Is the Food Industry the Next Frontier in Ocean Plastic?

Ocean Conservancy headquarters is buzzing with excitement this week as we prepare to release the results of our 2018 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) next Tuesday. Last year, we showed that 2017 was the first ICC where all of the top ten items collected by volunteers around the world were made of plastic. Without giving away all the details, one pattern that you’ll notice in the 2018 report is just how much plastic waste relates to food.

Food wrappers, plastic straws and stirrers, takeout containers, beverage bottles, bottle caps…all are always among the top ten items collected by ICC volunteers around the world. There are other, non-food-related items, too, of course—cigarette butts and plastic bags, for example; but there’s no denying that when it comes to plastic waste found on beaches and waterways, the way we eat and drink is having an impact.

It won’t be easy changing this status quo. It doesn’t take long at a grocery store to realize that almost everything—even some fresh produce items—are wrapped in plastic. Meanwhile, restaurants are increasingly relying on delivery and take-out sales, sending off meals ordered through a growing roster of mobile apps, often in single-use containers (like plastic or foam clamshells) with a side of plastic-wrapped plastic cutlery.

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And this is exactly why we need the food and restaurant industries to innovate and change course. Luckily, some already are. Earlier this summer, Trash Free Seas Alliance® member Starbucks released a new lid that eliminates the need for a straw, uses about 9% less plastic than the original model (lid + straw), and is recyclable. With this innovation, Starbucks is removing more than 1 billion straws from their business model. Recently, Red Lobster became a member of the Alliance and the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, working towards evolving the use of single-use plastics and seek alternatives in their restaurants, and encouraging its suppliers to support projects that reduce, remove and recycle the upwards of 800,000 tons of fishing gear lost or abandoned (known as “ghost gear”) in our ocean each year. And local businesses are taking action, too. Last week, the LA Times published an op-ed by Mikey Knab, a San Diego restaurant owner who decided to reduce his business’s environmental footprint by cutting out single-use plastics. It wasn’t cheap, he said; but “we have a responsibility to do what we can to see that San Diego remains a viable place to live, work and eat tacos.”

We couldn’t agree more.

So watch this space. The full ICC report will be released on Tuesday, September 3^rd and we hope to see you all out at your local beach or waterway on September 21^st for the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup.  Find your local cleanup here: www.signuptocleanup.

The post Is the Food Industry the Next Frontier in Ocean Plastic? appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Why You Should Be in on the Secret Life of Seaweed

Setting Sail: Exploring Seamount Habitats in the Pacific Remote Islands

Celebrating 47 Years of Protecting the Ocean

Next week is our anniversary—47 years of advocating for our ocean. The occasion serves as an opportunity to reflect on how much we have done, and how much we have left to do.

It is no secret that these are trying times for our country, our ocean and our world. Every day we are confronted with new stories of the effects climate change, sea level rise, algal blooms and more, and how they are altering marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Some days it can be overwhelming. Feeling like you’re fighting an uphill battle can be an occupational hazard of the conservation world.

But here at Ocean Conservancy, we never back down from a challenge.

We work every single day to protect our ocean in a changing world. I am grateful to Ocean Conservancy’s staff, partners, volunteers and supporters who refuse to let the magnitude of the problem stop them from fighting relentlessly to keep our ocean healthy for generations to come.

I could not be more proud of the work we’ve accomplished over the last 47 years. In the early years, our work focused on species like whales, seals and sea turtles. While we were a part of many success stories, we realized we couldn’t protect species without protecting their habitat. So we thought bigger and shifted to more ecosystem- and systems-based approaches. Today we tackle the greatest global challenges facing our ocean. And partnerships have always been a major component of our work. We engage people who rely on the ocean and make a living from the ocean to develop long-term solutions for the ocean. We also bring businesses to the table for long-term, durable solutions that benefit not just the ocean, but coastal communities and the economies dependent on it—a key part of our mission to this day.

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Since those early days, we’ve expanded our vision quite a bit, and now have nine programs ranging from Sustainable Fisheries and Trash Free Seas to Ocean Climate and Arctic Conservation, and more. We will continue to grow and change as new threats to our ocean emerge. While the problems facing our ocean may change, our mission will not. We remain dedicated to creating science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. We also continue to value diversity, inclusion and integrity, and are committed to bringing everyone to the table—including indigenous peoples and people of color who may have historically been excluded from conservation conversations.

I want to thank all of our supporters, near and far, who make our work possible. I say without exaggeration that we could not do what we do without your help. But in honor of our anniversary, I want to ask just a little more of you. Think of it as a birthday wish, if you will:

Next time you feel discouraged about the magnitude of problems facing our ocean, take a minute to think of us. Know that we are working for you, and for our ocean, every day. You are part of a global community of ocean advocates who are here for you and depend on your support. And together, we will continue to tackle the ocean’s biggest problems, one day at a time.

The post Celebrating 47 Years of Protecting the Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Ocean Observations for Climate Science with the SY Malizia

Racing yacht delivers important data from remote ocean regionsAfter about three thousand nautical miles across the Atlantic, racing yacht Malizia with skipper Boris Herrmann reaches New York this week. This ocean crossing attracted a lot of attention because of a special passenger: The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and her father are on board Malizia. At the same time, sensors that have been installed in the yacht more than a year ago, provide important data for oceanography and climate research. The project is a joint initiative of GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the Kiel research network "The Future Ocean" and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg.

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NOAA is Helping Us Bring the Fight against Ocean Plastic to the Big City

Climate-Ready Fisheries are Healthy Fisheries

OC Overview for the week of 26 August 2019

More than just a viral video, the Salmon Cannon could be key to the species’ recovery

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/latest-news/article234369752.html

Worldwide fisheries experts gather in Seattle to save wild salmon

http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/worldwide-fisheries-experts-gather-in-...

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4 Things to Know about the Nautilus

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Women, Youth and Climate Justice

Ocean Sciences Meeting session: MPAs and Climate Resilience

Please consider submitting an abstract to the session, “Building Resilience: Exploring the Role of MPAs in the Face of Changing Ocean Conditions”, at the Ocean Sciences Meeting which will take place February 16-21, 2020 in San Diego, California. This session aims to bring together experts from around the country and globe to discuss how their region is exploring MPAs as tools to build climate resilience in a variety of ecosystems. (see full description below). 

Click here to read the full article from its source (note: external link)

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Meet the Future Leaders of Marine Conservation

Thinking Beyond the Reefs: the role of culture in marine protected areas

Meet the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup Animal Spotlight: The Pelican!

Bringing Communities Together to Restore our Gulf

OC Overview for the week of 19 August 2019

This is crunch point for our oceans: let’s do the right thing

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/19/crunch-point-ocean...

Beloved baby dugong's death puts spotlight on plastic threat to marine life

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/beloved-baby-dugong-s-death-p...

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From Disaster Recovery to Climate Justice

For the Love of Our Ocean

A Heartbreaking Dive in the Florida Keys

Alaska is on Fire

My home state of Alaska is on fire—both figuratively and literally. More than 2 million acres of forest have burned this year, making 2019 one of the worst fire years Alaska has ever experienced. Already, more acreage has burned than in all of the devastating fires in California last year.

These fires are direct evidence of climate change, which is causing thawing tundra, drying forests and thunderstorms that cause or exacerbate the fires. They also contribute directly to making climate change worse by releasing millions of tons of stored greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In addition, the permafrost and soil in Alaska’s ecosystems store huge quantities of carbon. These fires can also release that carbon in the form of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The fires are happening against a backdrop of incredible change in Alaska. First, of course, it has been really, really hot here. The July sea ice extent was a record low. Record high water temperatures have been linked to heart attacks in salmon. Walrus are showing up earlier and earlier along the Arctic coast. Taken together, these changes are resulting in what one reporter calls “ecological havoc” in the Bering Sea.

Alongside these literal fires, the figurative ones amount to an existential crisis about the future of the state. Our governor and legislature have been unable to agree on an operating budget. In June, the governor vetoed more than $440 million dollars from the budget that the legislature had passed. The vetoes reduced or eliminated funding for the arts, education, public broadcasting, senior benefits, Medicaid, the Village Public Safety Officer program and other programs. The governor even vetoed funding for the Ocean Ranger cruise ship pollution inspection program, which was funded entirely using fees paid by the cruise ship industry.

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The biggest cuts, however, were from the University of Alaska system. The governor vetoed $130 million on top of a $5 million cut already in the budget. The resulting $135 million cut amounts to almost 41% of the state’s funding for the university. University officials have said that the cuts would be devastating.

These cuts to the university system bring the literal and figurative fires together. The University of Alaska is a leader in climate change research. The budget cuts and uncertainty are already affecting research and could significantly curtail future efforts, which would mean that we lack the scientific bases needed for good management of ocean and terrestrial resources under changing conditions. It also could cause our accomplished scientists and professors to leave, which is bad for future scientific efforts and for the state overall.

Hopefully, none of this will come to fruition. The legislature recently passed a new version of the budget that reinstates most of the funding for the university and other programs. It is now up to the governor to put out the figurative fire and for all of us to find ways to take meaningful action to address climate change in order to help reduce the threat from the literal fires.

The post Alaska is on Fire appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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The Difference Between Sea Stars and Brittle Stars

OC Overview for the week of 12 August 2019

Monterey Bay: Following the DNA trail in the Pacific Ocean

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Going Fishing for Ghost Gear

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/going-fishing-for-ghost-gear/

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A Better Gulf Coast for Us All

Plankton: Small Organisms with a Big Role in the Ocean

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Stony corals: Limits of adaption

New study on coral growth in times of climate changeCorals have been dominant framework builders of reef structures for millions of years, creating habitats for a diverse community of species. It is well known that ocean acidification, which is intensifying as climate change progresses, is increasingly affecting coral growth. Scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the University of California have now answered some questions regarding whether and how corals can adapt to these changes by having gained important insights into the regulatory processes of coral calcification. The results have been published today in the international journal Nature Communications.

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Mangroves are Vital to Vietnam’s Coastal Communities

6 Sea Turtles You Need to Meet

The Beauty of Rarity

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OC Overview for the week of 05 August 2019

Seabirds that eat plastic—and live—have major health problems

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/seabirds-eat-plastic-major-health-effects/

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The Frogfish: Weird-Looking and Wonderful

Coming Together to Tackle Ocean Plastic

It’s no secret that marine debris is one of the biggest problems facing our ocean: every day, the issue of ocean plastic makes headlines across the globe. Since scientists first estimated annual ocean plastic inputs at 8 million metric tons in 2015, the number of initiatives by governments, institutions, non-profits and corporations to combat marine debris has exploded.

From consumer oriented campaigns aimed at reducing single use plastic items, to organizations working to improve waste collection and management in key areas, the push to solve the ocean plastic problem has been expansive. However, for the most part, we didn’t know that much about what this effort looks like as a whole. There has not been a unified examination of the landscape of the movement to combat marine debris—until now.

Ocean Conservancy reviewed 200 major efforts targeting plastic pollution reduction and found that while everyone is working towards solutions, there is not an overarching sense of a true movement where individual efforts add up to more than just the sum of the parts. While it is vital for different stakeholders to confront the problem from different angles, enabling cooperation between these different entities would allow us to more effectively reach our goals by ensuring that we’re not missing any major pieces of the puzzle, or duplicating efforts unnecessarily. Moreover, all of us getting on the same page would give us a better sense of what isn’t being done yet, like creating demand for recycled materials, or tracking the efficacy of specific projects.

Last year, Ocean Conservancy convened a meeting of experts to discuss what is currently being done to combat marine debris, what is missing from the conversation, and how to fight the problem more effectively. This week, we’ve released a paper laying out our findings. Here are the three biggest takeaways on how we can become stronger—together—in the fight against marine debris.

1. We all need to get on the same page.

The actors involved in the movement to combat marine debris—governments, non-profits, businesses—are all working towards the same goal: an ocean free of plastic. However, up until this point, there has not been a common narrative regarding the nature of the problem or the solutions being put forth. At the moment, there are three narratives in the ocean plastic space: the need to reduce the usage and production of plastic items, the need to improve waste management and collection, and the need to move towards a circular economy. The final solution set likely involves elements from all three of these perspectives—being able to articulate an overarching narrative that brings these three stories together would enable greater cooperation.

2. We need a transparent set of goals and targets.

Up until this point, each group has formulated its own measure for success in the fight against ocean plastic. In order to more effectively tackle this problem, we need to come together as a community and develop overarching, feasible goals to work towards, beyond simply having a plastic free ocean. A common set of goals and targets will facilitate cooperation by focusing attention on the biggest priorities and identifying how far we need to go in each sector. There is not a single silver bullet that’s going to solve the ocean plastic problem, and it is critical that we have a community of actors working across a set of initiatives and strategies. However, a widely-agreed upon set of goals and targets will help inform how all those different efforts need to come together to add up to the full solution.

3. We need to be able to keep track of our collective successes.

At the moment, there is no mechanism for measuring where we are having impact and where we are falling short of our goals. In order to combat marine debris more effectively, we must develop a data platform where key information on our collective efforts are readily available. By having a systematic way of measuring our progress, we will be able to understand better what is working and what still needs to be done.

The path to how we get to this point is not yet clear, and it will take some serious teamwork from all of the different groups involved. But I remain an ocean optimist, and I know that we’re stronger together than we are apart.

The full paper can be found here.

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The post Coming Together to Tackle Ocean Plastic appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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The Wonder of Shark Scales

Wayfarers of the Eastern Tropical Pacific

10 Jaw-some Shark Photos