Ocean Connectedness in A World of Injustice

BY DANA TRICARICO

World Ocean Day feels a little different this year. Heck, everything does. During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a fight for racial justice, some us have retreated from others, some have sought creative ways to cope with lingering anxiety and the thought of the unknown, and some have taken their anger and sadness to the streets in the form of protests. I imagine that much of the WOS community have found comfort in the ocean (of course, with some sort of mixture of other coping mechanisms above).  For this community, the ocean isn’t just a place of solace when the world seems a bit upside down, it’s our passion and it’s our livelihood. On World Ocean Day this year, amidst the chaos, it’s important to keep up the good fight to protect the ocean from whatever threats it’s up against, but it’s also important to take note of some injustices occurring in the ocean realm, right under our eyes. 

“Environmental Justice” is a term you may have heard of before. If you haven’t, THAT’S OKAY! If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that there is no shame in saying “I don’t understand,” as long as it is followed up with some action to learn more. So, women in ocean science, whether you’ve heard of this term before or not, let’s learn more.

Environmental Justice is the fair treatment of all people as it relates to environmental laws. This means that no collective group of people, regardless of their race, background or economic status, should be impacted disproportionately by environmental consequences. What started as a movement in the 1980’s with the realization that most power plants, polluting industries and waste management locations were typically located in areas with minorities and/or people of lower financial means, has been silently ongoing in the background ever since. Take Flint, Michigan in the United States as an example. In 2014, as a result of changing the source of their drinking water supply, Flint’s residents started to notice health issues that appeared to be linked to the discolored and putrid water coming out of their pipes. For a year and half, this problem persisted before any sort of action was taken to improve the lives of those within this city through improved drinking water. It likely comes as no surprise to know that those impacted were mostly poor people of color. It also begs the question, would this have happened in a wealthy, white community? If so, would the response time to mitigate these harmful health and environmental issues plaguing the source of the city’s drinking water been addressed more quickly? I think we all know the answers to these questions. What is still an ongoing problem in Flint is just one example of how systemic racism ties into the environmental world.

 Let’s bring this issue back to our livelihood, our passion, our ocean. In 1989, pollution from a US military base contaminated fish harvested mainly by African Americans in areas of coastal Mississippi (Morse 2008). Since then, there have been other examples of municipal waste being taken out to sea on vessels that then dumped the waste not only into the ocean, but on beaches of lesser-developed countries, like Haiti (Pellow 2007). From the climate change lens, those oppressed by discriminatory systems both in developed and lesser-developed nations tend to experience more hardship from climate change impacts like flooding, with less resources in place for those impacted to seek assistance. 

Environmental Injustice has come into the forefront in 2020 as the backdrop for the fight for racial equality and inequity amongst COVID-19 spread and treatment. What links all three issues together may be best seen in the impacts to small-scale fisheries. At the onset of the pandemic, many fisheries faced entire shutdowns as social distancing restrictions were enforced (Immanuel 2020). For those that were able to continue, many small-scale fishers suffered from reduced demand in their products coupled with the collapse of prices. While most of us have had to stay home for longer periods of time, those whose livelihoods depend on small-scale fishing have had to make the difficult decisions to continue to fish to feed their families, or risk exposure of the novel coronavirus from other fishers, processors and sellers (Bennett et. al, 2019). In places like West Africa, the impacts of COVID-19 exacerbated existing issues related to chronic hunger and climate change (Africa Press Office 2020). 

Today, as we take time to honor our beautiful ocean in a strange year, let’s remember how inextricably linked these global issues are to each other, to us as a global community and of course, to our ocean. As we fight to protect our oceans from anthropogenic threats, let’s also keep in mind the idea of environmental justice and the importance of equity in environmental decision-making. If the vastness of our ocean has taught us anything, it’s that we are all connected, and to protect our ocean means protecting each other.

Happy World Ocean Day to our Women in Ocean Science Community. Keep up the good fight, stay informed, check in on each other, and wash your hands.

Local fisherman boats in Koh Tao, Thailand - photo by WOS Edtor Dana Tricarico