This World Sustainability Day, think of the sea and how much we need it. Holly Hughes discusses protecting Irish marine environments …
The ocean creates over half of the planet’s oxygen. That means that, regardless of where you live, every second breath you take comes directly from the ocean. We are all directly connected to the sea, always.” So says Jack O’Donovan Trá, a conservation biologist, campaigner, and Communications Officer for Fair Seas Ireland. With “trá” in his name, it is unsurprising that Jack’s job is literally “beach”. Growing up beside the sea, he always loved the ocean for which he was named. Unsurprisingly, he’s now fiercely protective of it. It is for this reason he is working with Fair Seas – a coalition of Ireland’s leading environmental NGOs and networks campaigning for legal protection of our oceans in the form of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
As it stands, only nine per cent of Ireland’s oceans are protected (up from only two per cent in 2022). The government has pledged to increase this to 30 per cent by 2030 (as is mandated by EU law), but Fair Seas is concerned with what “protection” in this case really means. “While nine per cent protection might seem like progress, the truth is that the protection areas the Irish government has established mean nothing because they’re not enforced or managed properly,” Jack explains. “You can’t draw a line on a map and call an area protected. We need legislation that designates protected areas based on the best science and research, that has mandatory stakeholder engagement and that allocates funding and resources to enforce the protection so that badly damaged areas can be restored.”
Having already identified the best areas for MPAs, Fair Seas is fighting for their implementation. Crucially, given the damage some Irish marine environments have suffered, Fair Seas also wants to see ten per cent of Irish waters under strict protection, meaning no human activity is permitted, to allow habitats to recover and thrive. The urgency of needing these MPAs isn’t just about the biodiversity and climate crises destroying our oceans and wildlife. From the air we breathe to the food we eat, global warming to coastal erosion, the sea keeps us alive and protecting it stands to benefit humans as much as it does marine life.
“The sea keeps us alive and protecting it stands to benefit humans as much as it does marine life.”
Consider fishing. “Fishing in Ireland is on a huge downward trend,” Jack tells me. “Stocks are low and local fisheries are struggling. However, establishing MPAs along our coast creates reproductive hotspots that can repopulate fish in abundance.” Jack reminds me that the main function of biological life is to reproduce. “The larger fish, crabs, and lobsters grow, the more eggs and offspring they produce. And when these eggs are released into the ocean, they float with the current. This means that a reproductive hotspot doesn’t just increase the fish or crab populations of one protected area; it increases populations everywhere. It’s so simple! If we allow them to do it, they’ll do it for us. We just have to let fish and shellfish do what they do best.”
Studies have shown that some MPAs have boosted the biomass of marine life inside them by 670 per cent. The effect this can have on local fisheries is unanimously positive. “There’s no study that shows a reduction in fisheries’ catch because of MPAs,” Jack tells me. “But there are countless studies around the world which show the enormous benefits of Marine Protected Areas to local fisheries.”
The same is true for the astonishing role marine environments play in carbon storage and climate change protection. “The ocean is the biggest shield the world has against climate change,” Jack explains. “About 90 per cent of the excess heat that human beings have generated since the 1970s has been absorbed by the ocean.” In Ireland, tiny single-celled organisms called phytoplankton absorb over seven tonnes of carbon annually.
Even the oyster is a climate engineer. A single oyster filters approximately 200 litres of seawater per day and in doing so promotes seagrass recovery, the third most valuable ecosystem in the world. Meanwhile, oyster shells also absorb carbon and, when left undisturbed, stack up on the seafloor to form oyster reefs that act as huge carbon stores and provide vital habitat for marine life.
Oyster reefs and seagrass meadows are of tantamount importance to humans, too. Both help prevent erosion – something Irish coastlines and communities are going to face more frequently and dramatically in the future – and can help mitigate the worst effects of storms, slowing down and decreasing swells as they hurtle towards shorelines. However, native oyster reefs are now one of the most threatened habitats in Europe.
Securing the MPAs Fair Seas is fighting for could help rebuild native oyster populations, as well as a plethora of other marine life. Additionally, they will establish food security for humans, plants, and animals, protect Irish livelihoods, mitigate and prevent further climate damage, and bolster biodiversity. If you, like me, are wondering why they haven’t been established yet and what you can do about it, Jack’s answer is twofold. “The biggest thing getting in the way of environmental action is the government,” he says. In a survey conducted by Fair Seas last year, 99 per cent of people surveyed said protecting the marine environment was important to them, with 76 per cent citing lack of political will as the biggest threat to our oceans. For Jack, this is why the Fair Seas campaign is so crucial: “This puts the power directly in our hands.”
He explains: “We have to remember that we are the government. The government is simply the sum of our values and opinions. So, firstly, I ask people to vote. Do your research, look at the track records of political parties, and vote accordingly. If we know a particular party is doing nothing, we need to stop voting for them. It’s that simple.”
My own addendum to this (as ever) is to get comfortable in advocacy – emailing, calling, or dropping into your TD and telling them this is a priority for you, their crucial voter. You don’t need to be a marine biologist or an ocean expert to show that you care. Secondly, as Fair Seas is a coalition of environmental NGOs, you can volunteer with any one of these or attend their events. “All of our partners are on the Fair Seas website and they have lots of volunteer and event opportunities. So many of these organisations are active in communities and they can really give you a new set of eyes when looking at your local coast.” New eyes are what we need. To see the ocean as Jack does: our life source, our protector, our salvation. @holly_hughes_words