Mark Schrope: The Blue Economist
Mark Schrope introduces his new column on the Blue Economy, reflecting on decades of slow ocean progress and arguing that scalable technologies, paired with human will and community buy-in, can finally drive real ocean restoration.
I had been underwater for about 30 minutes when it hit me what a truly long way we have to go in restoring our oceans to health. I was diving with a colleague in the Philippines and we had repeatedly felt the literal repercussions of fishermen using dynamite to kill fish. It was the fifth one, I think, that was so close that the explosion made my bones tingle. But the fishers were still too far away to see. We saw the figurative repercussions also, unsurprisingly, on the reef around us: very few fish of any size, and large swathes of coral destroyed.
I’ve spent my whole life in and around the ocean, growing up in Florida, working as an oceanographer, then 15 years as an ocean-focused journalist. So, the troubles weren’t really a surprise to me, it’s just that I was remembering writing about efforts to halt dynamite fishing more than 25 years ago. The hit was recognizing in a new way how slow progress has been in addressing ocean problems–not just dynamite fishing but a host of assaults on our saltwater resources. The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. And that’s what we want this new column to be about.
My work no longer focuses on measuring or documenting ocean damages. Instead, I have the remarkable privilege of leading a philanthropic program called Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. We fund brilliant initiatives around the globe focused on developing the technologies and techniques needed to solve the ocean’s most pressing problems, from overfishing to pollution to habitat loss. Of course, all involved recognise that there is a staggering amount of work to be done. Humans have indeed altered the vast oceans in countless ways that harm and shift ecological systems with devastating impacts on ocean life as well as humans. But, if we have the ability to force systems into decline, we’re also capable of pushing them toward recovery as well.
After more than a decade of dedicated work by countless creative thinkers, a range of technologies are either ready to be deployed at larger scale to solve ocean problems, or approaching that point. As importantly, a strong network has coalesced around supporting companies and efforts to take the next steps. This work falls mostly under the heading of the “Blue Economy,” which is one of those annoying terms that’s used in so many ways that the definition is a bit fuzzy.
So, for our purposes here, I’ll use my nearly lapsed artistic license to define it this way: The Blue Economy describes efforts to solve ocean problems, or to reduce the impacts of human activities like shipping or fishing, in ways that are economically sustainable. This includes everything from creating affordable tools for restoring kelp beds or better measuring coastal pollution levels, to finding ways to reduce ship emissions and fuel use.
In many cases, new technologies will be essential to drive the restoration and preservation of the oceans. Still, we always try to keep in mind that technology itself is never the whole solution to any problem. What technology can be is a tool that enables us humans to solve a problem. For better or worse, it’s up to us to apply the tools properly, and much, if not most of the time, that demands some changes to human behaviours. Sadly, we’ve yet to see a proposal for technology that will make humans and politicians stop doing foolish things, and we probably won’t. That just reinforces the fact that those of us paying attention to ocean issues are going to have to work together in order to see real progress in ocean health.
It’s important to remember that problems rarely get solved in isolation. Most often, there are communities that will benefit from ocean health improvements, but may also be impacted by the technological solutions. Communities need to understand the benefits they’ll feel directly if their kelp forests are restored, for instance, if they’re going to embrace the work and carry the costs. In the case of dynamite fishing, we need better technologies for detecting the locations of explosions, not to mention other illegal fishing activities that are often banned under laws that can’t currently be enforced effectively. However, if we want people to stop such activities for good, they need alternatives for feeding and supporting their families. In other words, the needs of the people need to be addressed alongside the needs of their local waters if we want to make real progress.
As essential as the technologies are, I would argue that in restoring ocean health the greatest challenges may not be the technological ones. There are absolutely additional tools needed, and we have to bring the costs of restoration technologies and techniques down to expand our collective potential to fix ocean problems. But really, it’s more a matter of will. We need to deploy what we already have much more quickly.
So how do we get the funding, the political will, and the public sentiment all aligned to move forward with large-scale ocean restoration? One of the most critical pieces will be to make sure everyone can see concrete examples of the kind of progress that’s now possible, so they can easily envision similar things happening in their town or region. To put it another way, I think that real-world case studies and stories are and will be some of the most powerful tools we have.
The goal for this column will be to tell you the stories of some of the leaders in this Blue Economy movement, and highlight the most important and encouraging trends in marine technology. I promise you there is amazing work underway, and some remarkable people out there you’ll be glad to get to know.
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