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OCEANBY DR. ENRIC SALA WE CAN HAVE OUR FISH AND CARE EAT THEM, TOO I had just nished watching a Jacques Cousteau The water was clean and clear, but there were no sharks documentary. The famous Calypso divers were in a or groupers in sight. The bottom was covered with little stunning tropical location, diving with sharks in crystal brown, green and red algae, and the few shes I could clear water and interacting with a huge grouper. As see were smaller than my mask. soon as the show nished, I took my mask, snorkel and little blue ns, and ran to the sea. It was 1978, I Sadly, that was the landscape of my childhood: the glimpse was ten, and I was living in the Costa Brava with my of a formerly rich world, now in decadence – although I family on the Mediterranean coast of . I ran down thought that was the norm. My fantasy world of colourful a narrow path on the hill among thick blackberry abundance was limited to television documentaries. bushes, until I reached a small cove with gnarled pines bent deep over orange granite rocks, like they were Little did I know how much we had really lost until eight trying to kiss the sea. The shallow waters of the cove years later, when I became certi ed to scuba dive, and were the most delicate collage of turquoise and blues. dived for the rst time at the Medes Islands, one kilometre I threw my t-shirt and sandals on the sand, and threw offshore from the town of L’Estartit, Spain. I can still myself into the inviting waters. remember the moment when I rst swam to the bottom

Photograph courtesy of: Society

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and saw my rst grouper, and my second, and although these areas account for less than 4% my third. Schools of silver corvina with golden of the coral reefs in the region. People are ns, staying still like a mobile on a windless sending a clear signal that they want to visit day, and scorpion sh that blended so well with places that are more natural. the rock that I thought it was part of it. Here nally was the sea that I had dreamt of while The spillover from these reserves also helps watching those Cousteau documentaries. Why shermen, who catch more around the reserves was this place so different from the shallow than in places that have no reserves; because of coves of my childhood? that, their revenue also increases. In the Solomon Islands, for example, household income doubled The answer to my question is simple. We have in a local village thanks to the creation of a taken too many sh out of the sea, at a rate marine reserve. In the Philippines, a small reserve faster than they can reproduce. Scienti c in Apo Island, only 22 hectares, was so studies indicate that 90% of the large ocean successful that 300 other communities in the predators – sharks, tuna, sword sh, cod, country decided to imitate Apo and create their groupers – are gone because of over shing. own community-based reserves. If current trends continue, commercial sheries will collapse globally before 2050. Marine reserves like these are like our own But there are a handful of places that people personal savings accounts: they are a have had the wisdom to set aside, where principal that we don’t touch, which produces shing is not permitted, to allow marine life to interest that we can enjoy. A world without recover. The Medes Islands is one of these reserves is like a debit account that everybody marine reserves, the equivalent of national withdraws from, but nobody deposits into. parks of the sea. Because the abundance of marine life inside the reserves increases over time for many It does not take rocket science to understand years, this is like compound interest. It may that, when not killed, sh take a longer time to seem counter-intuitive, but prohibiting shing die, they grow larger, and reproduce in some areas helps us sh more elsewhere, abundantly. Marine life increases in these and it creates jobs. We can have our sh and reserves. After some years, sh become so eat them, too. abundant in the reserves and reproduce so much that they spill over, replenishing the If marine reserves are such a no-brainer, one populations around the reserves. would think that the sea would be full of them. Far from it. While 12% of the land is protected This restoration of the marine ecosystem in national parks or natural reserves, less than results in a bonanza for people, too. Divers 1% of the sea has any kind of protection. Only want to go to these reserves and see these a fraction of this 1% is fully protected in no-take sh, including the large groupers that we marine reserves. However, scienti c studies thought did not exist except on television. suggest that at least 20% of the ocean must be This provides jobs for the local communities. protected. The Medes Islands, for example, although only 94 hectares in size (less than a square Why? Why has what seems like such a logical kilometre) produce around six million euros and proven, successful conservation-and- per year in tourist revenue – twenty times business model not been imitated more than shing. In the Caribbean, half of all everywhere? Why doesn’t everybody living on dives occur in marine protected areas – the coast want a thriving savings account?

“...we need a new philosophical approach to marine reserves that both powers and focuses the business opportunities of .”

Photograph courtesy of: National Geographic Society

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Photograph courtesy of: National Geographic Society

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There are three main reasons that explain the an investment. The bene ts of marine reserves meager abundance of marine reserves. First, far outweigh the costs. Furthermore, they are most people are not aware of what we are like an insurance policy against the global doing to the ocean, why it is crucial to human degradation of the marine environment. health itself, or what the solutions themselves Reserves not only give us recreational are. Second, ocean governance is poorly opportunities and more sh, but also help structured for successful outcomes for the restore marine ecosystems that are key for the many: most coastal communities do not have health of the ocean. The sea harbours the authority to manage their local resources complex, diverse and wonderful ecosystems and create their own reserves. Instead, they such as coral reefs, kelp forests and deep depend on top-down bureaucracies of varying seamounts. They, and the species they complexity that foster inef cacy and contain, have a right to exist and we have the corruption. Moreover, the high seas – the responsibility to prevent their destruction. waters beyond the national 200-mile exclusive economic zones – belong to everybody and You might be wondering how you can help. nobody, so there is no established mechanism to create international reserves and enforce At National Geographic Society, we are them. Third, there is limited funding for developing a global partnership initiative to implementing marine reserves, although in help restore the health and productivity of the many cases the initial capital outlay needed is ocean, with marine reserves as a key minimal. Most of the funding comes from component. We will conduct scienti c governments, private foundations, or expeditions, produce compelling media of the non-governmental organisations; but they last wild ocean places, raise awareness on a have only so many resources, and cannot help global scale, and work with businesses, establish the thousands of reserves that are policymakers and non-governmental needed worldwide. organisations to achieve the common goal of protecting at least 20% of the ocean by 2020. What are the solutions? First, we need to If you love the ocean and want to help, please develop global awareness to inspire local and contact us. There are many ways that, national leaders, businesses, and coastal together, we can make a difference, and we communities, to create more marine reserves. will be happy to discuss with you how to make Second, we need governments to commit to our common dream possible: to restore an more marine-protected areas and to create ocean that is healthy and productive, for the the legislation that facilitates the creation of bene t of humankind and life on the planet. reserves. Finally, we need a new philosophical approach to marine reserves that both powers You can be part of this legacy. and focuses the business opportunities of marine conservation.

Knowing that reserves produce ecological, social and economic returns, let’s see them as

Photograph courtesy of: National Geographic Society

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