Ocean health

We are physically and mentally close to the ocean. After all, the ocean surrounds us. In this small island, we are never more than a few hours’ drive from the coast even from the deepest hinterland. We understand its fury - we remember the 2004 tsunami vividly - but we appreciate its serenity as well. More significantly, we carry a bit of the ocean within us, as our cells stick to the primordial oceanic formula from which all life sprang. Thus, we are close to the ocean in more ways than one.

The ocean plays a critical role in supporting the human well-being, from providing food, livelihoods and recreational opportunities to regulating the global climate. Sustainable management aimed at maintaining the flow of a broad range of benefits from the ocean requires a comprehensive method to measure and monitor the health of ocean systems.

Indeed, our oceans - and the life within - seem to be in peril. This is the message we get from the Ocean Health Index, which gave the health of the world’s oceans a grade of 60 out of 100. It is an interesting concept that we should care about, being islanders intimately connected to the ocean.

The Index is an effort of an international team of researchers who came together to determine the condition of all oceans in the world. The scientists involved gave grades ranging from 36 percent to 86 percent. The average came in at 60 percent. Not exactly ‘fail’ but not exactly a distinction pass either. The research findings will be published in this week’s Nature magazine.

Failing

Although 60 percent is usually considered a failing or close to failing grade in most academic institutions, the researchers involved do not want to see it that way. Larry Crowder, the director of the Centre for Ocean Solutions who was part of the Stanford team, said the research looked at many factors including tourism, marine pollution, human activity, biodiversity, fishing, aquaculture and protecting endangered species.

They also considered the cleanliness of the water, coastal protection and the “sense of place.”

The Ocean Health Index is an aggregate of those scores that will help us think about the ocean in a more integrated way.

“We created an index comprising ten diverse public goals for a healthy coupled human-ocean system and calculated the index for every coastal country. Globally, the overall index score was 60 out of 100 (range 36–86), with developed countries generally performing better than developing countries, but with notable exceptions. Only 5 percent of countries scored higher than 70, whereas 32 percent scored lower than 50.

The index provides a powerful tool to raise public awareness, direct resource management, improve policy and prioritise scientific research,” says Crowder.

“The global score of 60 is a strong message that we are not managing our use of the oceans in an optimal way,” says Bud Ris, president and CEO, the New England Aquarium and co-author of the paper in Nature. “There is a lot of opportunity for improvement, and we hope the Index will make that point abundantly clear.”

Since there is a country by country assessment, each country can identify its weak points (with regard to protecting the ocean) and do further work on the strong points.

The lowest score was 36 (Sierra Leone’s waters) and the highest was 86 (waters surrounding uninhabited Jarvis Island, near Hawaii).With the next Ocean Health study due in 2017, there is ample time for taking action on some of the key issues highlighted by the authors.

The world needs more such research on all aspects of the oceans. Sri Lanka should be involved in any such international efforts through its universities, especially the Ocean University. Its graduates and students could spearhead a movement to protect the ocean surrounding our island and give the islanders the ‘bigger picture’ on the ocean.

The Ocean Health Index research must be ‘required reading’ for our ocean and coastal experts at the relevant government departments so that they can take action on any of our weak areas.

One of the main issues that the new research has focused on is fishing or rather, overfishing which can lead to the depletion of fish stocks. The answer is sustainable fishing.

Fishing

As Crowder says, “the best condition for fisheries is not fishing, but practising sustainable fishing and providing those benefits to the fishing community”. He hopes those involved in the fishing industry will soon see the benefits sustainable fishing could have for the future.

This message is primarily aimed at big-time fishing operators, but it should permeate to the grassroots level fishermen too. Consumers too should be more aware of what type of fish they eat – there are several good picture guides that can help. It is vital to protect oceanic biodiversity – scientists guess that millions more species are waiting to discovered from the depths of our oceans.

Another little known area is the impact of human activity on marine life. There are thousands of ships afloat on the high seas. There are off-shore oil rigs in many parts of the world.

The ocean is an incredibly noisy place. Not many people think about that aspect. Can you imagine how hard it is for the marine life ? In fact, it was reported recently that whales have a special mechanism which helps them to ‘turn off’ such noise. But not every animal has that kind of powers.The ocean is also used as a convenient garbage dump by the ships and of course, by many coastal communities and coastal factories. This is a major hazard that affects the health of the ocean.

The ocean is vast, but even the ocean has a limit. Preventing marine pollution is essential. All coastal countries must take it more seriously.

In this regard, Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in the region that has a separate governmental agency on marine pollution prevention. Climate change and global warming too will affect the seas directly. Sea levels are predicted to rise in the coming centuries, if not decades.

It is likely to have a devastating effect on small islands, coastal communities and marine life. More studies should be conducted on other natural phenomena associated with the oceans, including undersea quakes and tsunamis. The ocean is an incredible resource.

It literally gives us life and feeds us. We harness energy from its bed and from its waves. It beautifies our coastal areas and adds colour to our lives.

We, in turn, must protect and nurture it. The ocean is critical to our existence and we must do more to save it.