PUBLIC TALKPULLING BACK THE BIG BLUE CURTAIN: BIG FISH AND BIG PARKS
A PUBLIC LECTURE BY JESSICA MEEUWIG, PROFESSOR OF MARINE SCIENCE, THE
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
Oceans are fundamental to life on planet “earth”. Over 72% of the
planet’s surface is water; every 2nd breath we take is oxygen
produced by the sea; and our food security depends on protein caught
from the ocean. Yet humans are rapidly transforming our oceans and not
in a good way. Globally, we are literally emptying the oceans of fish.
Only 5% of hammerhead and thresher sharks remain relative to their
numbers in 1950. Tunas are down to approximately 40% of historical
numbers, and in the case of southern bluefin tuna, 95% are gone. In
Australia, some estimates suggest that over 30% of large fish have
been fished out, with large tiger, white and hammerheads declining by
up to 92% in Queensland. In Western Australia, key species such as
western rock lobster, dhufish and herring became so depleted that
catch was cut in half to allow stocks to rebuild.
In the face of these challenges, marine parks, areas where marine life
is protected from fishing, have been strongly advocated for by the
science community as research shows that the coastal fish diversity,
abundance and size increases in these protected areas. Australia has
now established large marine parks in our offshore “big blue”
waters and the question is: how does ocean wildlife respond to
protection. We explore this question by deploying non-destructive
baited video cameras in offshore waters to identify, count and measure
ocean wildlife. This is a window onto our new marine parks.
JESSICA MEEUWIG is a Professor of Marine Science at the University of
Western AUSTRALIA. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, obtained her SCUBA
diving ticket at 15, giving her a closeup view of marine life from an
early stage. Trained as a marine biologist, she has worked in the
Caribbean, southeast Asia, the Baltic, Canada and now AUSTRALIA for
the last 18 years. Her research group, the Marine Futures lab
[http://www.meeuwig.org/] focuses on conservation-driven research,
with particular attention on the role that highly protected marine
PARKS CAN PLAY IN REBUILDING HEALTHY RESILIENT OCEANS. Her research
group has pioneered the development and use of mid-water baited
remote underwater video systems
[http://www.meeuwig.org/video-gallery] to further our understanding
of our open ocean wildlife – such as tunas, sharks and marine
mammals – so that we can better manage these important species.
Jessica’s efforts for our oceans have been widely acknowledged –
she was a finalist for West Australian Science Communicator of the
Year (2012), a finalist for West Australian of the Year (2017) and now
the 2019 Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering’s Eminent
Speaker. A strong communicator and advocate for oceans – Jessica
believes that sharing research is fundamental to our collective
efforts to create flourishing oceans.
PROFESSOR MEEUWIG IS THE 2019 AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND
ENGINEERING EMINENT SPEAKER.
THIS LECTURE IS PRESENTED BY THE UWA INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES AND
THE AUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING.
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24/07/2019 Last update