{"id":67088,"date":"2024-08-27T12:46:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=67088"},"modified":"2024-08-27T12:49:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:49:01","slug":"emperor-seamounts-oases-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/67088\/emperor-seamounts-oases-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Emperor Seamounts \u2013 oases of life Canada can help protect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was slightly adapted from a different version published<\/a> by Greenpeace International in order to fit the Canadian context.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Deep beneath the northern Pacific Ocean lies a remote chain of more than 800 seamounts. These oases of life, known as the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong>, are home to a rich variety of cold-water corals and sponges, as well as smaller creatures like crustaceans and sea stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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Turtle and fish over corals. \u00a9 Lorenzo Moscia \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Like many other seamounts, they play a crucial role in the migration and life cycle of larger marine animals like blue, sperm, and humpback whales. Even birds, including the world’s oldest known wild bird\u2014a Laysan albatross known as Wisdom\u2014forage in this biodiversity hotspot. <\/p>\n\n

There are many reasons why ocean life around the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong> is thriving. Rising more than 100m above the surrounding seafloor, the seamounts are flooded with a constant food supply from ocean currents. The food attracts small fish, which in turn attract larger predators, like tuna and sharks. A mix of hard and soft surfaces, ledges and depressions also provide a variety of habitats for marine life to flourish.\u00a0
The United States has protected the southernmost part of the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong> located in its national waters, the Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea Marine National Monument. Papah\u0101naumoku\u0101kea and the wider ocean area beyond hold a deep cosmological and traditional significance for Native Hawaiian culture. It’s an ancestral environment and embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world.<\/p>\n\n

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Fish over coral and a diver in the background. \u00a9 Lorenzo Moscia \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Unfortunately, the rest of the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong> on the high seas remain open to destructive human fishing activities. Although bottom fishing accounts for only 2.1% of all apparent fishing activity in the area, it has already devastated many vulnerable and slow-growing deep-sea ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n

Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) are international bodies made up of countries that share an interest in managing fishing in a particular area.<\/a>\u00a0 The RFMO responsible for managing fishing around the Emperor Seamounts <\/strong>is the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC). Since its establishment in 2015, the NPFC’s measures to safeguard the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong> have proved inadequate.\u00a0 At the most recent NPFC meeting in April 2024, the US and Canada called for the closing of the seamounts to bottom trawling until the extensive gaps in the scientific understanding of these vulnerable ecosystems and their inhabitants is better studied and understood.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the members of NPFC did not adopt the proposal from the US and Canada, once again failing to stop bottom fishing to protect precious marine life.<\/p>\n\n

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A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is seen here breaching in the Pacific Ocean. \u00a9Michael S. Nolan\/Seapics.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The science is clear \u2013 the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong> need urgent protection, but every fishing season, they are harmed because of RFMO\u2019s failure. Failing to protect them is yet another example of why we need the historic Global Ocean Treaty,<\/a> which gives governments the tools to create ocean sanctuaries around our most precious ecosystems on the high seas.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

However, the Treaty can only enter into force once at least 60 governments have written it into their national laws. If governments are serious about protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, they must urgently ratify the Treaty. This includes Canada. <\/p>\n\n

And while governments work domestically to make their support for the Treaty official, they must also start developing proposals to fully protect vulnerable marine ecosystems like the Emperor Seamounts<\/strong>. Canada has shown leadership alongside the US but must now ensure their calls turn to action in the ocean. <\/p>\n\n

You can join us in urging Canada to protect the oceans. Sign our petition calling on the federal government to act swiftly to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty and work to create a network of ocean sanctuaries. \u2935\ufe0f<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCreate Global Ocean Sanctuaries Now\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The Global Ocean Treaty needs 60 countries to sign it into Law by 2025. Sign the petition to ensure Canada is one of them!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Take action\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n

Jeanette Meyer is the Global Digital Campaigner for the Protect the Oceans Campaign with Greenpeace International.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Sarah King is a Senior Strategist with Greenpeace Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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