Ocean Optimism: Moving Beyond the Obituaries in Marine Conservation

Knowlton­, Nancy­

doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-040220-101608

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 145 publications

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“…The second is the wider emergence of “blue economy” discourses, emphasizing the economic opportunities that the ocean and ocean‐based activities offer (Voyer et al, 2018). Thirdly, this interest in the mitigation potential of the ocean is part of a shift in “ocean optimism” about progress in ocean conservation (Knowlton, 2021). The fourth is the growing interest in “nature‐based solutions” (NBS) of conserving and restoring ecosystems that provide benefits for climate, biodiversity and other societal goals (Griscom et al, 2017).…”

Section: Agency In Mobilizing the Political Ocean‐climate Bandwagonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking ocean and climate change governance

Chan

2021

WIREs Climate Change

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Increasing links are being made between ocean sustainability and climate change, as illustrated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report on the ocean and cryosphere, and the billing of the 2019 UN climate change conference as the “Blue COP.” This review of these linkages is framed by the “bandwagoning” literature in global environmental politics to examine how ocean action has been constructed as being relevant for both climate mitigation and adaptation. This includes growing interest in “blue carbon” and the emerging narrative of the ocean as a “solution” to climate change, and drawing attention to climate impacts on ocean ecosystems and marine biodiversity. It highlights the roles played in constructing this link by entrepreneurial states and the NGO community in building an ocean‐climate bandwagon with the existing processes of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As broader political attention is paid to ocean health, this review also highlights how these climate bandwagoning efforts overlap or clash with other ocean‐related international environmental processes. This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance

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Section: Agency In Mobilizing the Political Ocean‐climate Bandwagonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking ocean and climate change governance

Chan

2021

WIREs Climate Change

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“…Beneath the surface, there have been notable conservation successes (e.g. Duarte et al, 2020; Knowlton, 2020), but overall, despite the grand pronouncements, it is fair to say we continue to increase extraction of resources and add more pollutants, discounting the damage to the ocean as minor problems or acceptable losses, against perceived ‘essential’ exploitative gain. The growing global population is increasingly used by sectors, such as fisheries, as justification of ever greater levels of exploitation at the clear sacrifice of nature (Steneck & Pauly, 2019).…”

Section: Why a Better More Precise And Updated Ocean Narrative Is Neededmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A systemic view of the ocean can promote mutually beneficial solutions for reaching humanity's full potential within safe sustainable limits, whilst still achieving the goal of a healthy global ocean (Singh et al, 2018; Claudet et al, 2020a). This is not without precedent, and numerous examples of success in conservation coupled with sustainable management of marine living resources to the benefit of both industry and local communities give grounds for ocean optimism (Knowlton, 2020).…”

Section: Resetting the Ocean Narrative Post‐covid‐19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving the narrative for protecting a rapidly changing ocean, post‐COVID‐19

Laffoley

Baxter

Amon

et al. 2020

Aquatic Conservation

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The ocean is the linchpin supporting life on Earth, but it is in declining health due to an increasing footprint of human use and climate change. Despite notable successes in helping to protect the ocean, the scale of actions is simply not now meeting the overriding scale and nature of the ocean's problems that confront us. Moving into a post‐COVID‐19 world, new policy decisions will need to be made. Some, especially those developed prior to the pandemic, will require changes to their trajectories; others will emerge as a response to this global event. Reconnecting with nature, and specifically with the ocean, will take more than good intent and wishful thinking. Words, and how we express our connection to the ocean, clearly matter now more than ever before. The evolution of the ocean narrative, aimed at preserving and expanding options and opportunities for future generations and a healthier planet, is articulated around six themes: (1) all life is dependent on the ocean; (2) by harming the ocean, we harm ourselves; (3) by protecting the ocean, we protect ourselves; (4) humans, the ocean, biodiversity, and climate are inextricably linked; (5) ocean and climate action must be undertaken together; and (6) reversing ocean change needs action now. This narrative adopts a ‘One Health’ approach to protecting the ocean, addressing the whole Earth ocean system for better and more equitable social, cultural, economic, and environmental outcomes at its core. Speaking with one voice through a narrative that captures the latest science, concerns, and linkages to humanity is a precondition to action, by elevating humankind's understanding of our relationship with ‘planet Ocean’ and why it needs to become a central theme to everyone's lives. We have only one ocean, we must protect it, now. There is no ‘Ocean B’.

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“…The status assessment of fishery resources revealed that the fraction of fish stocks that are within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90%, in 1974, to 65.8% in 2017 [6]. In contrast, recent studies argue that some fishing stocks are gradually recovering in different parts of the world [7], especially in regions where there are effective fisheries management [8]. Although these recent findings show positive global scenarios [9], overfishing is responsible for substantially modifying the abundance and biomass patterns of species and decreasing the body size of individuals in a population [10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling the same story: Fishers and landing data reveal changes in fisheries on the Southeastern Brazilian Coast

et al. 2021

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An understanding of the effects of fishing on marine ecosystems relies on information about the conserved state of these environments. Non-conventional approaches such as the use of historical data and local ecological knowledge can provide information and help adjust our references of changes in the environment. Also, the combination of different types of data can indicate a fisheries trend that would be undetectable when evaluated separately. Here we investigated changes in fisher’s perceptions regarding overexploited and new target species in artisanal fisheries in a secular fishing village of the subtropical, southeastern Brazilian coast. We identified temporal changes in landings and in the mean trophic level (MTL) of high trophic level species (≥ 3.5 and >4) over 16 years. Fishers’ knowledge revealed shifts in perception associated with years of fishing practice. More experienced fishers recognized a greater number of overexploited and new target species than fishers in the beginning of their careers. Landing data has revealed declining trends of 72% for five mesopredators species. Due to the overfishing of mesopredators, there was a shift in target species, towards fish that were previously discarded. Temporal changes in landings and in the MTL metric are concordant with previous reports on the overexploitation of species caught by local fishers. Our work reveals that multiple sources of information can be combined to establish historical baselines and improve the detection of change in marine ecosystems.

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Ocean Optimism: Moving Beyond the Obituaries in Marine Conservation

Cited by 40 publications

References 145 publications

Linking ocean and climate change governance

Linking ocean and climate change governance

Evolving the narrative for protecting a rapidly changing ocean, post‐COVID‐19

Telling the same story: Fishers and landing data reveal changes in fisheries on the Southeastern Brazilian Coast

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