The Ocean of Life

by Callum Roberts

  Within the space of a single bowhead lifetime, the world of whales changed forever. We are not quite the Methuselahs they are, but the oldest among us have experienced transformations of similar magnitude. Our world is changing faster than at any time in human history. While our relationship with the oceans has hit a low, there is still time for us to change course. The oceans and life within them will endure, albeit in forms that may be unfamiliar today. The largest hurdle on the road ahead is perhaps not amenable to any technical fix: our humanity, shaped by nearly two hundred thousand years of struggle to survive. It is essential for ocean life and our own that we transform ourselves from being a species that uses up its resources to one that cherishes and nurtures them.

  People have a deep emotional connection to the sea. The oceans inspire, thrill, and soothe us. Some think we owe our clever brains and the success they brought to our ancestors’ close link to the sea. But our relationship with the sea stretches back through time much further than this: all the way to the origins of life itself. We are creatures of the ocean.

  In this book, I have made the case for a wholesale reversal of present trends of wildlife decline and environmental degradation. We are inseparable from the living fabric of this world. We depend on other creatures to fix energy for us, so in the most fundamental sense their lives make our own possible. Our present and future prosperity and happiness requires that we stop taking nature for granted, recognize what it does for us, and accord it the highest importance in human affairs. It is not enough to preserve bits and pieces of nature here and there simply to remind ourselves of what we once had. I am not suggesting that we stop fishing altogether, but it is clear that we can’t afford to go on fishing the way we do. The value of the fishing industry, large as it might seem, is dwarfed by its environmental costs of lost function and resilience in marine ecosystems. Many of us are only slowly beginning to recognize that the hurricanes and tornadoes, droughts and floods that have been ravaging the world are connected to our degradation of the environment. We are losing our natural defenses and nature unleashed is a terrible thing. We need to refurbish the oceans so they once again heave with life. Doing this will give the world more food and would reduce or eliminate many other problems of reduced wildlife abundance that now plague us. All of the countless things that the natural world does for us and we take for granted would be delivered at higher levels, with greater security at less cost. Flourishing ecosystems are more resilient to shocks and change, and better placed to cope with chronic stress. Fewer species would require expensive protection. Our quality of life will rise with the abundance of wildlife and the seas can continue to inspire us as well as provide.

  The changes I have chronicled in this book are those that most affect the oceans today. But new challenges continue to emerge. The economics of growing resource scarcity will soon make it worthwhile to mine metals from the deep sea. In many places the seabed thousands of feet below the reach of light is studded with fist-size nodules rich in scarce metals, a tempting prize for those who can devise a way to bring them to the surface. Already oil companies have pushed their wells into water more than a mile deep. These activities bring with them new impacts and risks to marine life, as the horrific Deepwater Horizon blowout showed.

  The pressure is on for aquaculture to use the latest genetic technologies to boost production from the sea. But we must be careful because our engineered hybrids will escape into the wild and once they have done so will be almost impossible to control. Melting ice sheets may soon open up the poles for use and exploitation, just as acidification begins to rip a hole in the polar carbonate system that could transform life there. And just as we sort out how to neutralize our toxic contaminants, we will continue to invent new problems for ourselves, such as microplastic particles in facial scrubs and pharmaceutical pollution. Fixing ocean problems is not a one-time effort. It will be a continuous process of revision and adjustment.

  Some of the backstory in this book is disheartening, and the picture gets worse looking forward if we blithely continue on our present course. But I am hugely encouraged by efforts in the last ten years. People have really noticed the spread of human influence across and beneath the sea, and there are countless efforts underway to redress the harm. I have never seen so much energy or commitment to tackle problems, from the humblest village to the debating halls of the United Nations. This is why I remain an optimist. We can change. We can turn around our impacts on the biosphere. We can live alongside wild nature. The alternative is self-destruction.

  APPENDIX 1

  Seafood with a Clear Conscience

  In developed countries, there has never before been such a great variety of seafood on offer. Globalization serves up the delicacies of shoreline, reef, and open sea from the farthest reaches of the planet to anybody willing to pay. Supermarket counters groan under a cornucopia of shellfish and finfish that please the eye and ravish the palate. I am often asked if it is possible to be a seafood lover and a lover of life in the sea. As an enthusiast of both, I have to answer yes, but it is a qualified yes. Buyers with a conscience must choose carefully, because as I showed in this book, for many species on offer, the price paid by the environment for their capture is far greater than the ticket price.

  There are four main problems to look out for in choosing seafood:

  Is the species in trouble in the wild where the animals were caught?

  Does fishing for the species damage ocean habitats?

  Is there a large amount of unwanted bycatch taken with the target species?

  Does the fishery have a problem with discards—generally undersized animals caught and thrown away because their market value is low?

  It is difficult to give blanket advice on what to buy and what to avoid, since fisheries for the same species can have very different impacts depending on how and where the animals are caught. But I will attempt a few rules of thumb here. Avoid large, long-lived species that mature late in life, as they are easily overfished. Examples include skates, sharks, swordfish, marlin, some tunas (like bluefin and bigeye), wolffish, halibut, and sturgeon (caviar). Sharkfin soup is a big no, not just because sharks are in steep decline everywhere, but because the fins are often cut from living animals whose bodies are thrown overboard to suffer lingering death. Avoid all deep-sea species because they are very easily overfished and slow to recover. They tend to be long-lived, slow-growing, and mature late in life. However, added to these problems, deep-sea fishing causes immense habitat damage and has severe bycatch problems. Almost none of the bycatch survives because of extreme pressure and temperature changes experienced on being brought to the surface. Examples include orange roughy, Patagonian toothfish (also known as Chilean seabass), oreo dories, scabbardfish (espado), grenadiers (hoki), black halibut, redfish, and deep-water prawns.

  Many fishing methods have terrible impacts on habitats and other marine life as I have said throughout this book. Bottom trawls, scallop dredges, and hydraulic clam dredges tear up or bury fragile marine life growing on the bottom like corals, seafans, and sponges. Gill nets hang like ghostly walls in the water and drown thousands of marine mammals and seabirds, as well as catching many worthless species that are thrown away. Prawn and shrimp fisheries have the worst bycatch record, with five to ten times the amount of usable catch tossed overboard, sometimes more. Think about how much of a pile those dead and discarded animals would make on your plate the next time you tuck into a meal of wild-caught shrimp or prawns! Choose animals caught with minimal damage to the environment. “Hand-picked,” “diver-caught,” “hook and line-caught” (although beware as this can mean longlines; handlines are best), “pole and line,” “creel,” or “trap-caught” species are usually good bets. Avoid trawls, dredges, gill nets, longlines, and drift nets. Schooling species like herring, pilchard, and anchovy are caught using nets but they are very clean fisheries with almost no bycatch, and are an excellent choice on health grounds (high oil content and little in the way of toxins since they
eat low in the food chain).

  “Dolphin-friendly” tuna brands are not always what they seem. As I explained in the book, much of the tuna caught in the Eastern Pacific still involves surrounding dolphins with purse-seine nets. Even though few dolphins are killed outright, animals are stressed and mothers get separated from their young. Pole and line caught tuna is the best choice; look for it on the tin. The same caveat emptor goes for fresh tuna steaks in the supermarket, most of which will have been caught with longlines or purse seines. Many of those purse seines are now set around fish aggregating devices that have been deployed for days or weeks by the catching vessel to attract tuna. The trouble is they also gather together turtles, sharks, whales, and dozens of other species that may also be caught and killed.

  I covered the many problems of aquaculture in chapter 17 so I will only give a brief recap here. Suffice to say that many farm-raised fish are certainly not guilt-free, and they may come loaded with contaminant chemicals used to prevent disease in overcrowded pens. Some fish farms are stocked with fry or young caught from the wild, like some prawns and bluefin tuna. Aquaculture also has direct impacts on the environment including pollution from chemicals, excess feed and wastes produced, alien species introductions, and habitat destruction to make way for ponds or cages, not to mention the human rights abuses associated with unscrupulous businesses in some parts of the world. Shrimp farming has caused vast areas of mangrove forest to be cleared along tropical coasts. You probably wouldn’t want to eat anything that has come out of particularly filthy places, like China’s Bohai Sea. However, not all aquaculture is bad. Choose fish that feed low in the food chain, such as tilapia and carp. Avoid predators like salmon, groupers, and tuna because they will usually have consumed far more wild-caught fish over their lives than the weight of flesh produced. However, some (usually high-end) suppliers do produce ethical varieties of these fish fed on things like fish trimmings or purpose-grown worms. Choose shellfish such as mussels and oysters. Farming shellfish can do favors for coastal water quality, as these animals filter plankton and other organic matter from the water. While organic farms cause less contamination of the environment from use of chemicals, the animals still produce polluting feces and are often still fed on wild-caught fish. Organic is a better choice, however.

  Knowing all this is one thing, but applying it is another matter entirely. A problem we all face at the fish counter is a dearth of key information, namely where and how was the fish caught (and sometimes what the type of fish it is in the first place as DNA testing shows a significant fraction are mislabeled, even in reputable stores). Don’t be afraid to grill your fishmonger on the provenance of their fish. If this all seems too much to remember when buying fish or ordering dinner, you can download wallet-sized cards with advice on fish to buy and those to avoid, or use cell phone apps from the list below.

  One of the pioneering and still best efforts to rate sustainability of different fish species is the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program, based in California (www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx). It produces wallet cards which list species to avoid and good choices. A U.S. national card and six regional guides are available, several in English and Spanish. There is also a sushi guide (www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx).

  Now there is also a Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Android app that brings you up-to-date recommendations for ocean-friendly seafood and sushi. The newest version, with Project FishMap, lets you share the locations of restaurants and markets where you’ve found sustainable seafood. As the map grows, you’ll also be able to see what others have found near you.

  Another U.S.-based organization that recommends sustainable seafood is the Blue Ocean Institute (www.blueocean.org/seafood/seafood-guide). They also produce cell phone and iPhone applications (www.blueocean.org/fishphone).

  For the best seafood choices within Europe, the UK Marine Conservation Society’s Fishonline (www.fishonline.org) is a great resource.

  There are many other guides produced for other parts of the world in local languages. The following Web site provides links to guides from the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and South Africa: overfishing.org/pages/guide_to_good_fish.php.

  Finally, Fish2Fork (www.fish2fork.com) is a campaigning guide for those who want to eat fish in restaurants sustainably; it was founded by Charles Clover, who wrote The End of the Line. Currently it rates restaurants in the UK, United States, Spain, France, and Belgium.

  A Word on Eco-labelling

  Some fish are provided with eco-labels that are designed to alert consumers to sustainable fish. The most recognizable, and so far only independent label is that of the Marine Stewardship Council (www.msc.org). As I described in the book, fish given the MSC label are supposed to come from fisheries that are exploited in accord with the following principles:

  Principle 1: Is the stock at levels considered to be sustainable over the long term, and is it well managed and monitored?

  Principle 2: Does the fishery damage habitats or kill other species, including marine mammals and sea birds?

  Principle 3: Are good management procedures in place to regulate fishing and ensure rules are followed?

  Although the MSC has been criticized (by myself included), especially with respect to not fully implementing Principle 2, it is still a good guide to the sustainability of the labeled fish itself, and is almost always a better choice than fish without the MSC label.

  Finally, Is Seafood Safe?

  Fortunately, you can avoid the worst of the problems from contaminant chemicals in seafood the same way you can avoid some of the worst overfishing problems: avoid big predators like tuna, swordfish, and marlin, and eat low in the foodweb by choosing species like herring, anchovy, pilchards, tilapia, and mussels. If you are worried about how to balance the health benefits of fish with the contaminant dark side of seafood, there is an outstanding source of information: the SeaWeb KidSafe Seafood program (www.kidsafeseafood.org). Their Web site contains a host of information on the best choices to avoid contamination and promote sustainable fishing, as well as lots of background on the pollutants involved.

  APPENDIX 2

  Conservation Charities Working to Protect Ocean Life

  If, having read my book, you would like to support efforts to safeguard life in the sea, or just want to find out more, I can recommend some excellent places to begin. The following is a list of organizations that I have worked with over the years and can personally recommend for their dedication, innovation, and effectiveness. Each has its own approach and priorities. Hopefully, you will find among them a match to your own interests.

  Blue Marine Foundation (www.bluemarinefoundation.com)

  Blue Marine Foundation grew out of the success of the 2009 movie The End of the Line. It was founded by George Duffield and Chris Gorrell Barnes, who produced the film, and is chaired by Charles Clover, who wrote the book of the same name. Blue notched up its first major success in 2010, raising funds to finance management of the newly created Chagos Marine Reserve in the Indian Ocean. They believe that there are many businesses and individuals who would willingly support greater protection for the oceans if only they could find a simple and reliable way to donate to worthy causes. Blue is dedicated to finding excellent projects in need of support, and raising the funds to help them. I have been on the board of directors of Blue since it was founded in 2010.

  Client Earth (www.clientearth.org)

  Client Earth is a group of idealistic lawyers (they do exist!) who have committed themselves to fighting environmental abuses with the law. Their starting point is in human rights: the right that everyone has to live in a healthy environment. But as they point out, that right is in its legal infancy and is still fragile. As their name suggests, they consider the Earth to be their client and their brief is to defend it. Sometimes that means the creative application of rather arcane legislation, but often it just mean
s ensuring that good laws are used to their full force. And where no suitable laws exist, their aim is to nurture them into being. In the marine realm, Client Earth is working to ensure Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy is reformed so that overfishing is ended, to halt the reckless slide to oblivion for bluefin tuna, and to challenge supermarkets over shaky environmental claims made on fish packaging, among other initiatives.

  Conservation International (www.conservation.org)

  Conservation International (CI) was founded in the United States over twenty years ago around the notion that rather than protect a smattering of places as “relics of the past,” we should move toward a future with a healthy environment as the green beating heart of a prosperous society. As such, it has become a champion for indigenous communities as well as for the wildlife and habitats their homelands support. Like FFI, the emphasis was initially land-based, but CI soon developed an active marine program. Like its terrestrial counterpart, CI’s efforts in the sea have sought protection from some of the richest habitats on the planet, especially coral reefs like those of southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle, the heartland of marine biodiversity. It also coordinates regional initiatives in places like the eastern Pacific.

  Fauna and Flora International (www.fauna-flora.org)