Unknown Ocean The Baseline Report Of The Census Of Marine Life Research Program 2003

"[P]rovides a baseline encompassing all the oceanic realms and a prefilter for explorations likely to yield the great surprises about marine life, past and future.

Includes the keynote addresses and papers presented on the conference themes that covered: environment, ecosystem biology, habitat, diversity and oceanography; population biology and resource assessment; harvesting and conservation strategies for resource management; technology requirements; monitoring, compliance and controls; a review of existing policies and instruments; and governance and management. It also provides the perspectives of participating experts and the conference Steering Committee. The general conclusions of the conference contain the elements that must be addressed and undertaken if deep-sea fish resources are to be sustained and their habitat protected to ensure productivity and safeguard deep-sea biodiversity. The second volume of the proceedings includes posters and corresponding papers presented at the conference as well as papers from workshops held prior to the main conference.

In his Ark of the Broken Covenant, Kunich showed that Earth's species are concentrated in 25 zones of ecological significance known as biodiversity hotspots, and maintained that we'd go a long way toward saving many species from extinction if we'd focus our protective laws and regulations on these zones. In Killing Our Oceans he extends this analysis to the extraordinary pockets of life in the oceans that are similarly threatened. In his Ark of the Broken Covenant, Kunich showed that Earth's species are concentrated in 25 zones of ecological significance known as biodiversity hotspots, and that we'd go a long way toward saving many species from extinction if we'd focus our protective laws and regulations on these zones. In Killing Our Oceans he extends this analysis to the extraordinary pockets of life in the oceans that are similarly threatened. From coral reefs to recently discovered hydrothermal vents, the oceans contain vast numbers of endangered species. We are rapidly losing these unique, irreplaceable treasures, due in part to an appalling lack of efficacious safeguards. What's in it for us if we intervene to halt this mass extinction? Quite possibly the greatest medical, nutritional, and scientific breakthroughs in all of human history, just waiting to be discovered and harnessed—or forever lost along with the dying species that hold the keys to these secrets. Kunich examines in detail the applicable international laws as well as domestic laws of the nations with key marine resources, and demonstrates the abject failure of these measures to prevent or halt a mass extinction in our oceans. He concludes with a set of legal proposals that could start us down the road to preserving the marine hotspots and, with them, most of Earth's biodiversity. Legal solutions are not the only answer, but they are a beginning.

This Royal Commission report on protection of the marine environment focuses on the impact of marine fishing in the seas around the UK, both on fish populations and the wider ecosystem. It consider a range of issues including the role of the fishing industry and its growth over the last 50 years; the legal framework for the marine environment and fisheries, at the national, European and international levels; the impact of fishing and the legacy of overfishing; aquaculture fisheries; marine protected areas; improved fisheries management; and a system of marine spatial planning. The report concludes that, as a society, we give much lower priority to protecting our seas compared with the land, and over-fishing is a global problem which has led to the collapse of fisheries in many areas. This situation requires significant urgent change which recognises the need for sustainable fisheries management and avoids the degradation of our seas, placing it within the context of wider management of human activities in the marine environment. Recommendations made include: the introduction of a Marine Act to establish a statutory framework with strategic objectives for marine environmental protection; a move away from a presumption in favour of fishing rights to a precautionary approach which requires demonstration that fishing activity is environmentally sustainable; establishing a network of marine protected areas within the UK over the next five years, which would lead to 30 per cent of the UK's exclusive economic zone being closed to commercial fishing; and a change in the emphasis of research away from management of fish populations towards a wider focus on the marine environment.

Two-thirds of this planet is covered by water inhabited by an incredible variety of living organisms, ranging in size from microbe to whale, and in abundance from scarce to uncountable. Whales and dolphins must surface to breathe, and some fishes occupy surface waters and can easily be seen from boats or shore, but most of the marine bio-profusion is hidden from human eyes, often under thousands of feet and millions of tons of water, which is usually cold, dark, and utterly inhospitable to humans. By definition, the study of marine life has been quantitatively and qualitatively different from the study of terrestrial life--it is, if you will, a different kettle of fish. What do we know today, how have we learned it, and what remains unknown and unknowable about inner space? Because there have been so few human visitors to the uninviting world of the deep sea, scientists have had to rely on trawled specimens, photographs taken by robotic cameras, or occasionally, observations from deep-diving submersibles, to get even the vaguest idea of the nature of life in the abyss. So far, even our most elaborate efforts to penetrate the blackness have produced only minimal results. It is as if someone lowered a collecting basket from a balloon high above the tropical rain forest floor, and tried to analyze the nature of life in the jungle from a couple of random hauls. The inner space of the deep offers the last frontier on the planet. Even now, we know more about the back side of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean, but then the surface of the moon is not hidden under miles of impenetrable water. But we do know that living in this inaccessible medium are some of the most fascinating creatures on Earth. An understanding of the interrelationships between various creatures-including the one predator that has the power to distort, damage, or even eliminate populations of marine animals-is necessary if we are to survive in harmony with these populations. Although new technologies have given us tools to better census the whales, dolphins, and fishes, and to see heretofore unexpected life and geological forms deep under the sea, we are a long way from comprehending the nature and importance of marine biodiversity. Singing Whales, Flying Squid, and Swimming Cucumbers is an attempt to put the search for knowledge into perspective-to try to find out how we got here, and where, with the help of curiosity, science, and technology, we might be headed. With this as our Baedeker, we will voyage through time and space, tracing the history of the discovery of marine biology, from the moment that the first scientists--although for the most part, "science" had barely been invented--tried to figure out what sorts of creatures lived in the Mediterranean, the sea right off their shores. So join Richard Ellis on an underwater adventure like no other you've ever taken or heard of: a voyage to discover the mysteries and reveal the wonders of marine life--more unusual and more astonishing than you--or anyone else--ever imagined.

This book offers a comprehensive and systematic examination of the issues involved within Ocean Economics. The oceans are the last frontier on Earth, and research and exploration are key to developing and enhancing global economic activity that is necessary to sustain a growing human population. Colazingari pinpoints the contentious issues relevant to oceans’ natural resources management and protection. He examines the cutting edge technology used for the exploration of the oceans’ living and non living resources (fisheries, bio-products, energy resources, mineral deposits) and identifies the significant emerging patterns that will determine the development of ocean economics in the future. Problems require timely action by politicians and policymakers at an international level, while scientists and researchers must assist in providing reliable information and investigating viable options. With writing that is straightforward but comprehensive, this book will appeal to professionals, academics, students, as well as anyone interested in marine environment.