How much the oceans are protected? How much of the globe is covered in coral reefs? These are important questions that require decent data. A new study led by Sea Around Us Project member Colette Wabnitz and just released online by the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment reveals that the current data available are too poor for them to be used to evaluate progress toward conservation targets, such as international goals to set aside 20-30% of the oceans as marine protected areas. Technological advances in satellite imagery, like this image of the North Male atoll in the Maldives, can help us better determine the true size of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass, spawning grounds, and other vulnerable marine habitats. Read the full study here.
Climate Change Will Affect Ocean Food Supply
Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a new study led by the Sea Around Us Project’s William Cheung (now based at the University of East Anglia in the UK). The study, published today Global Change Biology, finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world’s fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world, most particularly in the tropics. Read the full press release here and a summary of scientific findings and some of the major maps and graphs from the climate change study here . The Pew Environment Group also put out a report on the study in their Ocean Science Series.
Aquacalypse Now
Daniel Pauly writes an article on overfishing for The New Republic. Read the full piece here.
Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak – Ph.D. Student
Hailing from Kuwait City, Kuwait , Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak entertained an early passion for marine biology by spending countless hours submerged amongst the coral reefs of the Persian Gulf. Her enthusiasm for marine life grew into a lifelong love for ecology and conservation. After graduating cum laude with a BA in Environmental Studies & Conservation Biology from Middlebury College, VT, Dalal received a Watson Fellowship to travel to Panama, the Bahamas, New Zealand, Fiji, Palau, the Seychelles, and South Africa to research the extent to which cultural context influences shark conservation efforts. From 2013-2015 she worked as a Marine Policy Analyst with the Water and Oceans Governance Group at the UNDP Headquarters in New York City.
In 2015 she completed her PhD dissertation entitled “In the Wake of the Dhow: Historical Changes in the Marine Ecology and Fisheries of the Persian Gulf” under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Pauly, and is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Sea Around Us. Her current research interests lie in the historical marine ecology of the Persian Gulf. Through a variety of historical documents she hopes to assess and quantify changes in the distribution and abundance of marine species in the Gulf in order to establish more accurate baselines from which to measure changes. A complete list of publications can be found at: http://www.al-abdulrazzak.com/publications
Daniel Pauly Speaks at IMCC
Daniel Pauly gives the keynote address at the International Marine Conservation Congress.