Our oceans today are being bombarded with the negative after-effects of industrial fishing, pollution, and climate change that pose an ever-increasing threat to coastal and marine environments and wildlife. And the David Suzuki Foundation is trying to get citizens around the world to act now to prevent further damage.
Canada, where the organization is based, is home to the world’s longest coastline which includes three oceans and a sea of arctic ice which supports the largest web of marine life on earth. More than seven million Canadians live along its coastlines and thousands more travel to visit every year.
But all is not well in Canada’s oceans. From sea to sea to sea, the effects of industrial fishing, pollution, and climate change combine into a mixture of industrial impacts which include sewage, effluent from land-based industries, fisheries, shipping, and many other activities. The federal and provincial governments of the country have not put stiff regulations in place but rather have allowed industry to regulate itself. As a result, species have continued to decline and marine pollution is escalating.
The many indications that Canada’s oceans are in trouble include declining fish populations and growing numbers of species at risk. With Canada’s population expected to steadily rise, and with much of that growth occurring in coastal regions, the pressures on marine ecosystems and resources will increase. The challenge to protect and manage coastline and marine environments is large and complex and if not met, the consequences will be dire. Changes in the environment under the surface of the deep blue sea are not easy to see, but they are taking place, and the quality of coastal and marine environments is eroding.
At a meeting in Boston in 2008 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, many speakers implored participants to get involved in preventing the ever-increasing disintegration of coral reefs, invasion of the Antarctic by sharks, and emptying of the seas by overfishing. Speaker after speaker brought proof that a global system that has played a delicate balancing act for millions of years has been altered in a few hundred years, with disastrous results. To read more go to http://scienceline.org/2008/02/18/oceans-in-trouble.
An example of topics discussed included the revelation of the world's largest dump, a slowly rotating mass of trash-laden water about twice the size of Texas. Known as the Eastern Garbage Patch and located halfway between San Francisco and Hawaii, the garbage patch is in an area of sluggish currents where garbage collects from around the Pacific, moving around and covering island beaches with junk which includes everything from styrofoam and plastic bags to soccer balls and beach sandals. An estimated 200,000 sea birds die every year from ingesting the garbage and sea mammals are also being affected.
The oceans are suffering from one of the greatest tragedies ever to face mankind, but citizens around the world can get involved in protecting the oceans by promoting conservation and recovery plans for threatened and endangered species. They can lobby governments and industry to improve policies for marine-related activities and support the initiatives already in place. They can get involved in public-awareness campaigns.
The world’s oceans are at a tipping point, with much marine wildlife already lost but there is still time to reverse the damage if it’s started now. The oceans must be managed in a manner that will leave a healthy, productive ecosystem for future generations and citizens need to get involved today and insist that the wise management of this important resource begins immediately.
