SUMMARY FOR DECISION MAKERSINNOVATIVE TOOLS ADVANCE FINDINGSWhile the <strong>Census</strong> focused on species-level bio diversity,tools such as tagging technologies and low-frequencyacoustics for estimating the large-scale distribution andabundance <strong>of</strong> pelagic species, can assist management<strong>of</strong> marine life populations at a stock or sub-species level,such as through tracking stocks <strong>of</strong> salmon and tuna.Enhanced capacity to track population components <strong>of</strong>commercial species, combined with genetic informationon individual fish and their pedigrees, is improving informationfor managing specific and intra-specific marineresources and genetic biodiversity.The information and technologies developed oradapted by the <strong>Census</strong> are tools that can be used nowand in the future to increase confidence in decisions forachieving sustainable use <strong>of</strong> marine life.1. Tools, Technologies, and Methodsfor Ecosystem Management ApproachesSince the 1972 Stockholm United Nations Conferenceon the Human Environment, governments have recognizedthat protecting and improving the environmentfrom deleterious human activities needs integratedapproaches. Reconciling the demands <strong>of</strong> differentocean uses has become urgent. Slowly, countries andinternational bodies have strengthened their commitmentsto integrated management by adopting marinespatial planning and ecosystem approaches to management.Some examples include the 2002 World Summiton Sustainable Development’s International Plan <strong>of</strong> Implementation,decisions by the 2010 Committee <strong>of</strong> the Parties<strong>of</strong> the Convention on Biological Diversity, and nationalbioregional planning schemes in Australia, Canada, Korea,Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, and theEuropean Union <strong>Marine</strong> Strategy Framework Directive.Preserving the structure and natural resilience <strong>of</strong> anecosystem requires greater scientific information thandoes a traditional sector or species-based approach. Theadditional costs <strong>of</strong> this process should be shared across allsectors, and new legislation, management, and consultativeprocesses are needed.Many management decisions are constrained by alack <strong>of</strong> adequate data. The <strong>Census</strong> has been involvedin three significant ways in helping to overcome suchdata constraints: consolidating existing information,developing tools for rapid collection <strong>of</strong> new anddetailed data, and piloting ecosystem-based approachesto management.• Consolidating existing information, creating baselines.Typically, different ministries, museums, industries,science agencies, and even individual scientists collect andmaintain biodiversity data. Sharing data is a challenge. The<strong>Census</strong> was committed to open access data, information andknowledge and through OBIS and its National and RegionalImplementation Committees initiated the first, or most,comprehensive consolidations <strong>of</strong> biodiversity informationacross all databases and other sources (e.g. Antarctica, SouthAmerica, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, SouthAfrica, United States, Western European Margins, and theBaltic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean Seas). Furthermore,as a legacy <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Census</strong>, OBIS has become part <strong>of</strong> afully intergovernmental process, guaranteeing open andfree access to ocean biodiversity data (see sidebar: OBIS:Making <strong>Marine</strong> <strong>Life</strong> Data Accessible to All).Such consolidations <strong>of</strong>fer both scientific and managementvalue. In the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico in 2009, forexample, researchers completed a comprehensive regionalassessment <strong>of</strong> the species that live in the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico,providing a baseline prior to the BP oil spill in 2010[Figure 7]. This information will be valuable as scientistsand managers attempt to understand the magnitude <strong>of</strong>the spill and its effects on marine life in the coming yearsto improve management and industry practices.• Efficient data collection and monitoring technologies.New genetic, sensing, animal tracking andinformation technologies, and their combinations canrapidly and comprehensively collect, manage, and makeaccessible new data for ecosystem approaches. The<strong>Census</strong> helped to advance molecular genetics tools foreasy and rapid identification <strong>of</strong> marine species. DNA barcodingand 454-pyrotag sequencing, for example, use veryshort genetic sequences from a standard part <strong>of</strong> thegenome to identify each unique species or type <strong>of</strong>ECOSYSTEM APPROACH ADOPTED TO PRESERVE BIODIVERSITYThe CBD defines the “ecosystem approach” as Ecosystemand natural habitats management... to meet humanrequirements to use natural resources, whilst maintainingthe biological richness and ecological processes necessaryto sustain the composition, structure and function <strong>of</strong>the habitats or ecosystems concerned.Similar to land and urban planning, marine spatial planninghas arisen to provide order and predictability tomultiple ocean uses at scales smaller than those providedby global bodies, such as the United Nations Conventionon the Law <strong>of</strong> the Sea and the Convention on BiologicalDiversity.CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE7