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We Know How to Protect the Ocean. So Why Aren't We Doing It? · How To Protect The Ocean

• 0:00
  Look, protection
• 0:01
  works when
• 0:02
  it's real.
• 0:03
  We do not have an
• 0:04
  ocean knowledge
• 0:04
  problem.
• 0:05
  We have an
• 0:05
  implementation
• 0:06
  problem.
• 0:07
  The science is clear.
• 0:08
  The solutions,
• 0:09
  they're known.
• 0:10
  Outcomes are
• 0:11
  actually
• 0:11
  predictable.
• 0:12
  The real question
• 0:13
  is whether we are
• 0:14
  willing to follow
• 0:15
  through.
• 0:16
  This is the How
• 0:17
  to Protect the
• 0:17
  Ocean podcast,
• 0:18
  your weekly ocean
• 0:19
  news update.
• 0:20
  If you care about
• 0:21
  being informed on
• 0:22
  the ocean every
• 0:23
  weekday, hit that
• 0:24
  follow
• 0:24
  button so you
• 0:24
  don't miss
• 0:25
  tomorrow's
• 0:25
  episode.
• 0:27
  Across fisheries,
• 0:28
  climate
• 0:28
  adaptation,
• 0:29
  pollution
• 0:29
  control, and the
• 0:30
  high seas
• 0:31
  governance, one
• 0:32
  pattern keeps
• 0:32
  repeating.
• 0:34
  Policies work
• 0:34
  when they are
• 0:35
  implemented
• 0:36
  fully.
• 0:37
  They fail when
• 0:38
  they are
• 0:38
  symbolic.
• 0:40
  But the key
• 0:40
  question is here
• 0:41
  is why do strong
• 0:42
  ocean policies
• 0:43
  succeed in some
• 0:44
  places and
• 0:45
  collapse
• 0:45
  in others?
• 0:47
  Let's be honest,
• 0:47
  the science is
• 0:48
  not the
• 0:48
  weak link.
• 0:49
  Across ocean
• 0:50
  issues, the
• 0:50
  evidence
• 0:50
  is strong.
• 0:52
  Overfishing
• 0:52
  reduces biomass
• 0:53
  and destabilizes
• 0:54
  food webs.
• 0:55
  We know this.
• 0:57
  Reducing fishing
• 0:57
  pressure allows
• 0:58
  stock recovery.
• 0:59
  We know this too.
• 1:01
  Reducing
• 1:01
  pollution
• 1:02
  improves coastal
• 1:03
  water quality.
• 1:04
  That's known.
• 1:05
  Cutting
• 1:06
  greenhouse gas
• 1:06
  emissions slows
• 1:07
  ocean warming.
• 1:09
  Is this all
• 1:10
  familiar to you?
• 1:12
  Habitat restoration
• 1:12
  increases
• 1:13
  biodiversity and
• 1:14
  resilience.
• 1:16
  These are not
• 1:17
  controversial
• 1:17
  conclusions.
• 1:18
  They are
• 1:18
  repeatedly
• 1:19
  confirmed in
• 1:20
  peer-reviewed
• 1:21
  literature.
• 1:22
  The bottleneck is
• 1:23
  not knowledge.
• 1:24
  It's execution.
• 1:26
  Here's a clear
• 1:26
  example of
• 1:27
  fisheries
• 1:27
  recovery.
• 1:29
  Where cash limits
• 1:30
  are science-based
• 1:31
  and enforced,
• 1:32
  fish stocks
• 1:33
  rebuild, biomass
• 1:34
  increases,
• 1:35
  long-term
• 1:35
  yields stabilize.
• 1:37
  An example is the
• 1:39
  U.S. Fisheries
• 1:39
  under the
• 1:39
  Magnuson-Stevenson
• 1:40
  Act.
• 1:41
  Since that act
• 1:42
  has been enacted,
• 1:43
  a lot of
• 1:43
  fisheries have
• 1:43
  been recovered
• 1:44
  and sustainably
• 1:45
  managed.
• 1:46
  We have sardines
• 1:47
  and anchovies on
• 1:49
  the west coast
• 1:50
  that have
• 1:51
  actually helped
• 1:52
  these populations
• 1:53
  stabilize.
• 1:54
  We've been able
• 1:57
  to see a recovery
• 1:59
  in these types of
• 1:59
  species
• 2:00
  over time.
• 2:01
  A lot of other
• 2:02
  fisheries in the
• 2:02
  U.S. are well
• 2:03
  managed using the
• 2:04
  Magnuson-Stevenson
• 2:05
  Act.
• 2:06
  But if those
• 2:06
  policies are
• 2:07
  rolled back, we
• 2:08
  start to see the
• 2:09
  fisheries
• 2:09
  stocks slip.
• 2:12
  And where quotas
• 2:12
  are ignored or
• 2:13
  politically
• 2:14
  inflated, stocks
• 2:15
  decline, recruitment
• 2:17
  collapses,
• 2:18
  and economic
• 2:18
  instability
• 2:19
  follows.
• 2:20
  A clear example
• 2:21
  is the tuna
• 2:21
  fishing industry
• 2:22
  in Europe,
• 2:23
  especially in the
• 2:23
  Mediterranean.
• 2:25
  In the movie End
• 2:26
  of the Line,
• 2:27
  there was a clear
• 2:28
  example of how
• 2:29
  quotas are not
• 2:30
  followed.
• 2:31
  The scientists
• 2:32
  and researchers
• 2:32
  came up with a
• 2:33
  minimum
• 2:34
  viable yield.
• 2:37
  So essentially,
• 2:38
  if you only
• 2:39
  caught this many,
• 2:40
  it was 30,000
• 2:41
  tons or whatever
• 2:42
  it might be.
• 2:43
  I don't remember
• 2:43
  the exact
• 2:44
  numbers.
• 2:45
  If you caught
• 2:45
  30,000 tons, then
• 2:47
  that population
• 2:48
  would be able to
• 2:49
  stabilize.
• 2:49
  It would be able
• 2:50
  to be sustainable
• 2:50
  and you'd be able
• 2:51
  to catch another
• 2:52
  30,000 tons
• 2:53
  next year.
• 2:54
  And that
• 2:54
  population
• 2:54
  wouldn't decline.
• 2:55
  It would be able
• 2:55
  to recover.
• 2:57
  Right away, the
• 2:58
  government
• 2:58
  officials that
• 2:59
  went to the
• 2:59
  negotiation table
• 3:00
  doubled that
• 3:01
  to 60,000 because
• 3:02
  they knew that
• 3:02
  the people they
• 3:03
  were going to
• 3:04
  negotiate with,
• 3:05
  the fisheries
• 3:05
  societies or the
• 3:06
  fishery unions,
• 3:07
  weren't going to
• 3:08
  take 30,000.
• 3:09
  They wanted more.
• 3:10
  So they started
• 3:11
  with 60,000.
• 3:11
  They ended up
• 3:12
  with 90,000.
• 3:14
  Every time's the
• 3:15
  amount of tons of
• 3:17
  fish that they
• 3:17
  were going to
• 3:18
  catch from
• 3:19
  the minimal
• 3:20
  yield, right?
• 3:21
  The minimal
• 3:22
  viable
• 3:22
  population.
• 3:25
  It doesn't make
• 3:25
  sense to draw
• 3:28
  back quotas.
• 3:30
  So where quotas
• 3:30
  are ignored or
• 3:31
  politically
• 3:32
  inflated, stocks
• 3:33
  decline,
• 3:34
  recruitment
• 3:34
  collapses,
• 3:35
  economic
• 3:35
  instability
• 3:36
  follows.
• 3:38
  The lesson is
• 3:38
  pretty simple.
• 3:40
  Pollution works
• 3:41
  when compliance
• 3:42
  is mandatory and
• 3:43
  monitored.
• 3:45
  Let's look at
• 3:45
  pollution
• 3:46
  control.
• 3:47
  The evidence is
• 3:48
  pretty clear in
• 3:49
  regions where
• 3:49
  wastewater
• 3:50
  treatment and
• 3:50
  nutrient runoff
• 3:51
  controls
• 3:51
  were implemented.
• 3:53
  Coastal dead
• 3:53
  zone, coastal
• 3:54
  dead zone shrank,
• 3:56
  harmful algal
• 3:56
  blooms decreased
• 3:57
  and water quality
• 3:59
  improve.
• 3:59
  The recovery of
• 4:00
  parts of the
• 4:01
  Baltic Sea and
• 4:02
  improvements in
• 4:02
  sections of the
• 4:03
  Chesapeake
• 4:03
  Bay show that
• 4:04
  nutrient
• 4:05
  management can
• 4:05
  reverse
• 4:06
  degradation
• 4:06
  trends.
• 4:08
  In places where
• 4:09
  agricultural
• 4:09
  runoff remains
• 4:10
  unregulated, you
• 4:11
  get hypoxic zones
• 4:12
  that expand.
• 4:13
  You get fisheries
• 4:14
  that suffer and
• 4:15
  coastal economies
• 4:16
  that
• 4:16
  absorb the cost.
• 4:18
  Again,
• 4:18
  implementation
• 4:18
  determines
• 4:19
  outcome.
• 4:20
  If you look
• 4:21
  clearly the
• 4:21
  Florida water
• 4:22
  quality system
• 4:23
  and the way they
• 4:24
  manage it is
• 4:25
  absolutely
• 4:25
  horrible and
• 4:26
  they've been
• 4:26
  paying for it
• 4:27
  year after year
• 4:28
  after year.
• 4:29
  We've seen
• 4:29
  red ties.
• 4:30
  We've seen
• 4:31
  cyanobacteria
• 4:32
  blooms.
• 4:33
  We've seen a lot
• 4:33
  of other things
• 4:33
  we've seen like
• 4:34
  this algae that
• 4:35
  is or these down
• 4:36
  to flagellates
• 4:37
  that are on the
• 4:38
  bottom of the
• 4:40
  ocean that just
• 4:41
  kind of come up
• 4:41
  that gets stirred
• 4:42
  up by fish
• 4:43
  and they give
• 4:44
  them like this
• 4:45
  crazy neurological
• 4:45
  disease all
• 4:47
  because there are
• 4:49
  there's runoff,
• 4:50
  right?
• 4:50
  There's nutrient
• 4:51
  runoff that's
• 4:52
  allowed because
• 4:53
  these industries
• 4:53
  are allowed to
• 4:54
  use their best
• 4:55
  practices in
• 4:57
  reducing the
• 4:57
  amount of
• 4:57
  nutrients that go
• 4:58
  into lakes and
• 4:59
  streams.
• 5:00
  But those lakes
• 5:00
  and streams get
• 5:01
  abundance of
• 5:02
  nutrients that
• 5:03
  goes into the
• 5:04
  ocean along
• 5:04
  the
• 5:04
  coastal system.
• 5:05
  You get the right
• 5:06
  winds, you get
• 5:07
  the right
• 5:07
  dinoflagellates
• 5:08
  and you can get a
• 5:09
  red tide or you
• 5:09
  can get some kind
• 5:10
  of cyanobacteria,
• 5:12
  algal matte, just
• 5:13
  like just awful
• 5:14
  event and it just
• 5:15
  smothers
• 5:16
  everything and it
• 5:16
  makes
• 5:16
  everything die.
• 5:18
  And we've seen
• 5:18
  that over and
• 5:19
  over again.
• 5:21
  And again,
• 5:21
  implementation
• 5:21
  determines the
• 5:22
  outcome, right?
• 5:23
  You have to
• 5:24
  implement the
• 5:24
  policies that you
• 5:25
  have to put
• 5:26
  forward.
• 5:26
  You can't just
• 5:26
  keep rolling back
• 5:27
  on policies,
• 5:28
  which we're
• 5:29
  seeing in many
• 5:29
  countries,
• 5:30
  including
• 5:30
  the U.S.,
• 5:31
  especially
• 5:32
  recently.
• 5:33
  Let's look at
• 5:33
  climate
• 5:34
  adaptation and
• 5:34
  coastal
• 5:35
  resilience.
• 5:36
  Healthy ecosystems buffer
• 5:37
  climate impacts.
• 5:38
  It's pretty simple.
• 5:39
  We've gone over
• 5:40
  in past episodes
• 5:41
  mangroves,
• 5:42
  reduced storm
• 5:42
  surge, seagrass,
• 5:44
  meadows,
• 5:44
  stabilized
• 5:44
  sediment, coral
• 5:46
  reefs dissipate
• 5:46
  wave energy.
• 5:47
  And when they all
• 5:48
  work together,
• 5:49
  you have a stable
• 5:50
  coastline where
• 5:51
  these ecosystems
• 5:52
  are protected and
• 5:53
  restored.
• 5:54
  Coastal erosion slows.
• 5:55
  Fisheries and
• 5:56
  nurseries
• 5:56
  recover.
• 5:57
  Carbon sequestration
• 5:58
  increases once
• 6:00
  you have these
• 6:00
  habitats
• 6:00
  stabilized.
• 6:02
  Where development
• 6:03
  overrides
• 6:03
  ecosystem
• 6:04
  protection, you
• 6:05
  get the
• 6:05
  shorelines that
• 6:06
  erode faster.
• 6:07
  Infrastructure costs rise.
• 6:09
  Insurance risks
• 6:09
  escalate.
• 6:10
  Climate
• 6:11
  adaptation is not
• 6:12
  abstract.
• 6:13
  It's just
• 6:13
  operational.
• 6:14
  Now let's look at
• 6:15
  the high seas
• 6:15
  governance.
• 6:17
  International
• 6:17
  agreements can
• 6:18
  establish
• 6:18
  framework.
• 6:19
  The high seas
• 6:19
  treaty is
• 6:20
  establishing that
• 6:20
  framework.
• 6:21
  But the
• 6:21
  frameworks do not
• 6:22
  reduce fishing
• 6:23
  pressure by
• 6:23
  themselves.
• 6:25
  Satellite monitoring can
• 6:25
  detect
• 6:26
  violations, but
• 6:27
  detection does
• 6:28
  not
• 6:28
  prosecute itself.
• 6:30
  Transparency
• 6:31
  improves
• 6:31
  accountability, but
• 6:32
  accountability requires
• 6:33
  political will.
• 6:35
  Across every
• 6:36
  ocean issue this
• 6:37
  month, one
• 6:38
  pattern repeats.
• 6:39
  Tools exist.
• 6:40
  Data exists.
• 6:42
  Legal structure exists.
• 6:43
  Follow
• 6:43
  through varies.
• 6:45
  And why are we
• 6:46
  getting this
• 6:46
  symbolic policy
• 6:47
  that keeps
• 6:48
  persisting?
• 6:49
  Symbolic
• 6:49
  protection is
• 6:50
  politically
• 6:51
  easier.
• 6:52
  Announcing
• 6:52
  targets generates
• 6:53
  headlines.
• 6:54
  It's nice
• 6:55
  and easy.
• 6:55
  Another political
• 6:56
  party gets,
• 6:56
  whoever's in
• 6:57
  charge gets
• 6:58
  its kudos.
• 7:00
  It's high fives.
• 7:01
  Ratifying
• 7:02
  treaties signals
• 7:03
  leadership.
• 7:04
  Designating zones
• 7:05
  looks ambitious.
• 7:08
  But full
• 7:08
  implementation is
• 7:09
  actually harder.
• 7:10
  It requires
• 7:10
  funding.
• 7:11
  It requires
• 7:12
  enforcement.
• 7:13
  It requires
• 7:14
  confronting
• 7:14
  economic
• 7:15
  interests.
• 7:16
  It requires
• 7:16
  sustained
• 7:17
  political
• 7:17
  commitment beyond
• 7:19
  election cycles.
• 7:20
  That's something
• 7:21
  we don't
• 7:21
  see often.
• 7:22
  But what real
• 7:23
  protection looks
• 7:23
  like is it has to
• 7:24
  be measurable.
• 7:26
  You can see it in
• 7:26
  rebounding fish
• 7:27
  biomass, improved
• 7:28
  water quality
• 7:29
  metrics, reduced
• 7:30
  illegal
• 7:30
  fishing effort,
• 7:32
  stabilized
• 7:32
  coastal erosion
• 7:33
  rates, and
• 7:34
  increased
• 7:35
  ecosystem
• 7:35
  complexity.
• 7:37
  Real protection
• 7:37
  produces data.
• 7:40
  Symbolic
• 7:40
  protection,
• 7:41
  symbolic
• 7:42
  protection
• 7:43
  produces
• 7:43
  announcements.
• 7:45
  We want to go
• 7:46
  beyond the
• 7:46
  announcements.
• 7:47
  We want to get
• 7:47
  down into
• 7:48
  the data.
• 7:49
  We want to get
• 7:49
  down into the
• 7:50
  evaluations of
• 7:51
  how a marine
• 7:52
  protected area,
• 7:53
  how a coastline,
• 7:55
  how
• 7:55
  habitats are doing.
• 7:57
  We want to see
• 7:57
  how
• 7:58
  they're doing.
• 7:58
  And we need data
• 7:59
  to do that.
• 7:59
  But we need to
• 8:00
  make sure that
• 8:00
  everything is
• 8:01
  enforced to
• 8:02
  actually evaluate
• 8:04
  these systems.
• 8:05
  We got to go
• 8:06
  beyond just the
• 8:07
  politics of it
• 8:08
  all to say, hey,
• 8:09
  we're going to
• 8:09
  sign on to this
• 8:10
  climate
• 8:10
  agreement.
• 8:11
  Or we're going to
• 8:11
  sign, we're going
• 8:11
  to ratify the
• 8:12
  high seas treaty,
• 8:13
  which most
• 8:14
  countries
• 8:14
  haven't done.
• 8:15
  Only 60 have.
• 8:16
  Hopefully we'll
• 8:16
  get more.
• 8:18
  We've been able
• 8:18
  to ratify it, but
• 8:19
  if the countries
• 8:19
  that need to
• 8:20
  ratify it, don't
• 8:22
  ratify and don't
• 8:23
  follow it and
• 8:23
  don't actually
• 8:24
  hold their own
• 8:25
  country
• 8:26
  accountable to
• 8:26
  it, it's not
• 8:27
  really
• 8:28
  going to work.
• 8:28
  But don't worry.
• 8:29
  That's what we're
• 8:30
  here to do with
• 8:30
  the How to
• 8:31
  Protect the Ocean
• 8:31
  podcast.
• 8:32
  If you want clear
• 8:33
  science based
• 8:34
  ocean reporting
• 8:35
  every weekday,
• 8:36
  follow this show
• 8:37
  so you don't miss
• 8:37
  tomorrow's
• 8:38
  episode.
• 8:39
  Let's just have
• 8:40
  the final
• 8:40
  thoughts on this.
• 8:41
  We do not need
• 8:42
  new slogans.
• 8:43
  We need follow
• 8:43
  through.
• 8:44
  That's really
• 8:44
  what it comes
• 8:45
  down to.
• 8:45
  The ocean does
• 8:46
  not negotiate.
• 8:47
  It just happens.
• 8:49
  It responds to
• 8:49
  physics, biology
• 8:50
  and extraction
• 8:51
  pressure.
• 8:53
  You go in and
• 8:53
  fish in an area
• 8:54
  for long enough,
• 8:55
  it's going to
• 8:55
  just dissipate.
• 8:56
  It's going to be
• 8:56
  degraded.
• 8:57
  It's just simple
• 8:58
  as that.
• 8:58
  That's just what
• 8:59
  happens.
• 8:59
  We can't get away
• 9:00
  from it.
• 9:00
  You can say it as
• 9:01
  much as you want.
• 9:01
  That's not going
• 9:02
  to affect
• 9:02
  the an area.
• 9:04
  It's going to
• 9:04
  affect the area.
• 9:05
  You can drill oil
• 9:06
  and be like,
• 9:07
  yeah, there's not
• 9:07
  going to be any
• 9:08
  spills, but the
• 9:08
  spills happen and
• 9:09
  the ocean
• 9:10
  reacts to it.
• 9:11
  Right.
• 9:11
  All the ocean
• 9:12
  species, all the
• 9:13
  water, the
• 9:14
  quality, you try
• 9:15
  and disperse it
• 9:15
  and hide it.
• 9:16
  You're going to
• 9:17
  get the chemicals
• 9:17
  that disperse it
• 9:18
  all around the
• 9:19
  ocean and it's
• 9:19
  going to be
• 9:20
  highly impacted,
• 9:21
  especially with
• 9:22
  like a big spill,
• 9:23
  like the BP
• 9:23
  oil spill.
• 9:24
  Right.
• 9:25
  We see it
• 9:25
  all the time.
• 9:26
  You can say as
• 9:26
  much as you want
• 9:27
  to say, hey, the
• 9:28
  ocean is not
• 9:28
  going to be
• 9:29
  affected,
• 9:29
  but it is.
• 9:30
  And it has been
• 9:31
  for so, so long.
• 9:34
  So reduced
• 9:35
  pressure
• 9:35
  ecosystems
• 9:36
  recover, maintain
• 9:37
  pressure and
• 9:38
  they'll decline
• 9:39
  like we're doing
• 9:39
  right now.
• 9:40
  That pattern is
• 9:41
  consistent
• 9:42
  between
• 9:42
  fisheries,
• 9:43
  pollution,
• 9:44
  climate stress
• 9:44
  and governance.
• 9:46
  Protection works
• 9:46
  well when
• 9:47
  it's real.
• 9:49
  Real means
• 9:49
  funded, real
• 9:50
  means enforced,
• 9:51
  real means
• 9:51
  monitored and
• 9:52
  real means
• 9:53
  sustained.
• 9:54
  Anything less is
• 9:55
  just temporary.
• 9:56
  The future of the
• 9:57
  ocean will not be
• 9:58
  determined by
• 9:59
  what we promise
• 10:00
  it will be
• 10:01
  determined by
• 10:01
  what we
• 10:02
  implement.
• 10:04
  This whole week
• 10:05
  we've been going
• 10:05
  over enforcement
• 10:06
  and protections
• 10:07
  and what we need,
• 10:09
  the high
• 10:09
  seas treaty.
• 10:10
  And it's really
• 10:10
  important that we
• 10:11
  protect
• 10:12
  this ocean.
• 10:14
  It's not, it's
• 10:15
  like the only
• 10:15
  ocean we have.
• 10:16
  I know it's
• 10:17
  large, but it's
• 10:17
  the only ocean we
• 10:18
  have and it's
• 10:18
  hitting its
• 10:19
  capacity in what
• 10:20
  it can take.
• 10:21
  So I would love
• 10:21
  to hear your
• 10:22
  feedback on what
• 10:23
  you think can
• 10:23
  work or what
• 10:24
  you've seen that
• 10:25
  works or what
• 10:25
  you've seen that
• 10:26
  you're
• 10:26
  frustrated with.
• 10:27
  Let me know if go
• 10:28
  to
• 10:28
  speakupforblue.com
• 10:29
  forward slash
• 10:30
  feedback.
• 10:31
  All one word
• 10:32
  speakupforblue.com
• 10:33
  forward slash
• 10:34
  feedback.
• 10:35
  Let me know how
• 10:36
  you feel.
• 10:36
  You can leave a
• 10:36
  voicemail or you
• 10:38
  can write
• 10:38
  something down.
• 10:39
  I would love to
• 10:39
  hear it because
• 10:40
  this is the start
• 10:40
  of a conversation
• 10:41
  that I would like
• 10:42
  to have with you
• 10:43
  each and
• 10:43
  every one.
• 10:44
  And I would love
• 10:45
  to hear what you
• 10:46
  have to say.
• 10:47
  So thank you so
• 10:47
  much for joining
• 10:48
  me on today's
• 10:48
  episode of the
• 10:49
  How to Protect
• 10:49
  the Ocean
• 10:50
  podcast.
• 10:51
  Have a great day.
• 10:51
  We'll talk to you
• 10:52
  next time and
• 10:53
  happy
• 10:53
  conservation.