2002
report
Health of the Oceans
contents
2
Foreword
4
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
14
chapter 2
Fish
26
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
42
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
56
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
73
Resource List for Concerned Citizens
76
Endnotes
80
Credits
We envision a world of healthy, protected oceans with wild and flourishing ecosystems,
free of pollution, and filled with diverse and abundant marine wildlife.
1
The oceans affect us all.
They provide a large proportion of the oxygen we breathe and 15 percent of the
animal protein we eat. In the United States alone, an estimated one out of every six
jobs is marine-related, and one-third of our gross national product is produced in
ocean and coastal areas. But despite our dependence on these precious resources,
little is being done to reverse their failing health.
Fisheries all over the world are being rapidly depleted, coral reefs are being lost at
an alarming rate, and pollution has rendered 44 percent of U.S. estuaries unfit for
uses such as swimming or fishing. Numerous species of fish, marine mammals and
sea turtles are now in danger of extinction. Only 300 North Atlantic right whales are
known to exist, and all six species of sea turtles found in U.S. waters are either
threatened or endangered.
The task of managing and protecting our oceans lies with us all. The Ocean
Conservancy is committed to bringing these issues before the general public, not
only because people deserve to know, but because the oceans are a public
resource, and can only be as healthy as an informed public demands.
2002
report
Health of the Oceans
health of the oceans 2002
2
Foreword
In 2000, The Ocean Conservancy—then
the Center for Marine Conservation—published
In developing this report, we have
gathered information from our own work, from
its first Health of the Oceans report. It was intended
government statistics and reports, scientific studies,
to fill a critical gap in public information. The fed-
news stories, and a multitude of sources. We report
eral government and other organizations produced
on the most significant issues in five areas: ocean
annual reports on fisheries, water and beach quality,
governance, fish and fisheries, marine wildlife, ocean
and marine wildlife. But until the first Health of the
waters, and ocean ecosystems. In many cases,
Oceans, there was no yearly assessment of ocean
the news is not good. Pollution has rendered 44
resources and ocean management as a whole.
percent of tested U.S. estuaries unfit for uses such
We believed that an annual evaluation was as vital
as swimming and fishing. Numerous species of
to ocean health as an annual checkup is to the
marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds are in
health of an individual.
danger of extinction. Only 300 North Atlantic right
Further, many of the existing reports on the
whales are known to exist, and all six species of
oceans were highly technical; although they contained
sea turtles found in U.S. waters are either threatened
vitally important information, that information
or endangered. The status of over three-fourths
rarely found its way to the average person. Because
of our fish stocks is unknown, yet of the stocks
education is central to our mission, we committed
we can assess, nearly half are depleted or being
to bring the issues before the general public on a
overfished, including Pacific salmon, Gulf of Mexico
yearly basis, not only because people deserve to know,
red snapper, Gulf of Maine cod, swordfish, and
but because the oceans are a public resource and can
many shark species. Clearly, as a nation we have
only be as healthy as an informed public demands.
not earned a passing grade in managing these
The oceans affect us all. They provide a large
proportion of the oxygen we breathe and 15 percent
precious resources.
But The Ocean Conservancy has chosen to do
of the animal protein we eat. As the global popula-
more than report on these problems. In the pages
tion grows, the oceans are under increasing pressure
that follow, we also recommend solutions, and ways
to contribute to energy, international trade, tourism,
that individuals, communities, and lawmakers can
and recreation, to advances in medicine, science, and
work together to reverse the failing health of our
technology. In the United States alone, an estimated
marine resources.
one out of every six jobs is marine-related, and one-
I’m proud of the organizational record in pro-
third of our gross national product is produced in
tecting the oceans. The Ocean Conservancy began
ocean and coastal areas.
30 years ago as the Center for Environmental
Foreword
3
The United States’ ocean territory is nearly 20 percent larger than
our land. But, unlike our land, it is all publicly owned. That means that
the task of managing and protecting our oceans lies with us all.
Education, shortly after the Stratton Commission
Unfortunately, the United States is not unique in
produced the first comprehensive analysis of U.S.
its neglect of ocean health. Statistics show that
ocean policy. One of our organization’s first tasks
fisheries all over the world are being rapidly depleted,
was to work to end the practice of whaling, which
coral reefs are being lost at an alarming rate, and
had pushed numerous species to the brink of
pollution is showing up in areas as remote as the
extinction. As the Center for Marine Conservation,
polar oceans.
we grew in size and amplified our efforts to protect
Although we call the oceans by different
marine wildlife and fish, to preserve ecosystems,
names—the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and
and to advocate for cleaner ocean waters. As The
Southern—they are really a single, connected entity.
Ocean Conservancy, we strive to be the foremost
And the fish and wildlife that inhabit them know
advocate for the oceans and the life they contain.
nothing of territorial boundaries or 200-mile limits.
In our organization’s 30 years, we have observed
The oceans belong to everyone, and protecting
and reported on advances and setbacks in ocean
and restoring them is everyone’s responsibility.
protection. We have worked for laws that protect
The fact is, however, that the United States possesses
ocean health, and we have educated the public on
tremendous human, scientific, and economic
issues we considered important to all. Throughout
resources, and therefore, many other countries look
this report, we examine not only the past year, but
to us for answers, solutions, and leadership.
the past three decades of ocean management. We
We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to
do so in an effort to gain perspective, to measure
provide that leadership—to become committed
how far we’ve come since the Stratton Commission
and responsible ocean stewards, not just for today,
produced its report, “Our Nation and the Sea,” and
but for the long-term health of the oceans.
to determine how far we have to go.
This year’s Health of the Oceans makes one thing
especially clear: the time has come for people to be
more involved. The United States’ ocean territory is
nearly 20 percent larger than our land. But, unlike
our land, it is all publicly owned. That means that
the task of managing and protecting our oceans lies
Roger T. Rufe, Jr., President
with us all. Although our government may have
The Ocean Conservancy
failed to manage ocean resources well, its citizens
have failed to demand better.
4
For centuries, we have
exploited ocean resources
with little thought to the future.
Today, it is increasingly clear that
only revolutionary changes in the
way we manage the oceans can
guarantee their health, both
now and in the future.
5
1
Ocean
Governance
health of the oceans 2002
6
Ocean
Governance
The vast majority of Americans know little about ocean health and management,
which is why they have failed to demand better.
the issues
We continue to view the oceans as limitless and resilient, and our impact on
them as “a drop in the ocean.”
We manage our ocean resources in an uncoordinated, piecemeal fashion.
This management regime is contributing to their depletion and degradation.
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
7
Do People Care?
How We Manage the Oceans
The greatest threats to the health of the
The United States manages an ocean territory
oceans are human ignorance, apathy, and neglect.
of 4.1 million square miles—nearly 20 percent larger
People care about the health of the oceans, but
than our land area. While our land is both privately
surveys show that, in general, they have a poor
and publicly owned, our ocean area is entirely a
grasp of the issues. For example, 92 percent of
public resource. As a nation, we have mustered the
Americans consider the oceans essential for human
foresight and political will to protect nearly 30 per-
survival, yet only 14 percent recognize that people are
cent of our most spectacular lands by establishing
the greatest source of ocean pollution. In a national
national monuments, national parks, national forests,
survey carried out in 1999, nearly half of those
and national wildlife refuges. Nearly five percent are
surveyed (45 percent) agreed with the statement:
fully protected as wilderness, and cannot be changed
“What I do in my lifetime doesn’t impact ocean
or altered by logging, mining, drilling, or development.
health at all.”
1
In our oceans, we have protected less than four
This knowledge gap is critical: people will not
one-hundredths of one percent as wilderness.
act to solve a problem that they don’t know exists.
National ocean policy reflects the same apathy
Time and again, surveys show that people support
and neglect that characterizes public opinion.
healthy oceans, but are unaware of both the state of
Federal expenditures on the oceans are typically
the oceans and what needs to be done to restore
minute when compared with similar expenditures
them to health.
for land-based activities, many of which are them-
Few Americans are aware that the oceans
remain largely unprotected. In 2002, The Ocean
selves under-funded.
➤
2
Conservancy co-sponsored a poll in New England
and Atlantic Canada. Over 70 percent of respondents said that healthy oceans with plentiful and
diverse marine life were very important to them,
3
and over 73 percent were very supportive of establishing “no-take” ocean areas that prohibit activities
➤
such as commercial and recreational fishing.
residents of this region believed that 20-23 percent
➤
from fishing and other habitat-altering activities,
when in fact, less than one percent of New
England’s ocean waters and none of Atlantic
Canada’s are protected in this way.
In 2002 the U.S. will spend some $14 million on
ocean exploration. Yet NASA will spend more than
one thousand times that amount—$14.8 billion
—on space exploration and related activities.
4
Ironically, however, the survey also found that most
of their ocean waters were already fully protected
The U.S. government’s 2002 budget for the National
Park Service is $2.32 billion; the budget for the
National Wildlife Refuge Program is $320 million.
The combined total of $2.64 billion is 53 times the
$49 million we will spend on the National Marine
Sanctuaries Program during the same period.
According to the International Maritime
Organization, invasive species are among the four
greatest threats to the health of the oceans, along
with pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction.
Yet in the 2000 U.S. federal budget, agricultural
invasive species management received 90 percent of
National Invasive Species Act funds, whereas marine
and freshwater invasive species research received a
mere one percent.
5
6
health of the oceans 2002
8
The oceans are a public resource, but we don’t treat them with
the same care that we do our public lands or other resources.
Ocean management in the United
States reflects a lack of unity, leadership, and vision. In 1969, the Stratton
Commission released its report “Our
Nation and the Sea,” detailing how the United
States managed its ocean resources. One of the
Commission’s important recommendations was to
conflicting mandates. Congress, moreover, has enacted a series of federal
statutes that vest different federal agencies with responsibility for overseeing
specific areas or marine resource extraction, or
other activities.
The lack of a unifying federal agency or authority
create a new, independent agency to coordinate
is in part responsible for our disjointed approach to
marine-related activities. That recommendation
ocean management. Multiple agencies with conflicting
eventually led to the creation of the National
visions cannot effectively protect marine resources.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Moreover, our ocean policy is driven by com-
NOAA was not made an independent agency, but
merce, not by conservation. By and large,
was instead placed within the U.S. Department of
Americans still view the oceans as fish factories,
Commerce, a department historically focused more
drilling sites, and shipping lanes, and our govern-
on promoting business and trade than advancing
ment still manages the oceans as though marine
science and conservation.
resources were commodities. The chapters that
Since that time, jurisdiction over our ocean
follow illustrate how that attitude continues to
resources has been split among a number of federal
compromise fish, marine wildlife, ocean waters,
and state agencies with different—and, at times—
and ocean ecosystems.
Who Manages the Oceans?
LAW
RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES
Clean Water Act
States, EPA, Corps
Coastal Zone Management Act
States, NOAA
Ocean Dumping Act of 1972
EPA, Corps, NOAA, USCG
BEACH Act
States, EPA
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act
NOAA, Regional Fisheries Management Councils
National Marine Sanctuaries Act
NOAA, USCG
Marine Mammal Protection Act
NOAA, FWS, Marine Mammal Commission
Endangered Species Act
NOAA, FWS
National Invasive Species Act
EPA, NOAA, FWS, Corps, USCG
EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Corps: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
USCG: U.S. Coast Guard; FWS: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
9
Traditionally, we have viewed the oceans as something to be exploited,
rather than protected and cherished. This attitude is largely responsible
for the failing health of fish and wildlife stocks, diminished water quality,
and the collapse of entire ecosystems.
How We View the Oceans
affected. This is the equivalent of allowing commercial
interests to determine the best uses for public lands,
Fish
or for streams, lakes, and shorelines. Marine fish
Ocean fisheries are well beyond the point of dimin-
are a public resource, belonging to all Americans—
ishing returns. In the North Atlantic, for example,
not just to fishermen, and they will be protected
catches of preferred food fish have declined by half
only inasmuch as the public demands it.
over the past 50 years, even though we have increased
our fishing effort threefold. As we point out in the
Marine Wildlife
chapter on fish, humans are depleting stocks
As a whole, fishing affects marine mammals and sea
throughout U.S. territorial waters—and indeed,
turtles more than any other human activity. Each year,
throughout the world—driving both entire stocks
hundreds of thousands of endangered sea turtles
and species towards extinction. Yet, as early as 1994,
are hooked, or caught and killed in nets, and entan-
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
glement in fishing gear poses an equally serious
concluded that the fishing fleet was nearly double
threat for many critically endangered mammals such
the size it should be in order to ensure sustainable
as North Atlantic right whales and Hawaiian monk
7
fish stocks.
seals. Many of these deaths could be prevented
8
Moreover, although the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
through fishing gear modifications or through closing
Conservation Act calls for measures to prevent
areas to fishing at critical times of year. But solving
overfishing, rebuild depleted stocks, reduce bycatch,
the problems of bycatch and entanglement comes
and designate and conserve “essential fish habitat,”
down to whether or not we value protecting endan-
NMFS and the regional councils that oversee fishery
gered species as much as we value the economic
regulations have failed time and again to effectively
gain from catching fish.
carry out this mandate. Of the 902 fish stocks
The United States has taken a strong stand
assessed by NMFS, only 124—or 14 percent—are
against whaling, but threats to overturn the whaling
known to be healthy—that is, not overfished.
moratorium are prevalent. Norway allows commercial
The status of approximately two-thirds of all fish
whaling in defiance of the International Whaling
stocks is unknown. Nor does any fishery manage-
Commission’s ban, and other countries continue to
ment plan identify and provide adequate protection
push for a rollback of the moratorium, or to challenge
for essential fish habitat, or effectively assess bycatch
its limits. Japan, for example, still kills some 600
and provide adequate measures for reducing it.
whales per year. Moreover, the hunting or “taking”
9
A large part of the problem lies with citizens.
of other marine mammals, such as dolphins and
Most Americans are unaware of the multiple crises
porpoises, is not prohibited by the International
facing our fish stocks, and they are therefore mute
Whaling Commission’s ban; in fact, the moratorium
when it comes to conserving and managing fish
may have increased the number of smaller mammals
and fisheries. Typically, the only citizens who voice
that are killed. As an economically and politically
their opinions about fishery management issues are
powerful nation, the United States can and should
those whose livelihoods are directly and immediately
play a leading role in creating strong, enforceable
health of the oceans 2002
10
While the Clean Water Act has managed to cut down on “point source”
pollution from plants, factories, and sewage treatment facilities, it has
done little to end the runoff from farms, lawns, streets, and parking
lots—all of which combine to form the number one source of pollution
in our coastal waters.
international treaties that protect sea turtles,
even after its utility is finished. The Ocean
whales, and other vulnerable marine wildlife.
Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup has
made significant strides in removing this waste
Ocean Waters
from the marine environment over the past 16
Americans know little about the condition of the
years, and it has provided essential data regarding
waters where they regularly swim and fish. In 2000
the sources of ocean debris. In the United States, 53
alone, there were 11,270 days of beach closings and
percent of the debris found during the 2001
10
advisories, including 50 permanent closings, yet
Cleanup was attributed to shoreline and recreation-
the majority of states were not even testing their
al activities such as picnicking and littering.
beaches regularly. Few Americans know, also, that
Smoking-related activities accounted for 38 percent
in the majority of cases, beaches are closed
of the debris. Ocean and waterway activities, such
because of storm water runoff, which carries and
as recreational boating and commercial fishing,
distributes high levels of bacteria throughout
contributed only 6.4 percent. Beach cleanups aren’t
creeks, rivers, bays, and estuaries. Nor are they
truly effective tools against pollution if they aren’t
aware that in many cities, when it rains, raw
accompanied by public education efforts that
sewage from their houses mixes with rainwater
change the behaviors that cause marine debris.
and empties into local waterways.
Marine debris ultimately comes from people, not
The passage of the BEACH Act in 2000 requires
places. Humans—and Americans in particular—
that states regularly test waterways, and that they
must reexamine their patterns of consumption and
report to the public on the reasons behind beach
disposal to control waste at the source, rather than
closures. But these are just the beginning. While
at the endpoint.
regular testing and reporting will foster a more
informed public, they will do nothing to counter
Ocean Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
the enormous loads of nitrogen, phosphorous, and
Despite the huge costs of restoring our most val-
toxics that our waterways absorb. Only if people act
ued ecosystems—such as the Chesapeake Bay at
on the information provided, demanding solutions
an estimated $8.5 billion, and the Florida
for runoff and upgrades for antiquated sewage
Everglades at $7.8 billion—we are still managing
systems—only if they alter the behaviors that threat-
ocean resources species by species. As we witness
en their local waterways—will the BEACH Act fulfill
the loss of top predators in the Gulf of Maine, the
its promise.
rapid die-off of coral in the Florida Keys, and the
Marine debris provides a more visible, but
domination of San Francisco Bay by invasive
equally inimical problem. Plastic debris, which may
species, we realize that this management method
not break down for decades, poses a threat to
is a recipe for failure.
wildlife that ingest it, or become entangled in it,
and derelict fishing gear continues to kill wantonly,
Today, almost no area of the ocean is off-limits
to human alteration. With current technology, no
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
11
We can insist on a national system of marine wilderness areas, just as
we have done on land, that will help to restore and replenish our
oceans, and that will protect our most special, productive, and unique
ocean places for the benefit of our own and future generations.
part of the ocean remains too deep, too remote, too
Americans can, with vision and political will,
dangerous to exploit. The protections once provid-
reestablish the protections that nature once provided
ed by nature are gone, and we are paying the conse-
us. We can begin to manage the oceans considering
quences as stock after stock of fish collapses, and
not just fish and minerals, but entire ecosystems
as top predators, such as seals, sea lions, sharks,
and all they contain, from the smallest plankton to
codfish, tuna, and others disappear.
the largest blue whale.
Today, there is ample evidence that protecting
large areas of the ocean from human alteration and
How Far Have We Come?
exploitation can help to restore and renew our
Thirty years ago, in response to a series of environ-
oceans. For decades, scientists have advocated with
mental crises, Congress enacted some of our most
a unified voice for establishing broad networks of
important environmental protection legislation.
marine protected areas and marine wilderness.
Today, we could benefit from reexamining those
Thirty-six years ago, in a report to President Lyndon
laws and the climate of public opinion that
Johnson, the Panel on Oceanography of the
inspired them.
Thirty years ago, nearly half a million dolphins
President’s Science Advisory Committee recom-
17
were dying each year in the nets of tuna fishermen.
mended establishing what we are still discussing
today: “a system of marine wilderness preserves.”
11
When the news became public, people demanded
In 1872, Americans created Yellowstone, the
action, and the U.S. Congress enacted the Marine
world’s first national park. Yet it was not until 100
Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibited
years later that we established the first national
the killing of marine mammals within U.S. waters.
marine sanctuary. Today, the United States lags
Improvements in fishing gear followed, as did an
behind Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and
international agreement to reduce dolphin deaths
Indonesia in protecting our most productive and
from fishing, the Agreement on the International
unique ocean ecosystems.
Dolphin Conservation Program.
Wilderness Areas, on Land and in the Ocean
(in square miles)
12
U.S. LANDS
U.S. OCEANS
3,619,561
13
4,453,068
1,050,000
4,453,068
Total area protected as wilderness
165,279
1,585
Percent of total area protected as wilderness
4.57%
0.0356%
Total area
15
Total area publicly owned
14
16
health of the oceans 2002
12
Just as people represent the greatest threat to the health of the oceans,
they also represent the oceans’ best hope for recovery.
Thirty years ago, the Cuyahoga
years. But undoubtedly, laws such as
River in Ohio burst into flames. Lake
the Clean Water Act, the Marine
Erie was so polluted and devoid of
Mammal Protection Act, and the
oxygen that it was declared dead. In
large part because the American public
demanded it, Congress passed the Clean Water
National Marine Sanctuaries Act have
provided a foundation for many of the
conservation gains we have made in the last 30
Act (CWA) in 1972. One of our most ambitious
years. They have helped us to protect our limited
environmental laws, CWA mandated that all navi-
natural resources, improve our quality of life, and to
gable waters of the United States be “fishable and
validate the intrinsic value of unique ocean areas,
swimmable” by 1983.
wildlife, and clean water. Perhaps most important,
A number of other landmark conservation laws
the sweeping conservation laws passed in the 1970s
were passed in 1972. To protect and preserve ocean
demonstrate what can be accomplished when citi-
areas of special significance, based on their “con-
zens demand a response to environmental crises.
servation, recreational, ecological, historic,
research, educational, or aesthetic qualities,”
Where Do We Go from Here?
Congress established the National Marine
Today, 30 years after our most important environmen-
Sanctuaries Program. The Ocean Dumping Act
tal laws were enacted, it is time to reexamine both
required that U.S.-registered vessels, or vessels sail-
how effective they have been, and whether or not they
ing from U.S. ports, obtain permits before dumping
live up to their promise. But it is also time to forge
materials in U.S. waters. The Coastal Zone
ahead, and to take new steps to protect what we stand
Management Act of 1972 was intended to balance
to lose. The Ocean Conservancy and many others
economic development with environmental preser-
agree that the system for managing our oceans is
vation in managing U.S. coastal resources.
broken and outdated. But how do we fix it?
Two other important pieces of ocean-related
On August 7, 2000, President Clinton signed
legislation followed hard upon these advances: the
into law the Oceans Act of 2000. This new law cre-
Endangered Species Act of 1973, which provides for
ated the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, a 16-
the protection of species that are endangered or
member panel federally mandated to evaluate
threatened with extinction, and the Magnuson-
America’s ocean policies, determine how to achieve
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
our goals, strengthen federal programs, and revise
of 1976, which extended U.S. fishery jurisdiction to
outdated management approaches. Their work
200 miles offshore, and which was amended to
began last fall and represents the first comprehen-
limit bycatch, rebuild overfished stocks, and protect
sive review of ocean policy in over 30 years. Their
fish habitat in 1996.
final report is expected in Spring 2003.
Not all these laws have fulfilled their great
promise, and most have been weakened over the
The Pew Oceans Commission, an independent
18-member commission, was established in May
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
13
2000. This second commission is analyzing the
value beyond the usable resources they contain and
state of the oceans, increasing the public’s aware-
the dollars that such resources can generate on the
ness of the threats facing marine life, and considering
open market.
how to reorganize governing structures to promote
In the chapters that follow, we recommend
policies that restore and protect living marine
changes, often within the current system, that are
resources in U.S. waters. Roger Rufe, President of
needed immediately to protect ocean resources
The Ocean Conservancy, is one of two conservationists
from further harm. But we know that the system is
to serve on the Pew Oceans Commission. Its findings
not working, and that more fundamental changes
and recommendations will be presented to Congress
are called for.
and the nation in early 2003.
These two commissions have an extraordinary
At the beginning of the last century, President
Theodore Roosevelt created a vision and an
opportunity to develop and recommend policies
environmental ethic that laid the foundation for
that will help restore and protect our ocean resources.
our national parks and national wilderness system.
But they cannot do so alone. Clearly, citizens,
At the beginning of this century, the U.S. Congress
lawmakers, and business and industry must consider
and the Bush Administration must take similar
the Commissions’ recommendations, and then
bold and visionary action to restore the health of
work together to implement ocean management
our oceans, and to protect their resources for
practices that are prudent, precautionary, and holistic.
generations to come. But to truly save the oceans,
And they must insist that the health of the oceans
all Americans must adopt an ocean ethic that is
remain an immediate and long-term priority.
at least as strong as our land ethic—that sees
Attitudes must change, too. We must recognize
value in restoring and protecting wild areas for
that ocean resources are exhaustible and finite. And
their beauty and for their capacity to restore and
we must recognize that the oceans have intrinsic
replenish life.
The U.S. should establish an independent agency for managing our oceans—
one that consolidates and better coordinates the responsibilities now splintered
among different federal agencies; and
recommendations
We should adopt an ecosystem-based management approach that preserves
entire ecosystems, and thereby protects the species and resources they contain.
14
Fish
have been the focus of
humans’ connection with the
oceans for centuries. We have
viewed—and continue to view—the
oceans foremost as a source of fish, and
the far-reaching impacts of that attitude
may be seen throughout this report. Our
increasing ability to catch fish has not
only doomed many species of fish,
it has altered habitats and
entire ecosystems.
15
2
Fish
health of the oceans 2002
16
Fish
The National Marine Fisheries Service has assessed only about one-third
indicator
of exploited U.S. fish stocks; of those assessed, approximately one-half
are overfished.1
Extinction of marine fish, once thought impossible, is now a significant threat
for both local populations and entire species. New studies show that extinctions
have been occurring for centuries as a result of human activities.
The disappearance of certain species of fish from ecosystems can have
the issues
repercussions as far-reaching as pollution or global warming.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act has failed
to end overfishing or to prevent the loss of key species from ecosystems.
It is time for a new management ethic that values the ecological, scientific, and
aesthetic, as well as the long-term economic, value of marine fish.
chapter 2
Fish
17
Extinction is a very real possibility for many fish. We are witnessing
not only severe declines of marine fish, but also the disappearance of
fish from ecosystems where they were once abundant.
Bigger Fleets, Fewer Fish
of fish stocks, and of those, approxi-
A study of North Atlantic fisheries
mately half are overfished. This vast
released in February 2002 revealed
lack of knowledge regarding fish
stocks may mask even more serious
that catches of preferred food fish
declines in fish overall. And the impli-
such as tuna, cod, haddock, flounder,
cations for the global food supply, for local
and hake had declined by half over the
economies that depend upon fish, and for the
past 50 years, even though fishing effort had
2
tripled over the same period. Having depleted
health of the oceans, are enormous.
most of the top predatory fish, fishermen have now
turned their attention to invertebrates such as lob-
The Risk of Extinction
ster, crabs, and sea urchins, working their way
While the scientific community has come to
down the food chain. The implications? “We are
understand the risk of extinction for marine fish,
fishing for bait and headed for jellyfish,” said Dr.
the vast majority of the public still believes that
Daniel Pauly, one of the authors of the study.
fish are too numerous—and too resilient—to
As we have increased our capacity to fish, we
become extinct. But the list of actual or imminent
have begun systematically decimating fish popula-
species extinctions continues to grow. According
tions. Spotter planes, sonar, and global positioning
to a study by IUCN—the World Conservation
and surface temperature mapping systems have
Union—of all groups of animals, fish are the most
given shallow water fish no place to hide.
vulnerable. Up to one-third of known fish species are
Innovations in nets and other fishing gear have
threatened. The smalltooth sawfish is the first
made even deep-sea fish readily accessible. Reef
marine fish inhabiting U.S. waters proposed for
fish have also become scarcer as innovations in
protection under the Endangered Species Act
scuba gear and underwater lighting have allowed
(ESA). In 1999, The Ocean Conservancy filed a
3
divers to fish when—and where—they choose.
In late 2001, alarming news broke that China
had been for years over-reporting its annual catches
5
petition to list sawfish, whose numbers may have
declined by as much as 99 percent, under ESA.
The disappearance of fish species from specific
of fish. This distortion masked a serious decline in
areas or ecosystems can be equally devastating.
catches worldwide. Before China’s over-reporting
A number of salmon—including highly valued
was discovered, global fish catches were reported to
native species such as Chinook, sockeye, and
be growing at a rate of 0.33 million tons per year.
Atlantic—are listed as endangered or threatened
But after the Chinese adopted a new system and
throughout much of their range. Atlantic halibut
researchers accounted for other distortions, they
were once common in the North Atlantic, but they
discovered that catches throughout the world had
are now rare. Halibut were heavily overfished in
actually been declining by 0.36 million tons per
the 19th century, and have never recovered. By
4
year, despite increasing fishing effort.
In the United States, the National Marine
Fisheries Service has assessed only about one-third
1900, landings had declined 95 percent from 1879
levels, and since then, catches have declined further, and, according to NMFS, “have hit historic
health of the oceans 2002
18
Of all human activities, overfishing places the most stress on fish
populations and their habitat—even more than pollution.
lows in recent years.” In trawl surveys
oyster dredges in the 1870s and the deci-
performed by NMFS in Massachusetts
mation of the oyster population
waters over the 20 years between 1978
through overfishing, Bay water quality
and 1997, only 18 halibut were taken,
began to decline rapidly, and to lose the
6
all of them juveniles. It is unlikely that
dissolved oxygen that is critical to all
we will ever again see healthy Atlantic halibut
marine life. Today, at only two percent of
populations.
their historic numbers, oysters in the Bay take
A 2000 study by the American Fisheries Society
more than a year to filter the same volume of
9
characterized 82 fish species, subspecies, and
water. The Bay is listed by the U.S. Environmental
populations as “vulnerable, threatened, or endangered
Protection Agency as an impaired water body, and
7
in North American waters.” This list includes
the dolphins, manatees, river otters, sea turtles, alli-
sharks, sawfish, skates, sturgeons, cod, rockfishes,
gators, giant sturgeon, sharks, and rays that were
snooks, groupers, gobies, pipefishes and seahorses,
once abundant in the Bay have now all but disap-
along with Pacific smelts and Atlantic halibut.
peared.
A single human activity—fishing—is responsible
10
Changes in marine food webs as a result of
for the majority of these losses. But fishing in itself
overfishing have far-reaching impacts. As we
is not the problem; rather, it is how we choose to
demonstrate in the chapter on wildlife, the precipitous
manage—or avoid managing—our fisheries.
decline in the number of Steller sea lions in Alaska—
The news of the past year makes clear that ocean
from 140,000 in 1972 to 40,000 today—has been
ecosystems are at a turning point, and can no
linked in part to humans’ overfishing of the Stellers’
longer sustain persistent overfishing, enormously
main food sources: pollock, cod, and mackerel.
wasteful bycatch, or habitat alteration and destruction
In the chapter on ecosystems, we provide a portrait
caused by our increasing capacity to hunt down
of the Gulf of Maine, which has lost many of its
and catch fish.
top predatory species to overfishing. As a result,
crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs now dominate,
Overfishing and the Domino Effect
but don’t exert a controlling influence on the
Overfishing disrupts ocean ecosystems and almost
populations of other species of fish. The serial
always precedes other catastrophic events, such
depletion of fish—fishing one stock to depletion,
as algal blooms—including “red tides”—disease
and then gearing up to fish another one to depletion
8
outbreaks, like pfisteria, and declines in water quality.
—simplifies marine ecosystems and contributes
In the Chesapeake Bay, for example, agricultural
to their collapse. Overfishing not only threatens the
development in the 18th and 19th centuries had
world’s food supply, but can also bring about
very little impact on water quality, despite increased
irreversible changes in marine biodiversity.
runoff into the Bay from cleared land. The active
But in most cases, overfishing has been carried
filtering of vast numbers of oysters was said to have
on for so long that few people can remember what
cleaned the entire water column of the Bay every
ecosystems with abundant fish were like. Moreover,
three to six days. But with the advent of mechanical
scientists cannot tell us, because we have not
chapter 2
Fish
19
U.S. Fish Stocks, 2001
KNOWN VS. UNKNOWN STOCKS
Few fish stocks have been fully assessed. Of 902 fish stocks managed by
the U.S. government, the National Marine Fisheries Service has fully
assessed the status of only 209, or 23%. There is inadequate information
about the remaining 693 stocks (77%) to make basic management
decisions.
Known 23%
Unknown 77%
KNOWN STOCKS
Of those we have assessed, many are in trouble. Of the 209 known, or
assessed, stocks, 85 (41%) are either depleted, being fished faster
than sustainable, or both. Only 124 fish stocks—representing 59% of
known stocks, but only 14% of the total 902 stocks—deserve passing
grades based on knowledge and current status, here identified as
"acceptable status."
Acceptable Status 59%
Depleted or Excessive Fishing 41%
Data from NMFS 2001 Status of U.S. Fish Stocks, May 2002, analysis by Joshua Sladek Nowlis, The Ocean Conservancy.
health of the oceans 2002
20
Not only are fish populations shrinking, the size and reproductive
capacity of fish is shrinking, too, increasing the risk of extinction.
preserved areas where they can study how intact
Unwanted Catch
ecosystems function, unaltered by humans.
Worldwide, it is estimated that bycatch—or the
In managing fish populations and rebuilding depleted
incidental catching of fish other than the sought-
stocks, therefore, we are continuing to set our sights
after species—amounts to one-quarter of the
lower and lower. In fishery science, this phenomenon
annual global fish catch of 84 million tons.
11
17
is known as “the shifting baseline syndrome.”
Bycatch contributes to the decline of fish popula-
In real terms, we do not fully understand the impli-
tions of all kinds. Gear is frequently unselective—
cations of removing species from ecosystems,
some catches virtually everything in its path: all
since there is no “baseline” information to use
types and sizes of fish, as well as mammals, sea
for comparison.
turtles, and even sea birds. Even if unwanted animals
are returned to the ocean, they often do not survive
Catching Smaller and Smaller Fish
the harsh process of capture and return, including
While fishing gear may catch all sizes of fish, the
sorting on board fishing vessels. Today, nearly all
largest fish are usually targeted, and are the first to
fisheries produce bycatch, and in some cases, the
disappear. Persistent overfishing leads to the elimi-
cost is alarmingly high. Shrimp trawls in the Gulf
nation of the largest and oldest individuals from an
of Mexico, for example, typically contain only 20
ecosystem—those that produce the most offspring.
percent shrimp. The remaining 80 percent consists
Overfished populations are characterized by smaller
largely of juvenile finfish, including millions of red
and smaller fish, with less reproductive capacity.
snapper—a severely overfished species—which are
Cod, once the primary food fish in the North
discarded, often are dead or dying, before they
Atlantic, regularly weighed more than 75 pounds
have reached maturity.
and measured four feet. In 1895, a six-foot-long cod
12
weighing 211 pounds was captured off Massachusetts.
a result of overfishing, cod are now less abundant
“Rebuilding Depleted Stocks”:
Groundfish on the West Coast and
in New England
and much smaller, and the overall “spawning
The Magnuson-Stevens Act’s mandate is carried
stock”—or those fish that are old enough and large
out by a series of regional councils, whose
enough to reproduce—has been reduced by 88 to
members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of
Today, most cod weigh just six to eight pounds. As
13
98 percent.
Commerce in cooperation with the states.
A study of black grouper caught in Biscayne
The Fishery Management Councils have been
National Park in Florida found that the average fish
dominated by fishermen and former fishermen,
size had decreased by 60 percent since 1940, and
and seafood processors and distributors. As a
that the spawning stock was less than five percent
result, the regional councils have often run
14
of its historical size. Warsaw groupers once lived
fisheries at maximum yield for fishermen, not at a
to more than 25 years old, growing as large as five
prudent rate for fish.
15
feet long and 300 pounds. Today, however, only
small individuals can be found.
16
By 2001, West Coast groundfish catches had
plummeted from a high of 107,000 tons annually to
chapter 2
Fish
Three Decades of Magnuson-Stevens: How Well Has It Worked?
Properly managed, fish are a renewable resource. But our failure to manage is driving numerous
species rapidly toward extinction. In 1976, Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, which extended the U.S. fishery jurisdiction to 200 miles
offshore, protecting U.S. waters from foreign fleets. In 1996, amendments were added to prevent
overfishing, rebuild depleted stocks, minimize bycatch, and designate and conserve “essential
fish habitat,” while allowing for the maximum sustainable harvest of fish.
➤
Overfishing: Of the 902 fish stocks assessed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),
only 124—14 percent—are known to be healthy (not overfished). The status of the vast majority
is unknown.
➤
Bycatch: The number of fishery management plans that adequately assess and provide
measures for minimizing bycatch is 0.
➤
Essential fish habitat: Despite the requirement to preserve “essential fish habitat” in
Magnuson-Stevens, today the vast majority of fishery management plans do not adequately
identify or protect essential fish habitat.
21
health of the oceans 2002
22
The regional councils have often run fisheries at maximum yield for
fishermen, not at a prudent rate for fish.
only 27,000 tons. Lingcod and
new management plan to stop over-
numerous species of rockfish—
fishing and rebuild overfished stocks
including bocaccio—were declared
in 1999. To date, the plan has not
overfished. The Ocean Conservancy,
the Natural Resources Defense Council,
and Pacific Marine Conservation Council sued
been implemented. And a plan that
permitted higher fishing levels was followed.
As a result, cod, haddock, hake, and yellowtail
NMFS, stating that it had authorized inadequate
flounder continue to be overfished. Moreover, the
rebuilding plans for overfished stocks and failed to
NMFS plan lacks comprehensive measures for
adequately account for bycatch. Late in 2001,
reducing bycatch.
a federal judge agreed, ordering NMFS to reassess
In late 2001, four environmental organizations,
18
catch limits for all species, while properly accounting
including The Ocean Conservancy, filed suit,
for the discard or bycatch of bocaccio and lingcod.
charging that NMFS had failed to prevent
It took only about 20 years to drive these species
overfishing and minimize bycatch in the New
to depletion, and yet rebuilding plans for several
England groundfish fishery. On December 28,
overfished species of rockfish stretch beyond 50 years.
the United States District Court for the District of
In response to the 1996 amendments to
Columbia ruled that NMFS had defied Congress’
Magnuson-Stevens, spurred on by the collapse of
mandate to conserve New England groundfish.
New England ground fisheries, NMFS and the New
After mediation failed to develop an acceptable
England Fishery Management Council approved a
remedy to govern the fishery, the judge was forced
Who Manages U.S. Fisheries?
Appointed Fishery Council Seats by Industry in 2000
Fishery management councils in eight coastal regions play a key role in
developing the policies that govern U.S. fisheries. These advisory bodies
draft and identify the alternatives that shape virtually every management
action. Who serves on these councils? Government agency staff fill twofifths of the seats. Three-fifths are citizens appointed by state governors.
The pie chart, left shows the affiliation of appointed council members in
2000 by industry: commercial fishing, recreational fishing, conservation,
and other (which includes scientists, educators, tribal representatives, and
other maritime interests). Fishing interests clearly dominate these councils.
Source: The Ocean Conservancy
Commercial Fishing 49%
Conservation 1%
Recreational Fishing 31%
Other 19%
chapter 2
Fish
What We Stand to Lose: Barndoor and Thorny Skates
Skates, like many of their relatives—sharks and rays—are long-lived. Skates have broad, flat bodies and a short spineless tail with two dorsal fins. Some, like the barndoor skate, may grow to over
four feet in length. Like rays, skates propel themselves through the water by flapping their “wings.”
They feed on lobsters, crabs, shrimp, isopods, crustaceans, bivalves, squids, worms, and fish.
By their very nature, skates are highly vulnerable to overfishing and bycatch. The barndoor skate,
for example, typically does not reproduce until 11 years of age, and with today’s fishing methods,
few fish of any kind make it that far. Both the barndoor and thorny skates are poignant examples of
what we stand to lose from indiscriminate fishing, and from promoting short-term economic gain
over conserving species and healthy fish populations.
Skates have never been a sought-after fish. Typically, they are caught in unselective New England
ground fisheries and are used for lobster bait or sold on the international market for their “wings.”
Although they are not considered economically important, both the barndoor and thorny skates are
severely depleted as a result of bycatch and at risk of becoming endangered or threatened with
20
extinction in the near future. By the 1960s, the barndoor skate population had already declined by
95 percent, yet today, the fish is only a “candidate” for protection under the Endangered Species
Act. The 2001 abundance estimate for thorny skates is the lowest on record. To date, the New
England Fishery Management Council’s skate plan is more than a year late, and the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has failed to take over, as mandated by law.
Moreover, groundfish measures largely ignore the impact of bycatch, which represents the greatest
threat to skates. NMFS does not propose to address the bycatch issue for the 2002-03 fishing
season, nor does it propose to have observers cover the groundfish fleet to report excessive bycatch
and discards of skates. Clearly, if NMFS postpones action much longer, and if bycatch and skate
landings are not closely monitored and controlled, the thorny and barndoor skates may soon join
their closest relative, the common skate, which disappeared from the Irish Sea in 1980. The common
skate was the first documented case of a marine fish becoming locally extinct from fishing.
23
health of the oceans 2002
24
Science is clear on the benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs).
Providing areas free from the pressures of fishing and habitat-altering
activities, where fish can spawn, and grow, has proven to boost
fisheries in surrounding areas.
to devise her own rules. In April
aside on land—refuges that people
2002, the judge mandated larger
can enjoy, but not destroy. And we
mesh nets, closed additional areas
begin by valuing the special under-
in the Gulf of Maine, and limited
water places just as we do our
the number of fishing days and the
most precious public lands. Only by
size of fish that can be sold. However,
preserving habitat and entire ecosys-
responding to pressure from fishermen
tems intact, can we maintain healthy
and politicians alike, the judge later softened
the rules.
fish populations. In a study of 100 “no-take”
reserves around the world—areas where fishing is
prohibited researchers discovered that:
Fish: More than Seafood
➤
Fish were on average 91 percent more abundant
than outside reserves;
➤
Biomass—or total living matter in the areas—
was 192 percent higher;
➤
Fish and other organisms were 31 percent larger,
on average; and
➤
Species diversity was 21 percent higher.
To properly manage the oceans, we must change
the prevailing view that “fish are merely seafood”
and that the oceans are “fish factories.” We must
instill a new management ethic that values equally
the ecological, scientific, aesthetic, as well as the
economic, value of marine fish.
Fish, like all living things, not only depend on
19
habitat, they help to define it. Removing fish from
“No-take” reserves reestablish the protections that
an ecosystem, as we’ve seen, causes profound—
marine fish once enjoyed as a result of dangerous
often irreversible—changes. Trying to manage fish
seas and remote habitats. Our increasingly techno-
apart from their ecosystems is equally futile.
logical fishing industry has clearly overcome these
Where do we begin? We begin by preserving
natural barriers. While MPAs are not a panacea,
certain critical areas of the ocean intact, protecting
nor another opportunity to avoid prudent manage-
them from the habitat-altering practices of fishing,
ment, they are the best first step we can take
drilling, and dumping. We begin by creating pro-
toward ecosystem management.
tected areas in the ocean that rival those we’ve set
chapter 2
Fish
Given the failure of Magnuson-Stevens to protect marine fish populations,
Congress should overhaul the entire management system, up to and including
doing away with the fishery management councils.
The National Marine Fisheries Service must adhere to a precautionary approach
to fishing that focuses on preserving healthy populations of fish over the long
term and a sustainable fishing industry.
recommendations
The National Marine Fisheries Service must begin to manage ecosystems,
as well as individual species, and to promote the value of intact ecosystems
above the economic gain from exploiting fish.
We must commit to establishing a national system of connected marine
protected areas representing the wide diversity of ecosystems found in
U.S. waters. This action would constitute an excellent beginning in our
efforts to conserve marine fish.
25
26
Human
activity represents the
greatest threat to marine wildlife.
Coastal development and pollution
destroy habitat, and global warming has
the potential to fundamentally alter the
marine environment in the years to come. But
the most immediate threats to already threatened
and endangered mammals and sea turtles
result from the far-reaching impacts of
fishing, and from our failure to enforce
laws and treaties that protect
wildlife.
27
3
Marine
Wildlife
health of the oceans 2002
28
Marine
Wildlife
indicator
goal
10 of the 38 most vulnerable U.S. marine mammal stocks have human-caused
death rates higher than their populations can sustain.
Reduce the number of stocks with excessive human-caused death rates
to 3 by 2010.
Fisheries interactions, particularly bycatch and entanglement in fishing
gear, are pushing some populations of threatened and endangered marine
mammals and sea turtles closer to extinction.
Despite the international moratorium on whaling, loopholes permit the
killing of more than 600 whales annually for “scientific” purposes. Moreover,
the issues
the moratorium is under pressure to be lifted every year.
The Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act provide
for the protection of sea turtles and marine mammals within U.S. waters,
but only comprehensive, enforceable international treaties will secure the
futures of these wide-ranging species.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
29
In U.S. waters, 38 marine mammal stocks—including manatees, whales,
seals, sea lions, and otters—are listed as either depleted under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as threatened or endangered under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA), or they have high rates of mortality.
Fishing Gear: A Hazard for Wildlife
entanglements in gillnet fisheries in
For 10 U.S. marine mammal stocks,
New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
accidental deaths from human activities
As a member of the team, The Ocean
are so high that the stock cannot grow or
recover. Yet the most significant threat to
their continued existence—death by entanglement in fishing gear—is largely preventable.
Several stocks of dolphins, porpoises, and
whales are particularly vulnerable to entanglement
and bycatch—the accidental capture of animals
Conservancy helped to devise strategies
to reduce entanglements, including
closing areas to fishing and requiring that
“pingers” be placed on some gillnets. “Pingers” are
acoustic devices that can warn porpoises where
gillnets are located.
These strategies resulted in a dramatic decrease
other than the sought-after species in fishing activi-
in the deaths of harbor porpoises in Northeast gillnet
ties. These marine mammals either prey on the
fisheries; in 1999, only 270 harbor porpoises drowned
same fish that humans are seeking, or they swim
in gillnets. Today, 300 to 500 Gulf of Maine harbor
with, feed near, or inhabit the same area as those
porpoises die in gillnets each year in both the
fish. The MMPA provides the only defense for these
Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic. Still, more stringent
species; under MMPA, teams of specialists must
rules—or gear innovations—are needed to reduce
develop mechanisms to reduce these entangle-
deaths to fewer than 75 porpoises annually: the target
ments and to ensure the continued growth of
under MMPA that would preserve a healthy population.
2
marine mammal stocks.
Atlantic Coast Bottlenose Dolphin
Gulf of Maine Harbor Porpoise
Atlantic Coast bottlenose dolphins are listed as
The Gulf of Maine harbor porpoise provides a strik-
“depleted” under The Marine Mammal Protection
ing example of the hazards of inhabiting an inten-
Act due in part to massive die-offs of dolphins
sively fished area, and the effort needed to protect
along the Atlantic coast in 1988 and 1989. Just as
vulnerable wildlife in such areas. As of 2001, some
those populations are beginning to recover, they
89,700 harbor porpoises inhabited the Gulf of
face the growing threat of drowning in fishing gear.
Maine and the Bay of Fundy. From 1994 through
Of particular concern is a stock of bottlenose
1998, sink gillnet fisheries in the North Atlantic
dolphins found off the North Carolina coast from
drowned, on average, 1,200 porpoises each year.
November to April. Scientists have established
Gillnets are mesh nets anchored to the sea floor,
that this particular population cannot afford more
and buoys attached to the top of the net allow
than 23 fishery-related deaths each year. Yet nearly
them to rise upward in the water. When porpoises
eight times that number die in gillnets and haul
swim into the nets after prey, they go into capture
seine nets in the Mid-Atlantic.
1
shock, and, unable to surface for air, they drown.
3
In 2001, the National Marine Fisheries Service
In 1996 and 1997, National Marine Fisheries
convened a take reduction team to devise strategies
Service convened take reduction teams (see sidebar)
to reduce entanglements. In May of 2002 the team
to address the large number of harbor porpoise
drafted a plan, which will be available for public
health of the oceans 2002
30
The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered large whale
in the world. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are preventing
its recovery.
review this year. Although the Atlantic bottlenose
other organizations failed to save him. The wound
dolphin is not listed as threatened or endangered
made by the fishing gear became infected, the
under ESA, the large number of entanglements and
whale weakened, and he disappeared. At the same
of stranded dolphins with fishery—related injuries
time, however, rescuers were able to save a young
4
points to a growing threat. Clearly, bottlenose dolphins
juvenile right whale off the coast of New Hampshire,
merit a greater investment—both in funding and
which had also become entangled.
effort—to protect them from fishery-related deaths,
which are perhaps the most preventable of all.
Both of these examples illustrate the threat that
fishing gear poses to the animals, and while NMFS
estimates that human-caused deaths to right
North Atlantic Right Whale
whales average only 1.4 per year in U.S. waters,
Before the 20th century, whaling decimated right
it asserts that “The principal factors believed to be
whale populations. They came by their name, after
retarding growth and recovery of the population are
all, by being the “right” whale to hunt. Protected
ship strikes and entanglement with fishing gear.”
6
since 1935, the species has shown little sign of
7
Based on recommendations from the Atlantic
recovery. Some 300 of these giants remain in the
Large Whale Take Reduction Team, NMFS developed
North Atlantic, and many scientists are concerned
a plan to reduce whale deaths from entanglement.
that human activities are preventing the population
The plan requires that critical habitats be closed to
from rebuilding.
fishing during right whale season; it prohibits certain
With over 61 percent of all living right whales
5
fishing practices, and requires that gear be modified
bearing scars from fishing gear, there is ample
to include weak links to allow the whales to break
evidence that entanglement is a serious threat to
free of the gear and reductions in the amount of
the species’ survival.
floating line in the water. In addition, the plan
In the summer of 2001, a large male right
established a network to rescue entangled whales,
whale, “Churchill,” made news when he became
and funds research to reduce entanglements and
entangled in fishing gear. Despite their best efforts,
outreach activities to inform fishermen about the
rescuers from the Center for Coastal Studies and
problem and to seek their input on solutions.
•
Fishing gear hazards in Atlantic bottlenose dolphin habitat
GEAR
NUMBER DEPLOYED ANNUALLY
Haul seines
222
Purse seines
11,962
Otter trawls
22,620
Gillnets (anchored and drift)
34,044
Total
68,848
•Gear deployed in U.S. Atlantic Coastal fisheries from New Jersey to Key West, FL in 1992-1993.
Source: NMFS Stock Assessment Report: Bottlenose Dolphin, Western North Atlantic Stock.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
Take Reduction Teams
In 1994, Congress amended the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the new provisions called for
creating teams of specialists to address the threats to marine mammals posed by fishing activities.
These “Take Reduction Teams” focus on “strategic stocks,” or mammals that are endangered,
threatened, depleted, or those with mortality rates too high to sustain the population. Over the
long term, teams must find ways to reduce fishery related deaths to levels approaching zero.
But they must work within the context of fishery economics, available technology, and state or
regional fishery management plans.
Take reduction teams in the Gulf of Maine and the Mid-Atlantic are seeking further protections for
harbor porpoises, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team continues to revise its plan to
eliminate North Atlantic right whale and other large whale entanglements, and the Bottlenose
Dolphin Take Reduction Team, convened in 2001, has completed a draft plan to reduce the threat
of entanglement for bottlenose dolphins along the Atlantic Coast.
Take reduction teams provide the vehicle for solving some of the most challenging threats to
marine mammals in U.S. waters. Still, their time and resources are stretched thin. For example,
because the Gulf of Maine harbor porpoise was particularly vulnerable, it received priority
attention; given limited resources, NMFS could not assemble a team for the bottlenose dolphin
until 2001. Nonetheless, these teams provide the primary protection for mammal populations
under severe pressure.
31
health of the oceans 2002
32
Because the North Atlantic right whale’s habitat coincides with
East-Coast shipping lanes and some of the most intensively fished
areas in U.S. waters, much more must be done to educate the public,
and to save this critically endangered species from extinction.
Like most endangered marine mammals, North
Hawaiian Monk Seal
Atlantic right whales face multiple threats. In addition
Scientists estimate that only 1,464 Hawaiian monk
to entanglement, right whales must also cope with
seals remain, making them one of the most endan-
the threat of being struck by ships. Whales have
gered marine mammals in U.S. waters. Entanglement
been found dead with broken jaws and vertebrae,
in derelict fishing gear is perhaps the most serious
which indicate violent ship collisions, while others
threat to the recovery of this species.
have exhibited rows of slash marks from propellers.
9
Unlike North Atlantic right whales, Hawaiian monk
According to David Laist of the Marine Mammal
seals’ habitat is relatively remote; they live in the
Commission, “Nearly half of the known mortality of
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a chain of virtually
the species is due to ship collisions or net entangle-
uninhabited islands stretching 1,200 miles northwest
ment. It’s a very significant share . . . it’s clearly
of the main Hawaiian Islands. Nonetheless, seal
8
preventing their recovery.” Because the North
hunting in the 19th and early 20th centuries devas-
Atlantic right whale’s habitat coincides with East-Coast
tated the population. Later, U.S. military operations
shipping lanes and some of the most intensively
in the islands disturbed the seals, and hampered
fished areas in U.S. waters, much more must be
their ability to reproduce. Today, however, lost or
done to educate the public, and to save this critically
derelict fishing gear represents one of the most
endangered species from extinction.
significant threats to the monk seals’ recovery.
Number of Hawaiian Monk Seals Found Entangled 1982-2000
30
number entangled
25
20
15
10
5
0
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Source: Marine Mammal Commission. 2001. Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi), pages 54-70 in Species of Special Concern,
Annual Report to Congress, 2000.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
33
U.S. marine mammal stocks with excessive mortality rates•
Central California harbor porpoise
California/Oregon/Washington sperm whale
Florida manatee
Western U.S. Steller sea lion
Western North Atlantic common dolphin
Western North Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin
Western North Atlantic long-finned pilot whale
Western North Atlantic short-finned pilot whale
Western North Atlantic right whale
Gulf of Maine humpback whale
U.S. marine mammal stocks listed as threatened, endangered, or depleted
Guadalupe fur seal
North Pacific right whale
Hawaiian monk seal
Eastern North Pacific northern fur seal
CA/OR/WA humpback whale
North Pacific sperm whale
Eastern North Pacific blue whale
Eastern U.S. Steller sea lion
CA/OR/WA fin whale
Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy harbor porpoise
CA/OR/WA sei whale
Western North Atlantic white-sided dolphin
Hawaii sperm whale
Western North Atlantic Cuvier's beaked whale
Hawaii blue whale
Western North Atlantic mesoplodon beaked whale
Hawaii fin whale
North Atlantic sperm whale
Cook Inlet beluga whale
Western North Atlantic fin whale
Western Arctic bowhead whale
Nova Scotia sei whale
Northeast Pacific fin whale
Western North Atlantic blue whale
Western North Pacific humpback whale
Gulf of Mexico bottlenose dolphin
Central North Pacific humpback whale
California southern sea otter
• Some of these are also listed as threatened, endangered, or depleted.
health of the oceans 2002
34
The international moratorium on whaling is under pressure to be lifted
annually. Moreover, it affords no protection to the smaller cetaceans,
such as dolphins and porpoises, and loopholes allow for the “scientific”
killing of 600 whales each year—including endangered species—by Japan.
Between 1982 and 1999, incidental observers
to identify the sources of derelict fishing gear, to
reported 197 cases of monk seals entangled in
prevent it from being abandoned, and to promote
10
fishing gear or other debris.
efforts to retrieve it.
Because of the currents converging near the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, fishing debris from
Whaling: A Continuing Threat
thousands of miles away often ends up there,
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was
creating a hazard for the seals. In 2001, The Ocean
created in 1946 when whale populations were in
Conservancy partnered with NOAA, NMFS, the
precipitous decline throughout the world. The IWC
U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
reviews and revises the measures that govern the
Service to collect more than 110 tons of derelict
conduct of whaling, set forth in the International
fishing gear from the Islands.
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).
These measures protect certain whale species;
An executive order signed by President Clinton
designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Coral
designate whale sanctuaries; set limits on the numbers
Reef Ecosystem Reserve, which will help to protect
and size of whales that may be killed or “taken”;
the monk seals’ habitat. But the main challenge
prescribe open and closed seasons and areas for
remains enlisting the cooperation of fishermen and
whaling; prohibit the capture of calves and female
experts from countries throughout the Pacific Rim
whales with calves; and call for the IWC to compile catch
U.S. Marine Mammal Stocks
60
Of 38 stocks considered "Strategic" (listed as depleted under the
Marine Mammal Protection Act or listed as threatened or endangered
under the Endangered Species Act, or having high rates of mortality). . .
number of stocks
50
40
30
10 stocks have death rates from human activities so high that they
cannot recover.
20
10
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
Source: NMFS Stock Assessments, 1995-2001. No data available for 1997.
1999
2000
2001
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
Gray Whale Recovery: a Success Story
Whaling along the California coast forced the gray whale population into a sharp decline during
the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1929, only 2,000 to 4,000 of these whales remained.
First protected by the League of Nations in 1937, gray whales were listed under the Endangered
Species Act in 1970, have been protected from commercial whaling under the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA) since 1972, and are protected under international law by the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). As a result,
the population increased to nearly 26,000, enabling the Department of Commerce to remove the
gray whale from the ESA list of endangered and threatened species in 1994. Although they are
making a strong recovery, gray whales still face challenges from habitat destruction, climate
change, and acoustic pollution.
In 1999, 273 gray whales stranded along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. In 2000, 355
more stranded. The causes of these deaths remain unknown, but some of the whales were emaciated, causing scientists to worry that the increasing population of gray whales was reaching the
limit of available food, or that environmental changes in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific could
be reducing food supplies. Other gray whales that stranded appeared to be in good condition.
While their deaths remain a mystery, they provide further evidence for the need to continue to
monitor the health of this population, even though they are no longer officially endangered.
35
health of the oceans 2002
36
The ban on whaling has undoubtedly helped some whales—like the
gray whale—to recover. Still, its ability to protect marine mammals is
seriously compromised in a number of ways.
12
reports and other statistical and
50 sei whales. In addition, Japan
biological records.
kills as many as 400 minke whales
In the 1970s, it became evident
in Antarctica each year. The IWC
that only a moratorium on whaling
Convention permits member nations
would save the numerous species that
were declining, and even then, it might not
voting in the minority to “object” to an
IWC decision. For example, because Norway
serve to protect many that were already “over the
objected to the moratorium decision in 1982,
edge.” The IWC established the moratorium in 1982
it was not bound by the decision; Norway’s current
and has maintained it intact over the past 20 years.
whaling activities are actually in compliance with
The ban on whaling has undoubtedly helped some
the Convention. The 2002 self-imposed minke
whales—like the gray whale—to recover. Still, its
whale quota for Norway is 674, up from 549 in
ability to protect marine mammals is seriously
2001. In addition, Norway lifted the ban on whale
compromised in a number of ways.
meat exports in 2001, thus encouraging increased
The moratorium offers no protection for smaller
species, such as dolphins and porpoises; to the
whaling activity.
Conceived more than 50 years ago, the
contrary, it has increased their vulnerability. Once
International Convention for the Regulation of
the moratorium began, some nations began hunt-
Whaling “provides for the proper conservation of
ing dolphins and porpoises to fill the gap left by
whale stocks and thus makes possible the orderly
whaling, taking more than 20,000 of the smaller
development of the whaling industry.” Its emphasis
mammals annually. In Japan alone, over 10,000
on “conservation” for the benefit of “the whaling
Dalls porpoises are taken each year.
11
The IWC also permits “scientific” whaling,
industry” is, today, archaic. Clearly, the Convention
is outdated and in desperate need of reform.
enabling Japan to kill as many as 600 whales every
The Convention no longer meets the international
year. And Japan continues to challenge the moratorium
norms for multilateral agreements; it has no true
in both direct and indirect ways. In February 2002,
enforcement capacity to ensure that regulations are
Japan announced that it plans to increase its “sci-
being followed, to penalize countries that do not
entific” whaling program. The country will not only
comply, and it permits nations to take reservations
double its whale catch in the northwest Pacific, it
on—or to exempt themselves from—conservation
will begin hunting a type of whale it has not hunted
and management decisions. As a result, whaling—
since the moratorium began: the endangered sei
“scientific” or otherwise—more than doubled
whale. Under its “research” whaling plan, Japan will
between 1993 and 2001.
hunt 260 whales a year in the northwest Pacific: 150
minke, 50 Bryde’s, and 10 sperm whales, as well as
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
MMPA at 30: What It Has Accomplished, What Remains to Be Done
Snapshot: 30 years ago. In 1972, 423,678 dolphins were killed in the Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna
16
purse-seine fishery. This hugely wasteful practice played an important role in the creation and
passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Increased protection under MMPA, improvements
in gear design, fishing operations, and dolphin release methods, and the creation of an international program to reduce dolphin mortalities, known as the Agreement on the International Dolphin
Conservation Program, have reduced annual dolphin mortality in the fishery to 2,000 dolphins. The
goal, however, is to reduce deaths even further through more strict enforcement, and new developments in fishing practices.
Snapshot: 30 years ago. In 1972, the Steller sea lion population in Alaska was estimated to be
17
140,000. Today, despite protection from MMPA and ESA, fewer than 40,000 remain. How did
MMPA and ESA fail this species while succeeding with dolphins in the eastern Pacific and gray
whales in the western Pacific? In essence, no one is sure. NMFS has speculated that entanglement, shooting of seals, commercial and subsistence hunting, harassment, climatic changes and
even global warming may have contributed to the Stellers’ decline. But they have also stated that
nutritional stress, from competition with commercial fisheries, may be reducing the species’ ability
to reproduce. Clearly, MMPA and ESA together have provided a valuable safety net for marine
wildlife, but they are unable to address complex ecosystem-wide issues. The Steller’s case
emphasizes the need to build upon the foundation laid by MMPA and ESA and to create a more
integrated, ecosystem-based approach to both fisheries and wildlife management.
37
health of the oceans 2002
38
All six species of sea turtles found in U.S. waters are considered either
threatened or endangered.
In U.S. waters, longlines are also deadly for turtles.
Sea Turtles and Bycatch
As our skill at fishing has increased, so has its
This gear consists of a surface line—that can be
deadly impact on sea turtles. While no reliable
miles long—with small lines and baited hooks
measures of worldwide sea turtle deaths in fishing
attached at intervals. Longlines can carry thousands
gear exist, scientists estimate that hundreds of
of hooks; they can either hang in the water or run
thousands of sea turtles die each year as a result of
along the ocean bottom. Turtles swim into the lines
bycatch and entanglement.
and become entangled or hooked, or they go after
13
Twenty years ago, shrimp trawls—which often
In the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, longlines
have up to 80 percent bycatch—were by far the
largest accidental killer of turtles in U.S. waters.
the bait and bite or swallow the hooks.
14
kill an estimated 700–970 loggerheads and
15
The trawls are huge, tapered, bag-shaped nets
leatherbacks each year. In Hawaii, where some
which boats drag behind them across the sea floor,
100 longline boats fish for tuna and swordfish
sweeping up everything in their path, and holding
across the range of four species of threatened or
sea turtles under water for extended periods of
endangered sea turtles—greens, loggerheads,
time, causing them to either drown or suffer physio-
olive ridleys, and leatherbacks—more turtles die.
logical changes resulting in death. Turtle Excluder
In 2000, The Ocean Conservancy and others
Devices, or TEDs, which provide an escape hatch in
brought a lawsuit to protect critically endangered
the trawls, were fully mandated in 1994.
leatherbacks. A federal judge ordered the Hawaii
Still, TEDs are not perfect. While TEDs used in
longliners to stop fishing for swordfish, and modi-
U.S. waters allow smaller turtles, such as the Kemp’s
fied the areas where they could fish for tuna.
ridley, to escape trawls, nearly 4,100 loggerhead,
Legal action on this issue continues.
green, and leatherback turtles are captured each
Sea turtles are also threatened by rapidly
year from North Carolina to Texas because they are
expanding gillnet fisheries, especially in North
too large to escape, and many die. Although in
Carolina. In bays and inland waters record numbers
2001 NMFS proposed increasing the opening size
of sea turtles washed ashore dead in recent years,
of TEDs, it has not yet implemented the new regula-
resulting in fishery restrictions in 2001. The Ocean
tions, and the gear may not be required in all
Conservancy is working to ensure that these restric-
waters frequented by these larger sea turtles.
tions become permanent.
Annual Sea Turtle Mortality from Bycatch
Major U.S. Fisheries in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
FISHERY
ALL SPECIES
LEATHERBACKS
1,640
260
711-968
283-393
Shrimp trawlers (NC through TX)
Longlines (Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico)
Gill nets (NC only)
•
2,420-3,212•
Before restrictions were adopted in 2000. Source: estimates, The Ocean Conservancy.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
Portrait of a Dying Breed: the Pacific Leatherback
Pacific leatherback sea turtles are among the oldest living creatures; they have been around since
the age of the dinosaurs, but scientists warn that they may not be around much longer. In 1982,
scientists estimated there were 115,000 adult females in the world, but in 1996, their numbers had
18
fallen to only about 34,500. Today, there are fewer than 5,000 nesting leatherbacks throughout the
Pacific Ocean. Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtle, averaging six feet in length and weighing
700 to 1,300 pounds.
For years, humans collected leatherback eggs from nesting beaches, which set the population
decline in motion. Today, however, longlines represent an enormous threat to the species in the
Pacific. Worldwide, billions of longline hooks are set each year, and thousands of sea turtles—as
well as tens of thousands of sea birds and other non-targeted animals—are caught in these lines.
Many animals die on the lines, or die from their injuries after being released. Clearly, U.S. law and
fishing practice need to be closely monitored, but to truly solve the Pacific leatherbacks’ dilemma,
the U.S. must play a leading role in developing and advocating for international measures to save
the species on its nesting beaches, and from all sources of fishing mortality.
39
health of the oceans 2002
40
Because sea turtles are highly migratory, only a coordinated
international effort can protect them from exploitation and extinction.
Protecting Sea Turtles throughout Their Range
Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol of the Convention
In the United States, threatened and endangered
for the Protection and Development of the Marine
sea turtles are protected under the Endangered
Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, also
Species Act. Yet sea turtles are frequently wide-ranging:
known as the Cartagena Convention. The SPAW
half the juvenile loggerheads in the Mediterranean
Protocol does prohibit the taking—or killing—of
originate from beaches in the southeastern U.S.,
sea turtles, but makes no provision for death
and female green turtles that nest in Florida frequently
through bycatch.
move on to the Caribbean in their migrations. Clearly,
The Inter-American Convention for the Protection
the only way to truly conserve sea turtles is through
and Conservation of Sea Turtles, which recently
strong and effective international agreements.
came into force, is perhaps sea turtles’ best hope.
Currently, the Convention on International Trade
This comprehensive Convention seeks to promote
in Endangered Species (CITES) provides protection
sea turtle conservation in a coordinated fashion
for sea turtles by prohibiting the trade in sea turtle
throughout the Americas, and is the world’s first
products such as green turtle soup and hawksbill
international sea turtle treaty. To date, the treaty
tortoiseshell. Yet some countries, including Japan
requires the use of turtle excluder devices in all shrimp
and Cuba, support reopening international trade. But
fisheries in the Hemisphere. At the first meeting of
CITES does not address the threat of bycatch and
the parties in August 2002, representatives will seek ways
entanglement. Nor does the Specially Protected
to reduce turtle deaths throughout the hemisphere.
NMFS should seek, and Congress should provide, more funding for take reduction
plans to provide increased observer coverage, better estimates of bycatch, and
improve marine mammal population abundance estimates.
The United States should play a leading role in marine conservation by encouraging
other countries in the Western Hemisphere to oppose re-opening international trade
in whales and sea turtles.
International effort should reform the International Convention for the Regulation of
recommendations
Whaling to include dolphins and porpoises, provide for enforcement, and to be consistent with international norms for treaties.
The United States should fund and support the Inter-American Convention for the
Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles and should ratify the SPAW Protocol of
the Cartagena Convention.
NMFS should develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce sea turtle
mortality in fisheries, ensuring that reducing sea turtle deaths does not come at the
expense of other species.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
Thirty Years Later: Kemp’s Ridleys Turn the Corner
In 1975 the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was identified as one of the world’s most endangered species.
Its decline from 40,000 nesting females in 1947 to fewer than 300 in the mid-1980s was the result
of decades of intense egg collection and the killing of adults for meat. Today, after more than three
decades of wide-ranging, committed conservation—including outlawing killing and egg collection,
protecting nesting habitat, and preventing the turtles from drowning in shrimp nets—the population
is increasing dramatically.
Mexican marines began guarding the turtles’ most important nesting habitat—the beach at Rancho
Nuevo—in 1966; 12 years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined the effort to move nests to
protected corrals. Like other species of sea turtles, Kemp’s ridleys at sea faced the threat of
drowning in the nets of Mexican and U.S. shrimp fleets. When the U.S. shrimp fishery refused to
employ turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, voluntarily in the late 1980s, The Ocean Conservancy led
conservation community efforts to make the devices mandatory, bringing numerous lawsuits
against the National Marine Fisheries Service until TEDs were required in all waters at all times
from North Carolina to the Texas-Mexico border.
The efforts paid off: by the late 1980s, new nesting turtles began arriving at Rancho Nuevo, and the
population increase was underway. Today, more than 2,000 Kemp’s ridleys nest at the site each
year, and the numbers continue to grow. Among those who applaud the species’ comeback are
numerous Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishermen who have donated funds to the ongoing conservation
effort at Rancho Nuevo.
41
42
For centuries we have
used the oceans to absorb our
wastes, but a growing global population
has increased the pressure on the oceans.
Releasing wastewater, damming rivers,
altering freshwater flows to bays and estuaries,
or reducing the land’s natural filters through
coastal development and sprawl all influence
the health of ocean waters, and have
far-reaching impacts for marine life.
43
4
Ocean
Waters
health of the oceans 2002
44
Ocean
Waters
indicator
Pollution has rendered 44 percent of tested U.S. estuaries and 12 percent
of ocean shoreline waters unfit for uses such as swimming, fishing,
or supporting aquatic life.
goal
By 2010, reduce the percentage of estuaries impaired by pollution from
44 to 22 percent, and ocean shoreline waters from 12 to 6 percent.
People know little about the condition of ocean and coastal waters in
their own areas, and therefore cannot make informed decisions about
swimming, boating, or fishing in those waters.
Thirty years after the Clean Water Act was enacted, we still have no
effective national program to limit polluted runoff, or nonpoint source
the issues
pollution, the number one pollution threat to our coastal waters.
Although ships produce waste that equals that of many small cities,
they are not subject to the same pollution control requirements as other
“point source” dischargers, and in fact, can discharge raw sewage only
three miles from shore.
Marine debris, found even in the most remote ocean areas of the world,
poses a serious threat to wildlife, and to human health and safety.
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
45
Each year, 180 million people visit America’s coasts.1 Few of them,
however, know anything about the water in which they swim and fish.
Are Beaches Safe?
treatment plant. In many cities, when it rains, these
During 2000, there were 11,270 days of beach clos-
combined sewers overflow, causing the waste to be
ings and advisories across the United States.
diverted directly to local waterways. The U.S.
Moreover, at the time, only 10 of 23 coastal states
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates
were regularly monitoring the water at their beaches
that such overflows occur approximately 40,000
and notifying the public when contamination was
times per year—and not just in urban areas. In the
found. The fact is, many more beaches are polluted,
Florida Keys, for example, there were 60 days of
but are not tested and reported as such.
beach warnings and advisories during 2000 alone,
2
What is behind these closings and advisories?
In 85 percent of cases, high levels of bacteria made
4
all of which were attributed to sewage. About 25
percent of our nation’s polluted estuaries and lakes
the waters unsafe for swimming. Bacteria from
are fouled by urban stormwater, and nearly every
human and animal wastes enter our waters in a
coastal state has beaches where stormwater threatens
variety of ways: rainwater carries runoff from farm
water quality; New Jersey has 132 such sites, Florida
fields and city streets to streams, rivers, and coastal
has 129, and California has 97.
3
waters; sewers overflow, or discharge untreated
wastes into local waterways; septic systems fail,
leaching bacteria into groundwater; and boats and
ships contribute to the problem by improperly
dumping wastes, or by legally dumping wastes
beyond three miles that can wash back to shore.
But bacteria are only part of the problem; our waterways are also receptacles for silt, nutrients, metals,
pesticides, and organic toxic chemicals.
What Is Polluting Our Waters?
Urban Polluted Runoff
As rain washes over roads, parking lots, construction
sites, and industrial or commercial sites, it
becomes contaminated with oil and grease, heavy
metals, pesticides, litter, fecal matter, and pollutants
from vehicle exhaust. This polluted runoff flows
into storm drains along roadsides, which may lead
5
6
Rural Polluted Runoff
In rural and even suburban areas, rainwater flows
over farmland, roads, golf courses, and lawns into
waterways. The rainwater can then become a toxic
mix, carrying animal waste, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Runoff from agriculture has been linked to outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida in the Chesapeake Bay
and in North Carolina, which has forced the closing
of numerous waterways to fishing and swimming.
Sewage Treatment Plant Malfunctions
When too many homes and businesses are hooked
up to a sewage treatment plant, it cannot treat the
sewage adequately. Moreover, treatment plants
can, and often do, malfunction as the result of
human error, old equipment, or unusual conditions. Under these circumstances, wastewater is
released into local waterways.
to a separated storm sewer system, which carries
Septic Systems
storm water separately from household and industrial
Dwellings built near the coast may be equipped
wastewater and discharges it into local waterways.
with underground septic systems, which can leach
Or it may lead to a combined sewer system, carrying
wastewater into coastal recreational waters. Fecal
both storm water and household wastewater to a
matter from malfunctioning or overloaded septic
health of the oceans 2002
46
Today, some 40 percent of tested waters—including inland and coastal
waters—fail to meet the standards set forth by the Clean Water Act
30 years ago. Forty-four percent of estuarine—or coastal—waters are
considered impaired for human use or aquatic life.9
systems can contaminate bathing beaches, and
The Clean Water Act, 30 Years Later
runoff can also carry bacteria from failing septic
Thirty years ago, in response to the alarming and
systems far from the shore into streams that empty
obvious degradation of waterways, Congress
into bays near beaches.
passed the Clean Water Act. One of our most
The EPA estimates that 25 percent of all U.S.
ambitious environmental laws, the Act mandated
dwellings use some kind of septic tank or on-site
that all navigable waters of the United States be
waste-disposal system. Local governments and
“fishable and swimmable” by 1983.
states rarely inspect septic systems sufficiently to
So, how are we doing? The Clean Water Act
prevent such failures.
has helped to clean up municipal and industrial
discharges, or “point sources,” of water pollution
Boating Wastes
by requiring that dischargers limit and treat their
Improperly handled boating wastes can also
wastes, and monitor and report on discharges
affect bathing beaches. Elevated concentrations
from sewage treatment facilities. Nonetheless, the
of fecal coliform have been found in areas with
system still falls far short of the Clean Water Act’s
high boating density.
“zero discharge goal.”
We also have not even come close to the goal of
The Clean Water Act (CWA) clearly prohibits the
ensuring that all navigable waters are “fishable and
discharge of untreated sewage. Yet today, 30 years
swimmable.”
after the CWA became law, that prohibition has yet
The main reason that our waters are still not
to be fully enforced. And because localities are not
clean is our failure to cope effectively with polluted
required to inform citizens when these overflows
runoff—from streets, parking lots, lawns, construc-
occur or septic systems fail, most people don’t
tion sites, and agricultural operations.
know—and therefore do not voice their opinions—
about water quality.
Runoff: the Greatest Threat to Clean Oceans
What are the threats from raw sewage entering
Gulf of Mexico fisheries account for up to 30 percent
our coastal waters? By swimming in sewage-con-
of our supply of fish, and contribute $5 billion annu-
taminated waters, people can contract gastroenteritis,
ally to Gulf state economies. Yet a recent report by
dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory illness, as well as
EPA found that Gulf of Mexico waters are among the
7
10
eye, skin, ear, nose, and throat infections. Shellfish
most unhealthy in the United States. Because it is
beds become contaminated, causing heightened
the drainage basin for some 40 percent of the conti-
risk of illness to people who eat the fish, or loss of
nental United States, the Gulf is the receptacle for
income to fisheries when the beds are closed. The
enormous amounts of polluted runoff.
11
economic costs of closing beaches can be huge.
The most alarming symptom of the Gulf’s ill-
Between 1987 and 1988, New Jersey lost some $800
ness is a growing “dead zone”—an area the size of
million in income from tourism, largely because of
Massachusetts with oxygen levels so low that noth8
multiple beach closures and water quality problems.
ing can live there. The cause of this dead zone is
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
The Good News: The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal
Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act)
Enacted in 2000 as an amendment to the Clean Water Act, the BEACH Act is the first law to
set consistent, nationwide beach water-quality standards. It requires states to regularly monitor
their beach waters and to notify beachgoers when waters are contaminated and unfit for
swimming; it also provides funding for states to carry out those activities.
When it is fully implemented, the BEACH Act will bring both bad and good news. Beach closings
and advisories throughout the U.S. are likely to increase dramatically. But the good news is that
people will be better protected, better informed about their coastal waters and the threats to
local water quality, and empowered to work for solutions.
47
health of the oceans 2002
48
Human activity has quadrupled the amount of nutrients flowing
through the Mississippi River.12
nutrient pollution—or runoff from farms, urban
vegetation along the coasts of nine states:
areas, suburban lawns, and highways that makes its
Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, North
way into the Mississippi River and from there is car-
Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, and
ried into the Gulf. The nutrients—primarily nitrogen
Washington.
and phosphorous—over-enrich the Gulf ecosystem,
13
Nationally, large-scale agriculture is the largest
causing prolific algal blooms that blanket the sur-
source of polluted runoff, affecting 70 percent of
face of the water and cut off vital sunlight to oxy-
impaired rivers and streams and 49 percent of
gen-producing plants below. Moreover, these algae
impaired lakes with animal waste and nutrients.
also consume oxygen as they decompose. The
In a small area of North Carolina, for example,
result is a condition called “anoxia”—or a lack of
concentrated animal feeding operations produce 10
sufficient oxygen to support life. Sharp decreases in
million hogs each year; these animals create as
oxygen can lead to massive fish kills and decreased
much waste as the human populations of Los
biodiversity when species can no longer survive in
Angeles, Chicago, and New York combined. This
the oxygen-depleted environment. In decreasing the
animal waste is held in “lagoons,” which can leak,
ability of underwater plants, like seagrasses, to sur-
or seep into local streams. In the Chesapeake Bay,
vive, nutrient pollution reduces critical habitat for
some 331 million pounds of nitrogen and 20 million
many species. It also contributes to coral disease,
pounds of phosphorous reach the estuary each year
red tides, and it can lead to the accumulation of
from its tributaries. The Bay’s largest tributary, the
toxins in shellfish.
Susquehanna River, flows through Pennsylvania
Where does this overload of nitrogen and phos-
14
15
farmland bringing millions of pounds of fertilizer
phorous come from? It results from the human
and manure with it. In Maryland, poultry farms pro-
activities of fertilizing lawns and farm fields, from
duce some 720 million pounds of manure each
reducing the watershed’s natural filters, such as
year, which contributes to the overload.
forests and wetlands, that hold nutrients in and
16
According to the National Research Council, we
keep them out of coastal waters, and from burning
are compounding the problem of runoff through
coal, oil, and gas, which release particles into the
our increasing reliance on synthetic, or man-made
air which then settle on land and water. According
fertilizers. “Half of the inorganic nitrogen fertilizer
to the National Research Council, “Clearly, the Gulf
that was ever used on earth was applied during the
of Mexico is struggling under the burden of this
period between 1985-2000.” The human activities
tremendous increase in nutrients.”
of increasing fertilizer use and burning fossil fuels
Yet the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is not
17
increased nitrogen in the environment two- to
unique; it is simply the most striking example of
three-fold between 1960 and 1990. Moreover, the
our oceans’ most challenging water quality prob-
nitrogen produced from these activities continues
lem: polluted runoff. Smaller but similar “dead
to grow.
zones” can be found in the harbors of many major
18
Development, particularly suburban “sprawl,” is
U.S. cities, and in the deeper channels of the
also a significant contributor to the problem of polluted
Chesapeake Bay. A national study found low oxygen
runoff reaching our marine waters. Development
levels, toxic algal blooms, and loss of underwater
decreases the land’s natural filters—forests, meadows,
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
49
and wetlands—and thereby increases
Sailing through CWA Loopholes
the pollutants that reach rivers, bays,
Cruise ships, which can carry up to
and beaches. Impervious—or impenetrable
5,000 passengers, are very much like
—surfaces such as streets, parking lots, and
floating cities. In 1998, 223 cruise ships car-
rooftops speed up the velocity of water that enters
ried 10 million passengers through some of the
local streams and do nothing to filter oil and
world’s most beautiful and sensitive ocean areas.
antifreeze from automobiles, lawn chemicals, deter-
Yet, unlike cities, cruise ships are not subject to the
gents, and other pollutants. The fewer natural filters
main water pollution control measures of the Clean
in an ecosystem, the higher the concentrations of
Water Act.
these harmful substances that reach inland and
Daily, cruise ships may generate as much as
coastal waters. For example, a one-acre parking lot
37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, 30,000 gallons of
produces some 16 times more polluted runoff than
sewage, 255,000 gallons of non-sewage wastewater
19
a one-acre meadow.
from showers, sinks, laundries, baths and galleys,
Clearly, polluted runoff is a pervasive problem
15 gallons of toxic chemicals from photo process-
that we must engage locally, nationally, and on a
ing, dry cleaning and paints, tens of thousands of
global scale. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is
gallons of ballast water bearing pathogens and inva-
the result of human activities, not only on the coast
sive species from foreign ports, seven tons of
itself, but thousands of miles away. Only through a
garbage and solid waste, and air pollution from
concerted effort to educate the public on the prob-
diesel engines the equivalent of thousands of auto-
lem of nutrient pollution, and to change human
mobiles. But because ships are not sufficiently reg-
behaviors on a broad scale, will we be able to
ulated under CWA, and not required to obtain per-
reclaim the health of one of our most productive
mits for discharges, much of the waste they gener-
ocean ecosystems.
ate finds its way into the oceans.
20
Leading Sources of Estuary Pollution
PERCENT OF IMPAIRED ESTUARINE SQUARE MILES
0
10
20
30
40
50
Municipal Point Source
28
Urban Runoff/Storm Sewers
28
Atmospheric Deposition
23
Industrial Discharges
15
Agriculture
14
Land Disposal of Wastes
12
Combined Sewer Overflow
11
Source: National Coastal Condition Report, 2001, US EPA, Washington D.C.
health of the oceans 2002
50
Because ships are not sufficiently regulated under CWA, and
not required to obtain permits for discharges, much of the waste
they generate finds its way into the oceans.
Waste discharges are not the only
threat posed to the health of the
The most notorious example abroad
is the comb jelly from the waters off
oceans by shipping. The impacts of
North America, which became estab-
tanker accidents are well known; oil
lished in the Black Sea in such
from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill can
densities that it helped to bring on
still be found on Alaskan beaches. But
small spills that result from normal ship
operations also threaten water quality, and the
the collapse of the area’s most
25
economically important anchovy fishery.
In many places, red tides—or harmful algal
blooms that contaminate shellfish—are on the
health of marine wildlife.
Ships of all kinds use ballast water for stability
in navigation, taking it on before sailing, and discharging it at ports of call. In fact, ships move some
10 to 12 billion tons of ballast water throughout the
21
increase, and many are believed to be invasive
species transported by ballast water.
The International Maritime Organization has
declared invasive species to be one of the four
26
world each year. But the seawater that ships take
greatest threats to the world’s oceans. They can
on contains billions of microscopic plants and ani-
alter habitats, disrupt food chains, out-compete
mals, including eggs, cysts, larvae, plankton, and
native species thereby reducing biodiversity, and can
even viruses. A new strain of cholera originating in
present threats to public health. Once established,
the Mediterranean or North Sea has been found in
invasive species are almost impossible to eradicate,
22
the Chesapeake Bay, and is thought to have arrived
so prevention is imperative. Yet in the United
in ships’ ballast water. In fact, scientists who per-
States, we have not treated the problem as a priority.
formed a study of ballast water arriving in the
Not only are ballast water discharges largely unreg-
Chesapeake Bay found the bacterium that causes
ulated, existing legislation, such as the National
23
cholera in every ship they tested. As we show in a
Invasive Species Act, is weak when it comes to
profile of San Francisco Bay in the ecosystems
marine and aquatic invasive species. In the federal
chapter, invasive species are becoming established
2000 budget, agricultural invasive species manage-
in some areas at an alarming rate, out-competing
ment and research received 90 percent of the
native species, threatening biodiversity, and chang-
funds, and aquatic invasive species received only
ing the face of entire ecosystems.
one percent of the funds.
27
The most notorious aquatic invader into the
Some states, such as California, Oregon and
United States has been the zebra mussel, a freshwa-
Washington have created their own laws, requiring
ter species that came in through ships’ ballast water
ships to exchange their ballast water in the open
and has cost residents of the Great Lakes states
ocean before entering states’ ports. But this is a stop-
some $5 billion in control measures since it arrived
gap measure, not a solution; while ballast water
24
in 1989. The zebra mussel grows so rapidly and
exchange may reduce the number of invasive species
densely that it clogs both municipal and industrial
entering an ecosystem, it will not eradicate them.
water intake pipes and attaches itself to native mus-
In January 1999 The Ocean Conservancy peti-
sels and other species by the hundreds, killing them.
tioned EPA to regulate ballast water under the Clean
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
51
In the federal 2000 budget, agricultural invasive species management
and research received 90 percent of the funds, and aquatic invasive
species received only one percent of the funds.27
Water Act, which would require ships to obtain dis-
can accumulate on the sea floor, effectively altering
charge permits similar to land-based industries and
marine habitats.
municipal sewage treatment plants. Though the EPA
31
On a single day in 2000, some 850,000 people
released a draft report on invasive species in
removed 13.6 million pounds of debris from the
September 2001, it has not formally responded to
world’s beaches and coastal waters. On that same
the petition, and The Ocean Conservancy and others
day, volunteers discovered nearly 13,000 syringes
sued EPA in spring 2001 to issue a response.
on the world’s beaches, and found 373 marine animals
In March of 2002, the International Maritime
entangled in fishing line, rope, plastic sheeting,
32
Organization (IMO) proposed design suggestions
wire, and six-pack holders. The conclusion: debris
for ballast water management in new ships, recom-
poses a persistent and serious threat to marine
mended that each ship have a ballast water man-
wildlife and beachgoers everywhere in the world.
As we demonstrate in the chapter on marine
agement plan, and also drafted an international
convention for controlling ballast water worldwide.
wildlife, derelict fishing gear represents the most
The convention is scheduled to be considered at a
serious threat to numerous endangered species,
diplomatic conference in 2003.
28
such as Hawaiian monk seals and right whales.
Clearly, the new IMO recommendations are a
But as the table (page 54) on animal entanglements
promising start, though it may take several years for
shows, even lost or abandoned recreational fishing
nations to ratify the convention and for the rules to
gear takes a huge toll on wildlife; fishing line alone
come into effect. In the meantime, EPA action to
accounted for over 41 percent of animal entangle-
regulate both wastes and ballast water from ship-
ments encountered along U.S. coasts during annual
ping—at least within U.S. waters—is needed, to
International Coastal Cleanups from 1996-2000.
achieve cleaner ocean waters and to fulfill the
Other types of debris, including plastic bags and
promise of CWA.
pellets, can be swallowed by seabirds, sea turtles,
and marine mammals, and interfere with their abili-
Marine Debris: a Visible Pollutant
ty to eat or digest food, breathe, or swim. Scientists
Antarctica is the most remote—and least populat-
also believe that some plastics may accumulate
ed—region of the world, isolated by the vast
toxic pollutants from water, increasing the risk of
Southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Still,
poisoning the animals that ingest them.
33
floating debris—especially plastics—regularly wash
But debris can also present a threat to human
up on Antarctic shores. Marine debris in Antarctica
health. In 1988, beachgoers in New York and New
is known to have caused the deaths of fur seals,
29
and particles of plastic have been found in many
carcasses of dead snow petrel chicks.
30
Plastic debris is present throughout the terres-
Jersey were alarmed when medical waste, including
syringes, began showing up on area beaches.
Moreover, it represents a costly hazard to shipping:
each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spends
trial ecosystem. Not only does it litter our beaches,
$9.4 million to remove drifting and floating debris
plastics bottles and bags are routinely seen floating
from New York Harbor and nearby New Jersey
in mid-ocean. New studies indicate that plastics
waters alone.
34
health of the oceans 2002
52
Marine debris is an important indicator of the health of the oceans,
because it is a largely visible, quantifiable threat. It provides us with
clear visual evidence of the ways in which human behavior and consumption are changing marine ecosystems.
How does this debris end up in the oceans? The
garbage into the ocean. In 1988, the U.S. signed
common denominator, once again, is people. People
onto MARPOL Annex V, joining 64 other countries
drop debris on streets, where rains wash it into
that signed the international protocol regulating
storm drains; they drop it on beaches, or throw it—
ocean dumping and that made dumping plastic
or allow it to blow—overboard from ships and boats;
into the ocean illegal. MARPOL has undoubtedly
they allow it to blow or wash away from industrial
reduced the amount of trash on our beaches and in
and construction sites. The medical waste that
our ocean.
arrived on New York and New Jersey beaches in 1988
Data from The Ocean Conservancy’s
was almost certainly from combined sewer overflows.
International Coastal Cleanup over the past five
When heavy rains arrived in mid-summer after an
years indicates that over 92 percent of debris found
unusually dry spring, they swept the streets clean and
on the world’s beaches comes from land-based
overloaded combined sewers, which emptied into
activities such as littering and illegal dumping. Just
rivers and bays. After floating out to sea, the debris
over seven percent comes from ocean-based activi-
was carried back to the shore by winds and currents.
ties, such as recreational boating and commercial
Thirty years ago, ships were a huge source of
fishing. The 2000 International Coastal Cleanup
debris; the National Academy of Sciences estimated
data found that cigarette filters were the number
that, in 1975, ships dumped 14 billion pounds of
one debris item found worldwide; but once filters
Sources & Activities behind Marine Debris
Land and Underwater (Five-year averages based on U.S. data)
35
Shoreline & Recreational Activities 58.23%
Smoking-Related Activities 31.31%
Ocean/Waterway Activities 7.34%
Dumping Activities 2.13%
Medical/Personal Hygiene 0.98%
Source: The Ocean Conservancy
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
53
What is a TMDL?
It’s a potentially effective pollution control program that we stand to lose.
For three decades, water pollution control efforts have been guided by a fundamental goal of
the Clean Water Act: that all rivers, lakes, and coastal waters be “fishable and swimmable”; that is,
they should be safe for swimming and boating, and the fish within them should be safe to eat.
While we have cleaned up many sources of pollution, those fundamental goals have yet to be
attained. EPA’s September 2001 National Coastal Condition Report acknowledges that the overall
39
condition of our coastal waters is only fair to poor.
The key provision of the Clean Water Act meant to clean up our remaining polluted waters is
the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program. This program requires states and EPA to identify
polluted waterways, rank them for priority attention, and then develop pollution limits for each
water body. The TMDL is the only Clean Water Act tool for addressing those sources of pollution
that do not operate under individual permits—the runoff sources.
Despite the law, EPA and states largely failed to clean up waterways under the TMDL program
until a wave of citizen lawsuits forced them to do so. Over the last few years, Americans’ demand
for clean water succeeded in improving the way the cleanup program was carried out. After years
of study and consultation, EPA announced new regulations to strengthen the program in July of
2000. These regulations, however, were challenged in court by numerous special interest groups,
and in 2001, the Bush Administration blocked their implementation, and began revising them.
The Ocean Conservancy is working to defend the TMDL program—the Clean Water Act’s primary
tool for cleaning up polluted waters.
health of the oceans 2002
54
Clearly, we must look more closely at what we produce, considering not
only convenience, but the impact that a product may have upon the
environment once its usefulness has expired.
were removed from the equation, plastics made up
But we must also seriously consider the harmful
over 65 percent of the debris found, despite the
MARPOL ban on plastics dumping.
patterns of human consumption that make marine
36
debris so pervasive. According to the EPA, between
Improper waste disposal is an important factor
1960 and 1990, Americans’ per capita generation of
in the proliferation of marine debris. The positive
trash increased by nearly 60 percent, from 2.68 to
news from The Ocean Conservancy’s International
4.5 pounds per day. In addition, by 1990, Americans
Coastal Cleanup is that marine debris found along
used and disposed of 17.13 million tons of plastics
the nation’s beaches is dropping, and Americans
per year—nearly 44 times the amount we used in
may be more careful about disposing of wastes.
1960. Clearly, we must look more closely at what
Over the seven-year period from 1994 through
we produce, considering not only convenience, but
2000, we found a 48 percent decrease in the number
the impact that a product may have upon the envi-
38
37
ronment once its usefulness has expired.
of items per mile.
Animal entanglements from marine debris reported in the United States during
International Coastal Cleanups, 1996-2000.
DEBRIS CATEGORY
AMPHIBIANS
balloon ribbon\string
crab\lobster traps
fishing line with hook\lure
2
FISH
MAMMALS
16
4
REPTILES
BIRDS
INVERTEBRATES TOTAL
37
13
70
PERCENT
5.51%
22
1
1
5
24
53
4.17%
161
9
11
260
81
525
41.34%
fishing nets\rope
34
3
3
48
25
113
8.90%
miscellaneous
25
9
5
13
35
87
6.85%
plastic bags
39
16
7
25
34
121
9.53%
plastic netting
1
1
2
1
6
11
0.87%
7
7
21
1.65%
7
38
23
145
11.42%
plastic sheetings
4
2
rope
1
54
23
six-pack holders
24
3
1
35
18
81
6.38%
strapping bands
1
1
1
5
4
12
0.94%
2.52%
wire
1
9
3
1
13
5
32
Total
4
390
75
39
487
275
1270
0.31%
30.71%
5.91%
3.07%
38.35%
21.65%
Percent
Source: The Ocean Conservancy
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
Congress and the president should act to reduce polluted runoff by fully
implementing, funding, and enforcing our most important water laws,
including the Clean Water Act.
EPA must develop strong water quality standards to protect human health.
EPA must also fully implement and fund water quality monitoring programs,
so that the public is better informed about the condition of waterways.
recommendations
Ship discharges should be regulated under U.S. environmental laws such as
the Clean Water Act just like factories and other, similar sources of pollution.
EPA should implement the Clean Water Act’s permit provisions with respect
to ballast water in order to protect our ocean ecosystems from invasive species.
The U.S. government should also continue to lead the IMO toward a strong,
enforceable international convention on ballast water management.
55
56
“Of all ecological
zones, marine ecosystems
are the least visible, the least
studied, and the least understood. Because of this, they
are probably the most
at risk.”1
57
5
Ecosystems &
Ocean Wilderness
health of the oceans 2002
58
Ecosystems &
Ocean Wilderness
The United States has protected only 0.0356 percent of its ocean territory
indicator
as wilderness.
The United States should establish a network of marine wilderness areas equal
goal
to at least five percent of its ocean territory. These areas should be integrated
into a larger national system of marine protected areas.
The oceans are no longer wild; few areas remain that haven’t been
significantly altered by human activities.
Our focus on certain “valuable” species has led to the inadvertent
exploitation of a whole range of species whose value we’ve never
considered, and of the ecosystems they inhabit.
the issues
America’s wilderness ethic and its success at preserving our unique wild
areas on land should extend to our oceans.
We must agree to protect entire ecosystems, free from the pressures
of fishing and mineral extraction, if we expect to have healthy oceans
in the future.
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
59
Our ocean ecosystems are today suffering not single,
but multiple, stresses.
What Are Ocean Ecosystems?
We have filled, channeled, irrigated, and dredged
Marine ecosystems are diverse communities, defined
wetlands, bays, and estuaries—important spawning
by both living and inert matter, currents, temperature,
and nursery habitats for much of marine life—to pro-
topography, and seasonal changes, all of which
vide for agricultural and commercial activities.
function together as unified system. The phrase—
Overfishing and overexploitation of marine animals
“which function together”—is key. Although we still
has changed the makeup of ecosystems for centuries.
know little about how ocean ecosystems function
Humans had begun eliminating species such as sea
as wholes, we are beginning to learn just how critical
cows, sea otters, and sea turtles from ecosystems
each piece is, from microscopic plankton, to plants
in the United States by early colonial times. These
and worms, to sand, cobble, rocks, mountains,
losses have had huge impacts that continue today,
and canyons, to fish of all sizes, to the largest
and may be seen in the fluctuations of kelp growth
marine mammal.
and decimation in Northern Atlantic and Pacific
As on land, balance is important. Altering a single
ecosystems, and in the die-off of turtlegrass in the
part of a marine ecosystem—removing a single species
Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay. Alien species have
of fish, or harvesting kelp, or collecting coral—can
altered the character of ecosystems since ships
cause changes that reverberate throughout the system.
could carry them. The periwinkles that coat the
What we put into ecosystems matters as much as
rocks and wharf pilings across New England are
what we take out. Sewage outfalls, runoff from
European transplants; no one is sure what north-
land—even increasing the amount of fresh water
eastern coastal areas looked like before the vora-
that flows into bays and estuaries affects species’
cious herbivores arrived. Over the past 100 years,
ability to reproduce, fight disease, and indeed, survive.
however, people have accelerated ecosystem
Introducing non-native species affects food chains,
change, and collapses have become commonplace.
water quality, and biodiversity. Trawling, dredging,
2
3
Just as technological advances have fostered a
filling, and draining ocean and coastal areas destroys
global economy and global communications, they
habitat, contributes to the decline of important
have permitted the global exploitation of marine
species, and decreases ecosystems’ natural resilience.
resources. As near-shore fisheries have been depleted,
Our ocean ecosystems are today suffering not
fishing fleets have moved farther and farther off-
single, but multiple, stresses. They are overfished;
shore, disturbing deep-sea habitats and leaving no
they are increasingly contaminated by nutrients and
areas free from human alteration.
toxics; they have been physically altered beyond
The protections we once enjoyed from these
recognition; and like ecosystems on land, they are
remote, but thriving ecosystems, are gone. It is
undergoing profound changes as a result of global
time to actively restore protected areas to our
warming. Unlike their counterparts on land, however,
oceans to preserve marine resources, ecosystems
almost none of our ocean ecosystems has been
that we can appreciate, study, and learn from, and
protected in a truly untrammeled state.
to preserve intact our most unique ocean areas, as
People have altered marine environments,
we have done on land. By looking at three distinct
almost without challenge, for thousands of years.
marine environments in the United States, we can
health of the oceans 2002
60
Overfishing has a more direct impact on the health of ecosystems
than any single human activity. And in the Gulf of Maine,
the consequences are palpable.
see the consequences of human activities, and of
200 species of fish and 1,600 species of bottom-
our neglect of truly special ocean ecosystems.
dwelling creatures including sponges and corals.
Harbor porpoises, right whales, and humpback
The Gulf of Maine:
Fishing Down the Food Web
whales also inhabit the waters. But for centuries,
Between 1976 and 1991, scientists estimate that,
prodigious cod fishery.
the Gulf of Maine was world-renowned for its
each year in the Gulf of Maine, fishermen trawled
Overfishing—particularly for cod and other
an area equivalent to the entire Gulf itself, a vast
groundfish—has had the most profound effect on
region stretching from Nova Scotia to the north
the ecosystem. As we point out in the chapter
and Cape Cod to the south. Of course, trawling
“Fish,” overfishing has a more direct impact on
activity was not distributed evenly throughout.
the health of ecosystems than any single human
Georges Bank, one of the most productive regions
activity. And in the Gulf of Maine, the consequences
in the Gulf, and a spawning and feeding area for
are palpable.
codfish, was, on average, thoroughly trawled
between two and four times each year.
4
Since 1991, cod catches in the Gulf have
declined by 75 percent—from 20 million pounds to
Dr. Robert Steneck of the University of Maine
less than five million pounds per year. In 1982, fisher-
has spent endless hours investigating the Gulf of
men harvested over nine million pounds of haddock;
Maine, both in submersibles and using data-recording
by 1996, the haddock catch had declined to just one
equipment. He has first-hand experience of just
million pounds, a 90 percent decrease. Atlantic hal-
how often trawls drag across the Gulf floor.
ibut has been largely absent from the system since
“The frequency of dragging is so great,” he has
the 1940s. Steneck believes that overfishing has
said, “that my experiments don’t stay in place for
caused major food web changes in the Gulf: “One
5
8
9
even 24 hours.” What are the implications for
of the biggest changes is the virtual loss of large
marine organisms of this repeated scraping across
predatory finfish from the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.”
the ocean bottom? “The bottom line,” says Steneck,
This means that invertebrates, such as lobsters,
“is any organism or community that needs literally
crabs, shrimp, scallops, and mussels predominate,
decades to complete their life cycle doesn’t have
but don’t serve to control other species in the system.
that in the Gulf of Maine.”
6
“Top predators such as big cod or haddock, in con-
The Gulf of Maine is a semi-enclosed sea, sepa-
trast, probably had a major controlling influence on
rated from the ocean by underwater “banks.”
invertebrates and other fish, but they are functionally
The combination of powerful tides from the Bay of
out of the ecosystem.”
Fundy, fresh water from the enormous watershed,
10
Similarly, the kelp forests that historically domi-
cold water from the open ocean washing over
nated much of the Gulf of Maine have fluctuated
Brown Bank, and rapid circulation make for a nutri-
with the catches of sea urchins, which feed on kelp,
ent-rich and highly productive ecosystem.
7
and with the depletion of cod and other groundfish,
Historically one of the most productive marine
which feed on sea urchins. When kelp forests were
areas in the world, the Gulf of Maine today supports
expansive, juvenile finfish and lobsters benefited
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
61
Bottom Trawls
Bottom trawls constitute one of the most invasive methods of fishing. Nets—often with rollers,
chains, and wooden “doors” weighing thousands of pounds attached—are dragged across the
ocean floor, scooping up everything in their path. “Rockhopper” nets, with heavy disks that allow
the trawls to roll or jump over rough terrain or coral heads, have been employed since the 1980s.
It is well known that bottom trawls and dredges dramatically alter the ocean bottom, disturbing
habitat and causing devastating changes in biological communities. It is not well known that every
two years, bottom trawls scrape across an area of the ocean equivalent to the entirety of the
world’s continental shelves. This rate of habitat alteration has been calculated at more than 150
times the rate of global deforestation through clear-cutting. It is the world’s largest human-caused
50
disturbance in the ocean, occurring at depths that exceed one mile below the ocean surface.
health of the oceans 2002
62
from having a place to hide; once
nets with heavy wheels that roll over
groundfish collapsed and sea urchins deci-
large rocks and other barriers—they found
mated the kelp forests, many juvenile fish were
that sponges and other growing organisms had
preyed upon before they had the chance to mature.
been removed, a layer of mud that lies on the bot-
Then sea urchins began to be fished for shipping to
tom had been displaced, and rocks and boulders
Asian markets, and the kelp began to return. While
had been upended.
the regrowth of kelp is a positive sign, the reasons
Trawling “simplifies” habitat—in other words,
behind it speak to a serious problem; we are depleting
removes the complexities of topographical relief,
one fishery after another and literally “fishing down
plants, and other organisms that provide shelter for
the food web.”
juvenile finfish—such as cod. The less shelter that
A generation ago, Maine fishermen were catching
juveniles have, the less their chance of surviving to
100-pound cod. More recently, they were gathering
reproduce. According to a 1998 study, “the large
sea urchins. But that is not the end of the story.
increases in bottom fishing from the 1960s through
The sea urchin fishery began in 1987, peaked in 1993
the early 1990s are likely to have reduced the produc-
as the second-most valuable species harvested in
tivity of seafloor habitats substantially, exacerbating
Maine, and in 2001 dropped to fourth place and is
depletion from overfishing.”
still dropping. The crab population, however, is now
unusually large, and a crab fishery is gearing up.
11
By fishing down food webs, not only are we fishing
14
A long-lived fish, cod require a variety of habitats
throughout their life-cycle. At under a year, cod prefer
habitat with plenty of complexity—boulders, sea-
for less and less desirable fish, we are gradually
weed, eelgrass, and kelp. Two- to three-year-olds with
depleting available food supplies; a growing crab
bigger appetites and larger mouths, prefer a sandy or
population cannot replace Gulf of Maine groundfish.
cobble seafloor, where they find more free-swim-
As we point out in the chapter on Fish, catches of
ming prey. Adults prefer rocky, gravelly areas. By
preferred food fish such as cod, tuna, haddock, and
reducing habitat diversity across broad areas of the
flounder, have decreased by one half over the past
ocean floor, we are hampering cod’s—and many
50 years in the North Atlantic, even though fishing
other species’—ability to survive. Lobsters, which
12
15
replaced cod as the most lucrative fishery in Maine,
effort has tripled.
But fishing in this way also threatens biodiversity.
require complex, sheltered habitats throughout their
Because life depends upon life, we are depleting the
life cycles. Young lobsters hide from predators in
oceans without a view to the collapses we may be
small crevices; as adults, they seek shelter when
causing, and indeed, may have already caused.
13
Not only has the removal of key species had a
16
they molt and reproduce.
Overfishing decimates fish populations from the
huge impact on the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, some
top, depleting the largest and most fecund individuals,
of the methods used to extract them have also
and from the bottom, by altering food webs and
devastated critical habitat. Bottom trawls have been
habitat. Habitat destruction removes an ecosystem’s
used extensively throughout the Gulf since the
natural protections and radically decreases the
1960s. When scientists surveyed a site on the Gulf
chances that young fish can survive to maturity. Both
floor before and after trawling with “rockhoppers”—
can profoundly affect food supply and food chains.
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
63
Between 1996 and 2000, the Florida Keys lost an alarming 37 percent
of their stony coral cover.20
So what is being done to restore the Gulf of
reopened to scallop dredging, which will likely
Maine and the species that inhabit it? In response
arrest their recovery. According to the study, “The
to the groundfish crisis, in 1994, The National
strongest protections are concentrated in small,
Marine Fisheries Service declared areas of the Gulf
scattered coastal sites, and the vast majority of Gulf
around Georges Bank temporarily off-limits to fishing.
of Maine waters lack protected areas of any kind.”
The areas have provided protection for juveniles, and
17
The Gulf of Maine ecosystem has been dramati-
created an area where adults can spawn, free from
cally altered by intensive fishing. Sadly, it is not
the pressures of fishing. A recent, comprehensive
unique in that regard; the Gulf is a microcosm of
study carried out by The Ocean Conservancy found
what is happening worldwide. Not until we look
that those closed areas in the Gulf provide more
beyond the economic value of fish, and see the
protection to marine organisms, habitats, and ecolog-
importance of preserving entire, intact ocean
ical processes than other sites, even the Stellwagen
ecosystems, can we expect to reverse this trend.
Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which permits
fishing. Our findings are consistent with the broad
The Florida Keys: Living Downstream
scientific consensus that “no-take” marine protected
Coral reefs occupy only 0.07 percent of the world’s
areas—or those that prohibit fishing and extractive
ocean bottom—an area roughly the size of Texas.
activities—provide the greatest benefits to, and
Yet they are among the most diverse ecosystems
across, ecosystems. However, these closed areas in
on earth, home to as many as one-quarter of the
the Gulf are temporary, and some have already been
world’s marine species.
18
Loss of Live Stony Coral Cover - Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 1996-2000
12%
10.34%
9.93%
8.33%
6.42%
6.55%
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
8%
6%
4%
% of stony coral cover
10%
2%
0%
Source: EPA/FKNMS Coral Reef Monitoring Project, 2001; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; University of Georgia-Athens.
health of the oceans 2002
64
Water quality is only one of numerous stressors for Florida’s coral reefs.
Burgeoning human pressures are evident everywhere.
The only extensive living reefs in the continental
canals and levees throughout the Everglades to pro-
U.S. are found in the Florida Keys. Some 6,000
vide for more “productive” land. Water flow through
individual reefs constitute a chain that runs across
the system was reduced by 70 percent, and about
the ocean floor from Key Biscayne to the Dry Tortugas,
half the land area was swallowed up by agriculture.
supporting some of the area’s most important
The impact on marine areas just beyond the
fisheries, such as grouper and spiny lobsters. In
Everglades was huge: suddenly, 1.7 billion gallons of
Florida, anglers, divers, and other reef users bring
fresh water that used to flow slowly through this
some $4 billion into the state economy each year,
“river of grass” were channeled daily to the ocean.
and reef-related activities employ some 81,300
Because fresh water no longer flows slowly and
19
people. But between 1996 and 2000, the Keys lost
an alarming 37 percent of their stony coral cover.
20
consistently into Florida Bay, the Bay is often more
saline than it was naturally, which has caused sea-
At the same time, scientists monitoring the reefs
grasses, as well as important species of fish, to
found increased incidences of coral diseases, both
decline, and algal blooms to flourish. In the 1980s,
among different species of corals and across a
the pink shrimp fishery collapsed. At times, however,
broad range of sites. The causes behind this rapid
the water becomes dramatically less saline. When
deterioration of reef health are complex; according
large pulses—rather than slow, steady flows—of
to the study, “multiple stressors,” including poor
fresh water enter the system, they decrease salinity
water quality, overfishing, global warming—and even
downstream, which harms the corals. Moreover,
boat groundings—are all contributing to the decline.
when water flows faster across the land, rather than
A key part of the problem lies upstream. Corals
filtering through it, it carries more runoff from
are highly sensitive to water quality, salinity, and
farms, lawns, golf courses, streets, and parking lots.
temperature. In general, they prefer clear, saline water
All of this contributes to the water quality problems
with good light penetration and an average temperature
facing the Keys and their reefs.
21
of 70 degrees. Unfortunately for the Florida coral
But the Keys also have their own, local water
reefs, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are some of
quality problems. Between 1999 and 2000, beach
the worst in the nation; 49 percent of tested bays in
warnings and advisories in the area doubled.
the Gulf are impaired, unfit for uses such as swimming
Although some of these warnings were the result of
or fishing, whereas the national average is 44 percent.
22
better testing mandated by the State of Florida, they
In large part, the poor water quality is caused by
all pointed to the same problem: bacteria associat-
runoff from the entire Mississippi Basin, which
ed with human sewage. High levels of bacteria
empties into the Gulf. This runoff contains nutrients
also mean high levels of reef-killing nutrients.
and sediments that cloud the water and deprive it
of oxygen, and toxics that poison living organisms.
But the reefs lie downstream from the
23
24
Water quality is only one of numerous stressors
for Florida’s coral reefs. Burgeoning human pressures
are evident everywhere. For example, in South
Everglades, as well. The Everglades is the most noto-
Florida, the recreational fishing fleet grew 444 percent
rious—and perhaps extensive—example of ecosys-
between 1964 and 1998. In 2001 alone, 667 boats
tem alteration in the United States. During the 20th
ran aground in the Florida Keys, damaging sensitive
century, engineers built more than 1,700 miles of
coral reef and seagrass bed habitats.
25
26
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
An Ocean Wilderness Success Story: Tortugas
So far, we have a single, but telling, success story: the Tortugas Ocean Wilderness Area. Made up
of three complementary tracts, Tortugas Ocean Wilderness Area protects nearly 200 square miles
of one of the most pristine marine habitats in the country. Tortugas North features Sherwood
Forest—a spectacular coral formation stretching for several miles. Tortugas South contains Riley’s
Hump, a bulge in the ocean bottom that is thought to provide important spawning habitat for gray,
cubera, mutton, dog, red and yellowtail snapper, as well as black grouper and ocean triggerfish.
These spawning sites help sustain fisheries throughout the Keys and along the East Coast. The
third tract is the Tortugas Research Natural Area, adjacent to Tortugas North, but lying within Dry
Tortugas National Park and protecting linked shallow water coral reef and related habitats. An
incredible array of marine life finds sanctuary among the sea grass prairies and reefs of the
reserve, including endangered green sea turtles, red-tailed triggerfish, purple-mouthed moray eels,
black coral, and goliath grouper.
How did it happen? Many people from many walks of life recognized the special character of the
Tortugas. But they also saw that its beauty, vitality, and productivity was in jeopardy, and they
became determined to protect it. The Ocean Conservancy worked closely with other conservation
organizations, concerned citizens, commercial and recreational fishers, divers, and conservationists, as well as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the National Park Service, the State of
Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to create and build support for the
nation’s first protected true ocean wilderness. All three components of the Tortugas Ocean
Wilderness Area are off-limits to fishing and other habitat-altering activities, but still allow for
visiting, studying and appreciating, though permits are required. The Tortugas Ocean Wilderness
Area proves that protecting ocean wilderness is possible.
As a nation, we should undertake to build on the success of Tortugas to protect some of the
richest and most magnificent ocean ecosystems in U.S. waters, and to create a national system
of wilderness areas rivaling our most spectacular—and protected—lands.
65
health of the oceans 2002
66
Up to 99 percent of the biomass—or living matter—that constitutes
the San Francisco Bay-Delta system is non-native.
Overfishing, from both commercial and recreational fisheries, is well documented. According to
29
anemones, corals, and numerous fish species.
Yet Gulf of Mexico red grouper is currently overfished.
a 2001 study, 77 percent of 35 fish stocks analyzed
Once again, the Florida Keys reflect what is
in Biscayne National Park, including grouper, snapper,
happening worldwide; an estimated 27 percent of
barracuda, and grunt are overfished, and the average
the world’s coral reefs have been effectively lost.
size of black grouper has declined by 60 percent
While the El Niño season of 1998 contributed to 16
27
since 1940.
percent of this decline, at least 11 percent of the
How does overfishing impact coral reef ecosys-
losses have been attributed to direct human pressures
tems? For example, when plant-eating fish are
such as fishing, coral mining, polluted runoff and
removed from the ecosystem, grazing is reduced,
sewage, and boat collisions. The Global Coral Reef
and the algae that coexist with corals can take over,
Monitoring Network estimates that, if trends continue,
especially if the water contains high levels of nitro-
40 percent of the world’s coral reefs will be lost by
gen. Because they typically reduce light that enters
2010, and by 2030, another 20 percent will be lost.
30
31
the water, these algae contribute to the loss of
corals, which depend upon light. But top predators,
San Francisco Bay: Alien Ocean
too—those that eat other fish—play a strong man-
Estuaries are nurseries for a wide array of marine
agement role in these ecosystems, much as we have
wildlife. The largest estuary on the West Coast, the
seen in the Gulf of Maine. By controlling populations
San Francisco Bay and Delta Estuary harbors 750
of fish beneath them on the food chain, they provide a
species of plants and animals, supplies drinking
critical balance for the system. In the Florida Keys,
water to two-thirds of California’s citizens, and
groupers played that top predator role, but their
provides much of the irrigation for one of the
numbers have been severely reduced. Fisheries for
world’s most productive agricultural areas. And
Nassau and Goliath groupers have been closed
yet, many scientists believe that the ecosystem has
because of reduced stock size.
28
Red grouper actually provide habitat for other
32
lost its identity; over 234 non-native species are
now established in the estuary, and estimates
species by digging holes in the sea floor. Observers
indicate that up to 99 percent of the biomass—or
have noticed diverse ecological communities around
living matter—that constitutes the Bay-Delta system
these holes that include lobsters, crabs, shrimp,
is non-native.
33
Estimated Costs of Restoring Three U.S. Ecosystems
Site
Description
Estimated Cost •
Duration
Florida Everglades
Vast system of wetlands
$7.8 billion
38 years
Chesapeake Bay
North America’s largest estuary
$8.2 billion
10 years
Largest estuary on the U.S. West Coast
$4 billion••
30 years
San Francisco Bay & Delta
• Sources: Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP); Chesapeake Bay Foundation (estimate); Cal-Fed.
•• Does not include water storage and conveyances costs.
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
CERP
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP) has an ambitious agenda; it will
attempt not only to restore a part of the Everglades to its natural state, but to provide water supply
and flood control for the five million people who now live in the region. CERP will remove more
than 500 miles of canals and levees, create wastewater reuse and water quality treatment facilities.
In all, the project is expected to take 38 years and to cost taxpayers $7.8 billion. But the impacts
for the Florida Keys and their coral reefs have yet to be seen. While we know that altering the
natural flows of fresh water into the Gulf affected the reefs and the entire larger ecosystem,
we suspect that restoring some of those flows may have an equally significant impact.
The Everglades-Keys relationship demonstrates that aquatic ecosystems are not isolated units,
but are vitally connected by flows and currents. Only in studying and understanding those
connections will we succeed in our efforts to restore what we have lost.
67
health of the oceans 2002
68
Because we have failed to protect critical ocean habitats,
we are facing an increasing number of collapses, not just of fisheries,
but of ecosystems.
But why prize native species over others?
California lost 91 percent of its coastal wetlands—
Biodiversity is a cornerstone of ecosystem and
critical nurseries for marine life, and filters for water
ocean health, and the loss of biodiversity has pro-
flowing into the ocean. Humans also rechanneled
found implications for the availability of food, for
many of the Bay’s freshwater inflows for agricultural
natural checks and balances, and for the survival of
use, altering the Bay’s salinity.
species in general. Invasive species threaten biodi-
36
37
The Bay and Delta area has a history of overfishing,
versity by preying upon, or out-competing, native
as well. By the early 20th century, commercial fisheries
species, thereby reducing an ecosystem’s diversity.
had already depleted the native populations of
One of the most troubling invaders in the San
38
Chinook salmon and white sturgeon. The fish found
Francisco Bay is the Asian clam, a voracious filter
in the Bay also have high levels of contamination
feeder. In some places, as many as 30,000 clams
from toxic pollution, and, according to the U.S. EPA,
may be found per square meter, and they are con-
“The fish in the estuary contain several contaminants
suming so much phytoplankton—which lies at the
at levels high enough to raise concern for the health
base of the food chain—that they may be threatening
of both humans and wildlife.”
34
the food supply for other marine life. Invasive
39
With regard to invasive species, San Francisco
freshwater fish have contributed to the decline and
Bay has been studied more extensively than many
extinction of four native California fish: the Sacramento
estuaries, although evidence from another highly
perch, no longer found in the Bay; the Delta smelt,
stressed estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, indicates that
listed as “threatened” under ESA; the hardhead;
it may not be unique in facing large-scale invasions.
and the thicktail chub, which is extinct in California.
Clearly, while we need effective regulations for ballast
As we point out in the chapter on water, ballast
water discharges, we need to take bold steps to
water from ships is the primary source of invasive
protect ecosystems such as San Francisco Bay from
species, and has accounted for 53 to 88 percent of
the stresses of overfishing, pollution, and other forms
the invasive species found in San Francisco Bay in
of human alteration that leave them vulnerable to
the last decade. Ships typically take on water as ballast
massive invasions and ecosystem collapse.
to improve stability, and they often discharge it
at ports of call. Until recently, San Francisco Bay
Ecosystems: Is Rehabilitation Cheaper
than Protection?
received nearly a billion gallons of foreign ballast
We are just beginning to grasp the importance of
water each year; each gallon can contain as many as
healthy marine ecosystems, and the costs of undoing
one billion bacteria and seven billion virus-like particles,
human intervention. The economic cost of “repairing”
upon reaching their destination or taking on cargo
as well as larvae of fish and other marine species.
35
Without question, the Bay has been made more
susceptible to invasive species by years of physical
ecosystem damage and restoring ecosystems to
some semblance of health is gargantuan.
Until recent times, large areas of the ocean were
alteration by humans: damming, dredging, and
protected by their remoteness and the difficulty of
dragging to provide for irrigation, ship channels, and
reaching them. These wild areas helped to renew
other uses. In the 200 years between 1780 and 1980,
and restore inshore ecosystems, shielding them
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
1
No-Take Marine Reserves in U.S. Waters
Ocean Wilderness Areas Appear in Bold
NAME
69
A total of 1,494 square nautical miles (sq. nmi.) of no-take reserves exists
in U.S. waters, of which 1,197 sq. nmi. meet The Ocean Conservancy’s
definition of "Ocean Wilderness Areas." 2 Ocean wilderness represents
only a tiny fraction (0.036%) of U.S. oceans.
STATE OR REGION
YEAR
AREA (SQ NMI)
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
FL
1962
11.55
Scripps Coastal Reserve
CA
1965
0.14
Hanauma Bay Marine Life Conservation District
HI
1967
0.12
Edmunds
WA
1970
0.04
Ahihi-Kinau State Natural Area Reserve
HI
1973
0.95
Heisler Park Ecological Reserve
CA
1973
0.04
Point Lobos Ecological Reserve
CA
1973
1.10
American Samoa
1973
46.08
Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge
Central Pacific
1974
36.97
Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge
Central Pacific
1974
37.87
Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge
Central Pacific
1974
42.99
HI
1978
0.05
3
Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Honolua & Mokuleia Bays
Hopkins Marine Reserve
CA
1984
0.09
Catalina Marine Science Center
CA
1988
0.04
Waikiki Marine Life Conservation District
HI
1988
0.09
San Juan
WA
1990
1.00
Big Creek Ecological Reserve
CA
1994
1.10
Big Sycamore Canyon Ecol. Reserve
CA
1994
1.51
Kings Range Ecological Reserve
CA
1994
1.78
Sund Rocks
WA
1994
0.50
Titlow Beach
WA
1994
0.50
Vandenberg Ecological Reserve
CA
1994
1.80
Western Sambos
FL
1997
9.00
Conch Reef Research Only Area (FKNMS)•
FL
1997
0.20
Tennessee Research Only Area (FKNMS)•
Looe Key Research Only Area (FKNMS)•
FL
1997
0.10
FL
1997
0.10
Eastern Sambos Research Only Area (FKNMS)•
FL
1997
0.10
FL
1997
0.10
4
Sawyer Key Wildlife Management Area
East Harbor Key Wildlife Management Area
FL
1997
0.10
Little Mullet Key Wildlife Management Area
FL
1997
0.10
Upper Harbor Key Wildlife Management Area
FL
1997
0.10
Little Crane Key Wildlife Management Area
FL
1997
0.10
Marvin Keys (Tidal Flat) Wildlife Management Area
FL
1997
0.10
Hind Bank Marine Conservation District
USVI
1999
14.00
Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge
USVI
1999
429.08
Buck Island Reef National Monument
USVI
2001
22.23
U.S. Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
USVI
2001
14.99
Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Central Pacific
2001
50.00
Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge
Central Pacific
2001
570.71
FL
2001
197.00
5
6
Tortugas Ocean Wilderness Area
• (FKNMS) is Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. See page 79 for other footnotes.
health of the oceans 2002
70
from the full impact of human exploitation. Now
we demonstrate that no-take MPAs can help to
that spotter planes, sonar mapping systems, depth
rebuild, replenish, and sustain fish populations,
sensors, and satellite images are at the disposal of
providing benefits that extend well beyond their
fishing fleets, it is open season on all areas of the
geographical limits. In Florida, the Merritt Island
ocean. This scenario increases the likelihood of
National Wildlife Refuge near the Kennedy Space
fisheries collapses and extinctions, and ecosystems
Center has been closed to fishing since the 1970s
collapses, as well.
40
for security reasons. Today, the area contains larger,
To preserve what we have left, and to restore
and a greater diversity of fish than the surrounding
what we have lost, we must adopt a new management
waters. But just outside the reserve, fishermen have
regime. In trying to manage individual species, we
benefited; those waters have produced more world-
have done many ecosystems irreparable harm.
record-sized black drum, red drum, and spotted sea
In seeking to preserve, maintain, and manage
trout than the rest of Florida waters combined.
healthy ecosystems, we will preserve species that
Similarly, five small coral reef reserves off the island
define, and depend upon, those ecosystems.
of St. Lucia in the Caribbean that were closed to
In a report to Congress in 1998, the Ecosystem
fishing increased catches in adjacent waters by
Principles Advisory Committee recommended that
between 46 and 96 percent. No-take MPAs also
“We must develop governance systems which have
protect habitat for fish and other marine life; they
ecosystem health and sustainability, rather than
reduce the likelihood of extinction for many marine
42
43
41
short-term economic gain, as their primary goals.”
So where do we begin? For many years, there
species; and networks of MPAs can provide insurance
44
against environmental variability.
has been scientific consensus that establishing net-
Most MPAs in the United States—including
works of large “no-take” marine protected areas—
most national marine sanctuaries and some national
those where fishing and extractive activities are
wildlife refuges and national parks—do little to limit
prohibited—can preserve and restore fish stocks,
fishing. As we have seen, fishing has profound
habitat, and ocean health. In the chapter on fish,
impacts across ecosystems. Moreover, the smaller
No-Take Reserves & Ocean Wilderness
1,600
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
No-Take Marine Reserves
Ocean Wilderness
cumulative area/sq. nautical miles
1,400
0
1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
Source: The Ocean Conservancy, 2002.
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean Wilderness
and more isolated the area, the fewer benefits it
71
MPAs are not a solution for all of the oceans’
provides. In Key West National Wildlife Refuge, a
challenging problems. They are not a substitute for
special two-day recreational mini-season for spiny
effective, ecosystem-based management practice.
lobsters diminished the area’s spiny lobster popula-
They are not a substitute for other effective, ocean
45
tion by 80 percent. The U.S. portion of the Gulf
conservation policies and practice. They do not
of Maine has more than 300 marine and coastal
offer solutions for global warming and polluted
protected areas, but very few were designed to
runoff. But they do provide areas to protect our natural
provide permanent, comprehensive protection for
heritage intact, to enjoy, and to study the impacts of
both marine species and habitats. Many still permit
those phenomena apart from the effects of overfishing
activities such as bottom trawling and dragging for
and habitat alteration.
46
scallops. As a result, the proportion of Gulf of
Although few Americans have direct experience
Maine waters that are fully protected is, relative to
with marine protected areas, polls show that they
the Gulf’s size, insignificant.
generally support the concept. In a 2002 survey,
Effective marine protected areas are those
three-quarters of New Englanders and Atlantic
designed to protect the wide range of species and
Canadians (74 and 73 percent, respectively) voiced
habitats within their boundaries. Moreover, their
support for fully protected areas. In 1999, the
benefits increase with size, and with their connection
California legislature passed the Marine Life Protection
to other protected areas. To protect the full range of
Act, which requires developing a statewide network
marine life, networks of diverse yet interconnected
of MPAs to protect its marine habitats and biodi-
no-take MPAs, including some of large size, are
versity. In Florida, the only part of the nation with
essential. Such a network is necessary, but not
significant experience with “no-take” reserves,
sufficient, and must be set in a broader context of
MPAs are popularly supported. The first network of
ocean protection, especially for more mobile and
marine reserves in the U.S.—including 18 small
wide-ranging wildlife such as whales, dolphins,
no-take zones and one nine-square-mile ecological
and sea turtles.
reserve—was established in the Florida Keys in
47
Progress Toward Goal: Protecting 5% of U.S. Waters as Wilderness
160,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
cumulative area/sq. nautical miles
Goal = 5% of U.S. Waters
140,000
0
1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
health of the oceans 2002
72
1997. A 2001 survey of resident reef users—people
our oceans, our national heritage, and our legacy.
who live in South Florida and dive and fish on the
Ocean ecosystems and wildlife are inherently no
reef—showed that the vast majority of divers and
different from those of our public lands, and yet we
fishermen support marine reserves. When asked
have failed to afford them the same protections.
whether they “support existing no-take zones in the
In a 1966 report to President Lyndon Johnson, the
48
Florida Keys,” 78 percent answered “yes.”
Panel on Oceanography of the President’s Science
Advisory Committee recommended establishing
Ocean Wilderness
what we are still discussing—36 years later—
Above and beyond MPAs lies the issue of ocean
“a system of marine wilderness preserves.”
wilderness, and protecting our special areas not for
The report, Effective Use of the Sea, stated that such
the species they contain, but for their productivity,
a system would represent “an extension of the basic
beauty, and unique character. In 1964 the United
principle established in the Wilderness Act of
States Congress passed the Wilderness Act, which
1964.” And it went further, stating “that it is the
protects lands from the pressures of human activity—
policy of the Congress to secure for the American
logging, hunting, and vehicle traffic—for their eco-
people of present and future generations the benefits
logical, historical, scientific, and aesthetic value.
of an enduring resource of Wilderness.”
Under the Wilderness Act, nearly five percent of
49
Failing ocean health compels us to accomplish
our lands have been forever preserved; these lands
for the oceans what we have achieved for our natural
provide havens for our most spectacular wildlife
lands under the Wilderness Act: fully and permanently
and enable all of us to enjoy true wilderness.
protecting intact ecosystems for their ecological,
Today, 106 million acres of our country is pre-
historical, scientific, and aesthetic value. Moreover,
served as wilderness. And millions of acres more—
these wilderness areas should be established within
including our most beautiful wild lands—stand
a larger, national network of marine protected areas
protected as national parks, the crown jewels of our
that help to restore and protect a broad array of marine
country. By setting aside five percent of our most
life and other resources for generations to come.
unique ocean areas as wilderness, we will enrich
As a nation, we should place our emphasis on managing and protecting
ecosystems—from the smallest plankton to the largest blue whale—not simply
individual species.
The United States should create a national system of interconnected,
representative, marine protected areas, free from the pressures of fishing,
mineral extraction, and other ecosystem-altering activities.
recommendations
We must adopt a marine wilderness ethic similar to that which we have
adopted on land.
Before they are gone, we must commit to protect fully at least five percent
of our unique and valuable ocean places as wilderness, for the enjoyment and
benefit of present and future generations. This five percent should be
integrated within a larger network of marine protected areas.
resources
73
Resource List for Concerned Citizens
Television
Watch for ocean specials on public television, Discovery Channel, and on
National Geographic Channel. MSNBC also carries the National Geographic
Explorer series.
Magazines
learn
The Ocean Conservancy’s Blue Planet Quarterly contains features and
columns on marine wildlife, ocean advocacy, and a wide range of issues
affecting the ocean environment, along with spectacular photos of sea life.
(www.oceanconservancy.org)
SeaWeb Ocean Update newsletter is posted monthly online at
www.seaweb.org/resources. It contains information on the latest scientific
discoveries, environmental issues, and policy issues affecting the oceans.
Search for local and regional publications on coastal issues. These are often the
best resources for staying informed about ocean and coastal areas near you.
health of the oceans 2002
74
World Wide Web
Visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at www.noaa.gov,
for a wide variety of information on fisheries, oceanography, marine mammals,
and environmental issues.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association has a printable and searchable
A-Z list of all U.S. aquaria and zoos at www.aza.org/FindZooAquarium.
For information on international shipping and international marine environmental
issues, log onto the International Maritime Organization’s website at www.imo.org,
or UNESCO’s Ocean 98 website at www.ocean98.org.
Ocean waters
The Clean Water Network offers information on inland and coastal waters and
policy issues affecting those waters at www.cwn.org.
Log onto the EPA’s Office of Water at www.epa.gov/ost/beaches and
www.epa.gov/ow/region.html for local beach information.
The Surfrider Foundation produces an annual State of the Beach report, which may
be found at www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach/main_pages.htm.
National Resources Defense Council produces Testing the Waters, a Guide to Water
Quality at Vacation Beaches. Both the annual report and the summary
are available at www.nrdc.org.
learn
Fish
National Marine Fisheries Service website at www.nmfs.noaa.gov.
The Marine Fish Conservation Network may be found at www.conservefish.org.
The organization offers the MFCN-FishLink, which provides subscribers updated
information on marine fish issues.
Marine Wildlife
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Program official site,
including a bulletin and list of publications, may be found at http://endangered.fws.gov.
NOAA/NMFS provides information on endangered species at
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/endangered.htm.
Ecosystems
Read about The Ocean Conservancy’s Ocean Wilderness Challenge and what
you can do to help at www.oceanconservancy.org/wc.html.
Information on many types of aquatic ecosystems may be found at EPA’s website
at www.epa.gov/ebtpages/ecosaquaticecosystems.html.
NOAA provides information on marine protected areas at www.mpa.gov.
resources
75
Write decision makers: find contact information for U.S. elected officials (Congress,
state, and local) at www.congress.org.
Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper.
Join an activist network.
➤
The Ocean Conservancy Ocean Action Network allows you to voice an opinion
on important ocean policy issues via email, fax, or letters. To join, log onto
our website at www.oceanconservancy.org.
➤
Find out about Clean Water Network’s ‘Alert—Take Action Now’ at www.cwn.org.
speak out
Attend public hearings and meetings. To find out about fishery council meetings
and hearings in your local area, log onto the regional fishery management councils’
websites:
➤
New England (www.nefmc.org)
➤
Mid-Atlantic (www.mafmc.org)
➤
South Atlantic (www.safmc.net)
➤
Caribbean (www.caribbeanfmc.com)
➤
Gulf of Mexico (www.gulfcouncil.org)
➤
Pacific (www.pcouncil.org)
➤
North Pacific (www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc)
➤
Western Pacific (www.wpcouncil.org)
Don’t contribute to overfishing by eating species that are depleted or overfished.
Log onto www.seafoodchoices.com to find out what fish are recommended by a
variety of environmental organizations, and what fish need protection.
The Ocean Conservancy offers several ways for you to act on behalf of the oceans.
Visit our website at www.oceanconservancy.org to learn more about these programs:
act
➤
Participate in The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup,
the largest volunteer effort focused on cleaning the world’s beaches, reefs,
and coastal areas.
➤
Become a RECON diver: trained volunteer divers collect information about
the health of coral reefs and reef ecosystems.
➤
Help monitor marine debris in coastal waters and develop a better understanding
of causes and effects through the National Marine Debris Monitoring Program,
a multi-year endeavor co-sponsored by The Ocean Conservancy and EPA.
health of the oceans 2002
76
Endnotes
chapter 1
Ocean Governance
1 Beldon, Russonello & Stewart
Research and Communications
and The Ocean Project, Results
of National Survey Executive
Summary, November 1999.
Survey conducted among
1,500 adults living in the U.S.
2
Other co-sponsors of this
poll were Conservation Law
Foundation, Environmental
Defense, World Wildlife Fund
Canada, and Canadian Parks
and Wilderness Society.
3
Public Laws 107-63 and
107-77.
4
Public Laws 107-77 and
107-73. $14.8 billion
represents the National
Aeronautics and Space
Administration’s entire
budget for fiscal year 2002.
5
International Maritime
Organization, “Invasive
Species: The Problem,”
http://globallast.imo.org
/problem.htm.
6
SeaWeb Ocean Update,
December 2000, vol. 6, no. 10.
7
Daniel Pauly et al., presentation
at American Association for
the Advancement of Science
conference, Boston, MA,
February 21, 2002.
8
9
Mark Kurlansky, Cod
(New York: Penguin Books,
1998), p. 221.
National Marine Fisheries
Service, 2002. Annual Report
to Congress on the Status of
U.S. Fisheries—2001.
10 “The Clean Water Act at 30,”
(Washington, DC: The Clean
Water Network).
11 Effective Use of the Sea,
section 3.4. (Washington, DC:
Panel on Oceanography of the
President’s Science Advisory
Committee, 1966.)
12 “U.S. Oceans” refers to the
U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ), established March 10,
1983 by U.S. President
Ronald Reagan by proclamation 5030. The EEZ consists
of those areas adjoining the
territorial sea of the U.S., the
Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and
U.S. overseas territories and
possessions. The EEZ is that
area of the ocean that falls
between a line drawn along
the U.S. Coast three miles
seaward from the shoreline
and another such line drawn
200 miles seaward. The
coastal waters of a state, in
which the states maintain
fishery jurisdiction, generally
extend three nautical miles
from shore. Texas, the Florida
Gulf Coast, and Puerto Rico
have fishery jurisdictions
extending nine nautical miles
offshore. The U.S. Department
of Commerce is charged with
managing activities in the EEZ,
while individual states govern
their waters. Sources: NOAA
Coastal Services Center,
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/opis/
html/summary/eez.htm,
The Ocean Conservancy,
www.oceanconservancy.org.
13 Square statute miles. Source:
U.S. Census Bureau. 1990.
Statistical Abstract of the
United States. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statisticalabstract-us.html. The 3,619,561
sq. mi. includes all U.S. states
and territories. This figure also
includes 79,079 sq. mi. of
inland waters (lakes, reservoirs,
ponds, streams, rivers, etc.)
but excludes coastal waters
and the Great Lakes.
Documentation on area
measurements can be found at:
http://www.census.gov/geo/
www/geo_defn.html#Area
Measurement.
14 Square statute miles. (Equal to
3,362,600 square nautical
miles.) Source: Congressional
Research Service. 1997.
Oceans & Coastal Resources:
A Briefing Book.
Congressional Research
Service Report 97-588 ENR.
http://www.cnie.org/NLE/CRS
reports/BriefingBooks/Oceans
/a4.cfm. Includes all U.S.
states and territories.
3
Cat Lazaroff, “High Tech
Methods Decimating Fish
Populations,” Environment News
Service, February 18, 2002.
4
Reg Watson and Daniel Pauly,
“Systematic distortions in
world fisheries catch trends,”
Nature, November 29, 2001,
414:536.
5
The Red Book (Mexico: CEMEX,
2000), p. 279. Three percent of
all fish species are known to be
threatened; however, these 752
threatened species represent
30 percent of the total in the
“known” category.
6
Atlantic Halibut, Life History
and Habitat Characteristics,
NOAA Technical Memorandum
NMFS-NE-125, September
1999.
7
J.A. Musick et al., “Marine,
Estuarine, and Diadromous
Fish Stocks at Risk of
Extinction in North America
(Exclusive of Pacific Salmonids),”
Fisheries, November 2000,
vol. 25, no. 11.
8
Jackson, Kirby, et al., “Historical
Overfishing and the Recent
Collapse of Coastal
Ecosystems,” Science,
27 July 2001, 293:629-638.
9
Chesapeake Bay Foundation,
fact sheet: “Oysters: Food,
Filters, Fish Habitat,” 2002.
15 Includes lands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management,
U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, and the
National Park Service.
16 Includes Navassa Island
National Wildlife Refuge,
Tortugas Ocean Wilderness
Area, and Kingman Reef
National Wildlife Refuge,
a total of 1,585 square
statute miles.
17 In 1972, 423,678 dolphins
were killed in the Eastern
Tropical Pacific tuna
purse-seine fishery. Marine
Mammal Commission. 2001.
“The Tuna-Dolphin Issue,”
Annual Report to Congress,
2000, pp 129-140.
chapter 2
Fish
1
2
While the National Marine
Fisheries Service Annual Stock
Assessment, 2001, states that
81 of 247 stocks are overfished, it also removes those
overfished stocks protected
under the Endangered Species
Act from the list entirely.
Daniel Pauly et al., presentation
at American Association for
the Advancement of Science
conference, Boston, MA,
February 21, 2002.
10 Ibid.
11 Daniel Pauly, “Anecdotes
and the Shifting Baseline
Syndrome of Fisheries,”
Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 10:430.
12 Mark Kurlansky, Cod
(New York: Penguin Books,
1998), p. 49.
13 J.A. Musick et al., Fisheries,
25:12.
Endnotes
14 Jerald S. Ault, et al. “Site
Characterization for Biscayne
National Park: Assessment of
Fisheries Resources and
Habitats,” Homestead, FL: U.S.
Department of the Interior,
May 2001, page iii.
15 Warsaw Grouper, NMFS
Candidate Species assessment, October 2001.
16 Musick, et al., p. 16.
17 Marine Fish Conservation
Network. www.conservefish.org
/capitol_hill/bycatch.html.
18 Other organizations involved in
the suit were: the Conservation
Law Foundation, The National
Audubon Society, and the
National Resources Defense
Council. These organizations
were represented by Oceana.
19 “Marine Reserves Called Best
Hope for Ocean Species,”
Environment News Service,
February 22, 2001.
20 According to Musick et al.,
American Fisheries Society.
chapter 3
Marine Wildlife
1
NMFS Stock Assessment,
2001.
2
NMFS Stock Assessment,
2001.
3
NMFS stock assessment,
Bottlenose dolphin, Western
North Atlantic Coastal Stock,
September 2000.
4
Ibid. NMFS estimates that from
54 to 62 percent of strandings
are fishery-related.
5
NMFS stock assessment, right
whale, December 2001.
8
9
Quoted in Associated Press
story by Randolph E. Schmid,
“Ships, not Hunters, Killing Off
Whales,” April 12, 2002.
NMFS stock assessment,
Hawaiian monk seal, December
2000. “Fishery interactions
with this species remain to be
thoroughly evaluated.”
77
chapter 4
Ocean Waters
1
2
This figure combines ocean,
bay, Great Lakes and some
freshwater beaches.
3
Natural Resources Defense
Council, Testing the Waters
2001: A Guide to Water
Quality at Vacation Beaches,
August 2001.
10 Ibid.
11 International Whaling
Commission, 2001. Report of
the Scientific Committee.
IWC/53/4. 2001 Meeting of
the International Whaling
Commission, London, United
Kingdom.
12 “Japan Plans to Add Sei
Whales to List of Catches in
Northwest Pacific Ocean,”
Associated Press, March 1,
2002.
13 C. Oravetz, “Reducing incidental
catch in fisheries,” in Research
and Management Techniques
for the Conservation of Sea
Turtles, eds. K.L. Eckert, K. A.
Bjorndal, F.A. Abreu-Grobois,
and M. Donnelly. (IUCN/SSC
Marine Turtle Specialist Group
Publication No. 4., 1999).
14 H.O. Hillestad et al.,
“Worldwide incidental capture
of sea turtles,” in Biology and
Conservation of Sea Turtles,
ed. K.A. Bjorndal (Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1982).
15 U.S. Department of Commerce
June 8, 2001. Endangered
Species Act Biological
Opinion on the Atlantic Highly
Migratory Species Fishery
Management Plan and
Associated Fisheries.
16 MMPA §1387(a)(1).
6
NMFS stock assessment, right
whale, December 2000.
17 Blue Planet Quarterly,
summer 2001, 1:8.
7
Ibid.
18 “Pacific leatherback turtles
face extinction,” Nature,
June 1, 2000.
Fact sheet, “Beach Water
Quality: Ensure Beach Waters
are Safe for Recreation,”
(Washington, DC: Clean
Water Network).
4
Press release, “Sewage Culprit
for Florida Keys Beach
Warnings and Advisories,”
National Resources Defense
Council, August 8. 2001.
5
Ibid.
6
Testing the Waters, 2001.
7
Testing the Waters, 2001.
8
“Beach Water Quality,”
Clean Water Network.
9
National Coastal Condition
Report fact sheet, (Washington,
DC: Environmental Protection
Agency, 2002).
10 Fact sheet, “Overloading Our
Water with Nutrients: Stop
Creating Dead Zones in Our
Waters,” (Washington, DC:
Clean Water Network).
11 “EPA Gives Coast Waters
Generally Low Grades,”
USA Today, April 3, 2002.
12 Clean Coastal Waters:
Understanding and Reducing
the Effects of Nutrient
Pollution (Washington, DC:
National Academy Press,
2000), p. 113.
13 Ibid.
14 Fact Sheet, “Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations
(CAFOs): Reducing the
Impacts of Industrialized
Animal Factories,”
(Washington, DC: Clean
Water Network).
15 Fact Sheet “Nutrient Pollution
in the Chesapeake Bay:
Too Much of a Good Thing,”
(Annapolis, MD: Chesapeake
Bay Foundation, 2002).
16 Ibid.
17 National Research Council,
Clean Coastal Waters:
Understanding and Reducing
the Effects of Nutrient Pollution
(Washington, DC: National
Academy Press, 2000), p. 114.
18 Ibid., p. 114.
19 Dana Beach, Coastal Sprawl:
The Effects of Urban Design
on Aquatic Ecosystems in the
United States (Arlington, VA:
Pew Oceans Commission,
2002), p. 9.
20 M. Herz and J. Davis, Cruise
Control: How Cruise Ships
Affect the Marine Environment
(Washington, DC: The Ocean
Conservancy, 2002).
21 “Ballast Water: The Problem,”
International Maritime
Organization (IMO), www.
globallast.imo.org/problem.htm.
22 University of Washington-Sea
Grant, fact sheet, “Microscopic
Organisms,” 2000.
23 News release, “Transfer of
Microorganism Facilitated by
Ballast Water,” National Sea
Grant College Program,
November 2, 2000.
24 IMO, ibid.
25 “Biocontrols May Not Work for
Jellies,” Science News, vol.
154, no. 1, p. 8.
26 IMO, ibid.
health of the oceans 2002
78
27 “Aquaculture is ‘Gateway for
Exotic Species’ Study Says,”
Ocean Update, December
2001, Sea Web.
28 www.globallast.imo.org.
29 Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete, et al.,
“Entanglement of Antarctic Fur
Seals, Arctocephalus gazella,
in Marine Debris at Capa
Shirreff and San Telmo Islets,
Livington Island, Antarctica:
1988-1997,” Instituto Antártico
Chileno (INACH) in Serie
Científica 1997, 47:123-135.
30 Australian Antarctic Division,
“Marine debris in the Southern
Ocean,” www.aad.gov.au/
magazine/autumn01/html/
51_Marine_debris.asp.
31 E.D. Goldberg, 1997.
“Plasticizing the Seafloor: an
Overview.” Environmental
Technology 18:195-202.
32 All data from 2000
International Coastal Cleanup
Results (Washington, DC:
The Ocean Conservancy, 2001).
33 Mato, Y.. et al. 2001. “Plastic
Resin Pellets as a Transport
Medium for Toxic Chemicals in
the Marine Environment.”
Environmental Science and
Technology 35:318.
34 Chapter on “Marine Debris,”
National Ocean Report:
Ocean Policy and Action for
the 21st Century (Washington,
DC: NOAA, 1999), publicaffairs.noaa.gov/oceanreport/
marinedebris.html.
37 The Ocean Conservancy,
Office of Pollution Prevention,
analysis of International
Coastal Cleanups in the U.S.
from 1996 through 2000.
38 U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response,
Characterization of Municipal
Solid Waste in the United
States, 1998 Update, Table
ES-1, p. 5 and Table 1, p. 29.
(Washington, DC: U.S. EPA,
1999).
39 U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, National Coastal
Condition Report, September
2001, p. xiv.
chapter 5
Ecosystems & Ocean
Wilderness
1
2
3
4
35 The Ocean Conservancy,
Office of Pollution Prevention,
analysis of International
Coastal Cleanups in the U.S.
from 1996 through 2000.
36 International Coastal Cleanup
Report for 2000, (Washington,
DC: The Ocean Conservancy,
2001), p. 20.
5
AAAS Atlas of Population and
Environment (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press,
2000), p. 30.
Jeremy B.C. Jackson, et al.,
“Historical Overfishing and the
Recent Collapse of Coastal
Ecosystems,” Science
293:629-634.
”Ballast Water a Vehicle for
Exotic Marine Species
Invasions,” Gulf of Maine
Times, vol. 2, no 2.
www.gulfofmaine.org/times
summer98/1a.html.
Peter J. Auster et al., 1996.
“The Impacts of Mobile Fishing
Gear on Seafloor Habitats in
the Gulf of Maine (Northwest
Atlantic): Implications for
Conservation of Fish
Populations.” Reviews in
Fisheries Science, 4(2):
185-202.
“Scientist plumbs the depths:
Q & A with Dr. Robert
Steneck,” Gulf of Maine Times,
4(3) winter 2000.
6
Ibid.
7
Gulf of Maine Council,
“About the Gulf of Maine,”
www.gulfofmaine.org.
8
State of Maine Planning Office,
“Fisheries,”
www.state.me.us/spo/mcp/
fisheries.htm.
9
“Atlantic Halibut: Life History
and Characteristics,” NOAA
Technical Memorandum
NMFS-NE-125.
10 Gulf of Maine Times, ibid.
11 Personal communication
with Robert Steneck,
March 25, 2002.
12 Pauly et al., presentation at
AAAS conference, Boston,
MA, February 21, 2002.
13 Jeremy Jackson et al., in
“Historical Overfishing and the
Recent Collapse of Coastal
Ecosystems” posit that
“Overfishing and ecological
extinction predate and precondition modern ecological investigations and the collapse of
marine ecosystems in recent
times, raising the possibility
that many more marine ecosystems may be vulnerable to collapse in the future.” (p. 629).
14 Carl Safina, “Scorched-Earth
Fishing,” Issues in Science and
Technology, 14:33.
15 “Juvenile Atlantic Cod,”
SeaLane, Fisheries and
Oceans Canada,
www.sealane.nwafc.nf.ca/
sealane.
16 R.S. Steneck, R.A. Wahle,
and Kari L. Lavalli, “Lobsters
on the Edge: Essential Lobster
Habitats in New England,”
Executive Summary, www.
lobster.um.maine.edu/habitat.
17 Cheri Recchia, Susan Farady,
Jack Sobel, and Joshua Cinner,
Marine and Coastal Protected
Areas in the United States
Gulf of Maine Region
(Washington, DC: The Ocean
Conservancy, 2002), in press.
18 “Coral Sea Stat: Information
on coral reefs in the State
of Florida,” Florida Marine
Research Institute,
www.floridamarine.org.
19 “Introduction to coral . . . and
more,” Florida Marine Research
Institute, ibid.
20 U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary
Coral Reef Monitoring Project,
“Executive Summary 2001,”
from FKNMS Symposium:
An Ecosystem Report Card,
Washington, DC, December
2001.
21 Coral Sea Stat, Florida Marine
Research Institute.
22 U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, National Coastal
Condition Report
(Washington, DC: September
2001), pp. xv and 105.
23 “Sewage Culprit for Florida
Keys Beach Warnings and
Advisories,” News Release,
Natural Resources Defense
Council, August 8, 2001.
24 Ibid.
25 Jerald S. Ault, Steven G.
Smith, et al., “Site
Characterization for Biscayne
National Park: Assessment of
Fisheries Resources and
Habitats,” (Homestead, FL:
Biscayne National Park, U.S.
Department of the Interior,
May 2001), p. iv.
26 Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary enforcement,
Seagrass Outreach
Partnership.
Endnotes
27 Ault, Smith, et al., ibid., p. iii.
28 William F. Smith-Vaniz, James
A. Bohnsack, James D.
Williams, “Reef Fishes of the
Florida Keys,”
biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/
m4062.htm.
29 Kathy Scanlon, “Red Grouper
Habitats in Florida Bay,”
October 2000,
soundwaves.usgs.gov/2000/10
/fieldwork.html.
30 Clive Wilkinson, “Status of
Coral Reefs of the World:
2000,” Global Coral Reef
Monitoring Network, at
www.aims.gov.au/pages/
research/coral-bleaching/
scr2000/scr-00gcrmnreport.html.
31 Ibid.
32 Cal-Fed Program Summary,
8.00.
33 A.N. Cohen and J.T. Carlton.
1998. “Accelerating Invasion
Rate in a Highly Invaded
Estuary.” Science 279:
555-557.
34 San Francisco Bay Estuary
Project, “Current Issues,”
www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/
sfep/reports/fact.
35 Gregory M. Ruiz, et al., “Global
Spread of Microorganisms by
Ships,” Nature 408:49-50.
36 U.S. EPA, National Coastal
Condition Report, p. 132.
37 Ibid., p. 137.
38 San Francisco Estuary Project,
“Current Factors Affecting
Wildlife and Aquatic
Organisms,” www.abag.ca.gov.
39 National Coastal Condition
Report, p. 142.
40 Jeremy Jackson et al., Science,
293:636. “A second potentially
important mechanism for the
suddenness of ecosystem
collapse is the elimination of
previously unfished refuges
that were protected historically
because of distance or
expense of access.”
41 Ecosystems Principles
Advisory Panel, “EcosystemBased Fishery Management:
A Report to Congress”
(November 15, 1998), p. 2.
42 Callum M. Roberts, et al.,
“Effects of Marine Reserves
on Adjacent Fisheries,”
Science 294:1920.
43 Ibid.
44 “Scientific Consensus
Statement on Marine Reserves
and Marine Protected Areas,”
National Center for Ecological
Analysis and Synthesis, presented at the annual meeting
of the American Association
for the Advancement of the
Sciences, February 17, 2001.
45 David B. Eggleston and Craig
P. Dahlgren, “Distribution and
Abundance of Caribbean
Spiny Lobsters in the Key
West National Wildlife Refuge:
Relationship to Habitat
Features and Impact of an
Intensive Recreational Fishery,”
Marine and Freshwater
Resources, 2001 52:1575.
46 Marine and Coastal Protected
Areas in the United States
Gulf of Maine Region, p. 11.
47 The Ocean Conservancy,
Conservation Law Foundation,
Environmental Defense,
World Wildlife Fund Canada,
Canadian Parks and
Wilderness Society and Edge
Research, “Public Attitudes on
Fully-Protected Ocean Areas in
New England and Atlantic
Canada,” a survey conducted
among 750 residents of the
regions, February 1, 2002.
79
48 Socioeconomic Study of
Reefs in Southeast Florida,
October 2001.
3
At present, Rose Atoll, Baker
Island, Howland, and Jarvis
Island National Wildlife
Refuges are not considered
Ocean Wilderness Areas
because they fall substantially
short of the size guidelines
(100 sq. nm.) However, we will
continue to evaluate these
areas' suitability as possible
exceptions to the Ocean
Wilderness Area size criteria
because of the fact that the
areas protected represent
entire ecosystems (including
land and protection of the
submarine shelf to significant
depths), and the fact that they
are isolated and remote, with
significant integrity of their
resources.
4
The size of this and of all
other Wildlife Management
Areas in the Florida Keys is
approximate.
5
Palmyra is mostly closed to
fishing. Only the inner lagoon
is open to limited catch and
release fishing. Bluewater
areas at some distance
beyond the reefs are also
open to limited pelagic fishing,
mostly but not exclusively,
catch and release. The area
seaward of the island out past
and including all reefs is fully
no-take. No-take area is
approximate; exact area information was not available.
6
Includes Tortugas Ecological
Reserves of the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary and
the Research Natural Area of
Dry Tortugas National Park.
49 Effective Use of the Sea,
section 3.4. (Washington, DC:
Panel on Oceanography of the
President’s Science Advisory
Committee, 1966.)
50 Les Watling and Elliot Norse,
“Disturbance of the Seabed
by Mobile Fishing Gear:
A Comparison to Forest
Clearcutting,” Conservation
Biology, 12(6):1180.
Notes for chart:
No-Take Marine Reserves
in U.S. Waters p.69
1
2
Some No-Take and/or Ocean
Wilderness Areas may not
be included in this table.
We are conducting ongoing
research to ensure that this
list is complete.
A protected Ocean Wilderness
Area is an area in which all
fishing and other extractive
activities are prohibited.
In these areas, living marine
communities have the opportunity to thrive, largely unaffected
by human activities, and
people can study, explore and
experience ocean life in an
untrammeled condition for
generations to come. To be
successful, Ocean Wilderness
Areas need to be relatively
large, generally at least 100
square miles. Ocean
Wilderness Areas may be
established in remote, isolated
places such as Navassa Island,
a U.S.-owned Caribbean island
about 60 miles west of Haiti,
or closer to home, such as the
Tortugas, 70 miles west of
Florida's Key West. They may
be areas where the life within
is still relatively untouched, or
impacted areas that offer good
opportunities for rejuvenation.
health of the oceans 2002
80
Credits
photography
design
printing
Page 6
Emmerlick/Environmental Protection Agency; T. Merrell/National Marine Fisheries Service (inset)
Page 7
Nancy Klingener/The Ocean Conservancy
Page 8
Mike Weber/The Ocean Conservancy
Page 12
Claire Flanders
Page 16
Mike Weber/The Ocean Conservancy (inset)
Page 19
Sue Sepelak
Page 21
Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown, MA; Linda Maraniss/The Ocean Conservancy (inset)
Page 23
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Page 28
D.R. Schachte
Page 29
Calkins/National Marine Fisheries Service
Page 31
Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown, MA
Page 35
National Marine Santuaries Program (NMSP); The Ocean Conservancy (inset)
Page 36
John Domont
Page 37
Michael McNulty
Page 39
Scott A. Eckert
Page 41
Michael Mator; Elizabeth Walker (inset)
Page 49
Michigan Sea Grant
Page 53
South Florida Water Management District; Kathy O’Hara/The Ocean Conservancy (inset)
Page 58
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (inset)
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Linda Maraniss/The Ocean Conservancy
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T. Merrell/National Marine Fisheries Service
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South Florida Water Management District
Smarteam Communications Inc.
S&S Graphics, Inc.
The mission of The Ocean Conservancy is to protect ocean ecosystems
and conserve the global abundance and diversity of marine wildlife.
Through science-based advocacy, research, and public education, The Ocean Conservancy
informs, inspires, and empowers people to speak and act for the oceans.
In all its work, The Ocean Conservancy strives to be the world’s foremost advocate for the oceans.
Health of the Oceans 2002 is a publication of The Ocean Conservancy.
© 2002, The Ocean Conservancy.
Advocates for Wild, Healthy Oceans