“An Ocean of Potential” was the tagline at this yr’s Our Ocean convention in Greece on April 15-17. The phrase encompasses the breadth of prospects that the ocean holds for us. It additionally encapsulates EDF’s method to supporting climate-resilient fisheries and oceans. What can we imply after we say that there’s “an ocean of potential”? 

The ocean is 71% of the Earth’s floor. It’s not solely house to an enormous array of biodiversity—with many species but to be found—additionally it is an important useful resource supporting the lives and livelihoods of many individuals. Aquatic meals, which embrace finfish, bivalves, and aquatic crops, present important vitamins—calcium, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, and extra—that aren’t simply replaceable. Over 3 billion folks depend on fish for his or her animal protein consumption.  

The important assets the ocean gives are particularly important to small island nations and growing nations, who will bear the brunt of the impacts of local weather change. Small-scale fisheries assist the livelihoods of over 500 million folks, with an annual income of practically $77 billion. It’s additionally value noting that half of small-scale fisheries staff are girls.  

The ocean gives greater than meals and livelihoods. It’s a key ally within the combat towards local weather change, as a significant carbon sink. Though, there’s nonetheless a lot to be understood about these blue carbon pathways, as Kristin Kleisner and Rod Fujita talk about in earlier EDFish weblog put up. However, local weather change additionally poses an important threat to the ocean. For instance, rising ocean temperatures are anticipated to contribute to coral reef die-offs, and fish shares are anticipated to shift.  

At instances it will possibly seem to be these points are as giant because the ocean itself, however we all know there’s hope. At EDF, we’re supporting a vary of efforts that empower native communities to develop and embrace progressive and impactful options.  

One instance comes from Cuba, the place group of Cuban scientists launched into an unprecedented voyage, supported by a number of organizations together with EDF, lined 1,960 nautical miles of shoreline in two months. The voyage, often called “Bojeo A Cuba”—“bojeo” being the Spanish phrase for circumnavigating an island, assessed the well being and resilience of the island’s coral reef ecosystems and different marine life populations within the face of warming ocean waters.  

These reefs are particularly necessary as a result of they’re among the world’s most local weather resilient reefs, and so they present best circumstances to discover methods to rebuild and protect coral that may provide hope worldwide.  

The workforce collected 396 hours of underwater video and 16,000 photographs as a part of the journey, which is getting used to boost public consciousness and interact Cuban and worldwide communities in marine conservation. The analysis, which is at the moment being analyzed and evaluated, presents essential insights to information analysis, coverage, and conservation efforts, not just for Cuba however for marine ecosystems globally. 

Knowledge gaps are, sadly, the norm round virtually each shoreline on this planet, which leaves prediction techniques unequipped to offer probably the most correct information. This lack of awareness can have tragic penalties within the circumstances of storm prediction.  

EDF and its companions are utilizing cutting-edge know-how to equip fishers world wide to gather critically wanted information by the Fishing Vessel Ocean Observing Community (FVON), which features a assortment of scientists, lecturers, EDF, and the Ocean Knowledge Community. Fishing vessels working in coastal waters are uniquely positioned to handle these information gaps in waters shallower than 1,000 meters, the place these gaps are most prevalent. That’s why FVON works straight with fishers to make use of low-cost sensors on their vessels and in the end shift the present paradigm round ocean observing.  

When FVON launched in 2022, it was the one world organizing drive to make use of fishing vessels and equipment to gather much-needed ocean information. Its revolutionary efforts resulted in its designation as an motion of the UN Decade of Ocean Science. FVON is at the moment supporting the event of two fishing vessel observing networks in Ghana and the Bahamas. The purpose is to determine many extra networks sooner or later. 

Whereas we’re closing many information gaps in terms of our ocean, there’s nonetheless nice potential for enhancing our understanding and translating that information into tangible options. The unknown could appear daunting, however on the Our Ocean convention, we noticed attendees embrace the ocean of potential and take inspiration from the numerous nice efforts occurring world wide. We will’t wait to see continued progress of the options introduced and are enthusiastically transferring ahead with progress in our oceans work at EDF.