna Village, for Green Fins training and assessment.

Suika Tsumita from Oceana said: “Green Fins serve as an important tool for local diving communities to move towards a more sustainable use of their dive sites; so that they can maintain their scenic beauty and biological richness to provide livelihoods for many generations to come.”

For more information, please visit www.reef-world.org or  www.greenfins.net/countries/japan.

Dive and snorkel operators interested in signing up for Green Fins can find the membership application form at: www.greenfins.net/how-to-join.

Dive and snorkel operators in Japan interested in signing up to be Green Fins members can contact the Green Fins Japan team at japan@greenfins.net.

UNESCO has announced the endorsement of 63 new endorsed Actions in the context of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’). The announcement adds to global celebrations of the UN World Oceans Day, themed this year around the theme “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean”.

Collective action to create ‘the ocean we want’

With the aim of achieving the Ocean Decade vision of ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’, the newly endorsed Decade Actions address priority issues including marine pollution, management and restoration of  marine ecosystems and the ocean-climate nexus.

Four new Decade Programmes will contribute to generating new knowledge and solutions to the impacts of climate change and other stressors on the ocean through collaborative approaches, as well as reducing the gaps between science and policy.

In addition, the results of the second Call for Decade Actions also include 38 shorter more focused Decade Projects and 4 Contributions of in-kind or financial resources. 

A further 9 Projects have received official endorsement following a Decade co-branded call with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of the Ocean Decade-DFO partnership.

The identification of 8 fellows from the AXA Research Fund “Towards more resilient coastal livelihood” also comes to grow the network of collective ocean action, aiming to advance science on key coastal livelihood preservation and resilience risks.

Three Projects submitted during the first Call for Decade Actions complete this set, bringing to 63 new endorsed Decade Actions that will bolster the collaborative design of the science we need to deliver a healthy and resilient ocean by 2030.

Ocean Decade expands global network

The Decade Coordination Unit (DCU) will benefit from targeted support from two new Decade Collaborative Centres:

• Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Centre for Ocean-Climate Solutions, hosted by Ocean Visions, Georgia Tech and Georgia Aquarium, United States
• Decade Collaborative Centre for the Northeast Pacific Ocean, hosted by the Tula Foundation in British Columbia, Canada

These Centres will help coordinate efforts between national, regional and global initiatives, share knowledge and tools developed, create links between potential Decade partners and monitor and report on the impact of the Decade.

Three new Decade Implementing Partners have also joined the Ocean Decade ecosystem to strengthen the work of the DCU and other decentralized coordination structures, including Collaborative Centres:

• Heirs to Our Ocean, based in the United States
• EurOcean, based in Portugal
• National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), based in Egypt

Discover the new decade actions at: https://www.oceandecade.org

When I was 18, just as my friends were finishing A levels and heading off to Uni, my mum put me into my wheelchair and pushed me across the road to feed the ducks. That wiped me out and after all the excitement of duck feeding, it was back to bed for the rest of the day. I had always been a ‘sickly child’- shoulder problems, back pain, asthma, eczema, you name it, we’d been to the GP for it, and I’d ended up crashing out of A levels and into hospital appointments with an ‘inexplicable illness’.

That summer, I had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. The fact I predominantly struggled with gastro issues and joint pain were, I was told, irrelevant to the diagnosis. I returned to school that September to re-sit year 13, and with a restricted diet and careful pacing, made it through my A levels and off to Uni. Fitness and activity seemed a world completely excluded to me- when even walking to the bus stop after a day of lectures could wipe me out. I dislocated my knee and trapped a nerve in final year, but was told everything was unrelated.

Fast forward 5 years and I had graduated, was working as a teacher, and was stressed. Social media showed that loads of my friends were doing couch to 5 k- so I started too. Suddenly, I was out in nature, calming my thoughts, pushing my boundaries- I loved it! I ran the Great South Run, Man v Horse (as a relay) and was all set for a future of exciting running until- the dislocations returned with a vengeance. The knee was in and out. I taught Y2 SATs prep on crutches in the school hall to comply with our insurance. Shoulders popped and cracked. I ended up with shingles over 25 times in 3 years- all apparently unrelated. The issues made running impossible- I was constantly returning to C25K and recovering from the latest injury. The amazing lower limb physios at St Mary’s hospital told me running may not be the sport for me. I tried walking- 106km round the Isle of Wight, 100km of the Camino de Santiago, but it took its toll on my knees and ankles.       

Finally, in January 2020, I got a diagnosis. EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome)- a congenital issue with the connective tissues. It’s EDS awareness month in May, and you can learn more about the condition here. The joint pain, the recurring skin issues, the gastro problems were all related, and now I knew what it was. The pandemic followed close after- and I was cast adrift. I couldn’t run, so I walked for miles around the city and across the common, but nothing was challenging me, pushing me or giving me the sense of achievement I got from running. Even worse, working from home was causing havoc with my spine and neck. Migraines became a common occurrence, and I was often ending the day popping prescription pain medication and trying to uncurl my back across a gym ball from the spasms I got in my work chair. My anxiety was peaking and my body was breaking.

Spring 2021 came and I was lying on the gym ball, stretching my back out when I saw an advert for a swim study being undertaken by the University of Portsmouth, for beginners to open water swimming. Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself expressing interest in an email. Because of my EDS, next was an ECG to make sure I would be safe in the cold water. Heather, the researcher, came to my house, masked up due to covid, and checked me over. The cat watched, and my nerves at not being able to join in messed up the first reading. I breathed, we ran it again, and everything was fine. I was good to go.

The swim course changed my life. Our incredible coaches Tori and Bec gently and gradually introduced us to the sea, the tides, the currents, acclimatisation and the utter irrelevance of underwear after a sea swim. I made great friends, and met my swim buddy CP with whom I proceeded to swim through the winter, as he completed the gold polar bear challenge and I (with neoprene socks and gloves) completed the penguin. 

The unexpected outcome of my introduction to sea swimming was the almost immediate and lasting impact it had on my health and pain levels. Whereas running had always caused me more pain (but I loved the endorphins and subscribed to a somewhat ‘no pain no gain’ mentality), swimming in cold water felt like it turned my pain levels right down. With 3 or 4 swims a week, I weaned myself off the naproxen, watched the migraines drop from multiple per week to one every few months, and felt my mental health bolster and begin to recover. The sea quickly became my restorative reset point, and I couldn’t imagine returning to my indoor, achy, oppressive pre-swimming pandemic existence.

Then in October I became aware of the impact that sewage discharges were having on the Solent. My mood swung between anger (at Southern Water for doing this, legally, all the time) and fear- what if I had to stop swimming? What would I do in winter when all the lidos were closed? What would restarting and staying on pain medication do to my liver? What about my friends from the swim course who were immune-supressed?

I set up Stop the Sewage Southsea in October 2021 and we’ve been working ever since, to put pressure onto Southern Water to stop dumping sewage, on government to change legislation and on Portsmouth City Council to do more to keep swimmers safe and to reduce rain water going into drains. There is still so much to do, but we now have a core team of activists and are planning for a summer of campaigns.

On Christmas Eve, in one of my swim groups I saw someone share a flyer looking for people to swim the Solent to raise money for Surfers Against Sewage. Immediately, my interest was piqued! A cause that I’m passionate about and a challenge that terrified me but felt just on the very periphery of ‘doable’? It had to be worth a go! Tori, one of the swim group leaders, had spoken about doing this swim and how much she’d enjoyed it. I clicked and signed up before I could change my mind. My co-leader for Stop the Sewage, and all-round open water swimming legend Rachel Whitfield also signed up.

It’s been quite the journey training- 2 nasty chest infections over winter, a sub-laxed knee and a huge armpit abscess caused by saltwater chafe have all been overcome, and now with 6 weeks to go, I just completed my longest training swim to date- 3 km. I’ve been working with an incredible swim coach, Mike Porteous, who supports disabled swimmers and has been incredible at modifying my training plan to keep me in the water and swimming when different joints have been protesting the training. 

I couldn’t be more excited for my first physical challenge since diagnosis. On 9^th July I’ll be swimming not only for the protection of the beautiful Solent from sewage pollution, but also in honour of the thousands of other EDS patients who are not able to swim, walk or engage with nature in the way that I am so lucky to be able to.

Please do consider sponsoring me: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sarahswimssolent

A fleet of tuna fishing vessels with a history of illegal activity has been blacklisted in the Indian Ocean by a key international body. This decision by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission comes after investigations by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) led to the fleet being banned from catching tuna in the Atlantic and being dropped by its insurer. EJF applauds these actions, saying that protecting our ocean from these illegal operators is a vital step in safeguarding irreplaceable marine ecosystems.  
 
A fleet of vessels, known for operating illegally in the Atlantic for many years, has been blacklisted by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) at the 26th session meeting of the IOTC in Seychelles. As such, any tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean is strictly prohibited. This comes after the fleet was blacklisted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in 2021 and dropped by its insurers in March 2022.
 
The fact that the fleet is now banned from both the Atlantic and Indian oceans demonstrates the scale of the illegality. Moreover, this fleet has gone to extreme lengths to evade scrutiny of its illegal actions. This includes relocating its fishing activities from one ocean to the other, changing the nation’s flag under which the vessels were operating, changing the names of the vessels and engaging in illegal trans-shipment.
 
This is a textbook example of operators using the chronic lack of transparency in fisheries to perpetrate illegal activities and decimate ocean ecosystems – this urgently needs to change. There are simple, low-cost measures which are well within the reach of any country and could play a pivotal role in the battle against illegal fishing and accompanying human rights abuse in the sector.
 
Steve Trent, CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: “I applaud both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean tuna commissions for taking action to prevent this fleet from continuing to decimate ocean ecosystems with impunity – however tackling each illegal fleet one by one is not the solution. To safeguard the ocean, food security and livelihoods around the world, we need to place transparency at the heart of global fisheries. Cracking down on opacity by preventing the use of flags of convenience and improving port inspections, coupled with the publishing and sharing of information – such as vessel license lists, history of offenses, and full ownership details – can help governments, regional fisheries management organisations, law-abiding fishing companies, NGOs, retailers and even consumers to work together to rid our oceans of these damaging operators. We need to hold these illegal operators to account, and that starts with transparency.”
 
Fleets such as this cause irreversible damage to our ocean, threatening marine life and the people who depend on it around the world. This was recognised by nations in attendance at the IOTC meeting this week, where the several member countries urged the Commission to blacklist the fleet.

Learn more at: https://www.ejfoundation.org

This week, in two key votes, the European Parliament called on the EU to urgently tackle the damage that bottom trawling causes to marine life and a stable climate, and to prohibit all damaging extractive industrial activities in marine protected areas. This strong signal shows that political momentum is building, and all nations must step up to make true ocean protection a reality, say Oceana and the Environmental Justice Foundation. Germany especially, as a key player in the EU and current president of the G7, has the power to translate ocean pledges into concrete and ambitious action.

Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: “Current levels of ocean protection are a cause for international shame – especially in the EU. Less than 1% of EU waters are actually protected from destructive fishing like bottom trawling, and in fact studies have found that trawling is 1.4 times more intense withinso-called ‘protected’ areas. This degradation endangers both our climate and the planet’s irreplaceable marine life.

Germany has a unique opportunity to bring nations together to safeguard our climate, fisheries, and ocean ecosystems. At the G7 meetings this summer, at the UN Biodiversity conference COP15 in the autumn, and in EU discussions, Germany must lead on setting binding, measurable biodiversity restoration and conservation targets. In particular, bottom trawling in marine protected areas must be stopped.”

Vera Coelho, Senior Director of Advocacy at Oceana in Europe, said “On paper, Germany has surpassed the 30% target for marine protection – but in reality very little of that is effectively protected against destructive fishing, such as bottom-trawling. For instance, the Wadden Sea MPA in Lower Saxony, an iconic place designated as a National Park, a Natura 2000 site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, suffered from more than 22,000 hours of bottom-trawling inside its boundaries in 2021.

The IUCN expressly recognizes bottom-trawling as industrial fishing, and industrial fishing is not compatible with any type of marine protected area. The German government has made ambitious commitments on marine protection. It now needs to lead by example, by truly protecting its MPAs against destructive fishing.”

Learn more with the Environmental Justice Foundation at: https://www.ejfoundation.org

In an important step for the protection of the ocean and the climate, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted amendments which call on the European Union to prohibit extractive industrial activities – which include fishing practices like bottom trawling – in all marine protected areas.

The plenary vote on the Own-Initiative Report of MEP Mrs. Isabel Carvalhais “Toward a sustainable blue economy in the EU” gave the opportunity to address the pressing issue of destructive fishing in so-called marine “protected” areas and beyond.

In two key amendments, MEPs voted to call on the EU to urgently tackle the damage that bottom fishing causes to marine life and a stable climate, and prohibit all environmentally damaging extractive industrial activities in marine protected areas (MPAs). Along with bottom trawling, this would include deep sea mining and drilling for fossil fuels according to international standards. 

The result reinforces the message sent by the European Parliament on the report by MEP Cesar Luena in 2020 on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (2020/2273(INI)), which also called on the Commission and the Member States to prohibit harmful human activities in MPAs.

This is a strong political signal to the European Commission that marine protected areas must be truly protected by banning bottom trawling and all destructive industrial activities. Although specific reference to bottom trawling in MPAs was removed, MEPs also called on the EU to limit the use of detrimental fishing techniques – which includes bottom trawling – outside marine protected areas.

The European Parliament also voted to map and restore carbon-rich marine habitats, protecting them from activities that can disturb and release carbon stored in the seabed, like bottom trawling. This is another clear signal that the European Commission should make ambitious proposals in its draft budget, Action Plan to restore fisheries resources and protected marine ecosystems, and the EU Nature Restoration Law, which are due to be published before the summer.

Although not legally binding, the result is therefore politically very timely and is the first important step towards a legal prohibition of destructive fishing methods in EU MPAs. NGOs now call on the European Commission to swiftly take this baton from the European Parliament and produce a legislative proposal that finally ends Europe’s shameful record by banning destructive fisheries and industrial extractive activities in MPAs. It should also limit their use beyond MPAs, starting with the upcoming publication of the Action Plan on marine ecosystems and fisheries and of the Nature Restoration law expected before the summer.

Learn more about the Environmental Justice Foundation at: https://www.ejfoundation.org

First Green Fins material focused on guidelines for snorkellers

The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – has launched a new poster on Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Snorkellers. These guidelines help marine tourism operators inform their guests about environmental best practices while snorkelling in an effort to protect marine ecosystems.

Snorkelling is one of the most popular water sports worldwide. Unlike many other marine tourism activities, it requires minimal equipment and training, making it one of the most accessible activities for tourists to explore the underwater world. However, if not done responsibly, the cumulative impact from all snorkellers worldwide could increase pressure on the already vulnerable coral reefs. Harmful practices while snorkelling, such as fish feeding, standing on coral and chasing marine life, have been observed globally. Often, tourists aren’t aware of the negative impact of these actions. 

Due to its popularity and tourism restarting in many parts of the world, The Reef-World Foundation finds it important to raise awareness and educate both marine tourism operators and tourists on conducting snorkelling activities in an environmentally friendly manner. This can help minimise the negative impact on the marine environment, encouraging the tourism industry to shape a better post-pandemic future.

Snorkelling, unlike diving, is often an unled or unsupervised activity, and in many places is not well regulated. Therefore, the Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Snorkellers poster can also be used by tourists to equip themselves with the knowledge and guidance to limit potentially negative impacts. This enables them to enjoy the coral reefs and other marine ecosystems responsibly for years to come, including when they’re snorkelling independently without guides. 

The guidance includes a wide range of recommendations adapted from the Green Fins Code of Conduct: reducing toxic chemicals from entering the ocean by using reef-safe sunscreens, abiding by the local laws, and learning how to use snorkel equipment. These recommendations are consolidated from professionals and marine tourism operators in the industry. 

Chloe Harvey, Director at Reef-World, said: “Snorkelling is a fabulous way to get people into the water and enjoy the wonders of the marine environment. Such experiences are a powerful tool to inspire people to make changes to protect these vital marine resources. However, there are very few touchpoints for raising awareness of best practice along a regular snorkeller’s pathway from land to ocean. We hope that this new Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Snorkellers will fill this gap — provide vital guidance and allow holidaymakers to enjoy snorkelling without unwittingly jeopardising the health of the very environment they have come to see.”

The Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Snorkellers poster is available for free on the Green Fins website here.

For more information, please visit www.reef-world.org or www.greenfins.net. Dive and snorkel operators interested in signing up to Green Fins can find the membership application form at: www.greenfins.net/how-to-join.

This week we came together. Surfers, divers and swimmers stood in solidarity to demand action from water companies and their greedy drive to make profit from doing what can only be described as something catastrophically wrong and dangerous. 

Sea folk lined the street, donned with banners, flags and signs to shout about what they believe in and it was quite a sight. We at The Scuba News UK attended the based protest along with our pal Cliff Culver from Surfers Against Sewage and marched with intent to be heard and to show people that enough is enough and that in a nutshell it was time to ‘cut the crap!’

We also met up with our wonderful buddy Sarah Elizabeth and her trusted crew from Portsmouth to represent Southsea. She even managed to jump up on stage for a few minutes to tell people how she is pushing for change in her area. 

To be able to come together in a safe and well organised environment with a bunch of like minded people is fantastic and the turn out was vastly more than anticipated. The mood of the day was nothing short of epic. People shouted out to the Government, media and water companies for change and demanded action. 

Our interaction with the ocean is so precious. Our marine and wildlife is even more precious and none of us want to loose it or risk its survival and so the time is now to stand up and say ‘No more.’

Surfers Against Sewage is a national marine conservation and campaigning charity that inspires, unites and empowers communities to take action to protect the Sea and our blue spaces. They took the lead this week and pulled off a huge event that spoke volumes about how people feel and what they want for all of our future.

Their campaigns include, water quality, sewage and agricultural pollution management. Ocean and climate study support to try to reverse some of the already existing climate crisis/damage done. Reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and promotion of nature based solutions. Ocean recovery and bio diversity support and the most obvious plastic pollution. We were glad to be at the event and thrilled to be standing along side so many like minded people. It felt motivational and right.

We look forward to more events and will be there making our stand alongside others in our watery community.

Artist Boat is currently recruiting passionate individuals to become a Sea Citizen Volunteer and help with this restoration work. Becoming a Sea Citizen will allow you to get involved with coastal habitat restoration, learn new skills, and protect the unique and fragile Coastal Heritage Preserve. If you are interested in developing new skills, connecting with your community and other conservationists, and becoming a volunteer leader, please contact the Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager at habitat@artistboat.org. 

Through a year long grant, Artist Boat hopes to restore 9 acres of the 690 acre Coastal Heritage Preserve to its natural state. Restoration tasks include mowing, removing invasive species, “bumping up” seedlings, repairing the fence line around the property, and monitoring the site to ensure proper management of resident plants and animals at the Preserve.

One project: The Artist Boat Coastal Heritage Preserve has many areas of fence that badly need management, and volunteers will be utilized to clear brush and small trees from fence lines and other similar land management tasks. Volunteers with their own chainsaws and PPE are preferred for this specific task.

Learn more at: https://www.artistboat.org

Two of the world’s most respected marine-focused organizations – PADI® and SeaLegacy – have joined forces to accelerate much-needed ocean protection. The first initiative of this multi-year collaboration kicks off this month, with a grassroots campaign developed to spark immediate and meaningful change for our blue planet.

The Role of 30×30 in Advancing Ocean Conservation

Scientific research indicates that protecting at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (i.e. 30×30) is critical to restore the health of the ocean, reverse existing adverse impacts, increase resilience to climate change, and sustain ecosystem services to humanity. But despite the clear need for increased protection, less than 5% of the global ocean is fully protected in no-take reserves.

The ocean is facing growing challenges triggering a global advocacy movement urging immediate and lasting change to protect it for current and future generations. Illustrating the power of partnerships to amplify exponential change, PADI and SeaLegacy are harnessing one another’s strengths–leveraging the power of media, storytelling, and advocacy to compel ocean activists across the planet to take action and urge world leaders to step up to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. 

“PADI is fueling a movement of one billion torchbearers to create ocean change, and we are thrilled to partner with like-minded organizations to scale this critical mission,” says Drew Richardson, CEO of PADI Worldwide. “Working with SeaLegacy not only allows us to rapidly grow the global torchbearer community, but also empower us allwith meaningful ways to take real, positive action to protect our blue planet – and all life that calls it home.”

Global Petition to Inspire Action Amongst World Leaders

This April, PADI and SeaLegacy will launch a joint 30×30 campaign designed to generate immediate action from a combined global audience that includes millions of ocean enthusiasts, divers, snorkelers and conservationists looking for means to protect what they love.  

The goal of the PADI and SeaLegacy 30×30 campaign is to urge world leaders to adopt the 30X30 target, calling for conservation of “at least 30% of sea areas globally through effective, equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas.” PADI and SeaLegacy will be pushing for an agreement to be reached at the UN Biodiversity COP15 in the third quarter of 2022 in Kunming, China.

“In a time when so many people around the world are concerned about climate change, biodiversity loss, sea level rise, and so much more, we need to channel that anxiety into action,” says Cristina Mittermeier, president of SeaLegacy. “People everywhere are looking for hope and opportunities to have real impact, and one great way to get involved is to sign our petition to have the 30×30 target adopted at the Convention of Biodiversity.”

Long-Term Partnership Goals 

With their shared 30×30 goal, SeaLegacy and PADI will work to increase meaningful marine protection around the world, including the creation and effective management of marine protected areas (MPAs) and biodiversity conservation, while collaborating with local communities and leaders on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

“The ocean offers so many of the critical climate solutions we need, and MPAs are a major piece of that. MPAs not only protect local species and ecosystems, but sequester carbon, increase coastal resilience, and revitalize local economies. We know that change is possible in this decade, and this kind of action will help us make major strides toward healing our ocean and saving our planet,” says Mittermeier.

To sign the petition, visit only.one/ocean30. To learn more about the SeaLegacy and PADI partnership, and ways to get involved, visit padi.com/conservation.

The need for metals, particularly for batteries as we move away from a carbon-based energy sector, has renewed interest in deep-sea mining. On the high seas, twenty-seven global mining exploration licenses covering over 1.5 million km2 of seafloor have been granted by the International Seabed Authority. There are significant risks from these activities to both seafloor and midwater ecosystems over potentially very large areas. Dr. Jeff Drazen, Professor, Department of Oceanography, UH Mānoa will outline the potential risks to biodiversity, carbon cycling and particularly fisheries, sharing what we know and don’t yet understand. He will discuss the potential of US Pacific Monuments for conserving biodiversity and deep-sea ecosystem health in the face of the developing mining industry.

This presentation is part of the Third Thursday By the Bay Presentation Series at Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, which is the visitor center for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. This State of the Monument lecture series is also supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series provides educators with educational and scientific expertise, resources, and training to support ocean and climate literacy in the classroom. This series currently targets formal and informal educators, students (high school through college), as well as members of the community, including families. You can also visit the archives of the webinar series to catch up on presentations you may have missed here.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The Webinar ID is 176-816-571. 

Register for the Webinar at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3913124920171214859

New data released by the Environment Agency, shows that water companies were responsible for pouring sewage into river, lakes, estuaries and our seas a disgusting 372,500 times in 2021. That’s an eye watering 2.6 million hours of sewage flowing into some of our most treasured ecosystems, where wildlife should be free to flourish and where we love to surf, swim and play.

This is ecological vandalism at a shameless scale. And so goes another day in the total shit show of the UK water industry.

We’ve seen a bit of a overall decrease on 2020 figures but we suspect this is due to the fact that we have had a dryer year rather than any action being taken by the industry.

Shockingly, 50% of sewage overflows pumped out sewage over 40 times. And one in five sewage overflows spewed out sewage over 60 times per year. At this rate, an Environment Agency (EA) investigation should be triggered. But we know that the EA has had its budgets slashed and are unable to enforce properly. Allowing the water industry to ‘self-monitor’ is simply allowing them to keep pumping out pollution while pocketing the dirty profits.

A culture of contempt for the environment

The new data shows the extent of the sewage pollution scandal and shines an ever-brighter spotlight on the complete contempt the water industry has for the environment. At the end of last year, we saw the launch one of the largest investigations the EA has ever launched, looking into over 2,000 water treatment works for illegally discharging sewage. And, as we speak, United Utilities are fighting the water industry’s dirty battle in the courts. Can you believe that they’re trying to make it even harder for NGOs, campaigners and people like you and me to hold water companies to account? They’re looking to close the door on legal challenges against water companies for dumping untreated sewage into waterways. But campaigners are fighting back.

And to top it all off, a few days ago, Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent, was quoted in The Telegraph saying that water companies haven’t done more to end sewage pollution ‘because it was not on their customers’ priority list’ and that the issue had not risen to public consciousness until 2020. It was subsequently revealed that the issue of sewage pollution and protecting the environment was high up on Severn Trent customer priority lists years ago, as indicated in their very own surveys back in 2017. They are out of touch with the public and their own intelligence. We’re pretty sure that customers haven’t been calling for eye-watering water company pay and profits but this has never stopped them.

Commenting on the EA data release, Hugo Tagholm, CEO at Surfers Against Sewage says:

“Millions of hours of untreated sewage are destroying our waterways and yet water company bosses have the gall to say “but this wasn’t on our customers priority list”. Water company CEOs and their hedge fund shareholders are creaming off extortionate profits whilst we all are left choking on their sewage pollution that’s making us, and our environment, sick. We will not allow polluters to kick this into the long grass any longer. We demand that water companies reinvest their profits into restoring our blue spaces for nature and people.”

Taking the fight to the polluters

Water companies are making rampant profits at the expense the health of our rivers, ocean and people. At a time when many are struggling with the escalating cost of living and relying more and more on nature for mental health and wellbeing, this has to stop. We need radical action and we need it now.

We won’t stop taking the fight to the profiteering polluters until we see an end to sewage pollution. So, on the 23rd April, thousands of water lovers will be taking to the streets across the country, marching in 11 protests against 11 of the major water companies. The proud British public, raising their voice for people and planet and demanding water companies ACT NOW to end sewage pollution.

Commenting on the sewage scandal, Amy Slack, Head of Campaigns & Policy at SAS, says:

“This wilful destruction of the UK’s rivers and seas will not simply be washed away with tomorrow’s news cycle. People across the UK demand an end to sewage pollution and will be coming together in mass protest on 23rd April – we urge everyone who cares for our rivers and seas to join us in telling the profiteering polluters of the water industry just what we think of them”

Learn more at: https://sas.org.uk/EndSewagePollutionProtests/

By Amy Slack
Surfers against Sewage

Are you focused on building science literacy so your students or community members can understand concepts in ocean, atmospheric, and Earth science?; assess the scientific credibility of information?; make informed and responsible decisions?; and most importantly, initiate actions to address pressing environmental issues? 

Through federal funding opportunities of up to $5,000, NOAA Planet Stewards supports educators in carrying out hands-on stewardship projects with elementary through college age students, as well as the general public. Stewardship projects must make a substantive, and quantitatively measurable impact on an environmental issue related to the educator’s community. Projects should focus on the conservation, restoration, and/or protection of human communities and/or natural resources from environmental issues in one of the following four focus areas:

• Marine debris
• Habitat conservation and restoration
• Carbon footprint reduction
• Carbon sequestration

You can find more details about the application process and supporting documents on how to develop a project plan at: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/planet-stewards/psep-application.html

China’s distant water fleet ­– by far the world’s largest – is rife with human rights abuses and illegal fishing, and targets endangered and protected marine life across the world’s ocean, EJF’s new report reveals. In the most comprehensive analysis of the fleet to date, EJF shows that China’s state subsidies have allowed the grossly overcapacity fleet to exploit the waters of developing nations that rely on marine resources for livelihoods and food security.

This destruction is enabled by the often total lack of transparency across global fisheries, says EJF, and to prevent it, all nations must implement freely available, cost-effective measures that would give all stakeholders much greater control over their seafood supply chains.

China’s distant water fleet operates across the entire globe with consequences that impact almost every nation, shows EJF’s report ­– which cross-references data from the Chinese government with illegal fishing records and testimony from crew.

Illegal fishing

Illegal fishing is rife among the fleet, EJF found. Testimony from over a hundred crew aboard 88 vessels showed that 95% reported witnessing some form of illegal fishing.

Almost all the crew interviewed said that sharks were illegally finned on their vessels, a cruel and wasteful process where the more valuable fins are removed, and the shark is thrown overboard to die. Smartphone footage obtained by EJF also shows seals being clubbed to death and beheaded, with over a third of the interviewees reporting that protected species such as turtles and seals were caught and killed on their vessels. Around a fifth of the crew also said dolphins were routinely slaughtered as bait for sharks.

“It did not matter whether the shark was big or small, even babies inside the sharks’ belly – we took them all. I guess you could call it a ‘devil vessel’ because it really took everything,” said one crew member.

Human rights abuse

These destructive practices are enabled not only by harmful state subsidies – amounting to around US$ 1.8 billion – but also by gross human rights abuses of migrant crew. These workers spoke of physical and verbal abuse, gruelling hours, inadequate food and water, and forced labour at the hands of Chinese captains and senior crew.

The testimony and footage EJF received revealed Indonesian crew being beaten with metal pipes and threatened with knives by senior Chinese crew. Overall, 58% of the crew EJF interviewed said they had witnessed or experienced physical violence and 85% reported abusive working and living conditions. “I was being restrained and hit. They beat every part of my body,” said one Indonesian man. In addition, almost all the crew (97%) interviewed said they had experienced some form of debt bondage or had documents such as passports confiscated. 

Opaque corporations 

As well as offenses carried out at sea, the report examines the corporations involved in these infringements – mapping the complex onshore corporate structures of the fleet. In Ghana, for instance, at least 90% of the nation’s industrial trawl fleet is suspected to be owned by Chinese corporations who use local ‘front’ companies to register as Ghanaian and circumvent the law. Many of these vessels have been repeatedly associated with illegal fishing.

Where the fish caught by the fleet ends up is also shrouded by opacity, making it difficult or impossible to trace supply chains. However, what is known is that a number of Chinese distant-water vessels are licensed to export to Europe, and China is the US’s largest seafood trading partner. 

Exploitation of developing nations’ waters

The Chinese fleet has become a substantial presence in many developing countries and regions that have limited capacity for monitoring fishing vessels yet are heavily dependent on fishing for local food security and livelihoods, the report shows.

Africa stands out, accounting for 78.5% of the Chinese government-approved fishery projects in other countries’ waters. In West Africa, an area known to be rife with illegal fishing, the Chinese bottom trawl fleet catches an estimated 2.35 million tonnes of seafood every year – by some estimates, around half of China’s total distant-water catch – valued at over US$ 5 billion. Many fish populations in Africa are heavily exploited, to the point of possible collapse, which would spell disaster for impoverished coastal communities.

Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said: “These state-subsidised vessels are ravaging the ocean, committing human rights abuses and driving environmental injustice, all while hiding behind complex onshore corporate structures preventing those responsible from being held to account. These findings highlight the overarching failure of the Chinese government to effectively control and regulate its distant-water fleet, but also reveal a wider international problem: the shocking lack of transparency across the sector. As well as China controlling its fleet, any nation importing fish caught by Chinese vessels should be demanding full transparency along the whole supply chain. That is the only way we can be sure that we, as consumers, don’t end up eating slave-caught fish and driving the destruction of our ocean.”  

Learn more about Environmental Justice Foundation at: https://www.ejfoundation.org

New Chapter in Operation Milagro Gives Vaquita Improved Chance For Survival

First in San Felipe, then days later in Mexico City, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and the Mexican Navy demonstrated the enhanced Operation Milagro partnership that is giving the vaquita, the world’s most endangered cetacean, a significantly improved chance for survival. 

Operation Milagro is a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) initiative aimed at collaborating with the members of the Intergovernmental Group (GIS) led by the Secretary of the Navy, under the protection of the current collaboration agreement. Since 2015, Sea Shepherd has worked with Mexican authorities and leading researchers to protect the vaquita by preventing and removing illegal fishing gear inside the Vaquita Refuge – a UNESCO-recognized and federally protected area in which gillnet fishing is banned. In early January 2022, Sea Shepherd and the Mexican Navy began a new reporting and response protocol in the Zero Tolerance Area (ZTA), a high-priority area within the Vaquita Refuge covering over 225 square kilometers. This enhanced protocol has led to a substantial reduction in the number of fishing vessels in the ZTA.

For the first time ever, a delegation from SSCS and leadership from the Mexican Navy’s Second Region toured each other’s ships. On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, the SSCS delegation hosted Commandante José Carlos Tinoco Castrejón, Commander of San Felipe’s Navy Sector, on their ship, M/V John Paul DeJoria, where SSCS demonstrated the monitoring and reporting protocols used to detect the illegal fishing in the ZTA that threatens the vaquita’s survival. 

The following day, Thursday, March 31, the Mexican Navy hosted the SSCS delegation on their ship Sonora, where the Navy demonstrated their process for responding to SSCS reports of illegal fishing in the ZTA. The demonstration included the Mexican Navy’s Interceptors, which are light, high-speed boats, as well as planes and helicopters. This process, in place since January of this year, has led to a substantial reduction in the illegal placement of nets that ensnare and kill vaquitas.

Admiral Portillo reflected on the importance of the Operation Milagro partnership, saying, “There is much gratitude, on the part of the Navy, for the work that Sea Shepherd does, in coordination with the marine authorities.”

After the Mexican Navy demonstrations, SSCS Chairman of the Board Pritam Singh remarked, “This new updated partnership and coordinated effort in the Vaquita Refuge since January 2022 is effective in keeping nets out of the ZTA. Together with the Mexican Navy, we are improving the chances of survival for the vaquita.” 

Days later, in Mexico City, the SSCS delegation, including CEO Chuck Lindsey and COO David Hance along with Chairman Singh, updated American officials at the US Embassy on Monday, April 4, then met with Secretary of the Mexican Navy Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran on Tuesday, April 5. The SSCS delegation updated the Secretary on the Operation Milagro partnership and the positive impact witnessed at the ZTA since the new protocol was put in place in January. 

Background

The vaquita is an endemic species that exists only in a small region of Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. Scientists estimate that fewer than 20 vaquitas remain. Entanglement in fishing gear is the greatest documented threat to the survival of the species. 

Since 2015, Sea Shepherd’s fleet has removed over 1,000 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the refuge to date, giving the vaquita a fighting chance at survival as well as helping the threatened totoaba. Beginning January 2022, Sea Shepherd and the Mexican Navy started patrolling the Zero Tolerance Area of the Vaquita Refuge, utilizing a new report protocol in the high priority region for scientists and conservationists where the remaining vaquita population is believed to be located. Between October and November of 2021, the Sea Shepherd vessel M/V Sharpie and the Museo de la Ballena’s M/V Narval conducted a scientific survey to identify the presence of vaquitas in the Zero Tolerance Area. The survey was carried out by a team of leading vaquita researchers. The scientists made eight vaquita sightings over five days of the expedition, estimating that 7-8 adults exist and 1-2 calves. 

More information on the campaign to save the vaquita: https://seashepherd.org/milagro/

Sustainable Travel International launched a new online carbon footprint calculator that promotes climate-friendly travel by enabling users to measure and offset their travel emissions. This new tool is designed specifically for travel activities including commercial and charter flights, vehicles, cruises, liveaboards, and yachts. 

For the past two decades, Sustainable Travel International has fostered environmentally and socially responsible travel, working in more than 100 destinations and engaging governments, companies, and consumers in sustainable practices. Sustainable Travel International is recognized as a leading organization for climate action in tourism, having supported more than 50,000 travelers and businesses in mitigating their carbon footprint and being named the best carbon offset provider for travel by Investopedia, Treehugger, and EcoWatch. 

“Travel is fueled by our desire to discover the planet’s natural and cultural wealth. It’s those unparalleled experiences, like snorkeling over a colorful coral reef or sailing between towering ice sheets, that make travel so fulfilling – but climate change puts all of this at risk. If we don’t act now, these destinations and experiences will cease to exist,” said Paloma Zapata, CEO of Sustainable Travel International. “Travel is often viewed as part of the problem, when really it should be part of the solution. We believe that this new calculator has the potential to stimulate climate action by channeling investment to projects that pave the way for a net zero future.” 

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the traveler mindset, with consumers becoming more conscientious about their impacts on destinations and the planet. According to research conducted by Booking.com, more than two-thirds of travelers (69%) are now committed to reducing or offsetting the carbon footprint of their trip. 

Sustainable Travel International’s new carbon calculator makes it easy for travelers to do just this. The calculator was completely redesigned and rebuilt to account for nearly all the high emissions aspects of travel, utilizing the latest methodologies for travel footprinting while maintaining a balance between scientific accuracy and ease of use. Users simply enter their travel activities – for instance, a round-trip flight from Chicago to Miami and a 5-day cruise – and the calculator will automatically compute their carbon footprint. The user can then choose to purchase carbon offsets, which typically cost around $5 to $30 for a trip. 

The offset dollars help fund carbon reduction projects around the world, such as forest conservation and clean energy initiatives, that are scientifically proven to mitigate climate change. Sustainable Travel International carefully vets all projects to ensure they meet the most rigorous standards for carbon offsetting, such as the Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), and conducts its own, additional due-diligence on projects to ensure the utmost level of integrity and impact. Sustainable Travel International only supports high-quality projects that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and deliver benefits beyond climate mitigation by creating local jobs, strengthening indigenous land rights, improving sanitation, protecting endangered species, and more. 

Sustainable Travel International also offers business solutions through their Climate Rangers Program, including carbon footprint measurement, climate action planning support, business carbon offset programs, and employee climate education. 

The new carbon calculator can be accessed online at: https://sustainabletravel.org/carbon-calculator/

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will conduct a press conference Tuesday, April 5, 3:00 pm Central Mexico Time, 5:00 pm EST with updates about Operation Milagro, our ongoing campaign to prevent the extinction of the world’s most endangered marine mammal – the vaquita porpoise. Sign up HERE to attend this live briefing.

Operation Milagro is a partnership between six agencies of the Mexican government and led by the Navy of Mexico and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Since 2015, Sea Shepherd has worked with Mexican authorities and leading researchers to protect the vaquita by preventing and removing illegal fishing gear inside the Vaquita Refuge – a UNESCO-recognized and federally protected area in which gillnet fishing is banned. The vaquita is an endemic species that exists only in a small region of Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. Scientists estimate that fewer than 20 vaquitas remain. Entanglement in fishing gear is the greatest documented threat to the survival of the species. 

Since 2015, Sea Shepherd’s fleet has removed over 1,000 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the refuge to date, giving the vaquita a fighting chance at survival as well as helping the threatened totoaba. Beginning in November 2021, Sea Shepherd and the Mexican Navy started patrolling the Zero Tolerance Area of the Vaquita Refuge, a high priority region for scientists and conservationists where the remaining vaquita population is believed to be located. 

Between October and November of 2021, the Sea Shepherd vessel MV Sharpie and the Museo de la Ballena’s MV Narval conducted a scientific survey to identify the presence of vaquitas in the Zero Tolerance Area. The survey was carried out by a team of leading vaquita researchers. The scientists made eight vaquita sightings over five days of the expedition. 

In early January 2022, Sea Shepherd and the Mexican Navy began a new reporting and response protocol resulting in a substantial reduction in the number of fishing vessels in the Zero Tolerance Area and the length of time nets remain in the water. 

In this Press Conference, Sea Shepherd will update the media on the campaign, the partnership with the Navy of Mexico, and the next steps for saving the world’s rarest cetacean.

More information on the campaign to save the vaquita: https://seashepherd.org/milagro/

Insurance company Hydor has ended its contract with a fleet of vessels that were discovered fishing illegally across the Atlantic by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). Without insurance, the fleet operators are at risk of severe financial losses. Oceana, who worked with EJF to warn Hydor about its unwitting association with an illegal fleet, says that other insurers should follow suit to tighten the net and make illegal fishing untenable.
 
The fleet was blacklisted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) late last year, after having been discovered engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) tuna fishing.
 
The operator took extensive actions that raise suspicion it was attempting to avoid any oversight of its suspected illegal activity. For example, the vessels appear to have started off flying the flags of one nation, only to switch to another. There is also a good indication that they were ‘stateless’ for a time – registered to no country’s flag at all.
 
EJF’s investigation further uncovered evidence that the vessels appeared to have changed names: they left West Africa under one identity and entered port in Mauritius using a different identity, switching ID codes mid-voyage on the ‘automatic identification system’ that is used by fishing vessels to prevent collisions.
 
EJF’s investigations also revealed suspected illegal transhipments. Under this practice, vessels meet at sea to transfer catch, supplies, or crew. While this can occur legally if properly registered and monitored, it is often used by illegal operators to ‘launder’ fish caught illegally and perpetuate the abuse and enslavement of crew, by enabling vessels to stay away from port for months or even years.
 
Pascale Moehrle, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe, said: “There are clear actions companies can take to avoid becoming embroiled with illegal fishing. By using the freely available Combined IUU Fishing Vessel List, companies such as Hydor can easily identify vessels that have been found to engage in IUU fishing and ensure they are not provided with insurance coverage or other essential services that keep them afloat. They can also help to increase transparency in the fishing sector, for instance by requiring that vessels they provide services to are actively using vessel tracking technology and are registered with a unique vessel identifier such as an International Maritime Organisation number.”
 
Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation said: “I would like to commend Hydor for working with us on this case. If it was commonplace for the insurance industry to require transparency, and sever all ties with illegally fishing vessels it would not only help to end the destruction of our ocean ecosystems and human rights abuse at sea, it would reduce the risk for insurers being damaged by such association.”
 
The decision by Hydor to end the coverage could be an effective way of making IUU fishing unworkable for operators, if it becomes commonplace across the insurance industry, say EJF and Oceana. By withholding coverage for vessels engaged in illegal fishing, insurers are reducing operators’ access to essential services that keep them in business. Alongside increasing financial risk for operators, this action could also prevent illicit operators from making fraudulent insurance claims after deliberately and unlawfully sinking their own vessels, an evasive tactic that has been attempted in the past.  
 
In many countries, insurers are legally prohibited from supporting illegal fishing operations. Those who do may be at risk of prosecution, which can end in financial or even custodial penalties. Even in countries without these laws, it puts companies at increased risk of fraudulent claims, financial losses, and reputational damage. IUU fishing can be linked to other criminal activities, including human trafficking, slavery, and the transportation of arms and drugs – an association no insurance company wants.

Learn more about the Environmental Justice Foundation at: https://www.ejfoundation.org

EU scheme to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing brings positive results and empowers nations, new report finds
 
The EU’s ‘carding scheme’ – which warns and potentially sanctions non-EU countries that fail to cooperate in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing – has decreased the prevalence of IUU fishing and prompted improved legislation, compliance and enforcement measures in several carded countries, a new report from the EU IUU Fishing Coalition has found. However, without strengthened transparency across global fisheries and greater participation, the ocean remains at continued risk of IUU fishing.
 
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing imperils the sustainability of the world’s fisheries; depletes fish populations; costs the global economy billions every year; skews scientific assessments; and deprives fishing communities of their livelihoods.
 
The carding scheme is a key component of the EU’s IUU Regulation. It allows the EU to initiate an informal dialogue with a non-EU country for failing to sufficiently act against IUU fishing and it can escalate to a formal warning (‘yellow card’) accompanied by a formal dialogue process. Subsequently, the EU may issue a ‘red card’ should a country fail to take appropriate action to address the shortcomings identified by the EU, or a ‘green card’ if the country successfully addressed the EU’s concerns. ‘Red-carded’ countries are prohibited from exporting fish to the EU and EU vessels cannot operate in their waters until the card is revoked.
 
The EU carding scheme, which has been in force since 2010, has led to real, tangible progress for improving fisheries governance in the four carded countries examined as case studies in a new report by the NGO group EU IUU Fishing Coalition, namely Belize, Guinea, Solomon Islands and Thailand. The scheme has empowered governments to challenge illicit operators that exploit national waters and threaten local economies and livelihoods. It has also helped to bring the issue of IUU fishing into mainstream discourse, generating pressure to act both within the carded countries and internationally.
 
Within a year of carding, large-scale improvements around fisheries governance had been initiated in all four case-study countries, the report shows. This includes widespread increases in resource allocation for monitoring, control and surveillance to ensure more ‘eyes on the sea.’ Such undertakings demonstrate a firm commitment from carded countries to tackle IUU fishing while increasing local employment opportunities. For example, following receiving a yellow card in December 2014, the number of fisheries officers in the Solomon Islands has doubled. In Thailand, there are now more than 4,000 officers working in fisheries monitoring and control following its receival of a yellow card in April 2019.
 
The report highlights that, though trade-based measures can be an effective means of improving fisheries governance, it is the dialogue, capacity building and technical support offered by the EU that is fundamental to the success of the carding scheme. Emphasis on these components has also empowered the countries examined in the report to both implement new and enforce existing national regulations. Some of the countries have become more assertive in sanctioning illegal and unreported fishing. In Belize, for instance, serious violations became subject to a fine of between US$50,000 to US$3 million and in Thailand, more than €3 million of fines were delivered for overseas fleet violations in 2018.
 
Finally, the report emphasises the need for ongoing dialogue and monitoring of both carded countries and those countries that have had cards revoked. The fight against IUU fishing requires long term commitment to legal and measurable change and does not stop when a card is lifted.
 
Ongoing endeavours to combat IUU fishing around the world are crucial. The EU IUU Fishing Coalition is advocating for a number of measures to increase transparency in global fisheries, including through improved publishing of vessels’ identities, activities, catch and ownership data. There is also a crucial need to identify new and additional resources to strengthen the European Commission’s capacity to enforce the carding scheme and maintain the EU’s leadership in fighting IUU fishing globally. Harmonious, impactful, and long-term measures such as the carding scheme, created through collaboration between governments, industry and NGOs, are the key to protecting our ocean and ending IUU fishing worldwide.

Learn more about the work of the Environmental Justice Foundation at: https://ejfoundation.org

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors^®(PADI^®), the world’s largest dive training organization, and Swiss prestige watchmaker, Blancpain are joining forces with the aim to fundamentally increase the number of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the globe over the coming decade.

The organizations unveiled their collaborative partnership at the 9^th Annual World Ocean Summit, the flagship event of the Economist Impact’s World Ocean Initiative, attended by the world’s top thought leaders from business, science, governmental and non-profit sectors – to tackle the greatest issues facing our blue planet. 

“Blancpain and PADI have rich histories rooted in exploration and ocean conservation, inspiring both organizations to become powerful catalysts of planetary change,” says Drew Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of PADI Worldwide. “Protecting our oceans is not only core to our ethos, but critical for our very survival. The world must pull together to stem the urgent crisis in our ocean and we have an immense opportunity to bring about change. We’re proud to work alongside such a prominent partner who shares our optimistic outlook on the future and a deep commitment to further empowering our global community to seek adventure and save the ocean.”

Together, PADI and Blancpain will work with local communities across the globe to expedite the establishment of MPAs. At the heart of the multi-year, multi-million-dollar initiative is the flagship citizen science program, Adopt the Blue in which 6,600 registered PADI dive centers and resorts will be activated to develop the largest network of marine protected areas on the planet, enabling millions of PADI recreational divers to proactively engage in marine conservation at every opportunity.

Another keystone of the partnership is the formation of the Blancpain/PADI Community Grant, which funds critical conservation efforts in local communities. These grants will drive both ocean preservation as well as indigenous community support, serving as a force for good for both humanity and ocean.

“With our almost 70-year legacy of the Fifty Fathoms diving watch, Blancpain has developed not only a passion – but a deep commitment to our oceans,” says Marc A. Hayek, President & CEO of Blancpain. “We’re extremely proud of the role we’ve played in advancing global marine protection efforts and we are thrilled to be collaborating with PADI – and its community of divers – to bring about even more positive change.”

The successful implementation of marine protected areas is critical to the health of the world’s largest and most important ecosystem and has been proven to restore biodiversity, build resilience to climate change and re-establish vulnerable species’ populations. 

“It will take a unified, dedicated effort to improve the state of the oceans. Together, we are directing the power of our organizations towards one of the most important – and urgent missions on the planet,” states Richardson.

About PADI

PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) is the world’s largest and most popular diver organization with a global network of 6,600 dive centers and resorts and more than 128,000 professional members worldwide. Issuing more than 29 million certifications to date, PADI enables people around the world to seek adventure and save the ocean through underwater education, life-changing experiences and travel. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably The Way the World Learns to Dive®, maintaining its high standards for dive training, safety and customer service, monitored for worldwide consistency and quality. With a longstanding commitment to environmental conservation, PADI is leading the way for millions of people to actively explore, steward and protect the ocean through its course offerings and partnerships with like-minded, mission-driven organizations. PADI embodies a global commitment to ocean health with its mission to create a billion torchbearers to explore and protect the ocean. Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.^SM  www.padi.com

About Blancpain 

Founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in the Swiss Jura, Blancpain is known as the world’s oldest watch brand. Loyal to its tradition of innovation and confirmed by countless horological complications invented over the years, the Manufacture is constantly pushing the boundaries of watchmaking to take this art to places where it has never been before.

Exploration and preservation of the world’s oceans is at the core to Blancpain. With its legacy of the Fifty Fathoms – the first modern diver’s watch – extending over almost 70 years, Blancpain has become close to the explorers, photographers, scientists and environmentalists who treasure the precious underwaterresource. With that affinity has come a determination to support important activities and initiatives dedicated to the oceans. 

To date, Blancpain has co-financed 21 major scientific expeditions, celebrated its role in significantly extending the surface area of marine protected areas around the world, and presented several award-winning documentary films, underwater photography exhibitions and publications. This dedication to supporting ocean exploration and preservation is called Blancpain Ocean Commitment. 

www.blancpain.com

Launching today – Fourth Element’s new Rec Fins. The recycled dive fin made from post consumer plastic waste. 

With a fully recycled plastic blade, the Rec Fins deliver great diving performance with a much lower impact on the environment. The classic 4 channel design generates thrust on both the down and upstroke of the fin, whilst the stiffening ribs ensure excellent control, making this the perfect combination of efficiency and eco-consciousness, minimizing your fin print on the ocean.  

The plastic is sourced from post consumer and industrial plastic waste with the equivalent of approximately 120 plastic bottles rescued from waste streams in every pair of fins.

Fourth Element Hardware Product Manager, Dean Martin said, “This is another first for the diving industry from Fourth Element. Our commitment to lead the way in innovative products and the use of recycled materials shows our commitment to look after this planet’s future.”

With the addition of a comfortable heel pad on an adjustable silicone strap, the Rec Fin’s soft foot pocket is comfortable for long dives and is available in 3 sizes to fit shoe sizes from UK 5 – 12.

Designed with the eco-conscious ocean user in mind, these fins are perfect for divers and snorkelers and come in Aqua/White and Black/Grey colours.

Find out more at https://www.fourthelement.com

After completing a bachelor’s degree in marine biology, Pádraig felt that he had tons of knowledge that could boost his employability as a conservationist – but he wasn’t quite sure how to get to where he wanted to be – working in the field of conservation. He was keen to keep his momentum and continued to push his professional development by gaining a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Advanced Open Water Diver certification while mulling over his next steps. Then in 2014, Pádraig got to hear about GVI’s marine conservation internship opportunities, took some time researching our programs, and decided to sign up to GVI’s 6-month internship in Fiji. He recalls day-to-day life working in Fiji as being filled with morning and afternoon dives in tropical waters, surveying more than 100 different marine species, gaining experience in data management, taking part in Fijian language lessons and engaging with community members.

And, between “office hours” he had the chance to travel to Fiji’s capital, Suva, as well as other islands, join kava-drinking ceremonies – a cultural event that incorporates Fiji’s national drink – and spent hours on the sandy coastline playing volleyball with local people. His internship with GVI included a 12-week placement with a dive shop, Aqua-Trek, an organisation known for offering underwater experiences where you could spot as many as eight sharks in a single dive! It was here that Pádraig was able to sharpen his diving techniques and skills as a marine guide.

With his internship completed, he headed home with a whole host of new skills in his professional tool kit. Still not quite sure where exactly his professional experience would take him, Pádraig surrounded himself with his passions, completing his master’s in animal behavior, getting involved in marine biology lecturing, and developing learning materials for university students. And one day, while on the hunt for a job in conservation, Pádraig clicked on the most recent vacancy update he’d received as a member of GVI’s alumni mailing list. This led to him landing his first job as a professional conservationist in Thailand working with Thai elephants!

Since then, Pádraig has worked as the Director of Operations for the Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute, a prestigious role that he landed thanks to the comprehensive theoretical and hands-on experience he was persistent in pursuing. Today, Pádraig is GVI’s Program Manager for Belize & Madagascar, but, with the green industry growing every day, he still sees himself travelling and seeking out exciting opportunities in his future.

Brooklyn Norton – Ambassador Programme Manager and UK Outreach Manager, Global Vision International

Learn more at: https://www.gvi.co.uk/volunteer-abroad/ & https://www.instagram.com/pints_and_paradise

The rebranding of the Green Fins initiative represents its global reach and evolution for the past 18 years.

The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – reveals the Green Fins rebrand today. The charity is introducing an updated logo and Branding & Communication Guidelines to represent the initiative’s global expansion, the evolution of its network, the creation of strong foundations for sustainable marine tourism, and the inclusivity of all its stakeholders.

The rebrand comes as the urgency of Green Fins’ work ramping up due to climate change impacts, and as the initiative continues to grow and adapt from a simple code of conduct to an ever-expanding sustainable network throughout the marine tourism industry, extensively increasing the reach of Green Fins messaging and practices globally. To date, the initiative has spread to 14 countries and connected with thousands of divers, dive professionals and operators worldwide. 

The long-standing identifiable logo has been around since the initiative’s inception in 2004 — 18 years ago. After an in-depth brand audit and market research, the team decided to refresh it to enhance and align it with the brand’s design standards, inclusive of all stakeholders and the significant changes coming to Green Fins in the near future. To coincide with the need for a global identity to reach a global scale, the rebranding exercise includes the Branding & Communication Guidelines that incorporate the different elements that make up the identities of both The Reef-World Foundation and Green Fins. 

Juliana Corrales, Creative Consultant at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “It was essential for us to go through this process with our stakeholders involved. The logo is the most important element of a brand and it should accurately represent its purpose. Green Fins has evolved massively since its inception and the brand identity needed to catch up to current standards. The product that you can see now comes from many conversations with the people behind the initiative, representing them in the best way possible.”

The redesign of the logo has undergone a meticulous process for an end product that represents all Green Fins stakeholders and the primary ecosystem that the network aims to protect — the coral reefs. The inclusion of coral is not a common element used in marine tourism branding thus, Reef-World believes it highlights Green Fins as a conservation initiative from a tourism operator. To preserve the logo’s recognisability, the identifiable green colour and fins representing all types of marine tourism stakeholders’ close relationship with the ocean are kept in the new logo.

The rebrand reflects the growth of the Green Fins initiative and lays the foundations for updates in the pipeline that will expand the reach of Green Fins. The charity plans to update the procedure Green Fins Members are being managed, via a new membership structure and digital platform. The changes further establish Green Fins as an initiative that takes heed of its network’s needs and intends to continue doing so to have a stronger conservation impact.

James Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “Green Fins has come a long way since its roots back in 2004 with some incredible achievements. The approach has managed to connect governments and businesses in a way we never thought possible whilst helping communities at the heart of where we focus our work, coral reefs. Everyone in the Green Fins network has worked hard in the evolution of Green Fins and that has made Green Fins what it is today. Laying strong foundations for a healthier relationship between marine tourism and marine ecosystems on a global scale. We are really pleased with the outcome of the logo and we hope that this new and fresh looking logo will become even more recognisable than the last one, becoming a well-known brand amongst tourists.”

Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “Reef-World recognises that to reach a global scale, we need a global identity that is inclusive of all our stakeholders. We’d also like to think of the rebranding as a celebration of Green Fins’ new milestone, the upcoming new membership structure and the digital platform developed to meet the growing demand for Green Fins launching later this year. The aim is to align the rebrand with the new changes and the charity’s value to be innovative. We will always continue to evolve and support the needs of the marine tourism industry and conservation effort worldwide.”

Green Fins is the only internationally recognised environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators, established through a partnership between the UN Environment Programme and The Reef-World Foundation. Green Fins uses a unique and proven three-pronged approach; green certifications of dive centres, strengthening regulations and environmental education for dive staff, divers and government.

To download the new Green Fins logo and Brand & Communications Guidelines, please visit: https://greenfins.net/material/green-fins-logo-brand-guide

To download the free Green Fins environmental education posters and guidelines with the new logo, please visit: https://greenfins.net/action-centre

When politicians and fossil-fuelled media seize on a few ill-chosen words I or other environmental advocates blurt out, while ignoring our overall messages, it’s usually because they have no real counter-arguments.

I’m just a messenger, presenting science and solutions in accessible ways. And, like anyone who has worked on climate issues for any length of time, I get frustrated at the lethal lack of political and societal action.

But it’s rare to see these politicians, media and businesspeople present a rational argument as to why we shouldn’t be doing everything we can to forestall the climate catastrophe scientists worldwide are warning will be our future if we don’t act now.

Instead, they ignore the science, or pay lip service to it, while trying to demonize people who devote their lives to ensuring humanity has a healthy future. They take quotes out of context to rile others who fear change and refuse to accept we’re in a crisis. They ignore the heat domes, droughts and floods, or act as if those have nothing to do with rampant, wasteful fossil fuel exploitation.

If governments and media truly wanted to stand up for oil, gas and coal workers, they’d create and promote opportunities and help them transition to new employment. Instead, they blame environmentalists for job losses even as corporate bosses talk about continued — and eventually full — automation of their industry and while the world turns to cleaner energy.

They care as little for the workers as those who rake in massive profits while pushing employees out through automation and in response to market forces. Meanwhile, environmental organizations worldwide are calling for a “just transition” to ensure affected people and their families don’t get left behind in the necessary shift to cleaner energy and less waste.

Why can’t they come up with honest arguments? If they believe climate disruption is not upon us and not serious enough to compel us to change our ways, that we can continue to exploit and burn fossil fuels until they’re gone, then it’s up to them to present their rationale. If they disagree with our communications about climate and other environmental subjects, they should respond with logical arguments.

The Alberta government’s recent response doesn’t meet that bar. It spent $3.5 million (along with a $30-million/year “war room”) on a “public inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns” to defend the most profitable industry in history from plucky environmental groups. It was beset with delays, cost increases and embarrassments before concluding there was no “wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization” and that campaigns have not spread misinformation.

Instead of accepting this and moving on, the government and some media spun it to imply it concluded the opposite. We in the environmental movement remain transparent about our communications, funding and aims, and if we make mistakes, we correct them. After all, our goal is a healthier planet for all.

Those who worship money and power will happily manipulate and dupe others to obtain and maintain it. Look at the spew of constant misinformation from U.S. media outlets like Fox, or the ongoing climate science rejection by opinion writers for Canada’s PostMedia chain — in service of the fossil fuel industry’s continued environmental devastation.

They’re holding us back. We’ve known about the greenhouse effect for almost 200 years and been certain about human climate impacts for more than 30, but the fossil fuel industry and its captured politicians, lobbyists, front groups and media have convinced many to continue on as if everything is fine.

We’ve wasted the past 30 years and we’re seeing the consequences. All I and others have been conveying for decades is coming to pass. Just ask the people of Abbotsford or Lytton. Look at the billions of intertidal plants and animals wiped out in the summer heat dome. Canadian canola and wheat production are down more than 35 per cent this year because of drought, yet I still hear the anti-environmentalists arguing that more CO2 is good for plant growth, or that warmer temperatures will be good for Canada.

I’d love to be proven wrong, as would, I suspect, every climate scientist and activist in the world. But there’s no denying our predicament, so let’s work together to resolve it.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington.          

Learn more at https://www.davidsuzuki.org

This presentation is part of the Seaside Chats speaker series hosted by Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

Corals exhibit some of the most fascinating reproductive behavior in the animal kingdom. Once a year they release their eggs and sperm into the water column for external fertilization. This life history strategy allows corals, which are usually stuck in one place, to disperse to new reefs. This spawning behavior also allows coral researchers to study a variety of different research topics to better understand coral symbiosis, dispersal, and responses to climate change. Dr. Davies will share some of the exciting research her lab is doing, including some of the ways this research might inform coral conservation. 

February 2nd 2022

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The Webinar ID is 180-544-675.

Register for this webinar at: https://register.gotowebinar.com

The fight to protect marine wildlife and preserve threatened species receives a major boost today; Age of Union Alliance, led by tech leader and environmental activist Dax Dasilva, is proud to announce a $4.5 million donation to Sea Shepherd, the global NGO that partners with governments to patrol their oceans and fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing all over the world. 

Overfishing, climate change, ocean acidification, and habitat deterioration threaten our planet’s fragile marine ecosystems which are teetering on the verge of collapse. IUU fishing, in particular, is threatening our world’s oceans and their ability to survive. Fish populations are being decimated, endangered species are nearing elimination, and developing nations’ waters are being emptied. Given that over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, healthy oceans lead to a healthy planet.

IUU fishing is a global threat, and this transformational donation will fund the operating costs of a 56 metre Sea Shepherd vessel for three years, beginning January 2022, under the name Age of Union. The ship will begin patrolling waters to prevent bycatch of dolphins off the West Coast of France until the end of March. From there, the ship will journey on to the West Coast of Africa to protect marine wildlife for approximately three months.

“I have long admired Sea Shepherd’s unyielding efforts to protect our planet’s most sacred oceanic ecosystems,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder of Age of Union. “With these funds from Age of Union, we hope to help Sea Shepherd save the lives of endangered species, preserve their habitats, and support local communities disrupted by illegal poachers. We must continue to shine a light on the important work organizations like Sea Shepherd do to keep our waters safe for the prosperity of critical marine wildlife.”

“Sea Shepherd is proud to have the support of Age of Union,” said Alex Cornelissen, CEO of Sea Shepherd. “Thanks to their passion and support, we will expand our operations, save more wildlife, and protect critical marine habitats that are crucial to the survival of our oceans. Shoulder to shoulder, we stand in our fight against poachers in the larger effort to save our oceans. To honor the partnership with Age of Union, we will proudly bear their name on one of our flagship vessels.” 

Key Statistics About the Marine Wildlife at Risk

• Every year, between 6,000 and 10,000 dolphins are killed off France’s West Coast. Notably, there are twice as many dolphins killed as bycatch off the West Coast of France compared to all other countries combined. 
• With populations of fish off the coasts of Europe and Asia collapsing drastically, the waters of West Africa are a place where recently there have been significant depletion of fish stocks. That is quickly changing–the Gulf of Guinea is a critical habitat for tuna, humpback whales, whale sharks, and megafauna, and IUU fishing is responsible for up to 40% of the catch in West Africa, requiring immediate action to prevent this.
• Fish is the number one source of protein for local communities in West African countries. For example, at least 33,000 people in Liberia and 200,000 people in The Gambia depend on small-scale artisanal fisheries for their livelihood. To protect their interests, governments have established protected areas reserved for small-scale local fishers where industrial fishing is strictly prohibited. Without the presence of a vessel like Age of Union, industrial ships routinely illegally fish in these areas, stealing from local communities, by robbing them of their food source and livelihoods, leaving little for their families. 

Sea Shepherd’s projects off the coasts of France and Africa mark only the beginning of the Age of Union vessel’s plans for the next three years. Support from Age of Union will continue to keep the vessel operational until the end of 2024, helping to ensure worldwide protection of marine wildlife and threatened species.

This announcement follows Age of Union’s initial launch as a non-profit in October 2021 when Dax Dasilva announced an initial pledge of $40 million toward protecting ecosystems around the world. Sea Shepherd is the sixth global partnership that Age of Union has announced using funds from this initial pledge, which will continue to grow in years to come.

About Age of Union Alliance

Age of Union is a non-profit environmental alliance that supports and makes visible a global community of changemakers working on the ground to protect the planet’s threatened species and ecosystems. Launched in October 2021 by tech leader and environmental activist Dax Dasilva in Montreal, Canada, Age of Union seeks to ignite a flame within every person through conservation efforts that solve critical environmental challenges around the world and inspire high-impact change by showing the positive impact that every individual can make.

For more information, please visit: AgeofUnion.com

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Reef-World’s annual report reveals that the charity continues to prioritise coral reef health moving forward.

The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – reveals the highlights and major developments in their latest 2020–2021 annual report today. The report shows how the charity has had to adapt to the pandemic to continue to deliver and is determined to build back better.

While grassroots work was unable to occur throughout most of the year due to the global pandemic, digital innovations have enabled the charity to continue to help the marine tourism industry reduce its direct and local impacts on coral reefs. Through the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course, the charity continues to educate dive professionals worldwide to protect and preserve coral reefs, no matter their location. The course is now hosted independently on the newly launched Green Fins website. The revamped Green Fins website has a strong focus on increasing tourist demand for members and consolidating the charity’s digital portfolio. It is now easier for tourists to find active Green Fins members to dive with through a live member map and new content structure.

In addition, the charity developed two new guidelines for environmental best practices and four new language translations (Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish) to expand the reach of its conservation message. The new website loads faster, is more mobile-friendly and is built to scale for visitor traffic peaks. The outcome from the update is the increment in Green Fins tools and resources downloads, a growth of 45.4% from the previous year.

Key highlights include the resignation of the founder of Reef-World, Anne Paranjoti. After 24 years dedicated to helping communities to tackle the many environmental threats facing their livelihoods, she has decided to step down as Chair and Trustee. The Reef-World team will sorely miss her guidance and support. Other highlights and new developments include: expanding the Green Fins online courses to meet the demand for education on sustainable diving from recreational divers with the development of the Green Fins Diver e-Course; selected for the Beyond Tourism Innovation Challenge along with Reef Check Dominican Republic and Misión Tiburón in Costa Rica to foster innovative solutions to transform and revitalise the tourism sector. 

Furthermore, there will be a significant shift for Green Fins as the charity is updating the membership structure for Green Fins members, moving towards a minimum acceptable environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators. The charity is also developing a ‘Green Fins Digital Membership’ to meet the growing demand for the Green Fins initiative and to support the national teams. All that will be accompanied by a new Green Fins logo that incorporates the Green Fins’ ethos, the vast network of country teams and members, and the initiative’s maturity.

“Community conservation is at the heart of Reef-World and Green Fins. Activities and initiatives that link communities around the world and provide open access to resources are a key part of a good future. We all have interesting days ahead. After a pandemic that has impacted all over the world, we know we have to face up to changes together and with the right view in our hearts, no matter what we start with today, we can do anything.” said Anne Paranjoti, Founder of The Reef-World Foundation.

“As we move towards 2022 at a rate of knots, we are a stronger, more dynamic and fluid team ready to take on new challenges. The biggest changes to Green Fins since its inception are about to take place and I have every confidence in our team’s ability to ensure that these changes benefit our stakeholders and prioritise coral reef health moving forwards,” said JJ Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation.

“These are difficult and uncertain times but also exciting and a real chance to maximise our potential and the impact that we can have on a global scale with a stronger and bigger team,” he added.

With 32 national and local government agencies or NGO implementing partners engaged, Green Fins now has 82 active assessors, 32% of whom are female. The Green Fins national teams are looking forward to resuming training and assessments as soon as it is possible and safe to do so. In addition, plans for Green Fins’ expansion into Japan and Colombia are in place when travel opens up again.

Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, added: “This year, we were met with challenges we couldn’t have possibly predicted. The best thing about completely being forced to erase an entire year of planned activity is that you can take stock, cut out the background noise, and work out what your stakeholders truly need from you during these difficult times. It was so uplifting to see our core Reef-World team rally together and ride on the support of our partners and network as we redirected our efforts to ensure conservation impact despite the lack of grassroots work. We go into our next operational year stronger than ever, our digital profile specifically so, and we are really excited to start the next chapter of the Reef-World adventure.”

Reef-World would also like to thank its partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for the ocean: PADI; The Matthew Good Foundation; 1% for the Planet; Explorer Ventures; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); ZuBlu; GSTC; Dive O’Clock; WildSocks and Charitable Travel. 

Find the full 2020–2021 Annual Report here: https://reef-world.org/reefworld-annual-reports

The ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana has a new partnership opportunity: The National Business Coalition for the Oceans.

At no cost and a flexible commitment, the National Business Coalition for the Oceans helps folks stay updated on ocean conservation issues, discover ways to take action, and connect with other business leaders who care.

Want to restore marine biodiversity? Let us know. Curious about how to fight offshore drilling or want to help save the North Atlantic right whale? We can’t wait to have you on board.

Learn more and sign up at https://www.oceana.org/businesscoalition

“We are a group who care about people experiencing homelessness. We take grocery bags and outer milk bags and turn them into sleeping mats.” 

About Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Our goal is to keep as much as possible out of landfills and repurpose it for a better purpose! If anyone else in London is collecting stuff for the same reason, please let us know so we can help you.

Portable sleeping surfaces can be made out of plastic bags. These sleeping mats will remain in the London area. There are numerous advantages to using a plastic bag mat:

• For persons sleeping on the ground, it serves as an insulating covering and a source of warmth.
• The mat is lightweight, easy to clean, and insect-proof.
• It recycles single-use plastic bags, preventing them from ending up in landfills.
• They’re very cheap to construct, requiring only some provided time, donated plastic bags, and the purchase of a crochet hook.

Egg cartons are collected and repurposed by our local egg farmers. The mascara wands are used to brush little animals in animal shelters. Crayola receives the markers and converts them into electricity as well as wax compounds for asphalt and roofing tiles. The spent batteries are sent to a local school for recycling.
Wax crayons are melted down and used to make crayon moulds for underprivileged children and schools.

We offer a number of drop stations throughout the city to make contactless drop off more convenient. For any and all donations, there is a bin/tote on the porch at all locations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Learn more at: https://londononrrr.wixsite.com/lorrr

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New guidelines for underwater photographers

The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – has launched the newly updated Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Underwater Photographers poster with new guidelines. These guidelines help dive and snorkel operators encourage their guests to follow environmental best practices while taking photos underwater in order to protect the marine ecosystems they are photographing. 

Underwater photography is becoming increasingly popular as cameras and underwater housings become more accessible, coupled with the prevalence of sharing these sightings on social media. However, using a camera on a dive can be distracting and can lead to changes in buoyancy and body positioning that may cause damage to the marine environment. Additionally, moving or manipulating marine life and coral in order to get the perfect shot is common – a practice that causes stress to marine life and can erode the ecosystem’s health.

The latest global survey of reef health, The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 Report,  found the critical need to reduce local pressures on coral reefs in order to maintain their resilience while global threats posed by climate change are addressed. This includes the negative impacts from marine tourism. The Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Underwater Photographers’ poster aims to help marine tourism professionals promote environmental best practices to underwater photographers and prevent practices that are harmful to the coral reefs and other marine ecosystems.

The guidance includes a wide range of recommendations, from improving buoyancy skills to not fixating over a particular species. These recommendations are consolidated from dive professionals and professional underwater photographers with years of experience working in the industry. 

Samantha Craven, Programmes Manager at Reef-World, said: “Underwater photography is a powerful conservation tool that can bring the delights of the ocean to the surface and foster connection with the marine environment. However, if poorly managed, it can damage the very animals we love to photograph. Our research showed that divers holding a camera (either compact or SLR) accounted for 52.7% of observed diver contacts with the reef*. These guidelines will help everyone – from operators to photographers themselves — reduce their impact and protect future photography subjects! 

The Green Fins Environmental Best Practice for Underwater Photographers poster is available for free on the Green Fins website. Anyone can download the poster here.

For more information, please visit www.reef-world.org or www.greenfins.net. Dive and snorkel operators interested in signing up to Green Fins can find the membership application form at: www.greenfins.net/how-to-join.

NOAA is excited to launch the updated NOAA National Marine Ecosystem Status website. This website provides the interested public, educators, outreach specialists, and others a starting point to see how marine ecosystems across the U.S. are doing.  It also provides access to all of NOAA’s ecosystem resources and data in one place for audiences that want a deeper dive.

Until now, there has been no single entry point to access NOAA’s ecosystem information. There also is no place that summarizes and synthesizes ecosystem information across regions to provide a broader view of conditions across U.S. large marine ecosystems. The Ecosystem Indicator Working Group, under NOAA’s Science Council, led this project to distill vast amounts of ecosystem data into a consistent, easy to view presentation. The information will help us become better stewards of the ocean, its essential resources, and the communities it supports.

Please explore the site and share your feedback with nmfs.eiwg@noaa.gov.

Visit at: https://ecowatch.noaa.gov

OceanHero has funded recovery of more than 21 million ocean-bound plastic bottles

OceanHero search engine users have helped recover 21 million ocean-bound plastic bottles from the comfort of their homes and offices. When web surfers add the ocean-protection search engine to their browser, they recover ocean-bound plastic with every search. “When you consider that 18 billion pounds of plastic waste enter our oceans every year, you realize that each of us has a responsibility to stem the tide,” said OceanHero founder Marvin Burman. “If humans don’t make major changes by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.”

How OceanHero Works

Internet users add the OceanHero search engine to their browser. When they conduct a search, open a new browser tab or answer ocean-themed trivia questions, OceanHero pays partners to recover ocean-bound plastic.

OceanHero works with organizations that have created a global infrastructure of plastic collection hubs, built micro recycling plants, found innovative ways to repurpose plastic, and provide pollution education. The funds come from unobtrusive ads displayed in the browser and search results, similar to what you see in any search engine. OceanHero does not track users’ search history or sell any personal information to third parties. 

Turning Waste Plastic Into Bricks

OceanHero works with Trash Waste Solutions to reclaim ocean-bound plastic and turn it into bricks in Manado, Indonesia, an area that has suffered massively from plastic dumping. Burman noted, “Many communities have limited waste management systems. Recycling centers are often only available in larger cities. That’s why we started this pilot project in Indonesia. We’re creating micro recycling plants that transform plastic waste into building blocks. So instead of plastic destroying communities, it can rebuild them.” 

Additional Global Ocean Protection Partnerships 

OceanHero also partners with Plastic Bank, which has 32 branches in Haiti and the Philippines. Plastic Bank provides family sustaining plastic collection jobs in under-developed communities then recycles the plastic waste into reusable products. 

The search engine also supports Waste Free Oceans, an organization that improves recycling infrastructure throughout the world. Burman noted, “This work will help more than 700 species that are impacted by plastic entanglement and ingestion.”

A Beautiful and Educational Experience

When you add the OceanHero search engine to your browser, you can select ocean mode to see stunning oceanscape homepage backgrounds with every new tab that you open. You’ll also enjoy fun interactive elements. Burman said, “When people use our browser extension, we continuously engage them with messages and questions that highlight the marine-ecosystem’s importance and what we can do about ocean pollution.”

There’s also a gamified element – digital shell collecting. They provide a concrete way for you to see how many ocean-bound plastic bottles you have helped to recover. Users earn shells when they open new tabs, perform searches, or answer Ocean trivia questions. For every hundred shells you collect, OceanHero can recover one plastic bottle. “By creating fun ways to engage people in the process, we can put a dent in the 10 million metric tons of plastic waste that enters the oceans each year. Every little bit helps,” said Burman.

About OceanHero

OceanHero is a search engine that helps you save the oceans from plastic pollution with every click. The social business partners with and funds nonprofit organizations to recover ocean-bound plastic, create recycling infrastructure, and provide pollution education. Learn more at oceanhero.today.

Learn more at: http://OceanHero.today