Marine Conservation Resources

As with so many other areas of our environment, humans have had a devastating impact on our oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams and the creatures that inhabit them. Pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, coastal development, invasive species, and climate change all threaten marine ecosystems. Luckily, there are a great many organizations working to conserve and protect marine life, and there is a huge amount of information available online both about the issues and the conservation efforts. This website is just a starting point.

Major Threats

Pollution: Sources of pollution range from cruise ships to animal feedlots to oil running off our streets and driveways, all making its way eventually to our oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.

Invasive Species: Introduced species compete with and crowd out native species.

Aquaculture: Fish farming creates pollution because of the density of fish in small areas, and when farmed fish escape they can spread disease to wild populations.

Coastal Development: Coastal sprawl destroys wildlife habitats and degrades water quality; marshes and wetlands are an important protective barrier, their loss leads to flooding and pollution.

Overfishing and Bycatch: Fishing at unsustainable levels has caused some species to become commercially extinct and resulted in dramatic changes to the diversity of ecosystems. Wasteful fishing methods result in huge amounts of discarded "bycatch" (non-target species). Bycatch is one of the greatest threats to sea turtles and seabirds such as albatrosses and petrels.

Habitat Destruction: Trawling (dragging fishing gear along the ocean floor) and dredging destroys habitat for commercially fished species as well as bottom-dwelling invertebrates that are a crucial part of the food chain.

Climate Change: Even small increases in sea temperature can cause destruction of coral reef ecosystems.

Last updated 9/15/2007 by Lisa Studier.