As renowned veteran oceanographer Sylvia Earle aptly asserted: “With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea, no matter where on Earth you live.” Our very fickle existence on this planet is inherently interwoven with the health of our seas.
Despite the essential role played by the ocean as a life-support system (e.g. absorbing at least 25 per cent of the surplus atmospheric carbon dioxide generated through the burning of fossil fuels, releasing at least half of the atmospheric oxygen at our disposal and acting as a giant conveyor belt in circulating heat around the globe), it is still arduous to get the public at large interested in marine conservation issues.
Translating this caveat to the local context, one observes a healthy degree of public mobilisation in response to real or perceived environmental deterioration on land, but only a whimper when it comes to cases of environmental despoilment below the waves. The incessant regression of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows, for instance, which are more effective at capturing dissolved carbon dioxide than trees are with atmospheric carbon dioxide on land, in embayments like Xemxija or Marsaxlokk as a result of activities such as anchoring and dredging, barely makes the headlines.
In the pre-COVID era, more specifically in 2017, the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) had predicted that the global ocean economy, which currently represents an approximate 2.5 per cent of the global Gross Value Added (GVA), would represent a total output of $3 billion by 2030, which would retain the ocean economy within the 10 largest economies in the world, with the total direct employment in maritime sectors expected to rise from the current figure of 31 million to 40 million by 2030.
Despite this, traditional financial instruments are fuelling a decrease in the resilience of our seas and thus, innovative financial solutions are necessary. Blue finance, in particular blue bonds, have huge potential to help surmount these challenges. Blue bonds are an innovative ocean financing instrument whereby funds raised are earmarked exclusively for projects deemed ocean- friendly. The Republic of Seychelles last year launched the world’s first sovereign blue bond, raising a total of $15 million to advance the small island state’s blue economy. Since then, the international not-for-profit group The Nature Conservancy (TNC) recently unveiled plans to mobilise $1.6 billion of funding for global ocean conservation efforts through blue bonds, under a scheme dubbed ‘blue bonds for conservation’. An innovative finance model using philanthropy to save the world’s oceans by providing upfront capital.
Circular economy models have become all the rage of recent, with this concept, dating back to 1976, finally managing to hog the limelight at the European and even at the national level. The BYTHOS project (http://www.bythos.eu/) has tangibly demonstrated how waste from the bluefin tuna industry, which runs in the thousands of tons each year, but also from other waste streams including fish markets and restaurants, can be a source of Biologically Active Molecules (BAMs), including collagen and fish oils.
Our very fickle existence on this planet is inherently interwoven with the health of our seas- Alan Deidun
The ongoing GoJelly project (https://gojelly.eu/ ), funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 framework, is the perfect poster child of a blue biotechnological project which is translating a marine hazard – jellyfish blooms – into a possible opportunity. For instance, within the project, jellyfish biomass is being tested as an innovative fertiliser for soils, as a source of collagen for cosmetics and as a source of mucus which in turn has been found to be effective at trapping micro- and nanoplastic particles within the water column.
While seeking to unlock the untapped socio-economic assets of the marine domain, we must obviously strive to ensure that this innovative blue growth does not take a toll on the environmental assets of the same domain. The designation of effective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is one such tool in achieving this onerous target, with the global community ratcheting up the previous target of global ocean MPA coverage from 10 per cent to 30 per cent by 2030.
The previous target of 10 per cent coverage by 2020 was defaulted, and with current MPA global coverage levels just totalling 7.5 per cent, a veritable quantum leap is needed to make the new targets. Effective management of MPAs is yet another white elephant, given that MPA designation on its own is toothless.
Malta’s MPA designation momentum has been prodigious, with our total 18 MPAs currently extending over a stunning 35 per cent of our 25-nautical-mile Fisheries Management Zone, a total of 4,138km2, a marine area equivalent to 13 times the terrestrial extent of the archipelago. Managing effectively such an extensive marine area is the next challenge, as well as generating awareness about the living assets of the same MPAs pursuant to supporting their sustainable enjoyment. This is where the CORALLO project (www.corallo-italiamalta.eu), led by the University of Malta and involving the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and Heritage Malta, along with four Sicilian partners, comes in.
The project aims to promote the biodiversity assets held within three nearshore MPAs in Malta, located off the western cliffs and to the north-east of the island by deploying innovative tools (e.g. virtual and augmented reality, gaming approach, underwater CCTV, citizen science, and animation and video productions for mainstream and social media) within a number of visitors’ centres managed by Heritage Malta, including the Malta Maritime Museum, Ħaġar Qim Temples and Għar Dalam.
In yet another of her anecdotes, Sylvia Earle succinctly encapsulates the communicative attributes that scientists, including marine ones, need to have when positing that “The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids! They ask questions and have a sense of wonder. They have curiosity. Who, what, why, where, why, when and how!”
As the age-old adage goes, you cannot protect or cherish what you do not understand or know, and ocean advocates have a task on their hands to fire the imagination of the public about the need to protect that big blue space lapping our shores. The formal kick-off of the UN’s Ocean Sciences Decade in two days’ time (June 1) in Berlin will be the perfect platform to launch a renewed global ocean literacy effort.
