WEBVTT

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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For millennia, humans have
been drawn to the sea.

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Today, we see the richness of
the ocean from an increasingly

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crowded shore.

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Two billion people now live
along or near a coast.

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By 2025, nearly all the world\'s
shorelines will have

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been developed.

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We still see turquoise seas,
stunning shores, and markets

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full of fish.

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But it\'s a dangerous illusion.

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There\'s a growing crisis
beneath the waves.

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Maine life was there for a
million years before people.

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So the idea that we are required
to manage it is

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ridiculous.

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What we are having
to manage is us.

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There are solutions
within our grasp.

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But will we take them?

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The rich coastal waters of the
ocean, where land meets sea,

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have fed our bodies and
nourished our souls since we

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first landed on shore.

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They are some of the most unique
places on the planet.

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For scientists and fishermen,
this beauty

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and bounty is vanishing.

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The ocean that once seemed
inexhaustible is buckling

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under the weight
of our demands.

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But there is hope.

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There are places where we\'ve
made a difference.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The Mediterranean Sea is an
ecosystem in trouble.

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The tragic story of the bluefin
Tuna is one of its

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most dramatic and contentious
issues.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Every spring, after a
transatlantic migration,

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bluefin travel to these warm
coastal waters to spawn.

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And for countless generations,
fisherman around the

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Mediterranean have eagerly
awaited their arrival.

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These Spanish fishermen, the
last of their kind, are going

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out to their nets.

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And like many fishermen around
the world, they are worried

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that there may be nothing
left to catch.

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This traditional method
of tuna fishing

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is called the almadraba.

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The almadraberos have spent two
months fixing their maze

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of nets to the ocean floor
in an age old pattern.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The 3000-year-old
contest begins.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Over the course of the next two
hours, the fishermen bring

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their boats and nets together.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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By the end, the color of the
water leaves no doubt as to

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who has won.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The fishermen elated.

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Today has been one of
the rare good days.

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But the bounty is an illusion.

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The almadraberos catch
has dropped by 80% in

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the past two decades.

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[SPEAKING SPANISH]

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It used to catch up to 1,000
tuna in one day.

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Today if catch 1,000,
1,100 during the

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season we are happy.

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Fishers have known about
the migration

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routes of tuna for centuries.

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Large-scale organize fishing,
including tuna, was a feature

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of the Roman Empire.

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Even then overfishing
was a problem.

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And the Romans tried
to control it.

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The bluefin was their
prized catch.

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But feeding the Roman legions
pales in comparison to the

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demands of today\'s
global market.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The race to catch the
last of the bluefin

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began in the 1990s.

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Today, it is Japan that buys
as much tuna as it can.

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Almost all of the world\'s
catch ends up here.

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bluefin fetch of the
highest prices of

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any fish in the world.

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So the fishery has gone from
the hands of traditional

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fishers to those of the large
fishing fleets that are armed

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with both speed and technology,
radar, sonar,

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planes, and a ship called
the purse seiner.

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It\'s high tech fishing on
an industrial scale.

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Illegal spotter planes
relay the tuna\'s

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location to the seiner.

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One of them can catch as many
as 3,000 bluefin in one go.

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It\'s no contest.

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Illegal fishing is rampant,
driven by an insatiable demand

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for the fish\'s meat.

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Meanwhile, as scientists and
politicians debate whether

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established quotas are
sustainable, the number of

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bluefin continues to decline.

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[SPEAKING SPANISH]

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After the appearance of
unregulated vessels and

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companies in the Mediterranean,
we\'ve seen the

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catch go down and down.

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We fish in a very
selective way.

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And up until these people
appeared with their huge nets,

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their big vessels, we never
had problems with anybody.

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The almadraberos, scientists,
and conservationists are

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fighting back as
best they can.

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Tuna specialist Dr. Sergi
Tudela is the head of

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Mediterranean fisheries for
the World Wildlife Fund.

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The bluefin tuna is a species
which is collapsing as we

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speak right now.

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This is due to overfishing.

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Unfortunately, the case of
bluefin tuna is not very

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different from the case of a
newfoundland cod, or other

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species that, in the past,
have collapsed.

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The difference, maybe, is that
we are well aware of what is

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going on right now.

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And this is a challenge we have
had to fight, avoid the

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collapse of this magnificent
species.

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Although bluefin have been
managed by an international

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commission for more than 40
years, we\'ve fished out 3/4 of

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the breeding population in
the last half century.

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[SPEAKING SPANISH]

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Because of the way the sector
is right now, I think that

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when my generation dies, the
sea will die with us.

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It isn\'t only these fisherman
who are affected.

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As bluefin disappear, no one
knows how they\'re absence will

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impact the web of marine life.

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Science is only beginning to
understand the complex role

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that top predators like
bluefin tuna play in

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maintaining biodiversity.

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The tragic story of the bluefin
tuna is just one

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example of overfishing
in the Mediterranean.

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Hake, marlin, swordfish, red
mullet, see bream, and

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anchovies are all threatened.

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The once rich sea is being
transformed in ways that are

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invisible to most of us.

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What we do see is a growing
population and a growing

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demand for fish.

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From the port of Gibraltar at
the mouth of the Great Sea, to

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the shores of the Middle East,
the Mediterranean is one of

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the most heavily-stressed
ecosystems on the planet.

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Nowhere is this more evident
than in the Nile Delta.

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One of the largest deltas in the
world, it\'s outer margins

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are a series of lagoons and
lakes that have sustained

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productive fisheries for
thousands of years.

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Dr. Abdel Fattah El-Sayed is
from the University of

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Alexandria.

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The Egyptian lagoons, they
cover a huge area.

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They have very, very heavy
vegetation cover.

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And this is considered like a
lung for cleaning the air.

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So, environmentally, the play an
extensive and a major role

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in conserving our lives.

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In the late 1980s, something
odd occurred.

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There was a mysterious
and welcome

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explosion in fish stocks.

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The abundance of fish helped
to feed Egypt\'s rapidly

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expanding population.

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It was a bonanza
for fishermen.

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But it\'s not what it seems.

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This bonanza has a disturbing
dark side.

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Where the Mediterranean meets
the Nile, industry and

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agriculture are radically

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altering the natural landscape.

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Here in Alexandria, coastal
sprawl is shrinking the

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largest coastal lagoon,
Marriott Lake.

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Worse, the wetlands have been
completely cut off from the

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Mediterranean by development.

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With no renewal of water, the
brackish lagoon is being

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choked by vegetation that
thrives on the constant influx

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of agricultural and chemical
fertilizers.

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Dr. El-Sayeed monitors the
oxygen levels closely.

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Less oxygen in these waters is
a sure sign of trouble, and

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that sewage and fertilizers are

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creating a dangerous situation.

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There are signals indicating
that something bad will take

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place very soon.

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If we keep this level of
dumping, of land-based

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discharge, then the crisis
will be inevitable.

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So hopefully it won\'t reach this
point, otherwise we\'ll be

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in trouble.

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Oxygen is an essential element
in water, and makes it

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possible for fish, crabs, and
most sea life to exist.

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Without it, they die.

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Smothered by overpopulation and
pollution, the bonanza of

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fish in the Nile delta is
already coming to an end.

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Many of the world\'s
coastal areas have

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become marine deserts.

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This may be the next.

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On the other side of the
Atlantic lies the Gulf of

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Mexico, a sea much like
the Mediterranean.

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But like the Mediterranean,
all is not as

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it appears to be.

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The shrimp boats are out, as
usual plying the waters.

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Dolphins follow in water that
looks as blue as ever.

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But up ahead, an ocean of life
quietly fade to black.

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This is the dead zone.

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The only sound is the
boat\'s engine.

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Here, there are no birds,
no sharks, no

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fish, no life at all.

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Only The Pelican, out on its
annual expedition to map one

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of the world\'s largest
human-caused dead zones.

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Catch the water four meters,
so bring it up to five.

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Chief scientist Nancy Rabalais
is measuring the oxygen

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content at one of her many
sampling stations.

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Dead zones occur wherever oxygen
is depleted below the

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level necessary to sustain
marine life.

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It\'s called hypoxia.

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Every spring, the Mississippi
River watches fertilizers and

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sewage from 32 states
into the delta and

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into the Gulf of Mexico.

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All these nutrients cause a
massive bloom of algae.

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When they die, they decompose
on the sea bed, using up all

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the oxygen.

00:15:30.370 --> 00:15:35.090


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And the green line is the
oxygen, which I\'m very

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interested in.

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As Rabalais watches, the impact
of the declining oxygen

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levels on marine life
is predictable.

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Drops to about three, then
things like sharks and sting

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rays start to move
out of the area.

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And below two, shrimp, fish,
crabs, will start to move out.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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For sea life, it\'s as if all the
air were suddenly sucked

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out of the world.

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Those creatures that can
swim or crawl away

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fast enough may survive.

00:16:15.390 --> 00:16:18.030
Those who can\'t die.

00:16:18.030 --> 00:16:25.750


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They die because they
can\'t breathe.

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And because the water has
become a toxic soup.

00:16:31.489 --> 00:16:41.760


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Ryan, I\'m going to take
number four, OK?

00:16:44.054 --> 00:16:45.304
OK.

00:16:45.304 --> 00:16:49.720


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We just took this water
from the bottom.

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And it smells like hydrogen
sulfide, which means that

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there\'s no oxygen
on the bottom.

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There\'s absolutely no oxygen
on the bottom.

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And hydrogen sulfide is
toxic to animals.

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So any of the animals living
on the bottom right now or

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either going to die because
there\'s no often, or because

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of hydrogen sulfide toxicity.

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Dr. Rabalais maps the gulf\'s
dead zone every year.

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And every year it\'s
menace grows.

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It was first discovered
in the 1970s.

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and at times has grown to 22,000
square kilometers.

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Its legal waters spread from
the Mississippi to Texas.

00:17:31.667 --> 00:17:40.730


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This is our 25th cruise to map
this area, started in 1985.

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Every year we find something
different.

00:17:47.840 --> 00:17:50.230
It\'s either that the low oxygen
forms now where it

00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:51.320
didn\'t form before.

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Or if it did, it\'s
much worse now.

00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:58.490
And it\'s gone from being
aperiodic, not happening very

00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:02.440
often, to being a persistent
problem in many areas.

00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:04.930
Coastal dead zones
are springing up

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all over the planet.

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Now there are over 400, many

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increasing in size and duration.

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They have doubled in number
every 10 years since 1960.

00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:21.320
The worst is the 70,000
square kilometer

00:18:21.320 --> 00:18:23.687
Baltic Sea dead zone.

00:18:23.687 --> 00:18:30.020


00:18:30.020 --> 00:18:34.040
Hypoxia is rapidly becoming the
greatest threat to fish

00:18:34.040 --> 00:18:38.060
stocks in the Gulf of Mexico
because it forces them to

00:18:38.060 --> 00:18:41.020
leave their feeding, spawning,
and maturation grounds.

00:18:41.020 --> 00:18:43.960


00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.350
Things look good at
the Dean Blanchard

00:18:46.350 --> 00:18:48.730
Shrimp Factory in Louisiana.

00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:52.810
But it doesn\'t tell
the whole story.

00:18:52.810 --> 00:18:54.850
It virtually knocks us out.

00:18:54.850 --> 00:18:55.855
It kills us.

00:18:55.855 --> 00:18:58.920
The reason they call it a dead
zone is wherever it\'s at,

00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:00.740
everything in it\'s dead.

00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:03.880
So you could be gone from
getting 100,000 pound a shrimp

00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:06.640
a day, and the dead zone
moves in, and the

00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.670
next day there\'s nothing.

00:19:08.670 --> 00:19:11.310
The guys put their trolls in
the water, and they pick up

00:19:11.310 --> 00:19:14.340
their nets, and there\'s
nothing in there.

00:19:14.340 --> 00:19:16.580
We probably lost two and a
half million pounds of

00:19:16.580 --> 00:19:19.487
production because of the
dead zone last year.

00:19:19.487 --> 00:19:24.850


00:19:24.850 --> 00:19:28.100
Coastal development compounds
the problem.

00:19:28.100 --> 00:19:31.600
Wetlands that used to absorb the
excess nutrients from the

00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:35.840
river have been lost at an
alarming rate to both people

00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:37.430
and industry.

00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:41.590
Louisiana alone loses the
equivalent of about one

00:19:41.590 --> 00:19:44.980
football field of wetlands
every half hour.

00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:49.860


00:19:49.860 --> 00:19:51.980
They\'re destroying
our wetlands.

00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:55.880
The Corps of Engineers came in
and put up a levy system and

00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:58.460
changed the natural
flow of the river.

00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:00.220
And it\'s like the old
butter commercial.

00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:02.400
you can\'t next mess with
mother nature.

00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:04.860
And these people think they\'re
smarter than mother nature.

00:20:04.860 --> 00:20:07.134
But they\'re now, you Know

00:20:07.134 --> 00:20:12.110


00:20:12.110 --> 00:20:16.160
Many of the effects caused by
the dead zone are obvious.

00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.813
But scientists are seeing
more subtle changes.

00:20:19.813 --> 00:20:23.890


00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:27.500
Croaker, an important commercial
fish in the Gulf,

00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:31.410
are showing some ominous effects
of the toxic waters.

00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:35.190
There\'s a lot known about how
hypoxia is formed now.

00:20:35.190 --> 00:20:38.040
But there\'s not much known about
how it affects animals,

00:20:38.040 --> 00:20:40.205
except, of course, when
it kills them

00:20:40.205 --> 00:20:41.310
because it\'s so severe.

00:20:41.310 --> 00:20:47.290
So what we are concerned about
is low levels of oxygen, not

00:20:47.290 --> 00:20:49.870
so low that it kills
the animals.

00:20:49.870 --> 00:20:53.280
But how does it affect their
complete life history?

00:20:53.280 --> 00:20:55.980


00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:59.860
So these are all juveniles.

00:20:59.860 --> 00:21:01.600
They\'re in the nursery
area here.

00:21:01.600 --> 00:21:05.010
And then when they get a little
larger they\'ll move

00:21:05.010 --> 00:21:06.956
into deeper water for feeding.

00:21:06.956 --> 00:21:10.360


00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:15.970
In his lab, the emerging
picture is grim.

00:21:15.970 --> 00:21:19.770
First of all, we\'ve seen that
the development and eggs and

00:21:19.770 --> 00:21:23.290
sperm is dramatically impaired,
which makes one

00:21:23.290 --> 00:21:27.000
concerned about how many fish
from this region are able to

00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.970
actually produce viable eggs and
sperm that can contribute

00:21:30.970 --> 00:21:32.790
to the next generation.

00:21:32.790 --> 00:21:41.130


00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:46.600
We found some of the females had
male reproductive tissues

00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:50.240
in their ovaries, which
suggested a process called

00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:55.490
masculinization, that
is they made sperm.

00:21:55.490 --> 00:21:58.760
We had never seen this with any
chemical exposures before.

00:21:58.760 --> 00:22:00.468
So this was a great
surprise to us.

00:22:00.468 --> 00:22:05.580


00:22:05.580 --> 00:22:07.860
It\'s a dire prognosis.

00:22:07.860 --> 00:22:11.800
The very ocean that gave birth
to all life is not only

00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:16.760
suffocating, it\'s also changing
basic biology.

00:22:16.760 --> 00:22:20.480
But here on the coast,
you\'d never know it.

00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:24.510
Everyone wants to live here,
play here, and eat the bounty

00:22:24.510 --> 00:22:27.220
the ocean provides.

00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:31.220
Coastal ecosystems like sea
grass beds make up only a

00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:34.570
small fraction of the
global ocean.

00:22:34.570 --> 00:22:37.920
But they provide shelter and
food to many species.

00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.590
They are some of the most
ecologically important parts

00:22:41.590 --> 00:22:42.840
of the ocean.

00:22:42.840 --> 00:22:47.990


00:22:47.990 --> 00:22:51.150
Coastal zones form an important
connection between

00:22:51.150 --> 00:22:53.450
land and sea.

00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:57.100
90% of marine species
rely on them at some

00:22:57.100 --> 00:22:58.350
point in their life.

00:22:58.350 --> 00:23:01.330


00:23:01.330 --> 00:23:05.910
Sea grass beds, mangrove swamps,
and coral reefs act as

00:23:05.910 --> 00:23:09.490
natural protective barriers
for the land.

00:23:09.490 --> 00:23:13.590
And for marine life, they give
vital refuge not found in the

00:23:13.590 --> 00:23:14.760
open ocean.

00:23:14.760 --> 00:23:29.840
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:23:29.840 --> 00:23:33.850
Coral reefs are the jewels of
the ocean, and are some of its

00:23:33.850 --> 00:23:36.015
most diverse and productive
places.

00:23:36.015 --> 00:23:40.080


00:23:40.080 --> 00:23:44.220
Reefs are among the oldest
living communities on earth,

00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:46.832
and the most threatened.

00:23:46.832 --> 00:23:59.650


00:23:59.650 --> 00:24:03.710
At first light, fisherman head
out to the coral reefs, as

00:24:03.710 --> 00:24:04.960
they have for centuries.

00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.320


00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:11.850
Fishing has always defined the
people of Zanzibar and their

00:24:11.850 --> 00:24:14.230
coastal culture.

00:24:14.230 --> 00:24:17.520
In fact, there very names,
the Swahili,

00:24:17.520 --> 00:24:20.201
means coast in Arabic.

00:24:20.201 --> 00:24:24.820


00:24:24.820 --> 00:24:29.330
The islands that make Zanzibar
are themselves ancient coral

00:24:29.330 --> 00:24:32.490
reefs which sit off the
east coast of Africa

00:24:32.490 --> 00:24:33.740
in the Indian Ocean.

00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:38.490


00:24:38.490 --> 00:24:41.360
Today, the fishermen
are anxious.

00:24:41.360 --> 00:24:46.188
Their baskets often come
up with little in them.

00:24:46.188 --> 00:24:55.120


00:24:55.120 --> 00:24:58.370
While the men are out fishing,
the women\'s work here in

00:24:58.370 --> 00:25:01.220
Matemwe village, is to
glean everything

00:25:01.220 --> 00:25:03.360
else the sea provides.

00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:05.340
Now there is little
to collect.

00:25:05.340 --> 00:25:07.990


00:25:07.990 --> 00:25:10.230
They plant and harvest seaweed
to sell on the

00:25:10.230 --> 00:25:13.040
international market.

00:25:13.040 --> 00:25:18.730
But their income hasn\'t kept
pace with inflation.

00:25:18.730 --> 00:25:22.430
A shifting global market wants a
different species of seaweed

00:25:22.430 --> 00:25:24.860
that is very difficult
to grow here.

00:25:24.860 --> 00:25:26.860
So families are losing
an important

00:25:26.860 --> 00:25:28.110
part of their income.

00:25:28.110 --> 00:25:31.548


00:25:31.548 --> 00:25:40.860
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:25:40.860 --> 00:25:44.100
As the fishermen head home, the
village gathers for the

00:25:44.100 --> 00:25:45.420
daily fish auction.

00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:50.020


00:25:50.020 --> 00:25:52.336
What is being sold
is survival.

00:25:52.336 --> 00:25:55.790


00:25:55.790 --> 00:25:58.680
A quarter of the islanders
fish for a living.

00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:02.490
In 1980, that meant
7,000 fisherman.

00:26:02.490 --> 00:26:04.886
Today, it means 26,000.

00:26:04.886 --> 00:26:06.136
[? [SPEAKING SWAHILI] ?]

00:26:06.136 --> 00:26:20.350


00:26:20.350 --> 00:26:23.920
Fisheries biologist, Dr.
Narriman Jiddawi, is at the

00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:27.620
Matemwe auction to monitor
the catch.

00:26:27.620 --> 00:26:29.660
She grew up on the island.

00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:33.150
She\'s convinced that marine
resources need local

00:26:33.150 --> 00:26:37.180
management in order to prevent
a collapse of the ecosystem.

00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:40.138


00:26:40.138 --> 00:26:41.388
[? [SPEAKING SWAHILI] ?]

00:26:41.388 --> 00:26:54.480


00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:57.030
The astounding a variety
of coral reef

00:26:57.030 --> 00:26:59.250
fish is on full display.

00:26:59.250 --> 00:27:03.660
But as in the Mediterranean and
the Gulf of Mexico, these

00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:06.465
coastal fish stocks are under
intense pressure.

00:27:06.465 --> 00:27:09.910


00:27:09.910 --> 00:27:13.390
When you ask the fisherman,
what do you think?

00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:17.160
How was the fisheries 10
years ago and now?

00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:18.565
Most of them say they
have reduced.

00:27:18.565 --> 00:27:21.880


00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:25.660
But for Zanziban, when you look
at the catch in 1980 it

00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:27.550
was around 20,000
tons per year.

00:27:27.550 --> 00:27:31.410
2009, it\'s also around
20,000 tons.

00:27:31.410 --> 00:27:34.640
But the number of fishermen
have increased.

00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.120
So catch per fishermen have
definitely reduced.

00:27:37.120 --> 00:27:39.840


00:27:39.840 --> 00:27:42.690
Although the coral reefs appear
to be teeming with

00:27:42.690 --> 00:27:45.750
life, it\'s an illusion.

00:27:45.750 --> 00:27:50.260
This is only a fraction of the
number and variety of fish

00:27:50.260 --> 00:27:52.410
that were once found here.

00:27:52.410 --> 00:27:56.390
Fish size has also decreased
dramatically because of

00:27:56.390 --> 00:27:57.669
overfishing.

00:27:57.669 --> 00:28:04.380


00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:08.565
Global issues like climate
change also have an impact.

00:28:08.565 --> 00:28:13.290


00:28:13.290 --> 00:28:17.470
Protecting the reef, like they
do here at the tiny Chum Bay

00:28:17.470 --> 00:28:20.780
Marine Park, is an insurance
policy for the future.

00:28:20.780 --> 00:28:23.940


00:28:23.940 --> 00:28:28.110
All over Zanzibar we see signs
of overfishing, but the reefs

00:28:28.110 --> 00:28:29.930
have deteriorated.

00:28:29.930 --> 00:28:31.460
Partly because of
global warming.

00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:34.100


00:28:34.100 --> 00:28:36.000
We work closely with
the fishermen

00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:36.870
along the coast here.

00:28:36.870 --> 00:28:42.190
And they benefit from fishing
just outside the park borders.

00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:44.200
And then they see that they
catch bigger fish.

00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:47.450
They catch more fish, when they
come close to the park.

00:28:47.450 --> 00:28:52.680
So by leaving this tiny area
alone, they can actually

00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:56.896
directly benefit from
catching more fish.

00:28:56.896 --> 00:29:00.180
The local fishermen want to
conserve the resources.

00:29:00.180 --> 00:29:04.120
So I think some kind of
ownership, where actually the

00:29:04.120 --> 00:29:07.690
local villagers are given the
right to manage their own

00:29:07.690 --> 00:29:11.660
resources, that would create
an incentive for them to

00:29:11.660 --> 00:29:14.727
actually manage the
resources better.

00:29:14.727 --> 00:29:18.630


00:29:18.630 --> 00:29:22.850
Ensuring that local people have
a stake in the future is

00:29:22.850 --> 00:29:25.696
at the heart of several new
conservation projects.

00:29:25.696 --> 00:29:28.470


00:29:28.470 --> 00:29:32.340
And one of those is here
on the Fumba Peninsula.

00:29:32.340 --> 00:29:39.540


00:29:39.540 --> 00:29:43.490
Dr. Jiddawi\'s solution is to
have the women manage the

00:29:43.490 --> 00:29:47.230
resources along the shore, so
that they can once again

00:29:47.230 --> 00:29:51.230
supplement their family\'s
income.

00:29:51.230 --> 00:29:55.240
The women of Fumba by have
always collected shellfish.

00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:59.810
But now they work with Jiddawi
in experimental no take zones

00:29:59.810 --> 00:30:01.840
in the tidal pools.

00:30:01.840 --> 00:30:03.800
They leave the smaller
shellfish to

00:30:03.800 --> 00:30:06.590
grow so they can reproduce.

00:30:06.590 --> 00:30:11.361
Jiddawi has made the women
conservation monitors.

00:30:11.361 --> 00:30:13.190
[SPEAKING SWAHILI]

00:30:13.190 --> 00:30:15.220
Take the big ones
like this one.

00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:16.797
We call it [? Corroboree. ?]

00:30:16.797 --> 00:30:19.288
Write down the different
types.

00:30:19.288 --> 00:30:21.920


00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:23.170
How many, three?

00:30:23.170 --> 00:30:27.460


00:30:27.460 --> 00:30:31.940
The women of Fumba are improving
their livelihood, at

00:30:31.940 --> 00:30:34.810
the same time conserving
their resources.

00:30:34.810 --> 00:30:38.340
We have initiated no take
zones in all of

00:30:38.340 --> 00:30:40.220
the four small villages.

00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:41.280
Why no take zones?

00:30:41.280 --> 00:30:43.480
Because they are always
going to collect.

00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:46.180
They need to have an area which
is like a nursery to

00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:47.240
remain intact.

00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:50.240
So in that no take zone, which
is the size maybe or two

00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:53.650
football pitches, nobody it
allowed to collect anything.

00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:55.350
You are not even allowed to go
and fish on top of that no

00:30:55.350 --> 00:30:59.765
take area, so that it remains
intact, the shells and other

00:30:59.765 --> 00:31:01.580
organism will be bigger.

00:31:01.580 --> 00:31:04.370
They will produce and feed
the other areas.

00:31:04.370 --> 00:31:07.180


00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:09.550
Every six months,
the women count

00:31:09.550 --> 00:31:11.720
and measure the shellfish.

00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.660
They present the results to the
community so that everyone

00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:20.230
has a stake in the new
conservation ethic.

00:31:20.230 --> 00:31:24.760
For now, it\'s the need to eat
that drives the villagers.

00:31:24.760 --> 00:31:28.070
Hunger can easily drown out
the conservation message.

00:31:28.070 --> 00:31:30.640


00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:32.570
They monitor themselves.

00:31:32.570 --> 00:31:35.060
And they see that there
is a product.

00:31:35.060 --> 00:31:36.900
It\'s really a conserved area.

00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:38.570
And they see the benefit.

00:31:38.570 --> 00:31:41.010
But if they are just
told conservation,

00:31:41.010 --> 00:31:43.260
conservation, for what?

00:31:43.260 --> 00:31:44.410
They are poor.

00:31:44.410 --> 00:31:46.750
They cannot to get anything
from that.

00:31:46.750 --> 00:31:48.470
Then definitely they are
will not accept.

00:31:48.470 --> 00:31:51.930


00:31:51.930 --> 00:31:58.850
So what I would like to see is
that the sea is conserved.

00:31:58.850 --> 00:32:03.590
So the ultimate goal should be
improvement of livelihood

00:32:03.590 --> 00:32:06.010
while conserving
the resources.

00:32:06.010 --> 00:32:08.830
If this happens that would be
the most wonderful thing,

00:32:08.830 --> 00:32:10.360
because people would be.

00:32:10.360 --> 00:32:12.970
People would be earning money.

00:32:12.970 --> 00:32:15.150
It would be wonderful.

00:32:15.150 --> 00:32:19.680
We\'ve become a major force
in the life of the ocean.

00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:23.385
Fortunately, it has some
passionate defenders.

00:32:23.385 --> 00:32:29.610


00:32:29.610 --> 00:32:33.540
Jacque Costeau called the
sea a silent world.

00:32:33.540 --> 00:32:35.266
He was wrong.

00:32:35.266 --> 00:32:39.640


00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:42.890
Noisy sea urchins are finishing
off of a feeding

00:32:42.890 --> 00:32:47.030
frenzy, scraping their teeth
along the rocky reef as they

00:32:47.030 --> 00:32:49.730
graze on kelp and algae.

00:32:49.730 --> 00:32:54.500
The deafening sound is a
distress signal, an SOS from a

00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:56.398
reef out of balance.

00:32:56.398 --> 00:33:02.100


00:33:02.100 --> 00:33:06.680
But here, on the Goat Island
Marine Reserve in New Zealand,

00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:10.940
the decibel level has dropped
radically thanks to this man.

00:33:10.940 --> 00:33:13.670


00:33:13.670 --> 00:33:18.130
Dr. Bill Valentine laid the
path 40 years ago as the

00:33:18.130 --> 00:33:20.970
godfather of marine reserves.

00:33:20.970 --> 00:33:25.360
Today, marine reserves are
recognized as a crucial way of

00:33:25.360 --> 00:33:30.480
protecting diversity and
habitat in the ocean.

00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:34.140
How do you protect things you
haven\'t even discovered yet?

00:33:34.140 --> 00:33:38.048
The only way is to leave
some chunks alone.

00:33:38.048 --> 00:33:40.900
I\'ve been a marine scientist
for 50 years.

00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:44.550
During that time our knowledge
of this and that has doubled,

00:33:44.550 --> 00:33:46.160
quadrupled.

00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:49.800
But if I\'m talking to the public
or my grandchildren,

00:33:49.800 --> 00:33:54.570
instead of rabbiting on about
what we know, I want to stress

00:33:54.570 --> 00:33:55.820
how little we know.

00:33:55.820 --> 00:33:59.890


00:33:59.890 --> 00:34:03.210
New Zealand is a small country
with a long coastline.

00:34:03.210 --> 00:34:07.230


00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:10.710
With no land in sight, it\'s
one of the most maritime

00:34:10.710 --> 00:34:14.080
nations on earth.

00:34:14.080 --> 00:34:17.620
It\'s no surprise that the
worldwide movement for marine

00:34:17.620 --> 00:34:20.170
reserves began here.

00:34:20.170 --> 00:34:24.429
Nor is it surprising that the
battle lines were drawn early.

00:34:24.429 --> 00:34:28.770
Fishing is a huge industry in
New Zealand, both commercially

00:34:28.770 --> 00:34:30.020
and recreationally.

00:34:30.020 --> 00:34:38.870


00:34:38.870 --> 00:34:42.460
Goat Island near the Lee Marine
Laboratory is where it

00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:43.710
all started.

00:34:43.710 --> 00:34:46.000


00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:51.550
Back in 1965, when I took on the
job of being in charge of

00:34:51.550 --> 00:34:55.929
a little hut in field miles from
anywhere as the resident

00:34:55.929 --> 00:35:02.050
biologist, my boss Professor
Chapman said at a meeting, we

00:35:02.050 --> 00:35:04.890
ought to get a marine reserve,
and everybody else said,

00:35:04.890 --> 00:35:05.850
what\'s that?

00:35:05.850 --> 00:35:09.000
And he said, well, you know,
place where, if we mark some

00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.440
animals and build a few little
cages and things, people don\'t

00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:14.360
kick them to pieces
and eat them.

00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:15.460
And we said, great idea.

00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:16.710
Go for it.

00:35:16.710 --> 00:35:19.570


00:35:19.570 --> 00:35:23.330
Scientists soon realized that
large parts of the reef in

00:35:23.330 --> 00:35:26.080
Goat Island Bay had
been grazed to a

00:35:26.080 --> 00:35:27.625
stubble by sea urchins.

00:35:27.625 --> 00:35:32.080


00:35:32.080 --> 00:35:35.200
Their chief predators, snappers
and spiny rock

00:35:35.200 --> 00:35:38.150
lobsters, had been
over-fished.

00:35:38.150 --> 00:35:41.950
Eventually, after a bitter,
12-year battle, five

00:35:41.950 --> 00:35:45.680
kilometers of this coastal reef
where protected in one of

00:35:45.680 --> 00:35:47.690
the world\'s first
marine reserves.

00:35:47.690 --> 00:35:55.600


00:35:55.600 --> 00:35:59.430
40 years later, Valentine
is still at it.

00:35:59.430 --> 00:36:01.033
And it is still a battle.

00:36:01.033 --> 00:36:04.100


00:36:04.100 --> 00:36:06.720
I keep getting questions
at public meetings, how

00:36:06.720 --> 00:36:08.060
small can they be?

00:36:08.060 --> 00:36:11.100
And I have to take a deep
breath, and look the person

00:36:11.100 --> 00:36:15.880
very carefully in the eye, and
smile, and say, before I

00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:19.070
answer that question, which I
will try to do, I have to ask

00:36:19.070 --> 00:36:22.010
you, why are you asking?

00:36:22.010 --> 00:36:25.920
If you are asking how little
can we feed our children,

00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:27.170
people would worry about you.

00:36:27.170 --> 00:36:30.090


00:36:30.090 --> 00:36:32.752
Why do you wish to know how
little we could do?

00:36:32.752 --> 00:36:36.090


00:36:36.090 --> 00:36:40.060
Isn\'t it more important to
make sure we do enough?

00:36:40.060 --> 00:36:43.830


00:36:43.830 --> 00:36:46.430
The little experiment
paid off.

00:36:46.430 --> 00:36:49.800
It took seven years for the main
predators at Goat Island

00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:53.010
to come back.

00:36:53.010 --> 00:36:57.770
Snappers are now 30 times more
abundant inside the reserve

00:36:57.770 --> 00:36:58.980
than outside.

00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:03.620
And the large female snappers
here produce as many eggs as

00:37:03.620 --> 00:37:07.961
those along 90 kilometers
of unprotected coast.

00:37:07.961 --> 00:37:12.871


00:37:12.871 --> 00:37:16.920
The predators soon got the
urchins under control,

00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:19.740
allowing the kelp and
coral to thrive.

00:37:19.740 --> 00:37:23.040
Once again, small fish
and crustaceans

00:37:23.040 --> 00:37:25.011
have food and shelter.

00:37:25.011 --> 00:37:30.790


00:37:30.790 --> 00:37:34.930
The results startled everyone,
and no one more so than

00:37:34.930 --> 00:37:38.080
Valentine himself.

00:37:38.080 --> 00:37:40.990
Everybody wants to know what
would happen if we made a

00:37:40.990 --> 00:37:42.926
marine reserve here or there.

00:37:42.926 --> 00:37:44.850
And the answer is
we don\'t know.

00:37:44.850 --> 00:37:47.950
And that\'s the best reason
for doing it.

00:37:47.950 --> 00:37:52.350
See, a marine reserve is a
success if it remains or

00:37:52.350 --> 00:37:54.300
becomes more natural.

00:37:54.300 --> 00:37:56.600
That\'s it.

00:37:56.600 --> 00:37:58.850
There isn\'t a plan for
this to happen.

00:37:58.850 --> 00:38:00.360
We\'re allowing it.

00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:07.090


00:38:07.090 --> 00:38:10.710
Poor Knights is a chain of
volcanic islands where the

00:38:10.710 --> 00:38:13.260
land has long been protected.

00:38:13.260 --> 00:38:16.780
It\'s one of the highest-rated
dive sites in the world, a

00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:20.250
seemingly perfect candidate
for New Zealand\'s second

00:38:20.250 --> 00:38:21.667
marine reserve.

00:38:21.667 --> 00:38:24.052
Just near the entrance there\'s
some rocks hanging down.

00:38:24.052 --> 00:38:27.040
There\'s some bubble kelp.

00:38:27.040 --> 00:38:30.370
Wade [? Doog ?] and his son
Brady are passionate about

00:38:30.370 --> 00:38:33.650
this underwater paradise.

00:38:33.650 --> 00:38:37.680
Wade is one of the country\'s
pioneer divers and underwater

00:38:37.680 --> 00:38:39.090
photographers.

00:38:39.090 --> 00:38:41.680
It\'s divers like him,
supported by the Lee

00:38:41.680 --> 00:38:44.300
scientists, who fought
to have Poor Knights

00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:46.250
also declared a reserve.

00:38:46.250 --> 00:38:49.690
So I\'ve always said the day that
the golden snapper come

00:38:49.690 --> 00:38:52.540
back to Rico Rico Caves is the
day that we\'re starting to

00:38:52.540 --> 00:38:54.750
make real progress.

00:38:54.750 --> 00:38:57.960
Now at 70, he rarely dives.

00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:01.810
It\'s his son Brady who captures
the images that tell

00:39:01.810 --> 00:39:04.902
the story of an amazing
transformation.

00:39:04.902 --> 00:39:14.750
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:39:14.750 --> 00:39:18.000
They\'re accumulating
from all around.

00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:21.400
They\'ve gotten to understand
that it\'s a lot safer at the

00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:25.820
Poor Knights than on the coasts
or anywhere else.

00:39:25.820 --> 00:39:29.620
Now we\'re seeing massive
populations of fishes which

00:39:29.620 --> 00:39:36.250
we\'re just a vestige, hardly
any, almost disappeared.

00:39:36.250 --> 00:39:39.300
And the recovery rate, it
doesn\'t increase in an

00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:40.950
arithmetical way.

00:39:40.950 --> 00:39:43.080
It goes out in big jumps.

00:39:43.080 --> 00:39:46.300
And that\'s what\'s
so staggering.

00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:47.780
You\'ve got to give it a
little bit of time.

00:39:47.780 --> 00:39:52.260


00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:55.390
When the Poor Knights Marine
Reserve was established in

00:39:55.390 --> 00:40:00.630
1981, the stated goal was
to protect reef fish.

00:40:00.630 --> 00:40:04.830
However, with the exception of
two small no take areas,

00:40:04.830 --> 00:40:09.430
recreational fishing
was allowed.

00:40:09.430 --> 00:40:14.730
They settled on a system whereby
recreational fishing

00:40:14.730 --> 00:40:20.312
for some species, by some
methods, was legal.

00:40:20.312 --> 00:40:24.280
Well, it\'s like, if you\'ve got
an art gallery, you say,

00:40:24.280 --> 00:40:26.455
people shall not damage
the pictures.

00:40:26.455 --> 00:40:31.240
You don\'t say little scratches
are all right on Tuesday\'s if

00:40:31.240 --> 00:40:32.844
you\'re under five.

00:40:32.844 --> 00:40:39.450
No, no, no, protection is
something that doesn\'t have

00:40:39.450 --> 00:40:41.440
some sort of minimum level.

00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:44.160


00:40:44.160 --> 00:40:47.560
It took 17 more years
to realize the

00:40:47.560 --> 00:40:49.690
folly of that decision.

00:40:49.690 --> 00:40:53.540
In October, 1998, the
Poor Nights Reserve

00:40:53.540 --> 00:40:55.940
became fully no take.

00:40:55.940 --> 00:40:59.050
And the vibrant underwater
world exploded

00:40:59.050 --> 00:41:01.325
once again with life.

00:41:01.325 --> 00:41:07.030
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:41:07.030 --> 00:41:09.550
So it\'s no take or nothing.

00:41:09.550 --> 00:41:12.350
It\'s proving to be an
essential principle.

00:41:12.350 --> 00:41:15.740
And it\'s the only way to get
significant results.

00:41:15.740 --> 00:41:21.210


00:41:21.210 --> 00:41:26.260
New Zealand has been exemplary
in protecting 30% of its land,

00:41:26.260 --> 00:41:29.690
an idea that the world
readily accepts.

00:41:29.690 --> 00:41:33.020
But the idea of protecting
marine habitat has

00:41:33.020 --> 00:41:34.810
a long way to go.

00:41:34.810 --> 00:41:39.760
New Zealand is also a leader
here, with 32 marine reserves.

00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:44.430


00:41:44.430 --> 00:41:48.045
They\'ve shown the world that
recovery is possible.

00:41:48.045 --> 00:41:53.640


00:41:53.640 --> 00:41:54.700
We learned the hard way.

00:41:54.700 --> 00:41:58.720
Going down this road, we fell
into all the pot holes, and

00:41:58.720 --> 00:42:00.160
crawled out grazed
and dripping.

00:42:00.160 --> 00:42:03.870
We went down all the dead ends
and byways, and got lost, and

00:42:03.870 --> 00:42:06.660
struggled back.

00:42:06.660 --> 00:42:09.460
I\'m really proud that
we kept going.

00:42:09.460 --> 00:42:11.440
But I won\'t like anybody
to think we knew

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.040
what we were doing.

00:42:14.040 --> 00:42:18.740


00:42:18.740 --> 00:42:22.960
It\'s just as if you put the
rainforest back in the Amazon.

00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:25.185
And that encourages
me immensely.

00:42:25.185 --> 00:42:31.850


00:42:31.850 --> 00:42:36.620
Today, marine reserves are an
antidote to our collective

00:42:36.620 --> 00:42:40.830
amnesia about what the oceans
once were, and what

00:42:40.830 --> 00:42:43.430
they could be again.

00:42:43.430 --> 00:42:49.110
It\'s quite difficult to remind
people that all this stuff was

00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:52.370
this for a million years
before people.

00:42:52.370 --> 00:42:55.060
So the idea that we are required
to manage it is

00:42:55.060 --> 00:42:57.460
ridiculous.

00:42:57.460 --> 00:42:59.340
What we are having
to manage is us.

00:42:59.340 --> 00:43:15.741
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:43:15.741 --> 00:43:47.454
[MUSIC PLAYING]