In a situation like the one involving dead zones, nonprofit organizations serve a large role in the protection of the ocean. Mission Blue, Oceana, Florida Oceanographic Society and The Ocean Conservancy are just a few of the nonprofits working to protect the ocean and its lifeforms. Mission Blue, which is one of my favorites, is part of the Sylvia Earle Alliance working to inspire action to explore and protect the ocean. This organization in particular really works to bring the public into the issue and inspires public awareness, access and support for marine protected areas all over the world. The way Mission Blue works is by people nominating Hope Spots, marine areas they want to be protected, because they have a special connection to this area and feel that it is critical to the health of the ocean. Anyone can get involved in the protection of the ocean through this project, as anyone can nominate a Hope Spot. A challenge that comes with nonprofits is that a lot of the work that nonprofits do is to raise awareness. This can be a very rewarding task but can also be quite difficult as people are not always receptive to your cause. I think the most important thing to consider when viewing my issue through a nonprofit lens is that every nonprofit focuses on different aspects of the issue so many times working with multiple nonprofits is the best solution to a problem. At the level of a personally responsible citizen, many are cutting down on the amount of fish they eat and specifically what types of fish they are eating. The consumption of some fish, like Atlantic salmon, is more detrimental to marine health than the consumption of others. Participatory citizens donate money to nonprofit organizations working to protect the ocean. However, social-justice oriented citizens are those who are possibly working for nonprofits and not only working to solve problems presented to us now, but looking to find the cause and end solution of these issues. So, with my particular issue, these are people who are not only working on clean-up crews with oil spills but are working to prevent the oil spills in the first place through various means.
The Ted Talk I chose to listen to was “Save the oceans, feed the world!” by Jackie Savitz. Jackie is a marine biologist and the Vice President for US Oceans at Oceana, one of the nonprofits I mentioned above. She mentions that by saving the oceans, we can do more than solve ecological problems. We need the oceans to be abundant so they can provide food for people. She says that since 1980, there has been an 18 percent decline in the amount of fish in the world catch. She mentions however, that most of the fish we are looking at are located in coastal areas that national jurisdictions have control over. This means that they can control the fisheries nationally, which is much easier and faster to do than internationally. She says there are 3 main things that we need to do in order to bring fisheries back. These things are setting quotas, reducing bycatch and protecting habitats. By listening to this Ted Talk, it has become apparent to me that nonprofits have the opportunity to organize movements and inspire individuals to make change. I also learned that there are many different aspects of ocean conservation and many causes of dead zones in the ocean. It is very effective, however, for nonprofits to focus on one specific aspect of the issue presented.