TY - JOUR
T1 - Overhauling ocean spatial planning to improve marine megafauna conservation
AU - Sequeira, Ana Micaela Martins
AU - Hays, Graeme Clive
AU - Sims, David W.
AU - Eguíluz, Víctor M.
AU - Rodríguez, Jorge P.
AU - Heupel, Michelle R.
AU - Harcourt, Rob
AU - Calich, Hannah
AU - Queiroz, Nuno
AU - Costa, Daniel Paul
AU - Fernández-Gracia, Juan
AU - Ferreira, Luciana C.
AU - Goldsworthy, Simon David
AU - Hindell, Mark A.
AU - Lea, Mary-Anne
AU - Meekan, Mark G.
AU - Pagano, Anthony M.
AU - Shaffer, Scott A.
AU - Reisser, Julia
AU - Thums, Michele
AU - Weise, Michael
AU - Duarte, Carlos M.
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2019. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2019/11
Y1 - 2019/11
N2 - Tracking data have led to evidence-based conservation of marine megafauna, but a disconnect remains between the many 1000s of individual animals that have been tracked and the use of these data in conservation and management actions. Furthermore, the focus of most conservation efforts is within Exclusive Economic Zones despite the ability of these species to move 1000s of kilometers across multiple national jurisdictions. To assist the goal of the United Nations General Assembly’s recent effort to negotiate a global treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, we propose the development of a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management. We argue that a global approach combining tracked movements of marine megafauna and human activities at-sea, and using existing and emerging technologies (e.g., through new tracking devices and big data approaches) can be applied to deliver near real-time diagnostics on existing risks and threats to mitigate global risks for marine megafauna. With technology developments over the next decade expected to catalyze the potential to survey marine animals and human activities in ever more detail and at global scales, the development of dynamic predictive tools based on near real-time tracking and environmental data will become crucial to address increasing risks. Such global tools for dynamic spatial and temporal management will, however, require extensive synoptic data updates and will be dependent on a shift to a culture of data sharing and open access. We propose a global mechanism to store and make such data available in near real-time, enabling a holistic view of space use by marine megafauna and humans that would significantly accelerate efforts to mitigate impacts and improve conservation and management of marine megafauna.
AB - Tracking data have led to evidence-based conservation of marine megafauna, but a disconnect remains between the many 1000s of individual animals that have been tracked and the use of these data in conservation and management actions. Furthermore, the focus of most conservation efforts is within Exclusive Economic Zones despite the ability of these species to move 1000s of kilometers across multiple national jurisdictions. To assist the goal of the United Nations General Assembly’s recent effort to negotiate a global treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, we propose the development of a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management. We argue that a global approach combining tracked movements of marine megafauna and human activities at-sea, and using existing and emerging technologies (e.g., through new tracking devices and big data approaches) can be applied to deliver near real-time diagnostics on existing risks and threats to mitigate global risks for marine megafauna. With technology developments over the next decade expected to catalyze the potential to survey marine animals and human activities in ever more detail and at global scales, the development of dynamic predictive tools based on near real-time tracking and environmental data will become crucial to address increasing risks. Such global tools for dynamic spatial and temporal management will, however, require extensive synoptic data updates and will be dependent on a shift to a culture of data sharing and open access. We propose a global mechanism to store and make such data available in near real-time, enabling a holistic view of space use by marine megafauna and humans that would significantly accelerate efforts to mitigate impacts and improve conservation and management of marine megafauna.
KW - global ocean conservation and policy
KW - real-time management
KW - marine megafauna tracking data
KW - Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
KW - global repository
KW - improved data sharing
KW - Global Ocean Observing System
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075395518&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmars.2019.00639
DO - 10.3389/fmars.2019.00639
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075395518
SN - 2296-7745
VL - 6
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Frontiers in Marine Science
JF - Frontiers in Marine Science
M1 - 639
ER -