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How the Panama Canal Expansion is Threatening Panama's Ecosystem and Water Supply · How To Protect The Ocean

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  Panama is having a crucial problem right
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  now that could affect their puddle of
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  water for half of Panama's population
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  due to the expansion of the Panama Canal
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  in 2016 that led to invasive saltwater
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  species getting into
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  a freshwater resource
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  that's not only displacing fishermen but
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  also affecting the quality of water that
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  is coming into Panama.
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  We're going to talk about it on today's
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  episode of the How to Protect the Ocean
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  podcast. Let's start the show.
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  Hey everybody, welcome back to another
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  exciting episode of How to
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  Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host Andrew Lewin. This is the
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  podcast where you find out what's
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  happening with the ocean,
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  how you can speak up for the ocean, what
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  you can do to live for a
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  better ocean by taking action.
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  On today's episode, we're going to be
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  talking about the Panama Canal, not
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  because the US wants to take it over
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  and maybe after they find this out, they
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  may not want to take it over, which
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  they're not going to, let's be honest.
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  But we're talking about the Panama Canal
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  because of a 2016 expansion that had a
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  design to accommodate larger vessels that
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  inadvertently facilitated the migration
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  of saltwater fish from both the Atlantic
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  and the Pacific into a
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  lake called Lake Gatun.
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  I think I'm pronouncing that properly.
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  It's a canals primary freshwater
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  reservoir and this ecological fish is
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  displacing native freshwater species and
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  adversely affecting local communities.
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  And also on top of that, it could
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  threaten the potable water situation,
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  which is the drinkable water situation
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  and usable water situation for the half
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  of Panama's population.
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  This could be big. This could be very
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  scary in the future if it's not
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  addressed. And so let's talk about what
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  happened before we do, though, if you are
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  new to this podcast that we produce and
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  Let's get back into the show. This is
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  something that I feel like is really
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  important because it's something that you
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  don't always see ahead of time. If you
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  don't do a good job addressing the
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  potential issues that
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  could happen in the future.
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  So when the Panama Canal expansion
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  happened normally, and I assume it went
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  through because I didn't get the
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  information on it, but normally you would
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  do an environmental assessment like you
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  would do for any kind of development. You
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  would find out what the strengths are,
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  what the potential consequences are.
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  This is one of the consequences that
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  could have come out from one of those if
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  they were done thoroughly. Again, I don't
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  know if it was done thoroughly or not. I
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  couldn't get a hold of one and I couldn't
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  find out if one was
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  done. I assume it was done.
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  However, what eventually happened was we
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  started to see saltwater incursion into
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  their freshwater Lake Gattun, which has a
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  lot of other different fish. It has
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  peacock bass and tilapia, which local
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  communities actually fish and eat. Those
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  species are being displaced by snooks,
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  jacks and snappers who if you know those
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  species, they are saltwater species. That
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  means there's marine water, saltwater
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  that's getting into fresh water that's
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  obviously going to change the dynamics of
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  that ecosystem and that habitat.
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  Getting rid of freshwater species because
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  they can't handle the salt and bring in
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  more saltwater species. Not only is that
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  a problem, but they're coming in from the
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  Atlantic and they're
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  coming in from the Pacific.
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  So you're getting not only a mix of
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  saltwater, but you're getting a mix of
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  species that could potentially cross into
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  each other's oceans through the Panama
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  Canal. So Atlantic species could get into
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  the Pacific. Pacific species
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  could get into the Atlantic.
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  That could be a very big problem when it
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  comes to invasive species. If you don't
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  know what invasive species is, a species
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  that gets into a system that doesn't
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  normally live there and that could do
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  very well in that system.
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  And there are a lot of examples probably
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  the most important or one of the most
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  recently popular species that has done
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  this is the lionfish. Lionfish normally
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  is from the Indo-Pacific and it will eat
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  a lot of smaller fish around there.
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  And it's not dominant within those
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  systems, but it does well within those
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  systems. It's a predator within those
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  systems. The lionfish is a very popular
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  marine hobby fish that you find in tanks
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  all around North America
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  and all around the world.
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  In North America, it is said that two or
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  more lionfish were actually released into
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  the ocean from those tanks, like the
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  people who were done with it and they
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  just released into the ocean. Not
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  thinking that, hey, you know what? Those
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  species don't belong there and they're
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  probably going to die
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  anyway or get eaten.
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  But actually they reproduced and they
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  lived and somehow they went all the way
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  from like the lower half of the southeast
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  of the US all the way down into the
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  Caribbean where they proliferated very
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  well. They did very well in those areas.
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  And now they are dominating reefs in many
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  places. If you go diving the Dominican,
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  you go diving in Jamaica pretty much
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  anywhere within the Caribbean, you can
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  pretty much find a lionfish. They're
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  pretty much everywhere.
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  And there are a lot of people who go and
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  hunt them and try and get and try and
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  reduce their population, but they do so
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  well. They end up eating a lot of other
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  smaller reef fish, which affects the
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  ecosystem of the
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  Caribbean reefs, to be honest.
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  And so they're a big problem in the
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  Atlantic and in the Caribbean. Now you
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  talk about if Atlantic species like
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  lionfish gets into the Pacific on that
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  side. And normally they're in the Indo
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  Pacific, so near Indonesia and so forth.
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  If they get into the Pacific, like the
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  Eastern Pacific, which is like the side
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  of North and South America where the
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  Panama Canal comes out, they can go all
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  the way up the coast or all the way down
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  the coast and they can
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  invade those systems as well.
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  And this is why invasive species are so
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  dangerous, right? So there's the threat
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  of invasive species crossing the Atlantic
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  and going into the Pacific or just
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  species that are crossing the Atlantic
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  going into Lake Khatun and then coming
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  out of the Pacific and vice versa.
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  Those become invasive species and they
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  could proliferate very well in those
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  areas. And then all of a sudden, now you
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  have a lot of different invasive species.
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  You lose biodiversity within each
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  different oceans or
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  those sections of the oceans.
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  And you don't get a productive system.
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  You don't get a healthy ecosystem. You
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  can get a very affected ecosystem that
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  can be impacted. And we don't want that.
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  Let's go back into the fishing aspect for
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  the local community. The article that I'm
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  going to put in the show notes, talk to a
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  couple of fishermen, including Felix
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  Martinez Gonzalez, who
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  reported dwindling catches.
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  He said recently hauling in only 16
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  pounds of fish over six hours, which was
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  a stark decline from the pre-expansion
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  yields. So in sports fishing guides like
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  Elswaldo, Alberto Robles also noted
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  intensified competition with numerous
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  boats vying for scarce fish
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  exacerbating resource depletion.
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  So that means there are more people going
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  out to fish the same fish and they're not
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  as many fish. So there's more competition
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  between boats or between fishermen. And
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  that's becoming a problem as well. That
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  can lead to a lot of conflicts.
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  So obviously seeing this type of impact
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  from the local fishing community as well
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  as potential of invasive species and then
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  just the dwindling of local species is
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  very concerning when we talk about like
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  such an important human creation in terms
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  of the Panama Canal to connect the
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  Atlantic and Pacific shipping lanes.
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  This is a big part because we need the
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  Panama Canal and we're affecting local
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  communities where we could be introducing
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  invasive species, which Panama Canal has
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  always had to be careful of anyway
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  because you're allowing ships to go from
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  the Atlantic to the Pacific right away.
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  But also you are affecting the potable
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  water, which is like the drinkable and
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  usable water for half the population of
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  Panama. That is not a good thing. That's
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  something that could be very, very
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  dangerous in the future. It could affect
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  a lot of people, obviously.
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  There's a lot of people in Panama and
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  also be dangerous. Just absolutely be
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  dangerous to a lot of people. So they're
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  going to have to figure out some type of
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  response, some type of mitigation
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  measures. And there have been looking at
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  it. So Panamanian authorities are
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  exploring different types of solutions.
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  The environment minister Juan Carlos
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  Navarro emphasizes a measured yet urgent
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  approach encapsulated in the Spanish
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  proverb, I get dressed slowly because I'm
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  in a hurry. I don't know exactly what
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  that means, but I assume that the
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  intervention has to be done properly.
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  So we have to take our time, but it has
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  to be done as quickly as possible. That's
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  how I interpret that. But I'd love to
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  hear your thoughts too. You can just
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  leave them in the comments below. But the
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  potential interventions include
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  installing barriers such as electric
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  fields or even an air bubble curtain to
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  prevent fish from getting in or to deter
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  the movement of saltwater species into
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  freshwater zones. However, these methods
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  may impede shipping traffic and their
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  effectiveness remains uncertain. So
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  obviously more studies have to be done
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  there. But again, we
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  have to move quickly.
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  Dr. Bela Galil, an expert on similar
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  issues in the Suez Canal underscores a
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  long term commitment required to manage
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  invasive species warning that inaction
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  could lead to destroyed areas. Obviously
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  the situation underscores the complex
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  problem and interplay between the
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  infrastructural development and
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  environmental stewardship.
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  Highlighting the necessity for
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  comprehensive planning before you do
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  expansion and to mitigate an unintended
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  ecological consequences. I don't know
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  what happened before.
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  That's the mystery in here.
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  But regardless of what happened, it
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  wasn't effective enough to predict or
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  deter this type of consequence and
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  invasive species potentially the lack of
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  fish for local fishermen, but also the
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  danger of impeding or affecting potable
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  water for half of a country.
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  This is a big consequence for this Panama
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  Canal and it really underscores why we
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  need to do proper planning before we do
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  an expansion like this. It should have
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  been avoided. But I would love to hear
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  your thoughts. You can leave them in the
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  comments below or you
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  can hit me up on Instagram.
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  ocean. I'd love to hear from you. I'd
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  love to see that. But anyway, I want to
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  thank you so much for joining me on
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  today's episode of the how to protect the
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  ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew from
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  the true North strong and free. Have a
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  great day. We'll talk to you next time
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  and happy conservation.