Earth Day and the ocean

Although it's April Fools' Day, the following post is a serious one. This year is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and The Nature Conservancy wants to remind everyone that the earth includes the ocean. As Sylvia Earle is fond of saying, based on size this is really Planet Ocean. If we ruin the oceans, we ruin ourselves. Here are some tips from TNC about what you can do:

1. Use Reusable Bags http://earthday.nature.org/reuse/

a. Hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year from ingesting plastic bags http://bit.ly/cCww8r

2. Eat Sustainably http://earthday.nature.org/sustain/

a. You eat fish even when you don’t: 36% of world's fisheries catch is used to feed farm animals http://bit.ly/asiJjO

3. Green Your Gardening http://earthday.nature.org/garden/

a. Plant native species – they require less fertilizer, which can seep into oceans! http://bit.ly/aSwOhb

4. Adopt A Coral Reef http://adopt.nature.org/coralreef/bahamas/

a. 70% of all Earth’s coral reefs will be destroyed by 2050, act now! http://bit.ly/bs7Sp4

5. See Oceans, Save Oceans http://nature.org/disney

a. See OCEANS (4/22-4/28) & a portion of ticket sales benefits Conservancy’s work on coral reefs http://bit.ly/cYENDQ

You can also follow their Twitter to learn more.

I'd also like to add that if you're in the U.S., you should contact your representative and senator and let them know that you support strong national and international policies to reduce ocean pollution, end overfishing, end subsidies for fishing (sustainable or not), and create marine protected areas. Personal action is great, but until we dismantle the systems that make it profitable to abuse our oceans it'll be difficult to make any progress. You should also let President Obama know that you absolutely oppose the plan to allow for a resumption in commercial whaling. Go here to tell him to tell the US IWC Commissioner to stand up for the whales at the June IWC meeting!

Check me out at The Reef Tank

The Reef Tank team has graciously reposted my Sylvia Earle blog post, in which I managed to combine two of my greatest loves: ocean conservation and fake news. Go on over there and check it out - they have lots of great posts on all kinds of marine issues!

Sylvia Earle on Colbert

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sylvia Earle
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

It's been a bonanza for ocean conservationists on fake news shows recently - first Jon Stewart mocks Sean Hannity's ignorance of how ecosystems work, and now Stephen Colbert talks to Her Deepness about overfishing and ocean health.

Although her clip puts me in mind of something I've always wanted to see: accurate pricing of goods that are only cheap when you ignore the environmental harm they cause. Wouldn't it be nice to have two prices for a pound of fish - the actual price the consumer pays, and then the cost per pound when pollution from fishing vessels, bycatch and habitat damage are included? Not to mention government subsidies, or, if catch limits are above those recommended by scientists, how much the economy will lose if the fishery collapses. It won't change behavior overnight, but I'm convinced people will never understand the need to conserve unless they understand the value of what they lose when a product, service, or food source is obtained or made in an environmentally damaging way.

We need to stop thinking about environmental protection as a luxury good, only to be obtained when convenient. Environmental damage and overfishing involve real costs, both in the short-term and the long-term. We can no longer let those who incur these costs avoid paying for them. If you go to a gym, you're expected to pay for the privilege of using the equipment, which you don't own. Why shouldn't fishing operators pay for the damage they may cause to the ocean environment, which they don't own? Allowing anyone, whether a fishing vessel or a manufacturer, to get off without paying for damage to common resources is to legalize stealing from the public. It also disincentivizes the development of more environmentally-friendly production methods.

Overfishing isn't just a problem for fish. It's theft of a resource that, as Sylvia says, keeps us all alive.