Ocean Signals – short announcements
 

Waves on the Horizon – what's coming up?

• World Oceans Day & March for the Ocean fast approaching
• Ocean high on G7 agenda

Ocean Reflection – a look back at what's been happening

• Progress on cutting emissions and heavy fuel oil ban in Arctic
• Commonwealth countries make plastic action commitment
• High Seas Treaty meeting off to a positive start

Other Key News
Recent Reports
 

Happy belated Earth Day!
 
An article in Time Magazine highlighting this year’s Earth Day theme of plastic pollution really put things into perspective. It calculated that if you converted all the plastic that ends up in the Ocean over a single year and moulded it into Lego® bricks, you could build the equivalent of 19 lifesize Empire State buildings… That’s insane! With statistics like that, you wonder how we ever let this plastic epidemic get so bad, and how we can get our planet back on a healthy track. Luckily, awareness of the Ocean crisis is growing – helped by initiatives such as Earth Day, the upcoming World Oceans Day and March for the Ocean, and recent environmental awards.
 
And speaking of awards, on Earth Day Ocean Unite Network member Danni Washington received a Global Impact Award at the EarthX Global Gala for her great work raising awareness of environmental issues, including Ocean conservation. Congratulations Danni! Also a big shout out to another of our Ocean Unite Network members, Slava Fetisov, who’s just been made the UN Environment Patron for Polar Regions – what a great 60^th birthday present for this ice-hockey hero and Ocean champion!
 
And finally a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Claire Nouvian, Ocean defender extraordinaire, from the French NGO BLOOM, who’s just been awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her great work campaigning to ban deep sea bottom trawling and protect deep sea marine life. We are excited to see the amazing number of women winning prizes this year, as well as the Ocean on centre stage!
 
Keep on reading to find out more about what’s been happening this past month and what's coming up in the Ocean realm.

Ocean risk is risky business
Worried about the effects of hurricanes, cyclones and flooding? Keen to join leaders from the political, economic, environmental and risk management sectors to build a multi-sectoral approach to address Ocean risk? Curious to hear from experts about new approaches, tools and technologies to help build resilience at the local, regional and global levels? Then it’s still possible to register for the Ocean Risk Summit that (re)insurer XL Catlin, together with partners including Ocean Unite and IUCN, is convening from 8–10th May in Bermuda. Check out the new trailer here and visit the website to learn more.


Exploring the Ocean Twilight Zone
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has launched a mission to explore the Ocean Twilight Zone, thanks to a grant of US$35 million awarded by the #AudaciousProject. This largely unexplored area, found 200–1,000 meters below the Ocean's surface, barely gets a glimpse of the sun but is believed to be home to over 1 million undiscovered species and up to 90% of the world’s total fish biomass. With smart robots and smart scientists, engineers and technicians, WHOI will use underwater vehicles and sensors to explore what life is like down there, as well as the impact that activities such as fishing is having on these deep, dark areas and the rest of the Ocean. It is hoped that this new treasure trove of data will encourage effective new policies on fisheries and climate change to ensure this area is not overexploited and its resources are either strongly protected or used sustainably. 
 
Check out @WHOI to keep updated on the latest developments.   

Global illegal fishing vessel list launched
A new, combined, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel list has been launched by Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT), a non-profit that provides support to fisheries enforcement agencies and other relevant international partners fighting IUU fishing. First launched in 2012, this list now has new features and aims to collate the best available and most up-to-date information on all vessels listed on the different IUU fishing vessels lists compiled by regional fisheries management organizations, as well as fishing vessels that have been subject to a public Interpol Purple Notice.


Some fishing vessels and the companies that operate them regularly change identities, ownership, flags and fishing locations. While some of these changes can be legitimate, they’re also a way for illegal operators to dodge detection and the long arm of the law. To try to reduce these shady activities, this list, which is also directly linked to TMT’s Fisheries Analytical Capacity Tool, has the best-available information regarding the compliance history of vessels and companies, keeping details up to date even as names or flags change. For more info check out these FAQs.

Endangered Species Day
Endangered Species Day is on 19^th May. On its Red List, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists more than 23,000 plant and animal species threatened with extinction, including marine species such as whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, corals, seabirds and fish. Here you can find 10 well-known and some less cuddly Ocean species. This list of endangered species has more than doubled in the past two decades as scientists survey more and more species, and numbers will no doubt continue to rise. Currently IUCN carries out assessments on more than 75,000 species (of which 10% are marine). It aims to make the Red List a more complete “barometer of life", and has set a target of assessing 160,000 species.​

Habitat destruction, overfishing, destructive fishing methods, pollution and impacts from climate change are recurring themes contributing to marine species loss. This loss threatens the ability of ecosystems to function properly and nurture marine life. In fact, scientists recently identified that biodiversity loss can lead to a higher risk of “extinction cascades” (sounds terrifying), where the loss of an initial species can lead to a domino effect of further extinctions. This has huge implications not only on marine life, but also on livelihoods, food security and coastal protection.
 
Give a shout out on the 19^th of May in support of all the endangered critters, and the need to urgently reduce the threats they’re facing and to protect their habitats – at least 30% of the Ocean strongly protected by 2030 will offer the best hope, according to scientists . 

World Oceans Day & March for the Ocean fast approaching
If they're not firmly in your diary yet, get out your big blue permanent marker pen and ring 8^th and 9th June as key Ocean dates. June 8^th is World Oceans Day, and this year the theme follows Earth Day's on the need to prevent plastic pollution and encourage solutions for a healthy Ocean. Visit the World Oceans Day website to plan your Ocean celebration. There are loads of free resources including new materials for youth. Register your event to share your celebration with the world on the event map! Sign up to receive the latest updates or contact the organizers for more information. ​

On Saturday 9^th June, put on your walking shoes for the March for the Ocean in Washington DC, as well as a number of simultaneous marches, flotillas and water celebrations happening across the USA. This event will hopefully begin to shift the tide for Ocean conservation. More than 100 partner groups have already got involved, from aquariums, environmental groups and dive groups to commercial fishing and aquaculture companies. You can register here for the March and take advantage of this great toolkit if you’re planning to get involved. Oh, and don’t forget to Wear Blue for the Ocean!
 

Ocean high on G7 agenda
The Group of Seven (G7) countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) will hold their annual meeting on 8^th and 9^th June- coinciding with World Oceans Day. This year the Summit is being hosted by Canada, which has set its environmental priorities discussions around a low carbon future, a healthy Ocean, reducing plastic pollution and new sustainable energy technologies. ​Canada has been taking a more active role in Ocean conservation recently. Its Fisheries Minister just spoke out urging G7 countries to shame nations engaged in illegal fishing and it has just launched an initiative to target plastic waste.


Canada has also been making efforts to catch up on its international marine conservation commitments, and in 2016 announced a plan to protect 5% of its waters by 2017 and 10% by 2020. It exceeded its 2017 protection target with 7.75% of its ocean territory protected, but not without criticism from conservationists of the high level of concessions made to the oil, gas and fishing industries.
 
As a major Ocean user, Canada should encourage its fellow G7 governments to work together to scale up Ocean conservation significantly and commit to strongly protecting (ie no mining or commercial fishing) 30% of the Ocean by 2030, within country waters but also on the high seas. Including this target on the G7 Ocean agenda would significantly add to the global momentum already building behind it. A Ministerial level meeting on Climate Change, Ocean and Clean Energy is scheduled for September/October.

Progress on cutting shipping emissions and heavy fuel oil ban in Arctic
The body that regulates global shipping finally agreed a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from shipping and to consider banning the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) altogether in the Arctic. The 173 members of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) committed to reducing emissions by at least 50% of 2008 levels, by the year 2050. While this might sound impressive, it’s much lower than the 70–100% reduction by 2050 that is needed to ensure that international shipping does not undermine the goals of the Paris Agreement. Check out this blog to find out more about the problem and what’s at stake.​

A coalition of high-ambition nations, led by small Pacific Island states, was pushing for full shipping decarbonization by 2050. But resistance from major shipping countries such as Brazil and Panama, as well as the US and China, led to the compromise target of 50%. The agreement is not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction that can hopefully be strengthened in the future.                            

The IMO meeting also agreed to consider banning HFO as shipping fuel from the Arctic, following a strongly worded proposal by Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the US (5 Arctic countries!) This move was strongly applauded by the Clean Arctic Alliance, which has been campaigning to eliminate use of this heavily polluting oil in one of the world’s most fragile environments. A technical group has now been set up to look at the environmental risks of using the fuel, as well as the potential disruption of shipments to northern indigenous communities – a caveat included by the Canadian government.
 

Commonwealth countries make plastic action commitment
At a meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in London last week, governments pledged to eliminate avoidable single-use plastic in a bid to clean up the world’s Ocean, and stem the flow of the 8 billion metric tons of plastic that end up in the Ocean each year. To support this pledge the UK government announced it will provide £61.4 million (US$85 million) to support Commonwealth countries in their efforts to stop plastic waste entering the Ocean.


The UK has been taking significant action to reduce its plastic footprint. It has already seen a drop in plastic bags littering British seas, linked to the introduction of a 5p charge per bag. A bottle and can deposit return scheme also recently got the green light in the UK. And now it has committed to banning single-use plastics such as straws and plastic cotton buds, a move that is urgently needed given single-use plastic has even reached world’s deepest Ocean trench.

Plastic action is certainly on the rise, and you can tell momentum is building just from the daily stream of reports highlighting “Better Alternatives” for plastics, the first plastic-free sporting events, how scientists accidentally created a mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles and innovations that could end plastic waste. Advances in technology got us into this mess in the first place, but it will probably be advances in technology that will help get us out of it!

By the way- if you come across some screaming examples of #PointlessPlastic packaging- like clingfilmed coconuts-  tweet the photo using #PointlessPlastic and remember to tag the supermarket. If you don't use Twitter, you can post the photo on another social media channel (such as Facebook or Instagram) or  email your picture to Greenpeace at  packaging.uk@greenpeace.org and they'll post it for you!
 

High Seas Treaty meeting off to a positive start
Governments met at the UN for the first of a number of meetings to negotiate a new treaty to fill the key gaps in Ocean governance and protect high seas biodiversity. The meeting (which even finished a day early!) focused on organizational issues and was seen as a positive start to the process. The meeting agreed to set up a “bureau” consisting of the Conference President (Rena Lee, Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore) and 15 Vice-Presidents (3 from each of the regional groups – to be elected in September). This body will help advise on procedural matters. ​The President will also come up with a document in advance of the next meeting to help get discussions going, to be based on discussions at previous preparatory meetings. The first round of substantive negotiations will be held from 4–17th September 2018. Here’s a full summary of the meeting. And check out this blog by High Seas Alliance member NRDC who attended the meeting.