Decades of overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and, more recently, the impacts of a warming ocean are being felt around the globe. The goal of this website is to provide timely and relevant information on our oceans and offer a solution to restore them. A simple and cost-effective solution exists that can restore our oceans and climate.
One of the greatest threats to our oceans is the dramatic decline in phytoplankton that form the foundation of the marine food web. Phytoplankton are critical to regulating the Earth’s climate, producing 80% of the Earth’s oxygen, and are an essential food source for zooplankton, fish, and whales. Through photosynthesis, phytoplankton converts carbon dioxide and sunlight into organic compounds, producing oxygen and food for other marine organisms. Without phytoplankton our oceans are biological deserts where nothing can grow.
Our Oceans are in Decline and Must be Restored
Ocean deserts are increasing in size and contributing to the decline in many sea animals (largely due to warming oceans and lack of food)
Global phytoplankton population drops 40 percent since 1950s 1950:
Phytoplankton Productivity Down in Gulf of Maine by 65 percent in two decades:
Record North Atlantic heat sees phytoplankton decline, fish shift to Arctic:
Six decades of plankton decline sparks call to protect the foundation of the marine food web:
Iron is Essential to Ocean Health and Productivity
Volcanic and aeolian dust and whales are major source of ocean iron
Our Oceans Can Be Safely and Responsibly Restored, Helping to Recover Whales, Fisheries and Other Sea Life.
OIF can restore fisheries, such as salmon and other marine life.
In 2008, an eruption of the Kasatochi Volcano off the coast of Alaska resulted in the largest salmon return to British Columbia’s Fraser River since 1913. 34 million sockeye salmon returned in 2008, far exceeding the 1.5 million the prior year. Click to Read More.
Over 13 experiments in the last 20 years have shown that depositing iron in high-nutrient, low-chlorophyl areas of the ocean may be a practical and cost-effective methodology for stimulating plankton growth – and thus increasing the amount of food available to organisms in the ocean ecosystem.
In 2012, an OIF project 200 miles off the shores of Alaska by the Haida village resulted in the largest pink salmon return in Alaska history. The following year, in 2013, 219 million salmon returned, far exceeding the 70 million that had been projected by Alaska Fish & Game.
Studies reveal that as much as 50% of plankton can be sequestered deep on the ocean’s floor.
Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom: Click to Read More
What is ConservAmerica Doing to Fix the Problem?
ConservAmerica is providing public education on this critical issue and leading a bipartisan coalition to enact legislation which, if enacted, would provide authorization and critical funding for a pilot program on ocean iron fertilization (OIF) and other marine carbon dioxide removal approaches, along with the potential co-benefits to fisheries and marine mammal conservation. The data collected from this program would help fill our scientific knowledge gaps and inform a future permitting program.
Benefits Outweigh the Risks
What are the risks and concerns associated with OIF?
Although no one disputes the important role of iron in the ocean’s biological pump and mother nature has demonstrated that phenomena for millions of years, more research is needed on the implications for climate and ocean restoration, including potential unintended consequences. Since only a handful of OIF projects have been completed to date, there is no empirical data that OIF, done in the right location and manner, is harmful. Many of the concerns raised by some within the scientific community, e.g., nutrient robbing and potential for harmful algal blooms (HABs), are based on computer modeling, which may or may not be accurate. These risks are manageable and short-lived and the overall benefits from a healthy, vibrant ocean far exceed the risks.
