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PUBLIC TALK: Pulling Back the Big Blue Curtain: big fish and big parks

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Today's date is Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Pulling Back the Big Blue Curtain: big fish and big parks Other events...
A public lecture by Jessica Meeuwig, Professor of Marine Science, The University of Western Australia and 2019 Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Eminent Speaker.

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.

This lecture is presented by the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.
Location Theatre Auditorium, University Club, UWA
Contact Institute of Advanced Studies <[email protected]> : 6488 1340
URL http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/meeuwig
Start Tue, 23 Jul 2019 18:00
End Tue, 23 Jul 2019 19:00
RSVP RSVP is required.
Submitted by Audrey Barton <[email protected]>
Last Updated Tue, 04 Jun 2019 12:58
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