Over the past century, rampant overfishing, relentless pollution and runaway development have collectively played a bigger role in diminishing the world’s oceans to an unsafe place for the biodiversity and human fraternity. Thanks to two major advances in global ocean governance that are unfolding to overcome this perilous situation which is to help mankind to resurrect the global seas.
The first one is to set up massive marine protected areas of an unprecedented size which comes with after a mutual understanding between the countries around the world. The second key development is that the United Nations is drawing up a treaty that would, for the first time, manage biodiversity across the high seas — the region outside the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of individual nations. These two significant policies prove that decision-makers have finally committed to taking some aggressive actions to keep pace against the industrialization in the oceans.
Efforts to control the exploitation of high-seas biodiversity via the new U.N. treaty will be effective only if things happening in this large and distant part of the ocean are under scanner. With technological innovations going at a rapid pace in shaping the development in the ocean, the high-tech solutions can also ensure that a marine industrial revolution advances in a responsible and intelligent manner. This responsibility is not just into the hands of the governments but also is in many others like researchers, citizen scientists and environmental groups.
An important solution lies in the use of satellite-interfacing sensors and data processing tools that are beginning to allow us to watch how ships use the oceans as easily as we track Uber taxis cruising around a city. Similar to airplanes, ships are prone to carry sensors that can publicly transmit their position, so they don’t crash into each other. The same streams of safety data can be used to detect industrial fishing, mining explorations and how cargo ships overlap with whale migration pathways.
Role of Big Data in Safeguarding the Oceans
Rather than oceans being a black hole of data, the real new challenge lies in figuring out smart ways to sift through the billions of data points pouring in. Luckily, smart algorithms are available to pick out specific kinds of vessel behaviour from this sea of Big Data. Ships leave unique behavioural fingerprints. For example, purse seine fishing boats make circles around fish schools when setting their nets, while long-line fishing boats travel linearly up and back along the gear they set.
In a recent report in the Journal Science, colleagues at the non-profit Global Fishing and Douglas McCauley, Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara monitored progress as the nation of Kiribati closed a section its ocean the size of California to fishing. Past six months of observation, it was clear that all vessels except one left to fish elsewhere. This group also mapped out the activity of purse seine fishing boats on the high seas of the Pacific – generating the first publicly accessible view of where fishing activity occurs in the very region that the U.N. high seas convention may consider setting up international protected areas.
The governments should very soon realize the importance of this new data and act on calls from the scientific community so that all the vessels carry these observation sensors and utilize them purposefully. This will be possible only if political will musters to close these loopholes.
Significance of Satellites in Preserving the Ocean world
Nanosatellites promise to be an important additional piece in the ocean-observation puzzle which constantly take high-resolution pictures of the earth. These new imaging satellites will help the marine ecologists, ocean conservation groups and marine park managers to begin to search in near real-time for ships in protected areas, to monitor weekly the losses of coastal mangrove forests and to document abuses to coral reefs such as dredging.
With foresight, the intelligence derived from the vessel tracking systems eventually may be interlinked with these imaging satellites to enable them to function like space-based red light cameras that snap pictures of law-breaking at sea as it happens.
Not just outer space! Something beyond that!!
Not all next-generation ocean observation has to be based in outer space. An exciting array of new marine-monitoring technologies is increasingly available that also could be useful. Aerial drones are beginning to be used to patrol coastal waters. Fleets of drone ships may follow suit and could help monitor both the health of ocean resources and the behavior of those that harvest them. Shore- and aircraft-based radar and acoustic recorders that listen for boat noise also could be deployed.
Essential to effectively monitoring and controlling the industrialization of the oceans is democratization of this new ocean-observation data. Good intelligence on what was happening at sea used to only be the purview of vessel captains.
Now, anyone can keep tabs on the most remote parts of the ocean on their phones. Global Fishing Watch, for example, is releasing a product this year that will let anyone view and interact with data on fishing from across the global oceans for free. Planet Labs, a startup that manages the largest constellation of earth-observing nanosatellites, recently released a constantly updated, free library of imagery for all of California — including its estuaries, bays, kelp forests and nearshore waters.
Realizing the challenges ahead!!
The challenge ahead, as we enter this new era of improved ocean stewardship and attempt to govern increasingly bigger regions of the ocean, is to ensure that our new policies actually are enforced. The stakes here are high. We have to make these emerging protected areas and treaties work and we must do it soon, if we intend to help the oceans continue to dish out large helpings of food, energy and wonder.
Image Credit: Shutterstock / sergeisimonov
Source: Yale Environment 360
