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For far too long, we have taken the ocean and its seemingly limitless bounty for granted. We’ve overharvested its resources, sanctioning the use of supertrawlers and other unsustainable forms of fishing. We’ve treated it as a dumping ground for our sewage, refuse, plastic waste and other forms of pollution. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re now contemplating mining the deep seabed, potentially opening a Pandora’s Box of problems that we can’t even begin to understand.
It’s worth taking a moment to remind ourselves why we should care about the ocean. It produces half of the world’s oxygen and stores 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. It regulates our climate and weather patterns. It feeds billions of people and supports the livelihoods of 12% of the global population. It’s a rich source of medicinal products that treat ailments as diverse as cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
Until now, our relationship with the ocean has been a one-way street. We urgently need to change that dynamic and start to give something back.
Without wishing to be too prescriptive, here are some top tips to set you on an ocean-friendly path.
Check the label
Before you buy seafood in a supermarket or order fish in a restaurant, ask where it comes from. Look for labelling that indicates whether your fish has been sustainably sourced. At Fauna & Flora, we have been advising on the development of a label specifically for small-scale fishers.
Fish for sale. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
Consulting seafood guides can help you make well-informed purchasing choices. © Jeremy Holden / Fauna & Flora
Consider alternatives
Rather than sticking to more popular types of seafood such as salmon, tuna, cod and prawns – many of which are overharvested from the wild or farmed in unsustainable ways – why not diversify? Ask for locally sourced mussels or oysters that are less resource-intensive to produce, and can relieve the pressure on species that are struggling to recover in the face of constant, and often destructive, fishing pressure.
A fishing fleet. © Michelangelo Pignani / Fauna & Flora
Destructive fishing practices can destroy entire habitats and are threatening the health of our oceans. © Michelangelo Pignani / Fauna & Flora
Clean a beach
There are few more depressing sights than a once-pristine beach strewn with plastic and other littoral litter. It goes without saying that you should take your own litter home with you, but wouldn’t it give you an extra-warm glow to fill a bin bag with at least some of the unsightly garbage you come across? Better still, organise a beach blitz with some of your friends or join the Great Global Nurdle Hunt and leave the entire shoreline squeaky clean.
A beach clean-up. © Jeff Wilson / Fauna & Flora
As well as ensuring that coastlines stay beautiful, clean-ups help keep beaches safe for wildlife. © Jeff Wilson / Fauna & Flora
Considerate tourism
Tourism and other forms of recreation relating to the ocean are a double-edged sword. Whether you’re diving with dolphins, snorkelling with sharks, watching whales or observing turtles by torchlight on their nesting beaches, always put the wildlife first. It’s imperative that your enjoyment doesn’t come at the expense of the natural behaviour you’re so keen to witness. If you’re in a boat, avoid dropping anchor on fragile marine habitats such as coral reefs or seagrass beds, and ensure your tour operator follows published codes of conduct in any wildlife encounters.
Diver with whale. © Amanda Cotton / Ocean Image Bank
Wildlife tourism can have many positive impacts, but it's important to respect the local environment and wildlife. © Amanda Cotton / Ocean Image Bank
Choose carefully
Illegal and unsustainable trade in wildlife products is one of the major causes of marine biodiversity loss. Every year millions of marine creatures are removed from the ocean and distributed worldwide as food, medicine, curios and live aquarium specimens. We’re decimating the populations of sharks and marine turtles, and in danger of permanently losing Nemo.
The demand for shark fin soup contributes to the killing of over 100 million sharks each year. Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered, due partly to tourist-driven demand for tortoiseshell jewellery and other products made from their exquisite shells. The international trade in live ornamental marine fish relies mainly on fish taken unsustainably from the wild, often using cyanide to stun and scoop them up. Think carefully before you sample exotic forms of seafood, purchase accessories made from wildlife, or covet a tropical reef fish as an aquatic pet.
Hammerhead shark. © Michele Westmorland / Getty Images
Unsustainable harvesting of sharks is leading to the disruption of entire marine ecosystems. © Michele Westmorland / Getty Images
Call to action
Even when you’re not directly interacting with the ocean, you can take action to protect it. It’s important to remember that we all have a voice and that, collectively, those voices can have a huge influence. Armchair advocacy, in the form of constructive engagement on social media, goes a long way, but where to start? We’re glad you asked. Plastic pellet pollution is a massive, but solvable, problem for our ocean. If you want to be part of the solution, please spread the word.
Cut out single-use plastic
The sheer volume of plastic pollution in our ocean is overwhelming. Recycling and reuse, while admirable in themselves, are only part of the solution. We have to find ways to turn off the tap or, at the very least, minimise the flow of new plastic into the market. Wherever possible, we should be avoiding – and discouraging the proliferation of – single-use plastic. This isn’t about demonising plastic – which has numerous vital uses – but moving beyond a throwaway culture that is plagued by excessive and often unnecessary plastic packaging.
This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive. It’s just a starting point. We’d love you to share your own ideas about how we can save the ocean, together.
Seahorse in plastic. © Morokot Long / Fauna & Flora
Many marine species ingest or become entangled in plastic debris which can often lead to starvation, internal injuries or drowning. © Morokot Long / Fauna & Flora
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