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This is a photograph of Wildcat Marsh at sunset. This marshland is part of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area that spans the Virginian portion of Assateague Island and some surrounding areas. Salt marshes such as this are located to the west of the barrier islands. They are flooded regularly, due to the tide. This causes them to have a very unique ecology, synchronized with tidal patterns. Salt marshes are home to countless aquatic species, and play a huge role in the aquatic food web. Fish and shrimp come into salt marshes, looking for food or a place to lay their eggs—away from the dangers of the ocean. Crabs and shellfish use the plants that grow in salt marshes for shelter. This connects to the U.N. SDG of Life Below Water. According to the United Nations, the ocean represents 99% of the living space on planet Earth—and 40% of that space is “heavily affected by pollution, depleted fisheries, loss of coastal habitats and other human activities.” Saltwater marshes such as that pictured are at risk of being destroyed by agricultural land use and eutrophication. The destruction of aquatic biodiversity is a tragedy that cannot be quantified. When a species is lost, a piece of natural history disappears forever—never to be recovered. But it also has a massive practical impact on everyday people. More than 3 billion people rely on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Coastal and aquatic industry accounts for 5% of global GDP. The destruction of aquatic habitat is an issue of grave concern. Luckily, Wildcat Marsh is on protected land, and can act as a safe haven for shellfish, crabs, fish, and shrimp. But countless habitats like it are not protected. We can protect life beneath the water by minimizing pollution and preventing trash from traveling to the ocean. By divesting from the oil industry, we can prevent the massive destruction caused by oil spills and climate change. Additionally, agricultural runoff needs to be regulated, to prevent eutrophication. Finally, more coastal land should be protected in sanctuaries.
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
This photo was taken in early August of this year (2018) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Here, many fish can be seen swimming near the surface by the shore where they are trying to feed on scraps that are left by tourists who pass by.
The SDG that this photo most closely resembles to me is number 14: Life Below Water. The goal of this particular SDG is to preserve the Earth’s oceans and other bodies of water while also sustainably using the oceans for our uses (fishing, etc). The small vessel that can be slightly seen in the photo is a fishing boat which resembles what most locals use to fish around the area. This is good because that means that for the most part, locals are not abusing the fish populations with dangerous and over-effective fishing practices such as dredging or trawling the ocean floors. Obviously, these local vessels are not the only ones fishing and many large companies still use unsustainable fishing practices which negatively impact the environment under the water in this area. The water is quite murky even though it is not very deep, and that has a lot to do with the fact that these are the waters that are a part of the largest city on the island which means that it is hit hardest by pollution. Endangered fish species in this area include: black rockfish, snapper, rainbow parrotfish, red grouper, and at least 16 other species. The government has done a lot in recent years to help the life below the water stay sustainable such as limit amounts of individual species of fish that each fisherman can catch as well as restrict some fish from being caught at all. A big problem for this area as a whole at the moment is that the local governments are still very focused on the recent lingering impacts of a huge hurricane that hit a few years back which causes there to be less focus on the non-human life on or around the island.
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
International Conference on Blue Growth and Economy in S. Vicente Island, Cabo Verde. ©FAO/Antonio Palazuelos
This picture was taken when I went on a field trip to the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Maryland. Dr. Carys Mitchelmore, who studies the effects of pollutants on aquatic organisms, showed me and my classmates her latest experiment on oysters. She and her teammates study the growth of oysters and work to increase the effectiveness of oyster aquaculture.
Oyster aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay has in fact been growing over the past decade. Oyster farming has greatly impacted Maryland’s economy; in 2018 it has contributed $8.1 million to Maryland’s economic output and has created over 100 jobs (McAdory 2020). Not only does oyster farms help the people by providing economic output and direct employment opportunities, but it also provides environmental benefits. Oysters pump water through their gills which allows them to filter and remove excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and sediments. A study has even shown that for every 100,000 oysters grown and harvested, 6 pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus are removed from the Bay (Nature). The oysters’ contribution to removing these excess nutrients helps improve water quality which further improves aquatic habitats for other aquatic organisms. The Chesapeake Bay Program has even approved oyster aquaculture as part of a Best Management Practice (BMP) which is a practice that reduces or prevents nutrients and sediment from entering the Bay (Smedinghoff 2017).
This picture relates to the Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. This goal focuses on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, sea and marine resources for sustainable development. As raised on the SDG site, the ocean is under severe threat due to many factors including pollution, fishery collapse, and eutrophication. At the same time, over 3 billion people worldwide rely on the ocean. Oyster aquaculture can help reduce some of the threats by filtering pollutants and improving oyster populations. It can also help the people by providing jobs and cleaner ocean water.
Sources:
Aquaculture by Design. The Nature Conservancy, 30 Apr. 2019, www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-land.... Accessed 18 Oct. 2021.
McAdory, Myra. The highs and lows of Maryland’s oyster aquaculture industry. Chesapeake Bay Program, 8 Dec. 2020, www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/the_highs_and_lows_of_mar.... Accessed 18 Oct. 2021.
Smedinghoff, Joan. Bay program partners approve oyster aquaculture as best management practice. Chesapeake Bay Program, 27 Feb. 2017, www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/bay_program_partners_appr.... Accessed 18 Oct. 2021.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
This photo was taken on August 14th, 2018 on the Paint Branch Trail by the Varsity building.
In the photo you can see the stream which is a wonderful habitat for box turtles, white suckers, and plenty of other fish. The stream is a major hot-spot for ecological interactions. The riffles in the stream help to mix in dissolved oxygen for the fish to breathe, the grassy banks on the side provide hiding spots for fish to ambush smaller fish, and the cobble islands allow frogs to escape from predators in the water. Another interaction you can see is the sediment seeping into the stream on the right. This leads to the discussion of SDG 14; "Life Below Water". The goal is to protect and sustainable use the water sources on the planet. The sediment is coming from the recent construction project of the computer science building on campus and they have a large hole in their sediment control barrier which is allowing all of the fine sediment to wash into the stream. This is a huge issue because it suffocates and kills all of the fish caught in it. This relates to the ecology of human interactions and the environment. By not taking the proper precautions to protect the water supply, we are slowing killing the habitat that provides a home for a variety of different species.
Maggie Q (on screen), Award winning Actress, SDG14 Advocate, activist and Founder of QEEP UP, addresses the General Assembly high-level thematic debate on the ocean and Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. With the support of the Governments of Portugal and Kenya - co-hosts of the 2nd United Nations Ocean Conference, as well as Peter Thomson, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Oceans, this meeting serves to generate momentum towards the Conference in Lisbon, when public health safety measures allow.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
New York, 6 June 2017 - Official Opening of UNDP-GEF photo exhibition “Waves of Action: Save our Ocean” - Celebrating the Ocean and community efforts in the UNHQ hall. © UNDP / Freya Morales
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
This is one of the beaches at Fort Smallwood Park. While this is one of our swimming beaches, we also use it to help restore the natural landscape and help improve water health (USD goal 14 - Health of Life Under Water). Along with removing nonnative phragmites to encourage the growth of native reeds, we aim to keep our beaches clear of trash and debris that can wash into our water and poison the fish and wildlife. Native reeds are more effective at filtering out pollutants from the water an non-native ones. You can see after several hours of work, this beach is clear of small plastics and trash that could enter the Bay. It is a constant battle, but through careful management, we can help use our shorelines to protect the health of the water.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
I took this photo on a field trip for ENST333 to the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery in Cambridge, MD. They are an oyster spawning facility for both commercial sale and for deployment back into the Chesapeake Bay to combat the oyster decline. This image specifically shows the collection of mature oyster shells that the hatchery collects for new spat to use as anchors for attachment. Once the spat are attached, they grow into adults, with multiple spat on one shell.
This would apply to SDG goal number 14, life below water, which is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, sea, and marine resources for sustainable development. It is important to conserve the aquatic bodies as the Earth's oceans are the largest ecosystems, yet it is facing huge adversities many being induced by human activity. The main priorities stated in SDG goal 14 are efforts to reduce ocean acidification, the effects of pollution including plastics and nutrients, regulate overfishing, and empower small scale fisheries.
The oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay has been in significant decline due to overfishing, pollution, and disease. With their demise also led to the decline of the ecosystem services they provide such as filtering water, sequestering nitrogen and carbon, and providing habitat to small aquatic species. In the recent decades, large efforts have been made to restore oyster populations such as the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery in this image. Restoring oyster populations would specifically help with eutrophication, mentioned as an issue in the SDG. Oysters do this by feeding on algae from algal blooms that decrease visibility for other plants to photosynthesize. Algal blooms are results of eutrophication (excess of nutrients). Another benefit of oyster restoration that relates to the SDG goal is the decrease ocean acidification. Oysters sequester carbon from that the ocean absorbs from the atmosphere to build their shells. SDG goal 14 places large emphasis on the effects that acidification is having in the degradation on the quality of aquatic life and is "limiting the oceans capacity to moderate climate change", but this photo exemplifies the effort to combat this with the benefits that oysters provide stated earlier (sdgs.un.org). #SDG14 #image2
12 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Fish Forum 2018. Side Event - Ocean noise impacts on fisheries in the context of SDG14. FAO Headquarters (Iran Room).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.
11 December 2018, Rome, Italy - Side Event: Implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level for the coordinated achievement of the SDG14 targets. Fish Forum 2018, FAO headquarters (Sheikh Zayed Centre).
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto. Editorial use only. Copyright ©FAO.