‘That willingness to take action for the oceans, that makes me happy’

Although it was not such a megaGunges as the annual global climate conference, the third UN-OREANE CONFERENTION (UNOC3), last week in Nice, attracted no fewer than six thousand participants. From all over the world they met to talk about « faster action and more cooperation to better protect the world’s seas and use it more sustainably. »

A whole mouth full, and not a superfluous luxury: the oceans are under great pressure due to climate change, overfishing and pollution. There are already worrying changes in marine biodiversity, but also in the regulation of the climate and the food supply of an estimated three billion people.

Science was an important pillar of Unoc3. A large scientific congress took place prior to the conference. Han Dolman, director of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Research Der Zee (NIOZ), went there.

What is the use of this kind of mega -unferments? The scientific congress also had no fewer than ten themes on the agenda …

« Of course you also have smaller, specialist science conferences. That is what science is making the most forward, I think. But such a general congress visualizes the total picture. All those themes that are now playing are of course related to each other. So you have to see them in their totality, and that is why all those experts meet here. »

Those encounters are perhaps the most useful aspect in Nice?

« Yes, I think so. Here, as scientists, we can make connections, work on our network and gain ideas from outside our own field. And we can discuss things like: what do we do now so much American financing is lost. Who will fill that gap? And finally, these kinds of congresses help to bring the importance of oceans to the attention. »

Is that still necessary?

« Yes. Now take the sustainable development goals of the UN, the SDGs. The SDG that relates to the oceans, number 14, gets by far the least financing of all. And of course that annoys the enormous importance of the oceans. The problems are too far from their bed for many people. They have no idea. »

Can science help to solve those problems?

« Yes. At the basis of every good solution are facts and knowledge. If you do not know what exactly is going on, and how things are interrelated, then you cannot come up with effective solutions. You need to know what happens to a food web if you remove elements from it. You need to know what happens to the acidity of the water if the ocean more Co₂ Starting – and what that then means for marine life. You need science for that. That is why I think it is great that science is so prominent here on the agenda. ”

Does that science end up with the policy makers sufficiently?

« That is still a concern. If scientists are allowed to do our best, we should realize that our work does not end in a publication in Nature or Science. I also argue that we sit down in the process with the policy makers and other parties earlier: then we can help formulate the right research questions in the first instance. Now it often happens the other way around: that we will look after how our results are applicable. ”

Do you already see improvement in that?

« Yes. I think it’s great to see that there is a new generation that puts a lot of energy and time in ocean research in that broad context-including the socio-economic aspects-and that also invests in what we Ocean Literacy Calling: a broader fame of these problems and solutions with the general public and with policy makers. You now see those people prominently here in Nice. That willingness to take action, that makes me happy. And also from all those hopeful stories they tell about how you can protect the ocean in a good way. Those stories are much more useful at such a conference than such a political final statement. « 

Sabine GollnerThe still unknown treasures of the deep sea

On the ocean floor, about four to five thousand meters deep, there are valuable metal deposits that are interesting for the industry. For example, ores of manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper- popular for the battery and electronics industry. For years have been countries consulting About rules for mining in those areas.

Sabine Gollner.

« There is no agreement yet, » says Marien ecologist Sabine Gollner. « In the meantime, dozens of countries have already received exploratory permits to investigate where the ores are and whether deep sea line is technically feasible. »

In Nice, Gollner, who works at the NIOZ, gave a presentation about possible damage to ecosystems through deep sea mine construction. She investigates Manganese tubers: metal tubers of approximately ten centimeters in diameter that are loose on the ocean floor in some regions. In the course of millions of years they have been formed by the precipitation of metals from seawater. Companies want to harvest it ‘. That happens with suction, digging or brush machines.

In 2022, Gollner participated in an expedition to a huge deep sea area between Hawaii and Mexico, where various countries are already looking for these tubers. « The tubers are of great ecological importance, » says Gollner. « They form the only hard surface in a further sandy environment and offer living space to all kinds of organisms. On the tubers, sponges and corals grow, on which other animals live, such as brushworms and snake stars. In the cracks, nematodes and rowing feet live. »

The ecosystems on and around those tubers are still largely unknown. « In the last five years alone, five thousand new species have been discovered: all kinds of worms, crustaceans, sea cucumbers. That indicates how diverse those places are. In everything we bring up, we think: what will we find for news? »

All this information is crucial to estimate the effects of that mining, Gollner emphasizes. « On what scale, for example, the animal life changes when you remove those tubers, and how does that affect the ecosystem? How much sediment is growing, and how harmful is that? »

The tubers are irreplaceable, Gollner emphasizes: their training lasted millions of years. « Yet we investigate whether recovery is possible, » she says. « For example, by placing artificial structures as a replacement for the tubers. »

We still don’t know enough to be able to effectively protect marine life, Gollner concludes. « What are, for example, the threshold values ​​for disruption? How many tubers can you remove before you reach a tipping point and disappear important functions or die out types of? People should know before they can make decisions about this mining. »

Guido LeursProtected areas for sharks and rays

Sharks and rays are under pressure worldwide. Their numbers have been on average since 1970 with approximately half. For the species of the open ocean, that is even spacious 70 percent. And around 30 percent die . The causes are overfishing (due to both targeted catch and by -catch), habitat loss and climate change.

Guido Leurs.

Guido Leurs, biologist at Wageningen UR, investigates the extent protected areas at sea (so -called Marine Protected Areasor MPAs) can help protect sharks and rays. He gave a presentation in Nice about the latter. “In West African Consortium PRCMin which governments and local organizations participate, we investigate what is needed to protect sharks and rays in the coastal waters. You should know if you want to set up an effective MPA. Sharks and rays forage, for example, in certain places, but reproduce somewhere else, and then other places are important for the growing fish. If you do not know enough about it, then it may be that you do not protect the important areas. ”

The sharks and rays of the West African coastal waters are under pressure from local fishing. « There are of course large industrial ships, for example from Europe, but they mainly fish on the open sea. Those small local ships catch much less per ship, but they do have a big impact because there are so many. »

All countries with coastal waters are obliged to have designated at least 30 percent of their waters before 2030 as MPA. « A good development, » says Leurs, « but we do not yet know what exactly those MPAs have to meet to have a real effect for sharks and rays. And the tricky thing is: that also differs per species. »

For example, sandbanks are especially important for stingrays; For bull sharks, these are river mouths and for hammer -sharks bays and mangrove forests. And then there are the different stages of life. « Young sharks and rays and smaller species have enough for small areas. For adult animals that draw over longer distances, you really have to point out large MPAs. »

The Leurs project is not just about biology. « The great thing is: there is also a whole development program attached to it. We are looking for alternative ways of living for the local population. » The catch of sharks and rays is now a substantial part of their livelihood. For example, possible alternatives are fishing aimed at less vulnerable species, more selective fishing methods that reduce by -catch, aquaculture and cultivation of crops, but also ecotourism.

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