INTRODUCTION
Our oceans are in a critical state. “The health of the ocean is spiralling downwards far more rapidly than we had thought. We are seeing greater change, happening faster, and the effects are more imminent than previously anticipated. The situation should be of the gravest concern to everyone since everyone will be affected by changes in the ability of the ocean to support life on Earth” [1].
This goes beyond conclusion reached by the UN climate change panel explaining that the ocean is absorbing much of the warming as well as unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide. Experts warn that the cumulative impact of this along with other ocean stressors makes this particular situation worse than previously reported.
As a result, fisheries are collapsing worldwide. Currently, 70% of world fish populations are unsustainably exploited and 25% have biomass collapsed to less than 10% of historic levels. This is caused by:
With more than 1 billion people dependent on fish as their main source of protein and a growing world population towards 10 billion people, this is a very grave concern. Oceaneos engages in the scientific research and development of Ocean Seeding technology; a method that increases wild fish populations at a local scale, through targeted ocean fertilisation focused on rehabilitating the human-impacted marine ecosystem.
References
[1] Professor Alex Rogers of Somerville College, Oxford, and Scientific Director of International Program on the State of the Ocean (IPSO)