Review of ‘The Kraken in the Aquarium: Questions that Urgently Need to be Addressed in Order to Advance Marine Conservation’
The authors have quite good and well supported results in this research. The use of experts in the different fields surrounding marine conservation and sustainability gave the research an edge to provide well-informed results. The separation of the results into different categories also makes them easy to understand as any user of the information can direct their line of thought towards the given category for better analysis. In my opinion, the results are reasonable because they delve deeper into areas that are often taken lightly yet they play a vital role in the extent and success of conservation and sustainability such as the influence of political policy making and large corporations. In addition, they provide a deeper insight of what contributions each party is supposed to make to achieve success in marine conservation and sustainability and what they have been doing wrong all along.
As a principal investigator I would have ranked the questions in order of importance. This is because some of the issues affecting marine life and resource are more detrimental then others and need to be addressed sooner before they cause irreversible damage to our marine life. By ranking the questions it is easier to capture the attention of the involved stakeholders and to increase their action process towards marine conservation and sustainability.
The most interesting part of the paper is in the category of meeting our responsibilities whereby the research highlights that, often, scientists argue that there are many uncertainties in marine science and there is usually inadequate information to prompt action. This research puts forward the precautionary principle that is well established in international law to argue for action even without enough scientific evidence surrounding an issue“…precautionary principle is accepted and well established in international law so a lack of ‘enough’ scientific evidence should no longer be used as an excuse for an absence of conservation action” (Cigliano et al. para 15)The scientific knowledge and expertise of marine scientists on marine issues should be enough to warrant action if a significant number of the scientists acknowledge a threat to marine conservation and sustainability. It is interesting because it demands for action to save the marine life before irreversible damage happens only to cause regrets later when it’s too late. It is a strong point because some evidence requires decades to collect, a time period across which too much damage can happen. Even when taking all other conservation issues seriously, waiting for decades to gather evidence is unreasonable and would causes detrimental results in the bid and effort of conservation; it would render conservation efforts ineffective. If scientists fall on the ‘we do not have enough information’ or ‘more research is needed’ argument, action for a conservation issue may not happen until it is too late” (para 15)
Prompt action in face of any threat can help mitigate the effects and loss likely to be caused by the threat. It can save a great deal of marine life and resources that could have died over the decades as scientists wait for enough evidence to be collected to support the cause for action. Sometimes it takes too long to understand some issues and to provide evidence for some perceived threats “Even very basic marine questions are never understood completely” (para 15) Every threat should be counteracted with immediate effect, be in environmental or marine conservation and sustainability, to ensure saving of as many resources as possible. This information supports global sustainability because thousands of resources of different resources are saved for future generations.
The approach did not take into consideration benefits accruing to the inclusion of commercial or financial relationships, an element very crucial to the issue of conservation and sustainability of marine life and resources. “…the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships …” (para 41). The research should have included members of the financing element of conservation so that they can offer their expertise and help pose questions from an appropriate financial point of view. This helps increase the objectivity of the research and reduce the conflict of interest and resistance that may arise thereafter.
From the paper I have learnt a number of things that I can transfer and apply in other aspects of life. First and foremost, it is important to take action fast in the face of an imminent threat acknowledged to help mitigate the effects. This helps save many resources instead of waiting till enough evidence is available to show that the threat is real. Secondly, conservation is the responsibility of all human beings from political policy makers, scientists, activists, corporations, etc. In my career life I will advocate for policies that help and contribute towards conservation and sustainability. It is also important to give a deeper thought to the often ignored areas surrounding any issue if success is to be attained because such areas have a great impact on the issue at hand. It is the deeper insight in any issues that helps create an edge for the success of any course.
The conclusion provides that the political policy makers have a role and responsibility in the marine conservation and sustainability. They have to be actively involved in addressing the issues facing conservation for success to be realized. While designing their manifestos and strategies, candidates in political forums will be keen to consider the inclusion of conservation and sustainability strategies to catch the attention of the savvy members of public. This conclusion is to influence my vote in elections since I will be keen to identify the candidate with viable, well thought and structured strategies aimed at pushing forward the bid for conservation and sustainability. I will vote for the candidate with the best and most convincing strategy regarding conservation and sustainability.
I would recommend this paper to my colleagues, family and friends at any given time. Since it gives a deep insight of the issues surrounding marine conservation and sustainability. It highlights the gaps in marine conservation efforts and the best ways to address the gaps and redirect the efforts towards effectiveness in conservation and sustainability. Also, it presents a tremendous opportunity for each individual understand that it is their responsibility to make an effort towards conservation and sustainability; it clearly defines the place of each person in the bid for conservation.