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Marine Life & Conservation

Fed Up With Fish Farms

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Last year I was incredibly fortunate to get to see Orcas in the wild; this was a real ‘bucket list’ moment for me and an absolute highlight of a round the world trip Mike and I had just completed. Reminiscing on this experience the other day I was saddened by the thought that this may not be possible in the future if conservation efforts are not given a higher priority.

It is an incredible privilege to see these magnificent and intelligent creatures going about their natural behaviours, as we were able to on our trip to Vancouver Island in the stunning surroundings of the Salish Sea. The main purpose of our trip was, as ever, to go diving, however, the opportunity to go on a wildlife watching trip in an area famed for its cetaceans, pinnipeds and birdlife was not one we were going to miss!

Vancouver Island is a great place to see Orcas, as well as humpback whales, dolphins and other highly sentient creatures. If you enjoy watching wildlife, on or beside the sea surrounded by mountains and forests, then this really is paradise. Incredibly sadly though, like many of our most precious and stunning natural environments, it is under threat. I’m focusing on specific threats to Orcas here, but of course, many threats to this species also effect a much wider range of organisms. Helping Orcas, which are intelligent and long-living apex predators, benefits the entire ecosystem as a whole.

Extensive research has shown threats to Orcas include, but are not limited to:

  • Noise pollution from boats and sonar interfering with Orca’s hearing, communication and hunting.
  • Pollution of water sources resulting in poisoning as toxins get into fish and accumulates at the top of the food chain.
  • Overfishing and dams which have depressed the wild salmon stocks. (The lack of wild salmon – many Orca’s main food source – means starvation for them. Some Orcas hunt pinnipeds, but pinnipeds are also fish eaters, so a lack of fish affects their numbers and a knock on effect on Orcas.)
  • Fish farming has caused huge amounts of pollution, disease, low oxygen environments, and escape of non native species.

Fish farming is probably the biggest issue as the top three points can all be linked to the fourth.

1. Fish farms are patrolled by boats that create noise pollution.
2. Huge amounts of pollution come from fish farms.
3. Overfishing is increased by the demand for fishmeal and fish oil in pellets fed to farmed salmon.

Though they are not solely responsible, even a single large fish farm causes a disproportionately high environmental issue.

Worldwide there are more fish farmed than cattle and this causes massive environmental problems. Fish farming was once viewed as ‘taking the pressure off’ wild populations but sadly the opposite is true.

Salmon are the most commonly farmed fish. They are fed pellets made from commercially harvested wild fish and it takes approximately three times the amount of wild fish to raise one farmed salmon. Definitely not good for wild fish stocks.

Fish are kept in densely stocked pens, so to avoid disease and malnutrition they are fed antibiotics, pesticides and vitamins. Uneaten pellets and concentrated waste from the farmed fish goes directly into the environment. Large quantities of these pollutants become concentrated in small areas around the farming pens, causing eutrophication (pollutants contain nutrients that make algae bloom and the algae use up all the oxygen, creating a dead zone). Antibiotics and pesticides that can poison the surrounding water and accumulate in fish eating species. There is also considerable worry that disease and parasites present in densely populated fish farms can spread to the native wild fish populations.

Economy, jobs and shareholder profits are all important in the modern world, and are often cited when big business meets conservation. The issue is, if we ruin our natural environment, where will fish farms get the fish for fishmeal pellets? What do we do if all the water is polluted? Any industry that damages the environment so badly is not sustainable, so their profits are not sustainable. It doesn’t seem to make sense from a long-term business standpoint or a conservation one.

This may all seem a long way away, if you were not contemplating a little sojourn across the globe, however, our actions in our neighbourhood supermarket can make a huge difference to the future of Orcas and their fellow marine species.

Despite being in the UK, ordering a fillet of farm-reared salmon (often labelled as King Salmon or Farmed Atlantic Salmon) has severe consequences. By eating so much salmon in comparison with other fish, we create a demand for more than can be sustainably provided by our fisheries, leading to more demand from fish farms.

We can have a direct impact by changing our diet a little. We could choose not to eat fish at all, or eat it less often. Perhaps more realistically, we could pay a little bit more for sustainably caught local fish or simply choose something besides the most intensively fished and farmed species (such as salmon, tuna, cod and haddock). The Good Fish Guide by the Marine Conservation Society – www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/search – is an excellent place to start. All of us together can make a big difference if we all take the small step of changing our consumer habits slightly. In addition to helping Orcas, a small change in our diets will benefit many other species. By creating less pollution and a healthier wild fish population, the whole ecosystem benefits hugely.

Put simply, fish farming is a global problem: in Scandinavia, New Zealand and South America similar issues are affecting wildlife. Much closer to home are the fish farms of Scotland and our northern isles, where our traditional fishing industry is already struggling and our sea is much more barren and polluted than it should be. The great news here is that we have the power to force the change, simply by shopping a little wiser!

Unlike most conservation headlines we see, the story of Orcas is not all doom and gloom. In Canada, B.C. First Nation leaders have been taking their concerns to the Canadian government in order to remove fish farms from their traditional territory and talks are currently underway. In 2018, Washington State in the U.S. banned fish farms in their waters, after a series of incidents. If the ruling stands it will mean the current farms will not have their licences renewed once they expire in 2022. It is hoped that more positive news of this kind will follow in other countries soon.

So as a passionate conservationist that’s my crusade of the day: let’s help the Orcas. Orcas are awesome, they are a joy to behold, as is the incredible underwater environment they inhabit. If you get the opportunity I cannot recommend a trip to see them highly enough! And a few small changes in our habits can help preserve that opportunity for future generations.


For more from CJ and Mike please visit their website here.

CJ and Mike are dive instructors who have travelled all over the world pursuing their passion for the underwater world. CJ is a PADI MI and DSAT Trimix instructor with a degree in Conservation biology and ecology, who has been diving for 15 years. She loves looking for critters and pointing them out for Mike to photograph. Mike is a PADI MSDT who got back into diving in 2010. He enjoys practicing underwater photography and exploring new and exciting dive locales, occasionally with more than one tank. Follow more of their diving adventures at www.facebook.com/bimbleintheblue.

Marine Life & Conservation

New report shows simple measures needed to cut beach plastic pollution

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The Marine Conservation Society has launched its annual State of our Beaches 2023 report, highlighting the need for less single-use plastic items and more refillable options.

The charity’s beach cleaning programme, now in its 30th year, asks volunteers to record all litter that they find within a 100-metre stretch of beach. By gathering vital data from across the UK and Channel Islands, the charity creates change for cleaner seas and a healthier planet through policy and industry change. Last year, over 148 kilometres of beach were surveyed by volunteers, who removed 17,208kgs of litter from our coast.

Using data collected by over 14,000 volunteers, the State of our Beaches 2023 report shows that half of all litter collected came from public sources – either dumped, blown or washed onto our beaches.

Drinks-related litter, such as plastic bottles, caps and cans were one of the most found items, with an average of 16 found per 100 metres of beach surveyed. This figure is up 14% compared to the charity’s 2022 report.

Plastics caps and lids were recorded on 89% of surveys, with over 30,000 found in total. Plastic bottles were also commonly collected, with 73% of surveys finding this single-use item – a 4% increase compared to 2022. The charity’s inland litter pick survey, Source to Sea, also reported finding plastic bottles on 92% of cleans.

However, the charity’s State of Our Beaches 2023 report also indicates that some types of litter are on a downward trend. Although still in the top 10 litter items, disposable plastic cutlery, trays and straws were found on 5% fewer beaches across the UK, showing that bans on these plastic items between 2022 – 2023 could be working. The presence of plastic cotton bud sticks also dropped by 14%.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said, “Half of the litter found on our beaches originates from public sources, underscoring the pressing issue of single-use plastic. Evidence shows that refillable alternatives and litter return schemes effectively reduce rubbish, as demonstrated by the decline our data has shown in items like plastic bags and disposable cutlery.

“Urgent and decisive action from UK governments is needed to accelerate our shift towards a circular economy, where we reuse, repair and recycle. The public needs greater access to refillable products and systems need to be implemented in which manufacturers are responsible for their waste.”

Governments across the UK have committed to delivering deposit return schemes from October 2025. However, the proposed scheme in England does not include glass items, despite glass being found on 52% of beaches in 2023. The charity is calling for governments across the UK to introduce compatible all inclusive deposit return schemes as soon as possible. This would see aluminium cans, and plastic and glass bottles have a 20p deposit which would be returned when recycled which would reduce drinks-related pollution.

Businesses are, however, starting to take refillable and reusable options into their own hands. Supermarket chain, Aldi, the largest corporate funder of the charity’s 2024 Beachwatch programme, is already leading the charge in refillable items by trialling refillable options for cereals and porridge oats in their stores over the past 5 months.

Plastics and Packaging Director, Luke Emery, from Aldi, who are running 4 beach cleans for staff and volunteers in 2024, said, We are continually working to reduce single-use plastics and packaging, and making unpackaged product options more commonplace for our customers is a key part of this. We are really pleased with the uptake of our refillable range so far by customers. Not only are we making sustainable shopping more accessible, but we also offer refill products for a better price than the packaged alternative, helping our customers save money.”

Marine litter is one of the biggest threats to our seas, with plastic breaking down over time into microplastics and threatening marine life which can ingest or become entangled in them. The Marine Conservation Society is urging the UK Government to move faster on its policies to cut down plastic waste and prevent items from reaching our seas.

To find out more about the charity’s beach cleans and how to get involved, please visit mcsuk.org/beach-cleans

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Guarding Against Coral Invaders

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Protecting (Dutch) Caribbean Reefs from Unomia stolonifera

Recent reports highlight the concerning spread of the invasive soft coral, Unomia stolonifera, currently devastating Venezuela’s marine ecosystems and detected in Cuba. With the potential threat of its expansion to the (Dutch) Caribbean islands, urgent action and awareness are essential to safeguard marine biodiversity and local economies from possible catastrophic consequences.

Invasive species are animals or plants from another region of the world that don’t belong in their new environment. These species can have major ecological effects by decimating native flora or fauna. They can also cause large economic losses and impact human health. Invasive species also pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems worldwide, including the Dutch Caribbean. Among these invaders is the octocoral species Unomia stolonifera or “Pulsing Xenia”, originally from the Indo-Pacific. With its rapid growth and lack of natural predators, this species can outcompete native species and disrupt fragile marine habitats such as seagrass beds and coral reefs.

Background

The invasive soft coral U. stolonifera was first identified in 2014, off the coast of Venezuela. It is believed to have been introduced via the illegal aquarium trade.  Since this species can reproduce sexually and asexually (or fragment), even small pieces can regenerate to spread.  Once introduced it quickly took over shallow reefs and hard substrate at depths of 0-50 meters, outcompeting local corals and seagrass for space.  Follow on surveys found that this coral species exhibited average percentage cover as high as 80%, vastly outcompeting native corals. In highly colonized areas, fish are disappearing due to loss of habitats.

In 2022, during a survey conducted in Cuba by the University of Havana, an unknown octocoral was discovered which was later identified as the invasive Unomia stolonifera. It is suspected that the coral larvae arrived in ballast water from fossil fuel ships originating from Venezuela, as nearby sites adjacent to Venezuelan ports have been heavily affected by the invasion.

How to help

Prevention through continuous monitoring, particularly in high-risk areas such as marine harbors and oil facilities, is paramount. Early detection plays a pivotal role in mitigating the threat posed by Unomia stolonifera.

The public’s involvement and awareness are also vital. Local communities, recreational divers, tourists, and all stakeholders are urged to participate in early detection efforts by reporting sightings (photo, location and date) of this invasive coral to their respective Protected Area Management Organization (PMO’s)- the Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba (FPNA)STINAPA BonaireCARMABI Curaçao Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF)Nature Foundation St. Maarten (NFSXM) and St. Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA). If an invaded area is confirmed, follow the recommendations by the local PMO’s.

Keys to Success

Despite the challenges, early detection is key to mitigating the threat posed by Unomia stolonifera. With continued vigilance, research, and community engagement, there is hope for containing this potential issue before it becomes a major threat.

About the DCNA

The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) supports (science) communication and outreach in the Dutch Caribbean region by making nature related (scientific) information more widely available through amongst others the Dutch Caribbean Biodiversity Database, DCNA’s news platform BioNews and through the press. This article contains the results from several scientific studies but the studies themselves are not DCNA studies. No rights can be derived from the content. DCNA is not liable for the content and the in(direct) impacts resulting from publishing this article.

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