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World Ocean’s Day Today

A decade ago, June 8 was designated as World Oceans Day, "a chance to celebrate and honor the body of water that links everything on the planet," as Andrew Sharpless of the international environmental organization Oceana puts it. "We rely on the oceans for so much — food, oxygen, inspiration — and it’s vital that we continue striving for healthier and more abundant oceans."

Today’s a day to celebrate Earth’s mighty oceans, which cover 71% of our planet’s surface.

NOAA
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Although Sharpless’ organization is intimately familiar with the grave challenges that face our oceans, scientists are optimistic about the potential to reverse current negative trends. A new report released by Oceana this week explains how "smart ocean management can help to feed the world’s hungry." Read it and you’ll learn that 25 nations control more than 75% of the world’s fish stocks. (The U.S. is among them, of course.) Oceana advocates that those countries implement measures that reduce overfishing, protect habitat, and limit bycatch. By doing so, the organization claims that fish stocks could increase to the point that wild seafood could sustainably feed 700 million people a day.

It’s projected that by the year 2050, Earth will be home to 9 billion people. The prospect of trying to feed them all is truly staggering.

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The massive fishing dock drifted 5,000 miles across the Pacific. © Thomas Boyd / The Oregonian While we’re not inclined to buy into the mainstream media’s hysteria over the debris field set adrift after the Japanese tsunami in March 2011, the recent groundings of large — and very hard — objects can’t help but send a shiver down the spines of anyone who plans to sail home from Hawaii this summer.
We’re hungry for Mexico despite the fact that, thanks to mildly funky weather along the Baja Coast, we haven’t even done the Bash back to California with Profligate yet.