Marine conservation
The refuge protects various kinds of habitat, including barrier beach, dune, tidal estuary, salt marsh, and rocky coastline.
[2] However, it wasn't until the 1970s when the modern science of marine conservation would become first recognised; with undersea explorations equipped with new technologies, such as computers, being undertaken at the end of the decade.
This led to a change in the approach of marine conservation efforts, and a new emphasis was put on restoring systems within the environment, along with protecting biodiversity.
Mission Blue aims to establish marine protected areas (dubbed "Hope Spots") around the globe with the support of more than two hundred organisations.
Her writings are so sensitive to the feelings of fish, birds and other animals that she could put herself in their place, buoyed by the air or by water, gliding over and under the ocean’s surface.
Human activities has resulted in an increased extinction rate of species which has caused a major decrease in biological diversity of plants and animals in our environment.
[13] Furthermore, coral reefs are an integral part of sustaining human life through serving as a food source (i.e., fish and mollusks) as well as a marine space for ecotourism which provides economic benefits.
[17] This is especially harmful to island nations such as Samoa, Indonesia, and the Philippines, because many people there depend on the coral reef ecosystems to feed their families and to make a living.
One way of stopping this cycle is by educating the local community about why the conservation of marine spaces that include coral reefs is important.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation reported that the percentage of the world's fish stocks that are at biologically sustainable levels have decreased from 90% in 1974 to 65.8% in 2017.
The overfishing of these large fisheries destroys the marine environment and threatens the livelihood of billions who depend on fish as protein or as a source of income for catching and selling.
Population decline in ocean basins is indicated through data collected by the MTSG that analyzes abundance and historical information on the species.
"[42] Johnson's seagrass, a food source for the endangered green sea turtle, reproduces asexually, which limits its ability to populate and colonize habitats.
Another focus of conservationists is on curtailing human activities that are detrimental to either marine ecosystems or species through policy, techniques such as fishing quotas, like those set up by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, or laws such as those listed below.
One example of this is a project called Green Fins based in Southeast Asia that uses the scuba diving industry to educate the public.
[47] Recently, some novel approaches include remote sensing techniques to model exposure of coastal-marine ecosystems to riverine flood plumes[48] and advanced iconography.
Many researchers have found the effectiveness of marine conservation through change caused by social events and encourage sustainable tourism development to raise the public awareness of it.
[51] Common techniques to raise the general public's attention also include exposure to the concept of the carbon footprint and to educate people to make sustainable food choices and use fewer plastic products.
These technologies are innovative and revolutionary because they reduce by-catch, increase the survivorship and health of marine life and habitat, and benefit fishermen who depend on the resources for profit.
Examples of technologies include marine protected areas (MPAs), turtle excluder devices (TEDs), autonomous recording unit, pop-up satellite archival tag, and radio-frequency identification (RFID).
In response to this threat the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked with the shrimp trawling industry to create the TEDs.
[71][72] Marine conservation is included in the United Nations framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most notably in SDG 14 ("Life below water").
The text of Target 14.5 is: "By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information".
There have been a number of organized efforts from marine conservation groups such as those aforementioned in this article to raise awareness of the human impact on the situation and inspire people to take action.
On a predetermined date every year, Ocean Conservancy promotes The International Coastal Cleanup to rally communities to volunteer to collect trash from the coastlines across the globe.
Oceana is currently mentioned in a wide range of bills in the US Congress regarding issues such as anti-drilling protections on the Atlantic coast and the penalty for buying, selling, possessing, or transporting shark fins.
While the organization addresses a wide range of topics outside of ocean conservation, it is currently focusing in on plastic pollution, sustainable seafood, and protecting the Arctic.
They provide information online on their website regarding their current efforts which can help people get connected to the correct resources to make a difference in their community.
TikTok declared that they would donate $2 for every video uploaded with the hashtag, up to $100,000, towards protecting oceans and marine life by reducing plastic waste.
Launched in August and September 2018 by Ocean Conservancy, the campaign was intended to inspire participants to clean up pollution in their local waterways.
