WELLNESS FOR PEACE: ANTARCTICA: Ocean Health Index, a collaborative effort to assess regional and global threats to ocean health, becomes an invaluable tool

Greg Stone, Chief Scientist for Oceans, Conservation International says: "The Index posits that "a healthy ocean sustainability delivers a range of benefits to people now and in the future." In the Antarctic, it evaluated how well the region is delivering the maximum sustainable amounts of desired benefits. The Antarctic region scored 72 out of 100, based on how well it provided food, natural products, tourism, livelihoods and economies, clean waters, coastal protection, biodiversity and sense of place. Dr. Catherine Longo, project scientist at the University of California at Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, led the Antarctica assessment. She saw a mix of good and bad news. On the positive side, the distance from human population centers, industries and agriculture protects Antarctica's clean waters. Protected whales and fur seals are also recovering from over-exploitation. On the other hand, 38 of the assessed species are decreasing. Those include some iconic species such as southern bluefin tuna, basking sharks, porbeagle sharks, gentoo penguins and five species of albatrosses, one of which is critically endangered and two others that are endangered. Dr. Longo was concerned that the population trends are unknown for 40% of the species that have been assessed. Two other issues were particularly worrisome for us: illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) and climate change. Both are difficult to control, and both can wreak havoc on species populations and conservation efforts." Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-stone/despite-its-remoteness-an_b_5906602.html