Global marine fisheries discards: A synthesis of reconstructed data by the Sea Around Us. Credit: UBC.
Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research.
The study by researchers with Sea Around Us, an initiative at the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the University of Western Australia, reveals that almost 10 per cent of the world's total catch in the last decade was discarded due to poor fishing practices and inadequate management. This is equivalent to throwing back enough fish to fill about 4,500 Olympic sized swimming pools every year.
"In the current era of increasing food insecurity and human nutritional health concerns, these findings are important," said Dirk Zeller, lead author for the study who is now a professor at the University of Western Australia and senior research partner with the Sea Around Us. "The discarded fish could have been put to better use."
Fishers discard a portion of their catch because fishing practices damage the fish and make them unmarketable, the fish are too small, the species is out of season, only part of the fish needs to be harvested--as with the Alaska pollock roe--or the fishers caught species that they were not targeting, something known as bycatch.
"Discards also happen because of a nasty practice known as high-grading where fishers continue fishing even after they've caught fish that they can sell," said Zeller. "If they catch bigger fish, they throw away the smaller ones; they usually can't keep both loads because they run out of freezer space or go over their quota."
The study examined the amount of discarded fish over time. In the 1950s, about five million tonnes of fish were discarded every year, in the 1980s that figure grew to 18 million tonnes. It decreased to the current levels of nearly 10 million tonnes per year over the past decade.
The decline in discards in recent years could be attributed to improved fisheries management and new technology, but Zeller and his colleagues say it's likely also an indicator of depleted fish stocks. As the Sea Around Us' 2016 global catch reconstruction paper revealed, catches have been declining at a rate of 1.2 million tonnes of fish every year since the mid-1990s.
"Discards are now declining because we have already fished these species down so much that fishing operations are catching less and less each year, and therefore there's less for them to throw away," he said.
Zeller and his colleagues Tim Cashion, Maria Palomares and Daniel Pauly, say that the study also shows how industrial fleets move to new waters once certain fisheries decline.
"The shift of discards from Atlantic to Pacific waters shows a dangerous trend in fisheries of exporting our fishing needs and fishing problems to new areas," Cashion said.
The first public sharing of government data marks a victory for transparency in an opaque industry where research and sustainable management have suffered from a lack of information on where fishing happens and how fishers interact with ocean resources.
Fishing boat in Sumatra, Indonesia. Credit: James Gagen (CC 2.0).
This week, at the United Nation's Ocean Conference, the Republic of Indonesia becomes the first nation ever to publish Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data revealing the location and activity of its commercial fishing fleet. The new data being made public on the Global Fishing Watch public mapping platform reveals commercial fishing in Indonesian waters and areas of the Indian Ocean where it had previously been invisible to the public and other nations.
Susi Pudjiastuti, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Affairs for the Republic of Indonesia, is taking a bold step toward increasing transparency in her country's fishing industry. Today she urges other nations to do the same.
"Illegal fishing is an international problem, and countering it requires cross border cooperation between countries," says Minister Susi. "I urge all nations to join me in sharing their vessel monitoring data with Global Fishing Watch. Together, we can begin a new era in transparency to end illegal and unreported fishing."
Also at the UN Ocean's Conference, Global Fishing Watch has committed to host any country's VMS data, calling on other governments to follow Indonesia's lead. "We believe publicly shared VMS will become a powerful new standard for transparent operation in commercial fishing," says Paul Woods, Global Fishing Watch CEO and Chief Technology Officer for SkyTruth, a founding partner of Global Fishing Watch along with Oceana and Google. "SkyTruth has been collaborating with the Indonesian government for the past two years to really understand their VMS data and find new ways for VMS to enhance their fisheries management."
Working closely with Oceana toward a united goal of transparency at sea, Peru becomes the first nation to follow Indonesia's lead. Vice Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hector Soldi, announced Peru's intent to publicly share their VMS data in Global Fishing Watch.
"We applaud the commitments made by Peru and Indonesia to publish their previously private vessel tracking data and encourage other countries to follow their lead," said Jacqueline Savitz, Senior Vice President for the United States and Global Fishing Watch at Oceana. "Together, with forward-thinking governments like these, we can bring even greater transparency to the oceans. By publishing fishing data and using Global Fishing Watch, governments and citizens can unite to help combat illegal fishing worldwide. With more eyes on the ocean, there are fewer places for illegal fishers to hide."
Global Fishing Watch uses publicly broadcast Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals from ships at sea to reveal the activity of the majority of all industrial-sized commercial fishing vessels (those exceeding a capacity of 100 Gross Tons which average around 24 meters). The inclusion of government-owned VMS data adds detailed information on smaller commercial fishing vessels that are not required to carry AIS, and are therefore not reliably trackable by any other means. Indonesian regulations require VMS on fishing vessels with a capacity equal to or exceeding 30 Gross Tons (averaging about 16 meters or more). Indonesia is the second-largest producer of wild-caught seafood in the world, and Indonesian VMS alone adds nearly 5,000 fishing vessels to Global Fishing Watch's existing database of 60,000 vessels. "It's remarkable to see how adding in all these medium sized vessels with VMS really fills in the picture for large chunks of the ocean where we knew there was fishing, but just couldn't see it with AIS alone," says Woods. "It is also revealing new areas where we weren't aware fishing occurs."
Google's lead on Global Fishing Watch, Brian Sullivan, says that the platform is built using the latest cloud and machine learning technologies and can easily incorporate additional data sources or methodologies. "The ability to scale rapidly as new countries and providers join means we can move from raw data to quickly producing dynamic visualizations and reporting that promote scientific discovery and support policies for better fishery management," he said. "With Indonesia and Peru, two of the world's top five fishing nations, committed to a new age of transparency in the fishing industry, Google is committed to fostering international cooperation."
Because fishing occurs over the horizon and out of sight, the industry remains one of the most opaque in the world. The lack of knowledge about how much fish is being taken from the ocean, and who is fishing where severely hinders effective management. It also facilitates rampant Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing that threatens fish stocks, food security and the economies of coastal nations that depend on seafood for food, jobs and foreign export dollars.
Gains in transparency through the sharing of government VMS data will not only curb IUU, but will benefit the fishing industry as public demand for information about the source of their seafood increases and open data sharing through Global Fishing Watch provides validation of product source. These partnerships with Indonesia and Peru set a new bar for transparency at sea. Making this data publicly available will support regional cooperation in monitoring, surveillance and enforcement, reduce opportunities for corruption, and enable more informed management decisions.
In addition to committing to support any nation willing to share its VMS data publicly, Global Fishing Watch joined 50 members of the tuna industry and 17 other civil society organization to endorse the World Economic Forum Tuna Traceability 2020 Declaration made at the UN Oceans Conference.
*SkyTruth's work with the Indonesian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs has been made possible through support from the Packard Foundation and the Walton Family Fund. Global Fishing Watch is an independent 501c3 that was founded and supported by Oceana, SkyTruth and Google.
Oceana:
Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one third of the world's wild fish catch. With over 100 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and killing of threatened species like turtles and sharks, Oceana's campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that one billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal, every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world.
SkyTruth:
SkyTruth is a nonprofit organization using remote sensing and digital mapping to create stunning images that expose the environmental impact of natural resource extraction and other human activities. We use satellite imagery and geospatial data to create compelling and scientifically credible visuals and resources to inform environmental advocates, policy-makers, the media, and the public.
Google:
Google Earth Outreach is a team dedicated to leveraging and developing Google's infrastructure to address environmental and humanitarian issues through partnerships with non-profits, educational institutions, and research groups.
While climate change is expected to lead to more violence related to food scarcity, new research suggests that the strength of a country's government plays a vital role in preventing uprisings.
"A capable government is even more important to keeping the peace than good weather," said Bear Braumoeller, co-author of the study and associate professor of political science at The Ohio State University.
While previous studies had examined the impact of climate change-induced weather patterns on violence and the increased danger of violence in weak or failing states, this is the first study to demonstrate that the combination of the two risk factors is even more dangerous than they would be separately.
"We've already started to see climate change as an issue that won't just put the coasts under water, but as something that could cause food riots in some parts of the world," Braumoeller said.
Extreme weather such as droughts and floods could hurt agricultural production in some countries, leading to violence there or elsewhere by people who are desperate for food.
"Climate-induced food scarcity is going to become an increasingly big issue and we wanted to understand which countries are most threatened by it," he said.
The researchers estimated the effects of food insecurity and state vulnerability on the occurrence of violent uprisings in Africa for the years 1991 to 2011. The researchers used a variety of measurements for both food shocks that lead to violence and to gauge the vulnerability of countries. For the climate-related causes of food shocks, the researchers analyzed rainfall, temperature and - importantly - the international prices of food, including sudden increases in prices.
"We recognized that countries that imported food could be impacted by climate shocks in other parts of the world that suddenly increased prices, even if they weren't experiencing any significant weather impacts themselves," Braumoeller said.
When examining countries' vulnerabilities, the researchers analyzed a host of factors including a country's dependence on agricultural production, its imports, the strength of its political institutions and its wealth.
"We found that the most vulnerable countries are those that have weak political institutions, are relatively poor and rely more on agriculture," he said.
"Less vulnerable countries can better handle the problems that droughts or food price fluctuations create."
These results suggest ways that the United States and the worldwide community can respond to these challenges. Addressing the vulnerabilities of countries is "crucial to breaking the link between food insecurity and violence," Braumoeller said. That means more than providing food aid to offset shortages in the short-term. More broadly, efforts should be focused on strengthening government institutions in vulnerable countries and helping them invest in "green growth" policies aimed at increasing economic growth while fostering resilience to climate shocks, he said.
"Development aid is important now and it is likely to be even more important in the future as we look for ways to increase climate resilience," Braumoeller said.
An aeolid nudibranch moves along coral in Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
The Government of Fiji has made a commitment to gazette two large Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) within Fiji's Vatu-i-Ra Seascape -- a highly diverse and productive area vital to both people and wildlife alike.
During his address at the United Nations Ocean Conference in New York City, Fiji's Minister for the Ministry of Fisheries, Mr. Semi Koroilavesau announced that Fiji is committed to scaling up MMAs in Fiji, including the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. The Ministry is working to designate the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs, spanning an area of 13,650 square kilometers.
The move will help protect a host of wildlife species that use the ecologically unique and bountiful Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. This includes migratory humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to the area to breed, colorful vibrant corals, sharks, rays, more than 200 fish species and regionally significant seabird populations. A second commitment on protecting marine mammals in Fiji reinforces the commitment to gazette the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs to, protect and sustainably manage known humpback whale migration, breeding and calving areas.
"The area boasts a remarkably biodiverse array of species, both permanent and transient," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Fiji Country Program. "The seascape provides for the plants and animals, and the plants and animals provide for the people in the form of food, livelihoods, coastal protection and reduction of climate change impacts."
Among some of the other benefits provided by Vatu-i-Ra Seascape are annual tourism dollars US $22.8M and fisheries valued at US 11.6 M. There are seamounts of cultural importance, and breeding grounds for sharks, rays, turtles and a range of coral reef and pelagic fish species.
Soft corals, crinoids and anthias fish are in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
However, unsustainable harvesting of fish, an increasing human population, growing demand for goods, and market access has led to increased pressure on the area's natural resources. Unless overfishing and land-based impacts is addressed, the seascape is projected to rise to a medium to high threat level by 2030, according to the global assessment "Reefs at Risk" by the World Resources Institute.
The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will contribute to an ecological network of MMAs in Fiji aimed at restoring and preserving the health, productivity, and diversity of Fiji's coastal and marine systems.
Said Dr. Mangubhai, "With our community partners and the government of Fiji, we celebrate this special announcement. It is critical that we decrease the pressure we are putting on our ocean, and create a sustainable balance."
"The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will be the first for Fiji's archipelagic waters and will contribute an additional 1.2 percent to Fiji's international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, "said the Honorable Mr Semi Koroilavesau, Minister for Fisheries. "The MMAs showcase Fiji's drive to attain key achievements on protected areas and efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development. "This is our home-our health, wealth and wellbeing is intricately connected to the health of our ocean."
Experts, charities, the media and government confuse the public by speaking "different languages" on climate change, a new study says.
The research team focussed on Colombia and likened climate change communication to a "broken phone". They said information from the government was often presented to the public in a "very technical way" and rarely included any type of call to action. Meanwhile, academics rarely discussed the issues with people outside academia, and messages from non-profit organisations were "lost in the middle of the information agenda of traditional media".
"The article is the first effort to identify how climate change is communicated in Colombia from different sectors," said co-author Dr Dunia H. Urrego, of the University of Exeter.
"We wanted to understand what challenges and opportunities the country faces due to climate change.
"It is clear from our research that development plans and public policy decisions at national, regional and local level increasingly require clear and accurate information."
The report found that the Colombian government and media were both failing to stimulate interest in climate change and explain how it would affect people's daily lives. Universities and non-profit organisations were failing to attract media attention for their research and communication strategies, the report added.
"The recent peace agreement in Colombia has increased international and UK interest in research in Colombia, a possibility that has hitherto been limited by the armed conflict," said Dr Urrego.
"For this reason, academic production relevant to climate change and conservation in Colombia is likely to increase in the coming years.
"This creates the perfect opportunity to outline a science communication strategy that is effective at impacting levels of society beyond academia, including the general public, the government and the communities directly affected by climate change".
The authors suggest that scientists who produce information on climate change should estimate the levels of understanding that Colombians have about the issue. They also suggest the government and academics should try to measure how much the information they release affects people's actions. And they advise that successful communications strategies developed by non-profit organisations should be replicated by similar organisations, the government and academics.
"It is hoped that this effort will open spaces for dialogue that stimulate the reflection and importance of the topic of climate change," said first author Luisa Fernanda Lema Vélez from Fondo Acción, an NGO based in Bogotá.
Authored by a team from Conservation International, the University of Washington and other organizations, the paper is the first integrated approach to meeting this global challenge and will be presented as part of the UN Oceans Conference and the Seafood Summit, which both take place June 5-9 in New York and Seattle, respectively.
The article, published June 1 in Science, is in direct response to investigative reports by the Associated Press, the Guardian, The New York Times and other media outlets that uncovered glaring human rights violations on fishing vessels. The investigations tracked the widespread use of slave labor in Southeast Asia and its role in bringing seafood to American restaurants and supermarkets, chronicling the plight of fishermen tricked and trapped into working 22-hour days, often without pay and while enduring abuse. Subsequent investigations have documented the global extent of these abuses in a wide array of countries.
"The scientific community has not kept pace with concerns for social issues in the seafood sector," said lead author Jack Kittinger, Conservation International's senior director for global fisheries and aquaculture. "The purpose of this initiative is to ensure that governments, businesses, and nonprofits are working together to improve human rights, equality and food and livelihood security. This is a holistic and comprehensive approach that establishes a global standard to address these social challenges."
The paper identifies three key principles that together establish a global standard for social responsibility in the seafood sector: protecting human rights, dignity and respecting access to resources; ensuring equality and equitable opportunities to benefit; and improving food and livelihood security.
"This paper stresses that if we are serious about social responsibility in our food systems, we need to go beyond dealing with the 'worst-case' headlines of 'slavery at sea,'" said co-author Edward Allison, a UW professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs.
Fishing boat heading out to sea on the Andaman coast of Thailand.Photo by Nathan Bennett.
"We argue that committing to sustainable seafood sourcing and supply is also about ensuring people who work in the food business - whether as harvesters or processors and packers - have decent work. It is also about ensuring communities who rely on the sea economically and culturally, particularly coastal indigenous communities, don't have their harvest rights appropriated by powerful outside interests."
More than half of the world's fisheries sector workforce is female, and there are still widespread gender-based disparities in income and working conditions, Allison added.
Seafood is the world's most internationally traded food commodity. By 2030, the oceans will need to supply more than 150 million metric tons of seafood to meet the demands of a growing population. The paper calls on governments, businesses and the scientific community to take measurable steps to ensure seafood is sourced without harm to the environment and people that work in the seafood industry.
"In some places, commercial fishing boats from other parts of the world are virtually robbing local small-scale fishers of the fish that they rely on to make a living and survive. Fisheries are not truly sustainable unless local people are able to benefit from the harvesting of resources," said co-author Nathan Bennett, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW.
As part of the initiative, Conservation International has organized a volunteer commitment, calling on governments, NGOs, businesses and other organizations to improve social responsibility in the seafood sector.
With climate change and social inequity addressed, restoring the ocean will help alleviate poverty, provide livelihoods, and improve the health of millions around the world. Credit: Lindsay Lafreniere.
A healthy ocean will benefit global sustainable development in a number of ways, finds a new report published today by the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program. With climate change and social inequity addressed, restoring the ocean will help alleviate poverty, provide livelihoods, and improve the health of millions around the world.
"The challenges--both environmental and socioeconomic--that confront our oceans have reached a critical level," said Yoshitaka Ota, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Director of Policy. "This report demonstrates how ocean sustainability holds the key not only to our future prosperity but also for our survival from a comprehensive science-based perspective."
Developed in preparation for the UN World Ocean Conference, June 5 to 9, this is the first comprehensive report on Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. The goal outlines seven targets agreed upon by the international community as key to the issues plaguing our oceans - from eliminating subsidies to minimizing acidification, ending overfishing to creating marine reserves.
"If fish stocks recover and are effectively managed, fisheries are more likely to provide sustainable livelihoods and food, and be more resilient to climate change" said William Cheung, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Director of Science. "Sustainable fisheries can help reduce poverty, limit hunger, and contribute to decent work and sustained economic growth by providing employment opportunities and productive fish stocks."
The Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program highlighted linkages between the ocean goal and the other 16 Sustainable Development Goals, developed by the UN in 2015. The report focuses on the challenges of climate change and social equity concerns in achieving ocean sustainability.
Credit: Lindsay Lafreniere.
"Climate change and social equity issues go hand and hand. The countries that are projected to be the hardest hit are tropical countries, which are mostly developing," said Gerald Singh, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Senior Fellow at UBC. "Sea levels are rising and fish are moving to different locations. But populations are also growing and moving towards coasts. Reducing inequalities is at the heart of sustainable development."
The co-benefits of achieving the ocean goal on the other sustainable development goals are wide reaching and not immediately apparent.
"The results may seem surprising, but a healthy ocean can contribute to achieving gender equality," said Ota. "Fisheries activities are quite gendered -- women typically do unrecognized and unrewarded work. Men will go on boats to capture fish that are sent to markets. But women are often collecting the subsistence food."
"A healthy ocean can also mean the difference between malnourishment and a steady supply of high quality protein for vulnerable communities," said Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Manager. "The oceans are connected to our lives in many ways. Restoring the oceans isn't just an environmentalist's dream but is vital for employment, well being, livelihoods, and health around the world."
Situated 250 miles off the coast of Yemen, Socotra is the largest member of an archipelago of the same name, a four-island ellipsis that trails off the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden. Socotra, an island of roughly 50.000 people, was colonised by the ancient Greeks who named it the Island of Happiness. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Socotra archipelago is home to hundreds of endemic or endangered plant and animal species. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species, found nowhere else on earth; only Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands have more impressive numbers.
The Unesco World Heritage Site listing describes the Socotra Archipelago, as being in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, 250 km long and comprised of four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. The site is of universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna: 37% of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species do not occur anywhere else in the world. The site also supports globally significant populations of land and sea birds (192 bird species, 44 of which breed on the islands while 85 are regular migrants), including a number of threatened species. The marine life of Socotra is also very diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp.
Lately, Socotra's delicate paradise is witnessing an unprecedented level of destruction, depletion, abuse and irreparable damage caused by foreign investment in developing its tourism industry and exploiting its natural resources. Massive construction of residential cities, ports, hotels, roads and gas stations has begun as well as exploitation of the archipelago's fish fish reserves. An international appeal to the UNESCO has been initiated by a group calling themselves the "Save Socotra International Team". The appeal is asking UNESCO to "use all peaceful, possible, diplomatic and political means to stop the invasion by foreign powers, investors and speculators, and to save the great patrimony of biodiversity, which has been developed over millions of years on the Yemeni island of Socotra, of being lost forever". You can review the appeal at this website. This International Team has also prepared a video presentation in support of their appeal.
Evidence-based science is at the heart of discoveries that transform our world. From the development of life-saving antibiotics to the resolution of climate change issues; from the reversal of social injustices to the furthering of space exploration, collaborative research has set the foundation for a brighter future.
On April 22, 2017, the March for Science took place in Washington, DC and more than 600 satellite events around the world. These events were the start of a movement that aims to highlight the vital role of evidence-based policy in the public interest and the role science plays to improve our everyday lives. Hundreds of organizations, including many scientific and scholarly societies, have partnered with the March to continue to expand the impact of research.
"Science plays a significant role in our everyday life," says Ed Liebow, PhD, Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), one of the official partners of the March for Science. "Our association stands firmly behind the need for evidence-based policy to serve the public interest."
Eric Davidson, PhD, President of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) adds, "Science is essential to public health, global and economic security, and the livelihood of communities around the world. The March for Science is an unprecedented call to action for all people, not just scientists, to make a strong statement in support of informed, evidence-based science and of the people and programs who make it possible."
"Science is a global endeavor with the March for Science highlighting how we use science to support people's lives," says Professor Lisa Bero, co-chair of the Cochrane Governing Board. "This is the essence of Cochrane's mission--to synthesize scientific evidence to address specific health questions that help people make informed decisions about their physical and mental wellbeing."
"Scientific progress has lifted humanity throughout history--marching is a first step toward developing sustained, energetic support for evidence-based truth," says Douglas Braaten, PhD, CSO, Scientific Publications at the New York Academy of Sciences, which is celebrating 200 years of advancing science in the service of humanity.
"Scientific methods don't care about politics--they're an independent point of view," says Dr. Chris Crandall, President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). "SPSSI members are proud to support the March for Science because social research contributes to a strong and effective democracy."
As Wiley President and CEO, Mark Allin says, "We work alongside our society partners to protect collaborative, independent scientific research. Wiley is a pro-science partner, committed to advancing knowledge and supporting scholarly communication." Leveraging our partnerships to support the March for Science and its continued program of activities and outreach will benefit the research ecosystem in which all of us are proud to operate.
In addition to supporting scholarly societies at the March, Wiley is pleased to release the report entitled "Building Momentum: Advocacy Resources for Societies." This report, featuring contributions from the organizations mentioned above, will serve as a sustained resource for societies.
March for Science is a series of rallies and marches set to be held in Washington, D.C. and over 500 cities across the world on April 22, 2017. March for Science is a celebration of science. It's not only about scientists and politicians; it is about the very real role that science plays in each of our lives and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world. It is the first step of a global movement to defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and governments.
“The goal of the march is to get people excited about the role of science in society and ready to agitate for science in policy. We want to channel that passion into a lasting movement that breaks down the barriers between scientists and their communities.” Caroline Weinberg, national co-chair of the march and a health educator and advocate, said in an interview with the Scientific American.
