1. Overhauling Ocean Spatial Planning to Improve Marine Megafauna Conservation
- Author
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Ana Micaela Martins Sequeira, Graeme Clive Hays, David W. Sims, Víctor M. Eguíluz, Jorge P. Rodríguez, Michelle R. Heupel, Rob Harcourt, Hannah Calich, Nuno Queiroz, Daniel Paul Costa, Juan Fernández-Gracia, Luciana C. Ferreira, Simon David Goldsworthy, Mark A. Hindell, Mary-Anne Lea, Mark G. Meekan, Anthony M. Pagano, Scott A. Shaffer, Julia Reisser, Michele Thums, Michael Weise, Carlos M. Duarte, Australian Research Council, University of Western Australia, Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Natural Environment Research Council (UK), Save Our Seas Foundation, Australian Government, and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,marine megafauna tracking data ,Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,lcsh:QH1-199.5 ,Life on Land ,Emerging technologies ,Big data ,Ocean Engineering ,Aquatic Science ,lcsh:General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution ,Oceanography ,01 natural sciences ,Environmental data ,Global Ocean Observing System ,Megafauna ,real-time management ,lcsh:Science ,Life Below Water ,Spatial planning ,global ocean conservation and policy ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology ,Global and Planetary Change ,Ecology ,business.industry ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Environmental resource management ,Exclusive economic zone ,improved data sharing ,Data sharing ,global repository ,International waters ,lcsh:Q ,business - Abstract
Tracking data have led to evidence-based conservation of marine megafauna, but a disconnect remains between the many 1000s of individual animals that have been tracked and the use of these data in conservation and management actions. Furthermore, the focus of most conservation efforts is within Exclusive Economic Zones despite the ability of these species to move 1000s of kilometers across multiple national jurisdictions. To assist the goal of the United Nations General Assembly’s recent effort to negotiate a global treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, we propose the development of a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management. We argue that a global approach combining tracked movements of marine megafauna and human activities at-sea, and using existing and emerging technologies (e.g., through new tracking devices and big data approaches) can be applied to deliver near real-time diagnostics on existing risks and threats to mitigate global risks for marine megafauna. With technology developments over the next decade expected to catalyze the potential to survey marine animals and human activities in ever more detail and at global scales, the development of dynamic predictive tools based on near real-time tracking and environmental data will become crucial to address increasing risks. Such global tools for dynamic spatial and temporal management will, however, require extensive synoptic data updates and will be dependent on a shift to a culture of data sharing and open access. We propose a global mechanism to store and make such data available in near real-time, enabling a holistic view of space use by marine megafauna and humans that would significantly accelerate efforts to mitigate impacts and improve conservation and management of marine megafauna., Workshop funding and support granted by ARC Grant No. DE170100841, AIMS, KAUST, and UWA Oceans Institute through a Research Impact Grant. AS was supported by an ARC Grant No. DE170100841 and AIMS. DS was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R00997X/1) and the Save Our Seas Foundation. NQ was supported by FCT (Portugal). HC was supported by an Australian Government RTP scholarship at UWA.
- Published
- 2019