PHOTOGRAPHY:
UNSPLASH
The Science Award
(^2019)
OCEAN
AWARDS
THE WINNERS
BasedattheUniversityofTasmaniainHobart,
whereitwassetupin 2008 byGrahamEdgar,
aseniorresearchfellowattheInstitutefor
MarineandAntarcticStudies,ReefLifeSurvey
(RLS)isanon-profitcitizen-scienceprogram.
Volunteerdiversaretrainedtocollect
scientificdataandsurveytrendsinreef
biodiversity,theresultsofwhichareuploaded
ontoafreelyaccessiblewebsitetoenable
marinescientiststobenefitfromitswork.
Initsfirstdecadeofoperation, 269 volunteer
diversfromninenationstookpartin11,941
surveysacross3,300sitesin 54 countrieson
allsevencontinents.Thishasenabledthe
recordingofmorethanabillionrecordsof
speciesabundance,whichhavebeencited
in 77 publishedscientificpapers.
“Themarineenvironmentisoutofsight,
sowhathappensbeneaththesurfaceis
largelyunknown,”Edgarsays.“Theworkthat
[RLSisdoing]isreallytryingtomakethe
unknownvisible.Speciesarebecomingextinct
intheseaandpopulationsaredeclining,and
personallyIthinkwereallyshouldbepassing
onthemarineenvironmentinthecurrent
stateandnotpassingonadegradedsituation
tofuturegenerations.”Inbuildinganetwork
ofvolunteers“whocollectdataacross
globalscales,wecangetinsightintowhat’s
happeninginthemarineenvironment.”
ProfessorGrahamEdgar,presidentofReefLifeSurvey
RUNNER
UP
lobal Fishing Watch is an independent international
NGO originally set up by international ocean
conservation organization Oceana, satellite
technology company SkyTruth and Google. Its
mission is to advance the stewardship and sustainability of the
oceans by monitoring global commercial fishing activity. Its
director of research, David Kroodsma, crunches the data it
collects to shed light on just how much fishing goes on in the
world – and how that damages the oceans.
As lead author of Tracking the global footprint of fisheries, a
researchprojecttoascertaintheglobalreachofindustrial
fishing,Kroodsmaandhiscolleaguestrackedmorethan70,000
largeindustrialfishingvesselsbetween 2012 and2016,processing
22 billionautomaticidentificationsystemmessages.Innumber,
theseboatsmayaccountforonlyasmallfractionoftheworld’s
fishingvessels,butthey“areresponsibleforthemajorityof
fishingeffortsinthehighseas.”
Theresultsweresobering.Thereisindustrialfishingin
55 percentoftheworld’soceans,whichmeansintensivefishing
hasaspatialreachmorethanfourtimesthatofagriculture.In
oneyear,hesays,“Thevesselswetrackedtraversedacombined
distanceequaltotravelingtothemoonandback 600 times.”
ItshouldbeaddedthatGlobalFishingWatch’sfindingswere
notuncontroversial.ScientistsattheUniversityofWashington
have challenged the extent of the affected waters. But as
Kroodsma says, “‘Area fished’ is a poorly defined term.” And in
any case, debate is “healthy... We welcome collaboration.”
Indeed, the exchange on the pages of Science magazine, The
Atlantic, via Twitter and on his blog, “has helped raise awareness
of different ways to measure, understand and communicate
the extent of fishing.”
Kroodsma recognizes the importance of fishing as a renewable
resource, a vital way to support “the protein needs and
livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable and poorest people
ontheplanet.”Itcan,hepointsout,bemoreeco-friendlythan
livestockproduction,claiming,“Someformsofseafoodareeven
betterthanavegandiet.”Butitneedstobebetterregulatedand
managed,andtheindustryneedstransparency.Aboutathirdof
fisheriesareofficiallyoverfished,andthatthreatensnotjustfish,
butallmarinelife:seabirds,mammalsandturtles.Andthen
thereistheissueofforcedlaboronfleets.
“Ifwecaneliminateoverfishing,protectbiodiversityandend
illegalpracticesonaglobalscale,”theideathathalftheworld’s
oceansarefishedmaycometo“representsomethingthatisgood
andhealthy.”But,Kroodsmaadds,“Increasingtransparencyis
criticaltothesegoals,becauseonlythatwaycanwebecertain
thatresponsiblefishingisfollowingbestpracticesfroman
environmental,economicandsocialstandpoint.”
David Kroodsma
Director of research, Global Fishing Watch
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