Latest / How To Protect The Ocean / Are all protected areas in the ocean equal? A study on the bonus species protection

Transcript

Are all protected areas in the ocean equal? A study on the bonus species protection · How To Protect The Ocean

• 0:00
  How important are protected areas?
• 0:02
  That's what we're gonna
• 0:03
  talk about on today's episode
• 0:04
  of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast,
• 0:05
  because there's been a
• 0:06
  new study that came out
• 0:07
  talking about certain protected areas
• 0:09
  that are better than others,
• 0:10
  that have unintended positive impacts
• 0:13
  on a specific area that's protected
• 0:15
  that is beyond what is protected for.
• 0:17
  We're gonna talk about
• 0:18
  all this on this episode
• 0:19
  of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
• 0:21
  Let's start the show.
• 0:23
  (upbeat music)
• 0:27
  Hey everybody, welcome back
• 0:27
  to another exciting episode
• 0:29
  of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
• 0:30
  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin,
• 0:31
  and this is the
• 0:32
  podcast where you find out
• 0:32
  what's happening with the ocean,
• 0:33
  how you can speak up for the ocean,
• 0:35
  and what you can do to
• 0:36
  live for a better ocean
• 0:37
  by taking action.
• 0:38
  And on today's episode,
• 0:39
  we're gonna be talking
• 0:39
  about protected areas,
• 0:40
  one of my favorite topics,
• 0:41
  because if you don't know me by now,
• 0:43
  I have a master's in
• 0:44
  looking at marine protected areas
• 0:46
  on the East Coast of Nova Scotia,
• 0:49
  which is where this
• 0:50
  study kind of talks about,
• 0:52
  not necessarily Nova Scotia,
• 0:53
  but in the Gulf of St.
• 0:54
  Lawrence, in the St. Lawrence area.
• 0:56
  We looked at this study called
• 0:57
  Assessing Indirect Biodiversity
• 0:59
  Conservation Benefits
• 1:01
  of Fisheries Closures in the
• 1:02
  Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada,
• 1:05
  talks about protected areas
• 1:06
  and how some protected areas
• 1:08
  have an alternative benefit
• 1:10
  to them, even though it
• 1:11
  wasn't the primary role
• 1:12
  that they were protected for.
• 1:14
  We're gonna talk all
• 1:14
  about protected areas,
• 1:15
  not to worry, just wanna introduce that.
• 1:17
  But if you're new to ocean conservation
• 1:19
  and you wanna know how to
• 1:20
  protect the ocean further,
• 1:21
  you can see more of these episodes
• 1:22
  on your favorite podcast app.
• 1:23
  If you're listening
• 1:24
  to this or on YouTube,
• 1:25
  if you wanna listen to this,
• 1:26
  you can just go down onto this channel
• 1:27
  and you'll be able to
• 1:28
  see all the other episodes,
• 1:29
  or you can go over to SpeakUpForBlue.com,
• 1:32
  where we have all the things that are
• 1:33
  pertaining to the ocean,
• 1:35
  and you can just go
• 1:36
  over SpeakUpForBlue.com.
• 1:37
  And if you want a
• 1:38
  newsletter with all ocean news,
• 1:40
  ocean jobs, and the latest podcast out,
• 1:42
  a video podcast or
• 1:43
  audio podcast out for you,
• 1:45
  all you have to do is go to
• 1:45
  SpeakUpForBlue.com forward slash
• 1:47
  newsletter to sign up for the newsletter
• 1:50
  and get it to your inbox Monday to
• 1:52
  Friday, 8 a.m. Eastern.
• 1:53
  All right, let's get into the episode.
• 1:55
  Look, protected areas are important.
• 1:57
  We know that protected areas
• 1:58
  protect and keep biodiversity
• 2:01
  and fisheries intact.
• 2:04
  That's what it's best for.
• 2:05
  And what it is
• 2:05
  essentially is an area in the ocean
• 2:08
  that has these sort of translucent
• 2:10
  imaginary boundaries
• 2:12
  because there's nothing physical
• 2:13
  that's stopping people from being there,
• 2:14
  but it's a designated area that takes
• 2:16
  away a specific thing.
• 2:19
  So a specific
• 2:19
  normally extractive process.
• 2:21
  So you can't drill oil and gas.
• 2:23
  You can't use fishery.
• 2:24
  You can't fish in the area,
• 2:25
  commercial or recreational.
• 2:27
  Sometimes people can't go there for
• 2:28
  recreational purposes.
• 2:29
  And there's some that are Marine reserves
• 2:30
  where you can't do anything at all.
• 2:33
  Not even scientific research.
• 2:34
  There are Marine protected
• 2:35
  areas all over the world.
• 2:38
  And there are different definitions on
• 2:39
  specific protected areas.
• 2:41
  The ones that we're going to be talking
• 2:42
  about today are called other effective
• 2:45
  area based conservation
• 2:46
  measures, also known as OECMs.
• 2:49
  Look, scientists, we love our acronyms.
• 2:51
  So this one is OECMs.
• 2:53
  You're going to notice as
• 2:54
  an other protected area.
• 2:56
  It's an effective area
• 2:57
  based conservation measure.
• 2:59
  Okay. But we have also
• 3:00
  Marine protected areas, MPAs.
• 3:03
  And the biggest difference between those
• 3:05
  is OECMs are areas that achieve
• 3:07
  conservation outcomes
• 3:08
  as a byproduct of other
• 3:10
  management objectives.
• 3:11
  So if the original management objective
• 3:13
  was fisheries closures,
• 3:15
  well then biodiversity is protected
• 3:16
  because of those fisheries closures.
• 3:18
  And we're going to talk
• 3:18
  about that on today's episode,
• 3:20
  because that's the subject really that
• 3:21
  we're talking about.
• 3:22
  MPAs are legally designated to protect
• 3:24
  Marine biodiversity and
• 3:26
  ecosystems as a primary goal.
• 3:29
  So right off the bat,
• 3:30
  that's what they're doing.
• 3:31
  Okay. The main purpose of an OECM is not
• 3:33
  necessarily to
• 3:33
  establish for conservation,
• 3:35
  but provide incidental
• 3:36
  biodiversity protection.
• 3:37
  So they could be a fisheries closure or
• 3:39
  it could be an indigenous managed area.
• 3:42
  Okay. Or it could be something that's
• 3:43
  culturally significant,
• 3:44
  like a boat that sank a while ago and is
• 3:46
  historically important to people.
• 3:49
  For MPAs, the main purpose is
• 3:50
  specifically created to protect marine
• 3:52
  habitats, species and ecosystems under
• 3:55
  formal conservation laws.
• 3:57
  These are MPAs, you cannot go in them
• 3:59
  like OECMs, other effective area based
• 4:01
  conservation measures.
• 4:02
  These are for other purposes, but they
• 4:04
  have a byproduct impact,
• 4:06
  which is a great impact.
• 4:07
  Okay. So let's look at this study.
• 4:10
  This is a great study is
• 4:11
  on PLS01, which we love.
• 4:13
  You can say plus one.
• 4:14
  I'd say PLS01.
• 4:16
  This is one of the
• 4:17
  journals that is open access.
• 4:19
  It's available to everybody.
• 4:21
  And what this article on PLS01 did was
• 4:23
  how these OECMs contribute to
• 4:26
  biodiversity conservation beyond their
• 4:28
  primary objective of
• 4:29
  protecting target areas.
• 4:30
  The study focuses 11 OECMs in the Gulf of
• 4:33
  St. Lawrence, Canada, and assesses their
• 4:35
  indirect benefits to commercial and
• 4:37
  ecologically important species.
• 4:39
  So here's some of the
• 4:40
  key points and findings.
• 4:41
  So the background on OECMs and
• 4:43
  conservation goals is that this is where
• 4:45
  the OECMs are areas where biodiversity
• 4:47
  conservation occurs as a byproduct.
• 4:49
  Right. We talked about this of management
• 4:51
  activities rather than the primary
• 4:53
  objective, which is like a marine
• 4:54
  protected area or things like that.
• 4:55
  The study examines whether OECMs
• 4:58
  originally established for fisheries
• 4:59
  management also provide indirect benefits
• 5:01
  by protecting critical habitats for other
• 5:04
  species, therefore
• 5:05
  maintaining biodiversity.
• 5:07
  So the Gulf of St. Lawrence is a highly
• 5:09
  productive marine ecosystem with
• 5:10
  important commercial fisheries and making
• 5:12
  a relevant area for this assessment.
• 5:14
  So here's what they looked at.
• 5:16
  They looked at a spatial
• 5:17
  analysis overlap, right?
• 5:19
  So they looked at how to evaluate whether
• 5:21
  these OECMs coincided with important
• 5:23
  habitats such as spawning or juvenile
• 5:25
  habitats of Atlantic halibut, Greenland
• 5:28
  halibut and redfish.
• 5:30
  Three key fish species
• 5:31
  that are in these areas.
• 5:33
  The study used species distribution
• 5:35
  models and habitat suitability maps to
• 5:37
  determine if closures overlapped with
• 5:39
  essential fish habitat.
• 5:41
  So this is really important because when
• 5:43
  you have these fisheries management
• 5:44
  areas, these are areas that they close
• 5:46
  down for certain times of the year or all
• 5:47
  year round, depending on the OECM.
• 5:49
  And they are there to protect these fish.
• 5:52
  That's what they're there to
• 5:53
  do for that fishing purpose.
• 5:55
  So it could be for Atlantic halibut,
• 5:56
  Greenland halibut and redfish or just one
• 5:59
  of those species or
• 6:00
  just two of those species.
• 6:01
  It depends on the area.
• 6:02
  There's 11 of them.
• 6:03
  They all have different criteria.
• 6:05
  Now, if there are special areas for other
• 6:08
  species beyond the three or even for
• 6:10
  others, so say that one area is protected
• 6:12
  for Atlantic halibut, but there are
• 6:14
  Greenland halibut there in the area
• 6:15
  that's a spawning area or juvenile
• 6:17
  habitat that's within those boundaries
• 6:20
  that will also be protected.
• 6:21
  Almost like an umbrella species that we
• 6:24
  talk about in conservation.
• 6:25
  So when you have an umbrella species like
• 6:27
  a whale, you protect that whale and you
• 6:28
  protect everything that's under that
• 6:30
  whale, all the habitat that's below that.
• 6:32
  Well, you're doing the same thing.
• 6:33
  You have this fisheries management
• 6:34
  closure in this specific area and
• 6:36
  everything that's found underneath is a
• 6:39
  bonus protection, right?
• 6:40
  So if it's a spawning area, it's bonus.
• 6:42
  If it's an overlapping juvenile habitat
• 6:44
  area, that's bonus too, because you're
• 6:46
  protecting the other species that are in
• 6:48
  the area and that's always helpful.
• 6:50
  So that's what we're talking about here
• 6:52
  when we talk about what's overlapped with
• 6:55
  this potential areas, the OECMs.
• 6:57
  That's a big thing.
• 6:57
  So the main find is eight out of the 11
• 6:59
  OECMs overlapped with
• 7:01
  potential spawning habitats.
• 7:03
  How do they know this?
• 7:04
  I talked about it
• 7:05
  earlier, habitat suitability map.
• 7:06
  So what we're looking at is what is good
• 7:09
  for like we have all these three species.
• 7:11
  What do they like?
• 7:12
  What type of habitats do they like?
• 7:14
  We kind of have these
• 7:15
  criteria that we look at.
• 7:16
  We look at depth.
• 7:17
  We look at substrate.
• 7:18
  We look at salinity.
• 7:20
  We look at temperature.
• 7:21
  And if those vary within the Gulf of
• 7:23
  Mexico, which they usually do, then we
• 7:25
  look at these special
• 7:26
  areas and what is found there.
• 7:27
  And we just correlate those together.
• 7:29
  And if those species are found there over
• 7:31
  and over and over again, year after year
• 7:33
  after year, then we
• 7:33
  say, Hey, you know what?
• 7:34
  They may like this area so much that if
• 7:36
  there's another area around there, that
• 7:38
  might be another important area.
• 7:40
  So some of these suitability maps were
• 7:41
  used to identify specific areas that may
• 7:44
  be good for another species.
• 7:46
  And that's how these
• 7:47
  suitability maps are used.
• 7:48
  Okay.
• 7:49
  So the findings suggest that despite
• 7:51
  their original purpose, which is
• 7:52
  protecting certain species like snow
• 7:54
  crab, so not even Atlantic halibut,
• 7:56
  Greenland halibut or redfish, the OECMs
• 7:59
  may have unintended conservation benefits
• 8:01
  for other marine species.
• 8:03
  The study highlights the value of
• 8:05
  integrating fisheries management with
• 8:07
  conservation objectives, demonstrating
• 8:09
  that a well-placed fisheries closure can
• 8:11
  contribute to a broader
• 8:12
  biodiversity protection.
• 8:14
  And the authors recommend considering
• 8:15
  using indirect conservation benefits when
• 8:18
  evaluating these
• 8:18
  effectiveness of the OECM.
• 8:20
  So this is what happens is we always want
• 8:22
  marine protected areas
• 8:23
  because those are legally binding.
• 8:25
  For Canada, especially when we talk about
• 8:26
  the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this is a Gulf
• 8:28
  that is enshrined in Canadian waters.
• 8:31
  And so we want to make
• 8:31
  sure that we protect these.
• 8:33
  So marine protected areas
• 8:33
  are probably your benefit.
• 8:35
  But then you have OECMs.
• 8:36
  These other protected areas that have
• 8:38
  unintended impacts, like positive impacts
• 8:40
  on other species, there may not be
• 8:42
  completely legally binding,
• 8:44
  but they're important because if you
• 8:45
  protect them from fisheries, you're
• 8:46
  probably protecting whatever habitat
• 8:48
  that's under there, whether it's a
• 8:49
  spawning habitat or something else.
• 8:51
  So having these in your conservation
• 8:53
  strategy might be best.
• 8:54
  You may not be able to get an MPA status,
• 8:57
  but you could get an OECM status and then
• 9:00
  protect everything that's underneath
• 9:01
  that, which may even
• 9:03
  say, hey, you know what?
• 9:04
  We should make these OECMs even bigger
• 9:07
  because we can include more habitats that
• 9:09
  we didn't know that
• 9:09
  were there beforehand.
• 9:11
  So when you go into these OECMs, you're
• 9:13
  like, this is a fisheries closure.
• 9:14
  What else can we protect under here?
• 9:16
  How can we design these boundaries that
• 9:18
  will actually protect everything?
• 9:19
  And when you protect biodiversity, it's
• 9:21
  really important because biodiversity
• 9:23
  means stability of the
• 9:25
  ocean in that particular area.
• 9:27
  If you don't have high biodiversity, you
• 9:29
  don't have great stability.
• 9:30
  And that can change a system that can
• 9:32
  flip a system into something that's
• 9:33
  different that can affect fisheries, that
• 9:35
  can affect tourism, that can affect just
• 9:37
  the overall health of the ocean and the
• 9:39
  quality of the ocean.
• 9:40
  So for instance, if you think of a coral
• 9:42
  reef, if you lose a lot of algae eating
• 9:45
  fish that keep algae off the corals, then
• 9:47
  you can lose a lot of those corals based
• 9:49
  on algae growth and increased sunlight,
• 9:52
  increased sea surface temperature.
• 9:53
  And then the diversity is going to
• 9:54
  decrease because there's not going to be
• 9:56
  a coral reef in that area because the
• 9:58
  fish just disappear.
• 10:00
  The coral reefs can't stop the algae from
• 10:02
  overgrowing and all the other fish that
• 10:03
  depend on these corals to live and for
• 10:06
  hiding spots and everything, they just
• 10:07
  don't have anything to be there for.
• 10:08
  So you get eaten or they leave or they
• 10:10
  die off and nothing these
• 10:11
  species don't want to be there.
• 10:13
  So you get this degradation of a habitat.
• 10:15
  So I'm talking about the
• 10:16
  health of an actual habitat.
• 10:18
  So what we wanted to look at is how can
• 10:20
  we put this into marine
• 10:22
  conservation and policies?
• 10:23
  This study supports the growing
• 10:25
  recognition that OECMs are an important
• 10:27
  conservation tool that can complement
• 10:29
  marine protected areas.
• 10:30
  They don't always have to
• 10:31
  be marine protected areas.
• 10:32
  To get a marine protected area
• 10:33
  established in Canada or even the world,
• 10:35
  it is very difficult.
• 10:37
  It takes a long time.
• 10:38
  It has to go through a specific process.
• 10:40
  It could be very, very long before you
• 10:42
  can get an MPA status.
• 10:44
  And sometimes you may not be able to get
• 10:46
  it in time to protect what
• 10:47
  you're trying to protect.
• 10:48
  It also suggests that OECM should be
• 10:50
  formally recognized in
• 10:51
  conservation strategies.
• 10:53
  I think this is something that's not
• 10:54
  taking as seriously as we hope and as
• 10:56
  they can contribute to the international
• 10:57
  biodiversity targets such as a convention
• 10:59
  of biological
• 11:00
  diversity's 30 by 30 target.
• 11:02
  Now, here's where we have to be careful.
• 11:04
  We want MPAs because MPAs under the
• 11:06
  definition have no
• 11:07
  extractive processes in the MPA.
• 11:09
  OECMs have something different.
• 11:11
  They may be closed for fisheries
• 11:13
  management, but they may be
• 11:14
  open to oil and gas drilling.
• 11:16
  We don't know or mining.
• 11:17
  We have no idea, right?
• 11:19
  So there can be other things
• 11:20
  that happen within that area.
• 11:22
  But an MPA under the definition, IUCN
• 11:25
  definition is like, don't touch.
• 11:27
  That's it.
• 11:27
  We are not touching it at all.
• 11:29
  Nobody can do anything.
• 11:30
  Nothing extractive.
• 11:31
  Don't even go in there.
• 11:32
  So we have to be careful when we start
• 11:34
  proposing that these OECMs be a part of
• 11:36
  the strategy because this is where we
• 11:38
  were at before the MPA strategy used to
• 11:40
  be that you can still drill
• 11:42
  for oil if they so desired.
• 11:43
  If the companies that had those leases so
• 11:45
  desired now that's frowned upon.
• 11:47
  You don't do that.
• 11:47
  I don't think you can even do that.
• 11:49
  When you go to look at OECMs, you can do
• 11:51
  other extractive processes, which are
• 11:52
  pretty much not be good for that OECM.
• 11:55
  So we do have to be careful with that.
• 11:57
  But policymakers should adopt a more
• 11:59
  holistic approach when assessing
• 12:00
  conservation effectiveness.
• 12:01
  So not just MPAs, look at OECMs and look
• 12:04
  at what else they're protecting,
• 12:05
  considering not only direct protections,
• 12:07
  but also indirect ecosystem benefits.
• 12:10
  Essentially, what we're talking about
• 12:11
  here is that fisheries closures within
• 12:13
  OECM can have a significant biodiversity
• 12:15
  benefits beyond their initial goals,
• 12:18
  reinforcing the needs to integrate OECMs
• 12:20
  into broader conservation planning.
• 12:22
  That's what this study says.
• 12:23
  I don't completely agree with it, but you
• 12:25
  can never go wrong with
• 12:26
  another protected area.
• 12:27
  It underscores the importance of spatial
• 12:28
  planning in marine ecosystems.
• 12:30
  Spatial planning essentially is taking a
• 12:32
  business plan and
• 12:33
  putting it into the ocean.
• 12:34
  It's what we do on land all the time.
• 12:36
  We have green zones.
• 12:37
  We have industrial zones.
• 12:38
  We have residential areas.
• 12:39
  It's all spatially planned.
• 12:41
  We should do that with the ocean with the
• 12:42
  amount of different users we have oil and
• 12:44
  gas, recreation, commercial fishing and
• 12:47
  other commercial like
• 12:47
  shipping and so forth.
• 12:48
  So many conflicting uses that we need to
• 12:51
  plan that all out to make sure that
• 12:53
  certain areas are
• 12:53
  designated for certain things.
• 12:55
  That's what we want to do.
• 12:56
  But it's basically that kind of plan.
• 12:58
  So it underscores the importance of
• 12:59
  spatial planning and marine ecosystems
• 13:01
  and the need for adaptive management
• 13:03
  approaches that can recognize the
• 13:04
  multiple benefits of
• 13:05
  area based protections.
• 13:07
  Adaptive management is the key to
• 13:09
  figuring out management
• 13:10
  now and in the future.
• 13:12
  Adaptive management is
• 13:12
  essentially what it sounds like.
• 13:14
  You adapt to what happens in that area.
• 13:16
  If something changes or the water quality
• 13:18
  changes or the sea surface temperature
• 13:20
  changes or something else happens, then
• 13:23
  you have to adapt to that and you have to
• 13:24
  adapt your policies to match what's
• 13:27
  happening to a future.
• 13:27
  So you have to
• 13:28
  effectively manage that area.
• 13:29
  So that's essentially what it is.
• 13:30
  It's just every year, every five years
• 13:32
  you look back and say, what's changed and
• 13:34
  do we need to change our
• 13:35
  policies in regards to that?
• 13:37
  That's essentially the episode.
• 13:39
  It's a pretty cool study.
• 13:40
  I really like what I read on there.
• 13:41
  I'll put the link in the show notes so
• 13:43
  you can get access to that.
• 13:44
  But if you have any questions or comments
• 13:46
  on this, I would love to hear from you.
• 13:47
  You can hit me up on Instagram DM me at
• 13:49
  how to protect the ocean.
• 13:50
  That's at how to protect the ocean.
• 13:52
  And don't forget to subscribe and hit
• 13:54
  that notification bell if
• 13:55
  you're watching this on YouTube.
• 13:56
  And if you're not going over, you could
• 13:57
  see my pretty little face.
• 13:59
  I'm just kidding.
• 14:00
  But yeah, you can go there on YouTube.
• 14:01
  You can also see the video on Spotify and
• 14:02
  listen to the audio on Spotify.
• 14:04
  And of course, listen to the audio on
• 14:05
  your favorite podcast app.
• 14:07
  I want to thank you and don't forget you
• 14:09
  can go to speak up for blue.com to get
• 14:10
  access to all of that.
• 14:11
  The videos, the audio, whatever you need.
• 14:13
  Go to speak up from blue.com.
• 14:15
  And I want to thank you so much for
• 14:16
  joining me on today's episode of the how
• 14:18
  to protect the ocean podcast.
• 14:19
  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin from the true
• 14:20
  North strong and free.
• 14:21
  Have a great day.
• 14:22
  We'll talk to you next
• 14:23
  time and happy conservation.