Ocean Stories

The final management plan for the Fagatele (pronounced fung’-a-tell-ee) National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa has been released. The plan updates the original 1984 management plan that the sanctuary has been operating under and expands the 0.25 square mile sanctuary by adding five distinct geographical reef areas. The areas that have been incorporated into the sanctuary include Larsen Bay, as well as waters around the Rose Atoll (Swains Island and Luliava) and the Aunu’u and Ta’u Islands.
Located in American Samoa off the southwest coast of Tutuila Island, Fagatele Bay is the smallest and most remote of all the national marine sanctuaries. Despite its small size, Fagatele Bay is thought to support the greatest diversity of marine life in the National Marine Sanctuary system.…

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22 June 2012 (IUCN) — Governments are leaving the UN’s Sustainable Development Summit (Rio +20) with a big deal but little action. Groups of civil society and business have proved they can lead the way towards a sustainable future.
“It’s a relief that the outcomes of Rio+20 refer to some basic issues of planetary survival – removing poverty and reviving nature’s health,” says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre. “I’m pleased to see that nature based solutions for the problems facing poor people, forests, oceans and water were firmly on the agenda. It’s only by investing in nature that we can create a green economy and a sustainable future for everyone.”
“But the deal signed here in Rio lays out aspirations rather than specific mandatory goals on issues like food security, water and energy.…

By Brian Clark Howard
In an email to National Geographic News from Rio de Janeiro, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle said of the ongoing UN Conference on Sustainable Development, “Concerning oceans, there is reason to suggest that the outcomes could be characterized as Rio+20 minus 40.”
Earle’s words sum up the buzz in the halls of Riocentro—the massive suburban conference center that has hosted tens of thousands of delegates, activists, and journalists this week—as well as among the thousands of protesters that have taken the streets around the Marvelous City.
Still, Earle pointed out, “It is not all bad news, just discouraging to hear the French ambassador say that the will of 183 countries concerning developing a framework for governance of the high seas had come unglued owing to opposition from a small number of powerful countries.”…

Courtesy of Oceans Inc.
June 21, 2012

Speaking at a roundtable with world governments in the Rio+20 process, world renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle urged world leaders to act now to save our oceans.

“I was here 20 years ago, we all hope to be here in 20 years. This is an historical occasion. Will we look back and lament on what we didn’t do?”

“For the first time we are empowered with knowledge we didn’t have 20,50 or 1000 years ago. This could be a true turning point, whether we act on that knowledge or neglect to take action. Technology and science make it clear our planet is not too big to fail. There are limits to our life support system.…

Dr. Earle shared with us a moment from the Ocean Dialogues of June 19th in Rio.
“One panelist, concerned that fishing interests were under-represented, asked that anyone in the audience who made their living as a fisherman to stand up. No one did, and he made his point.  So I asked if all of the fish in the audience would please stand up.  We were determining their fate, after all, but I didn’t see them at the table. Only on the table. Later, the fish-man and I shook hands and agreed that we need to listen to both the fishermen and the fish.”

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Ocean campaigners have been disappointed by the lack of progress for the High Seas at Rio Plus 20. But although it is difficult to make changes made at the higher political level, there is hope found in grassroots levels upwards to policy makers. Says Charlotte Smith of Oceans Inc., “One of the biggest messages to come out of the summit is that public education and awareness is crucial to forcing policymakers to up their game in the future.”…

James Cameron’s solo dive to the deepest point in the ocean has garnered the headlines, but a manned Chinese submersible called Jiaolong is increasingly making its mark on the ocean’s floor.
The Jiaolong successfully completed a dive to 22,851 feet (6,965 meters) below sea level into the Mariana Trench on Tuesday. China’s State Oceanic Administration reported that the submersible took three hours just to descend and the dive lasted 11 hours in total. The submersible returned to the surface with samples of deep-sea water, sediment deposits, specimens, as well as video and photographs.
The dive marked the piloted submersible’s third dive in the Mariana Trench. The submersible was being piloted by Ye Cong, Fu Wentao and Tang Jialing and had a support team of nearly 100 scientists on standby to ensure the functionality of the submersible, conduct research and analyze seabed samples, according to the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.…

By Mera McGrew
Heads of state and environment ministers are meeting behind closed doors over the next few days at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to create a document that will renew political commitment to sustainable development and identify emerging global challenges. While leaders decide on the final wording of the agreement text, the public has begun to take action and demand the future they want for the world’s ocean.
At a press conference at the Rio Earth Summit hosted by Sir Richard Branson, actress Lucy Lawless and Kumi Naidoo, the International Executive Director of Greenpeace announced a campaign to save the Arctic.
The initial focus of the campaign will be to push for a UN resolution, within the official text, that would establish a global sanctuary around the Arctic that would ban oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in Arctic waters.…

President Anote Tong of Kirabati, who was instrumental in the creation of one of the largest marine protected area, was the winner of this year’s Peter Benchley Ocean Award for National Stewardship of the Ocean.

President Tong is globally recognized for his work on climate response, ocean protection and multinational collaboration. Within the ocean community he is best known for his instrumental work in creating one of the world’s largest and most biologically rich marine protected areas, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, which was recently declared a UN World Heritage Site. President Tong is also a key player in the Pacific Islands Forum of 16 independent states that are taking control of their marine resources and planning a network of linked marine protected areas dubbed the “Pacific Seascape.”…

Philippe Cousteau, grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, opened the Rio+20 Oceans Dialogue yesterday as moderator of a panel of 10 international ocean experts sitting on stage alongside 10 recommendations critical to advance global ocean management.
“Oceans are considered too big to fail, but in fact they are failing,” said panelist Richard Delaney said of the Global Ocean Forum at the start of the public discussion organized by the Brazilian government.
Each panelist acknowledged the myriad of problems facing the world’s ocean – from ocean acidification, unsustainable and illegal fishing to land and marine-based pollution – with an eye toward sending a strong message to the United Nations delegates charged with producing a final political document on June 22 at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.…