Saturday, August 07, 2021

IMB: Piracy and Armed Robbery at 27 Year Low in 2021

decline in priacy attacks in 2021 — (file photo)

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that the incidents of piracy and armed robbery are at their lowest levels in 27 years. The organization, which was founded in 1991, said that during the first half of 2021, it received the lowest number of reported incidents for the first half of any year since 1994. They, however, cautioned, that the risks remain for seafarers and especially in certain regions of the world.

IMB’s latest global piracy report details 68 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships during the first six months of 2021 compared to 98 incidents during the same period last year. The IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) highlighted that in 91 percent of the incidents, 61 vessels, the ships were boarded. In addition, four attacks were attempted, two vessels were fired upon, and one vessel was hijacked since January 2021. Despite the overall decline in reported incidents, violence against crews continued with 50 crew kidnapped, incidents where crew were threatened, taken hostage, or assaulted, and one crew member was killed and another injured.

The Gulf of Guinea continues to be particularly dangerous for seafarers, with 32 percent of all reported incidents taking place in the region, according to IMB. The region accounted for all 50 kidnapped crew and the single crew fatality during the first half of 2021.

The number of kidnappings recorded in the Gulf of Guinea, however, during the most recent quarter was the lowest since the second quarter of 2019. IMB warns that the pirates continue to target all types of vessels operating in the region and that fishing vessels have been hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea and later used as mother ships to target other merchant vessels.

“Whilst IMB welcomes reduced piracy and armed robbery activity in the Gulf of Guinea, the risk to seafarers still remains,” said IMB Director Michael Howlett. “By reporting all incidents to the Regional Authorities and IMB PRC, seafarers can maintain pressure against pirates. Bringing together maritime response authorities through initiatives – like Nigeria’s Deep Blue Project and Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum – will continue and strengthen knowledge sharing channels and reduce risk to seafarers in the region.”

As with other security organizations, the IMB is also warning that the pirates in the Gulf of Guinea are carrying out attacks further from the coast. For example, in early June, a bulk carrier was approached by a skiff with six pirates while approximately 210 nautical miles off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. In that instance, the vessel was able to prevent the armed pirates from coming onboard, but it illustrates the distances at which the pirates are threatening vessels.

IMB also highlights the dangers of operating in the Singapore Strait, similar to the numerous reports of boardings and thefts from ReCAAP. Sixteen incidents were reported to the IMB center in the first six months of 2021. This was up from 11 reported incidents during the same period in 2020 in the Singapore Strait. According to IMB, these attacks are considered opportunistic, but in seven of the incidents, the perpetrators were armed with knives. In three separate incidents, seafarers were reported to have been either threatened, assaulted, or injured.

The report also highlights an increase in incidents in Peru’s Callao Anchorage. There were four reports in the second quarter of 2021 with knives reported in three of these attacks. In comparison to the first half of 2019 and 2020, IMB reports that this represents a two-fold increase in the number of incidents, with nine incidents reported in total for 2021. Perpetrators in the region possess the capacity to carry out violent attacks, with two separate incidents of crew being taken hostage and assaulted occurring in the first six months of 2021.

Vessels are also advised to take precautionary measures while anchored in Manila Bay, Philippines. IMB recorded four incidents during the second quarter of 2021.

Robbery and Piracy Declines in 2021 Except in the Singapore Strait

piracy and armed robbery in the Singapore Strait — Robberies are down in Asa except in the Singapore Strait (file photo)

The regional organization that coordinates efforts to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia, ReCAAP, has once again issued a warning about the level of activity in the Singapore Strait and in particular in one zone near Bintan Island, Indonesia. ReCAAP reported two additional incidents on July 17, while the organization reported a decline in overall activity during the first half of 2021.

The latest incident alert reports that there were two unauthorized boardings both on July 17 while each ship was underway off Tanjung Pergam, Bintan Island, Indonesia. The two incidents occurred approximately 30 minutes apart and in the same area of the Singapore Strait in the eastbound traffic lane. In both cases, the boarders were spotted by the crew members that reported that the boarders were armed with knives. In one incident they were seen in the engine room and the other in the steering gear room. In both cases, they fled once they were discovered and both ships reported that their crew was unharmed and nothing had been stolen.

“The ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the persistent occurrence of incidents in the Singapore Strait, particularly a cluster of incidents off Tanjung Pergam, Bintan Island, Indonesia,” the alert said. “Since January 2021, a total of 22 incidents occurred in the Singapore Strait, with 18 incidents occurred off Tanjung Pergam.”

ReCAAP is again warning ships to increase their safety efforts and lookouts, especially at night when most of the boardings have occurred. In half of the incidents, the boarders were armed with knives and in six cases engine spare parts were stolen. In two of the incidents, the crew was also assaulted.

News of the latest boardings came just after ReCAAP issued its six-month report during which time it says armed robbery against ships in the region declined by more than a third versus 2020. While there were 35 incidents and two attempts, there were no reports of piracy, only pretty crimes, and 20 of the incidents detailed in the six-month report were in the area of the Singapore Strait. That represented a 25 percent increase in reported incidents over 2020 in the Strait.

Overall, the severity of the incidents also declined during 2021. In more than two-thirds of the reports, the perpetrators were not armed, and no crew was harmed. In addition, there were no abductions of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and the waters off Eastern Saba, with the last incident in January 2020. Further, the four crew members abducted in January 2020 were rescued in March 2021 by the Philippine authorities.

While incidents are down overall in the region, ReCAAP highlights that there have also not been arrests to disrupt the gangs that have carried out some recent boardings of ships. As such, they repeated the call for cooperation and reporting warning ships to remain on guard at all times.

WHO INVITED YOU

LOOKS LIKE NATO IN THE PACIFIC

Royal Navy Carrier Enters the Pacific for the First Time in Decades

strait of malacca — HMS Queen Elizabeth passes through the Strait of Malacca, accompanied by the Malaysian Navy (Royal Navy)

The UK Royal Navy's first full-scale aircraft carrier in a generation has entered the Pacific, marking Great Britain's new commitment to maritime security in the Far East in an era of great power competition. Independent reports suggest that carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has been operating in the South China Sea since last week.

"The arrival of the Carrier Strike Group in Southeast Asia is a clear sign that the UK is ready to work with friends and partners, new and old, to strengthen the security and freedoms upon which we mutually depend," said Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, in a statement Thursday.

The task group, led by Queen Elizabeth, passed through the Strait of Malacca and met up with vessels of the Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean navies for passing exercises and maneuvers along the way. Meanwhile, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tidespring made a port call in Singapore to take on supplies.

"The Indo-Pacific is critical to the UK’s economy and security, and HMS Richmond is proud to be playing our part in building regional partnerships, particularly as the UK seeks to become an ASEAN dialogue partner in the future," said Cdr. Hugh Botterill, the commanding officer of HMS Richmond. "Though any direct engagement was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we enjoyed this brief professional collaboration.”

HMS Queen Elizabeth passed through the Strait of Malacca with Malaysian frigate KD Lekiu before meeting up with Singapore frigate RSS Intrepid, corvette Unity and landing platform dock Resolution.

Queen Elizabeth is now headed north, accompanied by HMS Defender, according to the Royal Navy. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reported that the carrier strike group kept its distance from Chinese-occupied islands while it was in the South China Sea; Beijing held up this decision as an endorsement of its disputed territorial claims and an example for others to follow.

“China hopes navy vessels of other nations abide by international law when sailing across the South China Sea, respect the rights and sovereignty of the coastal nations, and avoid actions that damage regional peace,” the ministry said.

German Frigate Departs for the South China Sea

On Monday, the German Navy dispatched the frigate Bayern on a long voyage to the South China Sea, showing its support for the multinational effort to offset Chinese expansionism in the region.

The trip will take seven months, and it will see Bayern joining a NATO exercise in the Mediterranean and the EUNAVOR anti-piracy mission off Somalia on her way east. She will call in Vietnam, South Korea, Japan and Australia in addition to transiting the South China Sea. China is not currently on Bayern's itinerary, and Chinese officials have said that they will not host the vessel unless Germany clarifies the frigate's mission.

Unlike U.S. Navy vessels, which periodically challenge Chinese maritime claims by passing close to Chinese-occupied islands, the Bayern is expected to stay near established shipping lanes. It is also expected to steer clear of the Taiwan Strait; U.S. Navy transits of the strait are widely interpreted as a message of support for an independent Taiwan, and they routinely draw criticism from Beijing.

"It's good to talk about our values, but it's even better to [show] it," said German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in a statement. "Today the frigate Bayern is heading towards the Indo-Pacific - a sign of stability, prosperity and a rule-based, multilateral order . . . Together with our valued partners in the region, Germany is showing [its] presence in the Indo-Pacific and sets an example of solidarity."

While Bayern's mission is to send a message of opposition to China's sweeping maritime claims, some defense observers have expressed concern that the deployment could end up having the opposite effect. If Bayern should call in Shanghai before transiting the South China Sea - as has been previously discussed - it could be interpreted as a sign that Germany was asking Beijing's permission before entering contested waters.

"It illustrates [that] European naval deployments can actively undermine rather than help uphold international law or support a strategy of deterrence against China – in fact, they can even go so far as to strengthen Chinese territorial claims in Asia. Everything depends on the detail," wrote Chatham House senior fellow Hans Kundnani and Prof. Michito Tsuruoka of Keio University in a recent editorial.

Golden Ray Wreck Continues to Spill Fuel Oil

Salvage teams on the Golden Ray wreck removal project continue to deal with fuel oil spills as they gradually raise the latest section of the vessel's hull out of the water.

Spillage began Saturday when the team began hoisting, which is usually accompanied by responders washing sediment out of the hull section to shed weight. It was the largest spill yet experienced during the salvage project, and tidal flows flushed an unknown quantity of oil out of the work site containment barrier and into St. Simons Sound. Significant oiling was observed on beaches and marshland on St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island, and additional cleanup personnel were called in to remove pollution from the shoreline.

Mitigation efforts near section six after spillage on Wednesday (St. Simons Sound Incident Response)

On Wednesday morning, wreck removal personnel once again partially raised the sixth section. An oil discharge began to pool inside of retention boom around the section, and the salvage master paused the lifting operation to allow oil skimmers in with a floating vacuum system to pump out fuel oil floating on the surface. Some oil escaped beyond the perimeter barrier, and about 30 pollution control vessels were on hand to respond.

“We are executing very controlled lifts of Section Six in order to recover any oil that discharges from the section without overwhelming our multi-layered mitigation system,” said Incident Commander Chris Graff of Gallagher Marine Systems. “Removing this section will take time and we appreciate the patience and support of the community as we move forward.”

The salvage command said that lifting operations will be limited to conditions that are favorable for safety and spill control.

About 80 people have been assigned to cleanup duty along the beaches of St. Simons Island, including popular swimming and sunbathing spots. The beaches remain open to the public, and Georgia's Department of Health has recommended that beach-goers remain vigilant. To control the damage, the teams are collecting up oiled sand and applying sphagnum moss and sorbent pads to oiled marsh grasses.

Response teams apply sphagnum moss to oiled marsh grasses, St. Simons Island (St. Simons Sound Incident Response)

A wildlife assessment team from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources spotted a small number of oiled juvenile Royal terns on Bird Island on Wednesday, but did not attempt to recover them. The team will keep monitoring for wildlife impacts.

Fletcher Sams, the executive director of environmental group Altamaha Riverkeeper, told AP that he would like to see a Natural Resources Damage Assessment (a federal study typically performed by NOAA) to determine the cumulative impact of the Golden Ray grounding. "The natural resources of the area have been continuously damaged for two years almost," he told AP.

Video: Archaeologists Discover Roman Wreck Laden With Amphorae

Italian archaeologists have discovered a Roman wreck from the second century B.C. off the coast of Sicily. The sunken vessel was located in about 300 feet of water off Isola delle Femmine, near Palermo, and it was heavily laden with amphorae - likely of the type used to carry wine.

The discovery was part of an underwater reconnaissance campaign conducted by the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Sicilia) and the province's superintendent of the sea (SopMare) to verify archaeological finds in deep waters. The first images of the find were detected and acquired by Arpa technicians using an ROV from the deck of the oceanograpic vessel Calypso South.

"The Mediterranean continually gives us precious elements for the reconstruction of our history linked to maritime trade, the types of boats, the transports carried out, the thalassocracies, but also data relating to life on board and the relationships between coastal populations," said Sicily's Superintendent of the Sea, Valeria Li Vigni. "The discovery confirms the presence of numerous archaeological remains in the bathymetric bands over 50/80 meters, which stimulates us to continue our research in the deep sea."

The activity is a bit out of the normal scope of ARPA Sicilia's mission, as it is not strictly focused on environmental protection, but director Vincenzo Infantino said that it is a valuable way in which the agency can contribute to Sicilian heritage. "The study and monitoring of the marine environment, constantly operated by Arpa Sicilia continues to enrich the picture of the precious beauties present in the Sicilian sea . . . whose protection is an essential imperative for our community," he said.

It was the mission's second find in a matter of months, following on the heels of the discovery of another Roman wreck off the coast of Ustica - also laden with amphorae and likely dating to the second century B.C.

Amphorae were the shipping containers of their day, widely used to transport wine, olive oil and food on board merchant vessels in the Mediterranean basin. They were employed by the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans alike; as many of these ceramic vessels have survived through the ages, they provide archaeologists with valuable clues about the trading patterns of the era.

Dams and Dredging Mean Bad News for Vietnam's Mekong Delta

Rice paddies in the Mekong River Delta (Thomas Schoch / CC BY SA 3.0

[By Milton Osborne]

The release of recent research from the Netherlands adds an additional insight into what is happening in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the country’s all-important food producing region that contributes some fifty per cent to its agricultural GDP. In a stark conclusion the research cites 2050 as the Tipping Point when the delta will no longer be able to cope with salt water intrusions, a phenomenon that is already causing the los of productive land.

What is of particular interest in the research that has been pursued for more than a decade is the conclusion that to date climate change is responsible for only about five per cent of the delta’s current problems. Rather, it argues that until now the chief culprits are the dams that have been built on the Mekong’s mainstream in China and Laos—11 in China and two so far in Laos—plus the upwards of 300 dams that have been constructed on the tributaries that flow into the Mekong. This multiplicity of barriers has led to a sharp decline in the flow of sediment down the Mekong as it reaches the delta, robbing the region of vital nutrients, and no longer adding new topsoil to the land while playing a part in ridding the delta of damaging insect pests.

Without the added topsoil that once accompanied the flood flows the delta has become increasingly vulnerable to salt water incursions that have accompanied water level rises. But for the moment these rises in sea levels are less immediately important than the effects that have followed large-scale sand mining, most importantly in Cambodia but also in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam itself. With a building boom over the past decade in those countries supply of sand is vital for construction, but removing sand from the Mekong means that the riverbed becomes deeper, water flows more quickly and scours the regions that are then exposed to salt water incursions in the dry season.

None of the conclusions just summarised should be taken as minimising the longer-term threats associated with climate change. Rather the effects of the dams on the Mekong and its tributaries plus the impact of sand mining are setting up a situation in which climate change will be even more likely to wreak its damaging effects in 2050.

Dr Milton Osborne was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He has been associated with Southeast Asia for nearly sixty years since being posted to the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh in 1959. A graduate of Sydney and Cornell Universities (University Medallist and Fulbright Scholar, respectively), he has held academic positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore.

This article appears courtesy of The Interpreter and may be found in its original form here.

Top image: Rice paddies in the Mekong River Delta (Thomas Schoch / CC BY SA 3.0)

What's Behind the Giant Blooms of Brown Seaweed on Caribbean Beaches?

ely michel — Mats of Sargassum seaweed off the coast of St. Martin in April 2018. ELY Michel CC BY-SA 4.0, , CC BY-SA

[By Stephen P. Leatherman]

Here’s a handy geography question for your next trivia match: What is the world’s only sea that doesn’t have a land border?

The answer is the Sargasso Sea – a 2-million-square-nautical-mile haven of biodiversity that lies east of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean. Rather than beaches, it’s bounded by rotating ocean currents that form the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.

The Sargasso is named for sargassum, a free-floating brown seaweed that grows in its calm, clear waters. In the open ocean this seaweed serves as nursery grounds and a haven for sea life.

But over the past decade, a new “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt” has inundated Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida coastlines, wreaking environmental and economic havoc. It’s driving away tourists, devastating local fishing industries and requires costly cleanup.

In my work as a coastal scientist, I’ve watched these invasions become the new normal, choking beaches and turning clear blue waters golden brown. Along with other researchers, I’m trying to understand why sargassum has proliferated into this new sprawling bloom, how to deal with such massive amounts of it, and how affected countries can predict the severity of the next influx.

A mysterious ‘golden floating rainforest’

For centuries people have viewed the Sargasso Sea with superstition and fear. Early myths described a treacherous section of the Atlantic Ocean where seaweed ensnared ships. Christopher Columbus documented this ecosystem in his 1492 expedition journals when his ships were becalmed there. His crew feared they would be dragged to the ocean floor, never returning home to Spain.

This region was sometimes called the Devil’s Triangle. Sea captains mapped routes to circumvent it completely. Mysterious accidents and disappearances there prompted author Vincent Gaddis to give it a new name in 1964: the “deadly Bermuda Triangle.”

But these sargassum islands also create a rich ecosystem that ocean explorer Sylvia Earle calls “a golden floating rainforest.” Suspended by round “berries” filled with gas, the seaweed offers food, sanctuary and breeding grounds for crabs, shrimp, whales, migratory birds and some 120 species of fish. Mats of it form the sole spawning grounds for European and American eels and habitat for some 43 other threatened or endangered species.

Sargassum’s berrylike structures are gas-filled bladders that help the plant float. H. Scott Meister, SCDNR

Sargassum also shelters sea turtle hatchlings and juvenile fish during their early life in the open ocean. Ten endemic species live nowhere else on Earth. The Sargasso is a valuable commercial fishery worth about US$100 million per year.

Noxious blooms

Enormous amounts of sargassum first engulfed Caribbean coastlines in 2011. I was there at the time, conducting research in the British Virgin Islands, and I saw huge “rafts” of this brown macroalgae extending 500 feet offshore.

Swimmers couldn’t get into the water. Some boats couldn’t leave port. Beaches were piled with massive mounds, some nearly as tall as I was. Nesting sea turtles couldn’t lay their eggs. The seaweed isn’t toxic, but as it decomposed it reeked of rotten eggs and swarmed with insects.

Beaches covered in sargassum have become the new normal in Florida and the Caribbean.

Small quantities of sargassum have always turned up as “beach wrack” – stuff that washes ashore. It stabilizes shorelines by helping to build sand dunes and nourishes dune plants. For these reasons, it’s left to naturally decompose in wild areas, such as Cape Florida State Park.

But the scale of recent coastal influxes is unprecedented. And since the 2011 event, they have occurred every year except for 2013.

Monthly mean sargassum density for the month of July, 2011-2018. Wang et al., 2019, CC BY

Gluts of coastal seaweed have a damaging influence on the coastal environment. In large quantities, the seaweed strips oxygen from the water, killing fish and seagrasses that offer key habitat for many species. It may reduce sunlight needed by ocean plants and smother shallow coral reefs, like those in the Florida Keys.

In 2018 NASA satellites revealed the largest marine algae bloom in the world. A belt of sargassum that contained over 22 million tons of seaweed stretched some 5,500 miles across the Atlantic to West Africa. Satellite images are showing abnormally high amounts again in 2021.

Warmer, overnutrified waters

Data gathered over the past decade has revealed the likely causes of these seaweed invasions: Saharan dust clouds, warming temperatures and the growing human nitrogen footprint.

Just as nutrients feed red tide blooms, they feed sargassum, which thrives in warmer water. Climate change also increases upwelling of nutrients from deep ocean waters at the other end of the sargassum belt in West Africa.

The influxes of the past decade seem to have originated along Brazil’s Atlantic coast, not in the Sargasso Sea. Large amounts of fertilizer flow into the Amazon River and then to the ocean from industrial-scale agriculture and ranches. Nutrients also pour into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River. Climate change-driven downpours increase runoff.

Saharan dust clouds that extend for thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean have also contributed to this explosion of sargassum seaweed. The dust contains iron, nitrogen and phosphorus that fertilizes plankton and seaweed blooms. These thick atmospheric dust plumes corresponded with a sargassum spike in 2015 and the worst incursion of sargassum in 2018.

Researchers are also exploring changing in ocean currents, which may be another contributing factor.

Economic and ecological harm

Sargassum threatens tourism, a major economic engine for the Caribbean and Florida. Mexico has deployed Navy ships for cleanup operations in Cancun. Some Caribbean destinations have installed floating barriers, like those used in oil spills, to keep seaweed offshore. In 2019 Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados likened the scale of the economic fallout to that of a hurricane.

There is currently no good way to dispose of such great volumes of seaweed. It’s labor-intensive and expensive. Removing sargassum from 15 miles of Miami-Dade beaches cost $45 million in 2019.

Some communities plow seaweed under the sand. Others, like Fort Lauderdale, collect it, wash off the salt and convert it to natural fertilizer or mulch. In Mexico some entrepreneurs are compressing it into bricks and using it, like adobe, for building construction. In the long term, lasting solutions will come only through addressing climate change and nitrogen emissions from human activities.

Stephen P. Leatherman is a professor of coastal science at Florida International University.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Will Seafood Corporations Act as Ocean Stewards?

china dialogue — Demand from fishmeal factories along the West African coast is putting pressure on the same fish stocks local people rely on as a source of protein (Image: Mustapha Manneh / China Dialogue)

[By Robert Blasiak and Nobuyuki Yagi]

Communities and small-scale producers around the world have long achieved resilience and self-sufficiency through stewardship: knowledge and care shaped by an intimate understanding of their unique surroundings, and agency to act. Talun-kebun in Indonesia; maeulsoop in Korea; kaitiakitanga in New Zealand; satoyama in Japan – these and dozens of other examples of stewardship have emerged across generations, and continue to inspire and shape action and ethics today.

But our current era, the Anthropocene, is one of hyper-connectivity, with truly global movement of goods, knowledge and people. Even the most remote communities are rapidly becoming linked into international supply chains and trade networks. What does stewardship mean in the context of globally active corporations? In many ways, transnational companies seem the antithesis of stewards: motivated by growth, shareholder dividends and short-term decision-making.

Yet growth often depends on frontiers and untapped resources, and some industries are already bumping up against planetary boundaries. In 2017, for instance, the FAO reported that only around 6% of fish stocks were “underfished”, while global fisheries catches have remained largely stagnant for the past 30 years.

Transnational corporations are also connected to diverse geographies, cultures and norms. In the seafood industry, shifting norms have elevated many issues, from labour and human rights, to gender equality and animal welfare. At the World Economic Forum in 2019, Jim Leape noted: “If your seafood is caught by slaves, it doesn’t matter if it’s sustainable.”

So what is the recent history of an industry encountering biosphere limits and navigating a changing world of norms? Together with colleagues from academia, civil society and the private sector, we studied the role of stewardship in the seafood industry, publishing our findings this June in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

From boycotts to ‘buycotts’

We found the seafood industry to be inextricably linked and shaped by interactions with NGOs, academia, policymakers and other industry actors. High-profile NGO campaigns in the 1970s, for instance, focused on bycatch of charismatic species like dolphins in tuna fisheries, resulting in seafood boycotts and swift corporate, and eventually regulatory, responses.

Boycotts quickly led to “buycotts”, as focus expanded beyond stopping the consumption of certain types of seafood to encouraging the consumption of sustainably produced varieties. The primary vehicle for such efforts has been certifications and ecolabels, with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council certifications among the most prominent.

Ecolabels are not one-size-fits all. More than 120 have been established since the 1990s, with varying levels of focus on social and environmental standards, and adapted to local or national settings. This proliferation can create confusion among consumers and retailers. It resulted in the establishment of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), which serves as a benchmark of certifications.

Marine Ecolabel Japan (MEL), for instance, was originally established in 2007 as a domestic labelling system. Traditionally a fish-consuming country with a high degree of trust and dependence on its local, small-scale fishers, Japan saw little need for an international labelling scheme. But growing market connections have caused a shift, pushing MEL to modify its standard and garner GSSI recognition in 2019.

The growing role of ‘green clubs’

More recently, green clubs – voluntary alliances of corporate actors committed to environmental or social goals that are not mandated by law – have become increasingly prominent in the seafood industry. These create a new potential for collaboration on sustainability. One such example is the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO) and its forerunner ISOFISH, which brought together industry and other actors to address rampant illegality in the toothfish fishery. In 1997, around half of catch volumes were illegally caught. Transparency, cooperation and joint monitoring exercises were key to turning this around.

One factor working to the advantage of COLTO was the relatively small number of operators in the fishery. The seafood industry is highly consolidated, with the top 13 companies controlling 11–16% of global marine catch, and up to 40% of the largest and most valuable stocks. Ten of these seafood giants have formed the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative, with a public set of shared commitments and time-bound goals for achieving transformational change in the industry to move towards ocean stewardship.

The future of ocean stewardship

Looking closely at the past decades, some general patterns are evident. Companies are beginning to move beyond simply complying with legal and regulatory policy. They are actively seeking to position themselves as leaders in a transformation towards sustainable and ethical seafood. One such example is the Association of Responsible Krill Harvesting Companies (ARK). It established a series of voluntary spatial closures (areas where no fishing is allowed) which its members have complied with since 2018. Generally speaking, voluntary measures by resource-users benefit from speedy decision-making (compared with the slow speed with which legally binding international agreements are established) and high compliance, as users have been directly involved in developing the rules.

Other industry-led efforts take a broader ecological-systems perspective. One example is steps away from turning fish fit for human consumption into aquaculture feed (given that the food-grade fish may be of nutritional value to local communities, while the aquaculture production ends up supplying high-income markets). Another is hedging against the growing risks of climate change by making fisheries resilient to unexpected shocks. This involves a focus on ecosystem-based management and a “portfolio approach” to managing, for example, salmon stocks, which takes into account the genetic diversity of populations and sub-populations.

Some argue that stewardship is not an end goal, but rather an approach. As time passes, the list of social and ecological issues associated with stewardship has expanded, and it is unlikely to remain static. In recent years, for instance, animal welfare has become a hot-button issue, while minimising antibiotics in aquaculture production is an area of growing attention as antimicrobial resistance increases. Yet much remains to be done – some 34% of fish stocks are being harvested at biologically unsustainable levels. In many cases, sustainable fisheries management is still a distant goal. In other cases, new technologies and approaches to transparency are redefining the boundaries of how the seafood industry can understand and lessen its footprint on marine ecosystems.

As the concept of stewardship matures within the industry, it has the potential to act as a touchpoint for a suite of other ocean-based industries.

In the context of the Anthropocene, a globally connected world, and rapid consolidation of industries, our paper concludes that the “future of the ocean and humanity’s relationship with it may rest on efforts to translate stewardship from an aspirational notion to a pillar of standard operating procedure anchored in supportive public policy."

Robert Blasiak is a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, where he focuses on international cooperation, sustainable management of ocean resources, and ocean stewardship.

Nobuyuki Yagi is a professor at the University of Tokyo who specialises in international fisheries and environmental economics.

This article appears courtesy of China Dialogue Ocean and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Net zero target for 2050 is too slow, and a strategy for climate failure

Michael Mazengarb & Giles Parkinson

4 August 2021

A major new research paper argues that setting “net zero by 2050” targets will fail to prompt urgent action on climate change, and won’t achieve the speed of emission reductions needed to avoid the worsening impacts of global warming.

The paper, released by the Australian-based Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, says shorter-term emission reduction targets are needed to compel action to cut fossil fuel use, including setting a more ambitious target to reach zero emissions as early as 2030.

“[Net zero by 2050] scenarios are based on models and carbon budgets generally associated with a 50 or 66 per cent chance of staying below the target, that is, a one-in-two, or one-in-three, chance of failure,” the paper says.

“We would never accept those risks of failures in our own lives. Why accept them for impacts which may destroy civilisation as we know it?”

The paper is significant because Australia’s mainstream political debate is currently dominated by Labor’s demand for a net zero target by 2050, and the federal Coalition’s commitment that net zero is nice, but it will only get there as soon as it can, or some time this century.

The Breakthrough paper is by no means the first that highlights that the Paris climate goals require much more urgent action, and that decisive action in the next 10 years is required to avoid depleting the “carbon budget.”

Last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator released a set of scenarios that observed that the only one that met the Paris stretch goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C was to reach net zero emissions, at least in the electricity supply, by 2035.

The Coalition government insists that coal generation will continue for decades, and wants to invest billions in infrastructure to support an expansion of the gas industry.

The Breakthrough Centre’s research briefing published on Wednesday points to a number of scientific papers that suggest average global warming is now on track to exceed 1.5°C, even if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to net zero as early as 2030.

“At the present level of warming of 1.2°C, climate change is already dangerous, with some system-level tipping points already crossed and others dangerously close,” the research briefing says.

“A return to the safe climate conditions of the Holocene requires rapid decarbonisation and drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide to more stable levels. The policy aim must be “a big minus” in emissions, not “net zero” emissions.”

It says precautionary action must be taken to ensure that tipping points with catastrophic outcomes are not triggered.

“In short, emission reduction efforts must be reframed as emergency action to reach net zero emissions by 2030, plus drawdown to reduce atmospheric carbon concentrations from the current unstable 420ppm CO2 (in excess of 500ppm CO2 e if all greenhouse gases are included) to well below 350ppm CO2,” the paper adds.

A growing number of national governments are making formal commitments to zero emissions targets by 2050, but many have been reluctant to commit to the goal – including Australia.

The Morrison government has continued to express a “preference” for Australia to reach zero net emissions as soon as possible, and has set no interim targets beyond the original 26-28 per cent reduction by 2030 target it adopted in 2015, which is now widely regarded as completely inadequate.

The federal government has also committed significant amounts of public funds towards expanding Australia’s fossil fuel industries, including the drilling of new gas wells in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

The Breakthrough Centre says the focus on net zero targets is distracting from the crucial need for short and medium term targets – targets which are more likely to solicit a more immediate policy response from both governments and investors.

“Long-term targets are an excuse for procrastination,” co-author of the paper and former fossil fuel executive, Ian Dunlop, said.

“The short-term matters most. Emergency action to cool and protect the most vulnerable climate and ecosystems is vital. Failure to do so right now may make long-term targets irrelevant if cascades of system-level biophysical changes are triggered.”

“Saying [net zero by 2050] is “the best we can do” is caving into an unsustainable and dangerous future, and giving up on protecting major Earth systems and ecologies.”

“The [net zero by 2050] scenarios will not save the world’s coral reefs, nor stop rapid and devastating Arctic change nor prevent the inundation of low-lying small island states, or the triggering of societal collapse in parts of the world.”

The report argues that governments should instead be looking to set ‘a big minus’ target for global emissions, to not only stop increases in the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases, but also to actively reduce these concentrations by drawing down carbon dioxide to stable levels.

Observations from scientific bodies like the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show average global temperatures are regularly recording increases of more than one degree attributed global warming, and increased temperatures are already contributing to climate change fuelled disasters of worsening intensity and increased frequency.

National governments are set to meet before the end of the year, for the next round if international climate change negotiation in Glasgow, where it is expected that renewed pressure will be placed on countries lagging on their climate change commitments – such as Australia – to increase their level of action.

COMING SOON IMPERIALIST WAR IN THE ARCTIC

Rosatom Seeks Putin’s Approval for Northern Sea Route Plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been urged to approve the ambitious Northern Sea Transport Corridor project in order to open up the Northern Sea Route, which is attracting interest from the international business community.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev told Putin in a meeting at the Kremlin Wednesday that the containerized shipping industry is increasingly expressing interest in the Northern Sea Route following the events in the Suez Canal and growth in world trade.

“We would like, with your consent, to start developing a large container transport logistics corridor on the basis of our Northern Sea Route project,” said Likhachev.

He added that developing the route for the commercial shipping industry will open a completely new level of business and economic positioning, not only for the state corporation but also for Russia, with the wider objective being to benefit the world economy.

The project involves the development of two terminal hubs, a fleet of icebreakers, port infrastructure, communication and navigation systems, among other investments.

According to Likhachev, Rosatom is implementing projects designed to open the route to commercial shipping with focus being on conducting additional analysis on the needs for icebreaking support for medium and long term operations.

The company reckons it might need three to six new powerful icebreakers to keep the entire Northern Sea Route open for daily shipments throughout the year. It has embarked on plans to build the first batch of icebreakers powered by liquified natural gas (LNG).

“All projects on the Northern Sea Route are developing, perhaps even at a higher pace than we planned. In this regard, we are conducting an additional analysis of the needs for icebreaking support after 2024, after 2030,” said Likhachev.

The Northern Sea Route is emerging as a strategic economic front for Russia as countries and shipping lines seek to find alternative routes to Asia and Europe. Disruptions like the blockage of the Suez Canal in March and continued COVID-19 disruptions in ports have weighed on an otherwise booming ocean freight industry, which is enjoying unprecedented demand and profitability.

Rusatom Cargo, a subsidiary of Rosatom, contends that transit cargo flow along the Northern Sea Route could reach 80 million tons per year by 2024, up from 33 million last year.

Last month, Rosatom signed an agreement with DP World establishing a joint venture that will invest in, build and operate transport and logistics capacity along the northern transit corridor.

“DP World supports Russia's efforts to diversify trade flows between Asia and Europe. The Northern Transit Corridor holds out the prospect of shorter transit times between East and West,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World CEO.

He added the northern route cuts up to 19 days from the journey time between South East Asia and North West Europe because it is shorter, faster, less congested and more efficient.

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