Oceans, seas and marine resources

Photo: Plastic waste on a beach in Hawaii. Credit: NOAA

Pacific Ocean’s Delicate Ecology Under Threat

By Jodie L Rummer, Bridie JM Allan, Charitha Pattiaratchi, Ian A Bouyoucos, Irfan Yulianto and Mirjam van der Mheen*

In the run-up to the COP26 climate change conference scheduled for November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, The Conversation has prepared a five-part series entitled Oceans 21 examining the history and future of the world’s oceans. This is the second article in the series which looks at the Pacific Ocean, an ocean so vast that it may seem invincible. Click here for the first article on the series.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 09 December 2020

Photo: The Indian Ocean could play a major role in future climate change. Credit: Earth.com

The Rich Historical Archive That Is the Indian Ocean

By Isabel Hofmeyr and Charne Lavery*

In the run-up to the COP26 climate change conference scheduled for November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, The Conversation has prepared a five-part series entitled Oceans 21 examining the history and future of the world’s oceans. This is the first article in the series which looks into ancient Indian Ocean trade networks.

JOHANNESBURG | PRETORIA (IDN) – On many beaches around the Indian Ocean, keen observers may spot bits of broken pottery. Washed smooth by the ocean, these shards are in all likelihood hundreds of years old, from centres of ceramic production like the Middle Eastern Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Ming dynasty.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 09 December 2020

Image credit: The US NOAA's nautical charts provide the baseline that marks the inner limit of the territorial sea and the outer limit of internal waters. This determines where U.S. territorial waters begin for purposes of international law.

Time Overdue for the US to Ratify Law of The Sea Treaty

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Russia, China, Ukraine, the European Union, the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, the defence budget, climate change, Iran, Afghanistan, Poland, Hungary, India Iraq, Taiwan, Japan, Cuba are all items that have surfaced in the press as reporters ponder on the issues that President-elect Joe Biden will confront in his foreign policy. It seems everyone has forgotten the important Law of the Sea treaty (United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) that remains unratified by the US.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 01 December 2020

Photo: Zanzibar. Credit: Kester Kenn Klomegah

Undeterred by Health Warnings, Russians Begin Flocking to Africa's Islands

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – Despite the worsening coronavirus situation in Russia, at least during the months of October and November, Russian tourism agencies have briskly been organizing group tours to the Indian Ocean islands of Zanzibar, Seychelles and Mauritius.

Obviously, because the islands seem to have the lowest cases of the pandemic and have taken strict measures to halt the spread of COVID-19. And, these islands are favourite destinations for foreign tourists and have closely diverse geopolitical relations with the world.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 06 November 2020

How Colonial Policy Is Impoverishing Indian Ocean Coastal Communities

Viewpoint by Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. Read also A Hybrid Cold War Unfolding in The Indo-Pacific Beneath the Covid-19 Mask.

COLOMBO (IDN) – Like the Chagossians who were forcibly displaced to Mauritius and Seychelles, Sri Lankan and other Indian Ocean Rim coastal communities tend to experience high rates of poverty, debt and socioeconomic hardship. Fisheries are one of the most significant renewable resources that Indian Ocean countries possess to secure food supplies, maintain livelihoods and assist economic growth, in addition to non-living resources that include hydrocarbon, liquefied natural gas and valuable minerals.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 01 November 2020

Photo: The International Seabed Authority.

UN At 75: How the Law of The Sea Has Shaped A More Fair and Equal Society

Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge

Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) based in Jamaica.

KINGSTON (IDN) – In his address to the United Nations Economic and Social Council in July 2020, reflecting on what kind of UN we need at the 75th anniversary, the Secretary-General of the UN called for strengthened and renewed multilateralism, geared towards the overarching goals of peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 September 2020

Photo: Remnants of an old shipwreck on the outer reef of Mauritius where the MV Wakashio would run aground two years later. Robert Blasiak, Author provided.

An Increasingly Crowded Ocean Calls for a New Role for Transnational Corporations

Viewpoint by Robert Blasiak*

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef in Mauritius in late July 2020, leaking 1,000 tonnes of oil into the crystal blue waters of a lagoon, threatening mangrove, seagrass and mudflat habitats. Since then, dozens of dead dolphins and porpoises have washed ashore. Anger has grown and sadness has deepened.

But this is a different story – it starts two years ago in the same place in Mauritius, and I am walking down a muddy path in a mangrove forest. A guide is telling me about how the community has removed invasive species, cleaned up waste and planted mangroves.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 12 September 2020

Photo: International Maritime Organization (IMO) continues to support international efforts to respond to the oil spill in Mauritius, following the break-up of the Japanese MV Wakashio. Credit: IMO

Legal Loopholes May Deny Mauritius Much-Needed Oil Spill Clean-Up Funds

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Just over a month since a cracked shipping vessel leaked over a thousand tons of dirty oil, blanketing the pristine sands of the East African island of Mauritius, authorities have now arrested the ship’s captain for unsafe navigation. He faces a sentence of 60 years if found guilty.

It’s been an environmental nightmare for the tourist destination whose lagoons, lush tropical jungles and mountains attract millions of visitors every year. Some 39 dolphins have been found dead since the Japanese-owned ship struck a coral reef on July 25.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 31 August 2020

Photo: Mauritius Declares Environmental Emergency After Massive Oil Spill, Credit: India.com

Dirty Oil Floods Pristine African Beach in Major Spill

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – An Indian Ocean island nation, beloved for its sandy beaches, pristine lagoons and reefs, its tropical climate and its multi-ethnic population, has become another world treasure soiled by the relentless trade in oil, shipped by tankers, unsafe at any speed.

The ship that ran aground off the shores of Mauritius began spilling oil into the country’s famed blue lagoons this week, setting off an environmental crisis in a tiny island nation that relies on its waters for fishing, food and tourism.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 August 2020

Image: Small Island States at the forefront. Credit: Simon Sees at Flickr.

Sustainable Tourism and Fisheries Key to Growth in Post-COVID Pacific

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) – Developing countries of Asia and the Pacific are experiencing unbalanced tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grim milestones in infections and deaths have left countless devastated. Yet, we must look at the economic and social impacts in small island developing States (SIDS), where setbacks are likely to undo years of development gains and push many people back into poverty.