"You Said It" Survey

Ah... the beach. Who doesn’t enjoy staring at the surf, walking through frothy waves, and marveling at the majesty of the sea?

According to the results of our survey, Leaf Litter readers not only appreciate the beauty and power of the ocean; they value its many contributions to life on our planet.

A majority (53%) of Leaf Litter readers believe that climate control is the most important ecosystem service provided by oceans. Food and oxygen provision came in second, earning 16% and 15% of your votes, respectively. 8% of you said greenhouse gas absorption, while 2% of you said provision of habitat. 6% of you were not able to label one ecosystem service as the most important.

When we asked what you consider to be the greatest threat to ocean ecosystems, most of you said either climate change (44%) or commercial fishing (43%). 7% of you said illegal dumping; 5% said pollution; and 1% said acidification.

Click on the graph for a larger version

Most of you were reluctant to identify one symptom of declining ocean health you found most alarming. While 11% of you chose loss of marine biodiversity; 9% loss of coral reef; 7% disruption of the food web and 3% water quality degradation, a whopping 70% of you answered “All of the above.”

Of the readers who responded to the survey, only 16% have been involved in an ocean-based ecological restoration or conservation planning project. Here’s what some of you had to say:

At Westport, WA, breeching a dike to restore estuarine marsh, mudflat and tidal channels where Elk River flows into the Pacific Ocean and watching channel development and salt marsh development for 15 years. (http://www.ser.org/sernw/pdf/
WDOE_restoring_wetlands_WA.pdf)

A number of relatively small planting projects on or near beach areas.

Community conservation of near shore ecosystems in Muscongus Bay, ME.

I was co-PI on an Earthwatch mission in Puerto Rico to monitor the results of a coral reef restoration after a ship grounding.

Part of my job is to administer and monitor coastal restoration grants. Projects have included several coral reef restoration and protection grants.

Designed a restoration proposal for an artificial reef structure in Cuba. Included a study of the biotic and abiotic factors/conditions of the natural reef as well as the artificial. Near shore polution studies - Saanich Inlet BC Shorekeepers Surveys - Saanich Peninsula Atlas of Shorelines (SIPAS).

Worked on anadromous fisheries research and population restoration efforts on salmonids in Oregon and Washington and white shad on the Chesapeake.

CALFED Bay-Delta Ecosystem Restoration through a grant to the Aquatic Outreach Institute (currently the Watershed Project)

We wanted to know what you consider to be the greatest barrier to improving the health of our oceans. Here’s how you responded:

• 44% - lack of international governance
• 37% - lack of awareness
• 11% - lack of interest
• 4% - lack of funding
• 2% - vastness of oceans
• 2% - other

Those of you who responded “other” cited the following barriers:

• Sociopolitical willpower
• The absence of a national ocean policy
• US lack of leadership on climate policy
• All of the above
• Lack of visibility
• Ignorance, all of the above
• Greed
• Combination of governance and awareness
• Lack of concern in general
• Poor countries
• Execution of environmental fines
• Lack of action to stop threats

When we asked what types of conservation and restoration initiatives you think can be most effective in protecting ocean ecosystems?

• 23% said increase in public awareness
• 21% think sustainable harvesting
• 18% said pollution abatement
• 10% said increase in the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (http://mpa.gov/)

11% of you said you could not select just one initiative. As one reader put it, “It will take a combination of efforts to show results, with a decrease in land-based threats being the top contributor to poor ocean conditions. Sustainable harvest is also critical, and as the water quality improves, more ingenuity can be applied and have a greater chance of success through active restoration and increased public awareness.”

None of you chose “control and management of invasive species” or “active restoration initiatives to restore declining ocean ecosystems” but 17% of you offered comments:

• There is no one answer but sustainable harvesting along with pollution abatement is a good beginning. I believe there is public awareness but there is a need to get congressional backing. We also need to stop using the ocean as a dumping ground.
• Call a Global Summit on the Oceans.
• There is no silver bullet. We have to approach conservation from all angles.
• A world governing body with clout is needed to push for the uncomfortable changes that need to be made in how we all "do business" with the oceans.
• Active restoration--presuming you include education, governance, and removal of degrading factors as much as possible. These should all be implicit in a successful restoration plan.
• A number of these are critical elements to any approach. This is a huge system and restoring just one part really will not do much. I chose the first as I've seen sustainable fisheries systems and believe that this is one small attainable goal.
• A ten year ban on harvesting any seafood.
• Help poor countries become more affluent so they can help the more prosperous nations protect oceans from pollutants.
• HEAVY and IMMEDIATE regulations on the things that are doing the damage, and enforcement of the regulations with severe penalties. Economic incentives and penalties that make it un-economic to pillage the ocean and treat it like a dump.
• Combination - active restoration initiatives, sustainable harvesting, and pollution abatement.

We were curious to know who you felt should be responsible for leading ocean conservation and restoration initiatives. Many of you had firm opinions about this.

Source: Nature Matters.

24% of you said that it should be the responsibility of international government organizations. 20% believe it should be the job of all countries of the world, while 8% of you felt that only countries bordering oceans should be responsible for their restoration and conservation. 5% of you said that initiatives should be led by non-governmental organizations. 2% of you think it is a job for citizens and 1% said academic institutions.

The remaining 40% of you believe that some combination of parties should be responsible. Many of you included academic institutions in these combinations. Here are some of your comments:

• Citizens, governments, and non-profit ocean advocacy organizations
• A combination of International governing bodies, academic institutions, NGOs and financial institutions
• Governments collaborating with NGOs and corporations (for funding if nothing else)
• Realistically, governments are the ones with the clout to back up the initiative.
• There must be a groundswell from citizens, through awareness, first.
• Everyone has a role to play. Domestically, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration should clearly be the lead, but may need more flexibility and funding to work with international governments, where problems are much harder to address due to some countries’ need to meet basic human necessities of food and shelter.
• International government organizations, countries, NGOs, citizens
• International government organizations & countries that border oceans

When it comes to who should foot the bill for these initiatives, more than one third of you (35%) said all countries of the world. 15% of you said international government organizations, and 8% think the money should come from the pockets of only countries bordering oceans.

Here are some comments from those of you (42%) who chose “other” as your answer:

• Why have you not suggested industry? They are the ones profiting by pillaging! They should be legally obligated to fund these initiatives.
• We need to develop and apply new "business models" that involve all stakeholders.
• Tax revenues, academic institutions, and non-profit ocean advocacy orgs
• An international team selected from scientist, ngo's, financial and political org's
• International Gov Orgs; all countries; NGO's
• Pollution from landlocked countries finds its way into our oceans
• It's going to take more than just one source to pull this off, but something along the lines of a World Wildlife Fund would be a start.
• NOAA has a very active coastal and marine habitat restoration program that serves communities, as well as deals with parties that spill oil or other contaminants that damage public resources. More work could be done collaboratively with international governments as well as non-profits if funding were available.
• Tree huggers
• Everyone is responsible
• International government organizations & Academic Institutions

Many of you say you’d like to learn more about ecosystem decline in Oceans. We hope the information, news and resources in this issue of Leaf Litter get you off to a good start. Here are some of the items you said you want to learn about:

• Links between urban planning and ocean impacts, so training of folks outside the oceanography profession is critical to raise awareness of the impacts of poor decision making. Coral diseases and predators are ravaging the remaining coral reefs, so that ending overfishing and research on coral disease to come up with treatments for sick corals is also needed.
• CO2 absorption and coral reef development
• Perhaps valuable research exists but disseminating it in a way people can understand and thus be motivated to demand action seems a key step.
• A variety of research is needed, but as a scientist, I believe research needs to be focused on solving problems rather than documenting them.
• How to better manage our fisheries, and how to keep all types of pollution from entering our waterways
• More research into value and effects of marine protected areas akin to the research that has been conducted on terrestrial protected areas.
• more information of past ecosystems, and what has caused their decline
• Connections between ocean decline and issues related to human populations. Strike at our self preservation motivation.
• 1) Reversal of global warming 2) Reduction in land based sources/mobile sources 3) Overfishing/harvesting
• Researching Solutions and creating an effective awareness program
• Monitoring of change and the effectiveness of various restoration efforts.
• There's enough research to make decisions. We just need a powerful political leader to push through some legislation to legally protect marine systems. Maybe the time will be right soon...
• Linkages with terrestrial ecosystems
• Effects of climate change in the oceans on species and weather
• I think we already know what the problems are. Time to act, not do more research! Pollution, over fishing, estuary and aquatic nursery destruction, and climate change are all things we already know about. Time to take action and stop talking about it.
• Tourism-related development of islands (subsequent destruction of coral reefs to allow cruise ship access); also, educational awareness of native peoples of island nations regarding ocean ecology
• Monitoring ocean dumping!!

Photoplankton. Source: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

• What restoration efforts are actually effective? Deep water hydrology and plastic decomposition side effects.
• How to sustain the marine diversity
• Less research, more action on protection and restoration. I think we know enough to move forward on taking action.
• Modeling of continued degradation from climate change and human interference including over-harvesting of resources.
• We need to examine the changes that are taking place in these ecosystems, determine cause and effects, and address the issue through science and education. The public needs to be informed so they can understand the urgency and voice their concerns. We should look at science successes and build on existing knowledge to move forward. Long term datasets and GIS are excellent tools for analysis that can be used in conjunction with biological and other types of research to better understand where changes have occurred. Scientists and managers can use this information to determine how they can best address various aspects of decline.
• By-catch studies; effectiveness of intergovernmental cooperation on things like whaling, fishing, and other ocean harvesting; how off-shore wind turbines would affect the prevalence of invasives.
• How can we slow the rate of destruction due to pollution (nutrients and plastics), how can we develop sustainable harvest practices, how can we slow the rate of loss of coral reef systems in light of the seeming hopeless climate change situation?
• Establishing the influence on human life is going to be critical for getting the attention of the masses.
• I would say research in all sectors regarding the sea - over the last 20 years, research funding has gone down dramatically in various parts of the world. We need to keep the research ongoing, collect data, note changes and understand fully that ecosystem in order to make relevant initiatives for conservation and more urgently, for restoration.
• The effectiveness of restoration projects on declining ecosystems and the prioritization of specific locations in need of restoration
• Determining the balance that oceanic ecosystems will reach under projected conditions (i.e. species compositions, environmental conditions, services, etc.).
• How to mobilize people and governments to act in the interests of the oceans. We know quite a lot about ocean ecosystems, their degradation and decline -- now we need to make that knowledge more widely available, and make it clear how crucial oceans are to our planet's health.
• Research in causes of decline, pilot mitigation programs
• The effect of the huge mass of plastic floating between Hawaii and Alaska.
• Global warming for the changing of climates; reduction of the rain forests; reducing the carbon footprint and alternative fuels to promote clean water and air.
• Past, present, and future long term impacts of climate change on ecosystem changes (not decline) in oceans.
• Impacts of stressors to determine which should be addressed first and at what level.
• Ocean acidification, nutrient cycling and ecosystem response and sustainable protein production and harvest all merit vastly increased support.
• The effects of resource management
• Research that quantifies the benefits to humans, e.g. health related, such as ocean as a new drug source
• Focused research on the most damaging hazards and how they might be mitigated
• Not so much research as a way of packaging the facts that gets through to the average person. There is a lot of research on how to reach the public, but it isn't put into practice often enough.
• Long term multi-resource monitoring across a wide network of stations.
• potential effects on aquatic life and weather patterns due to sea temperatures rising
• Find ways to prevent pollution. Find incentives for limited commercial harvest. Find out about other countries' positions and what they will do to restore ocean health.
• Additional research into disappearing reefs and causes of these disappearances, overfishing of oceans, and ways to sustain the oceans, and food production.
• Research is needed to keep politicians and citizens aware of the problems, but really, we know what many of the problems are, we just aren't doing anything about them (when I say "we" I mean all countries and citizens. Human overpopulation is the root of the oceans' problems - pollution, overfishing, climate change, etc.)
• Quantifiable and specific reasons for decline in coral reefs

As always, we thank you for participating in our reader survey and helping us wade through this vast topic.