Issue 116 - January 2025

Navigating the High Seas: Career Reflections and Lessons in Ocean Conservation from Kristina Gjerde

By Kristina M. Gjerde, Senior High Seas Advisor to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Ocean Programme

Kristina with IUCN delegation at the BBNJ Agreement negotiations August 2022: Clement Chazot, Minna Epps, Harriet Harden-Davies, Cymie Payne and Torsten Thiele.

Having recently been honored with the Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy for my role in advancing the 2023 UN Agreement on Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), I am pleased to have this chance to celebrate some of the other women in ocean conservation whose kindness, expertise and mentoring inspired me along my way. Yet I do not write this piece only for them, I write this piece for all the aspiring young women (and men) wanting to work in ocean conservation but unsure of where to begin or even unsure of themselves. I’d therefore like to share some of the lessons I’ve learned to encourage you on your important journey.

From Roman Law to Marine Policy

My career has taken a trajectory I could not have predicted when I was in college. These formative years taught me to follow my heart but do my homework by seeking out mentors and learning new skills.

In college, I could not make up my mind between studying modern Soviet or ancient Greek and Roman history, so I studied both. It was my admiration for the clarity of Roman law that prompted me to go to law school. But it was my passion to protect human rights in Soviet-era Russia that drove me to study international law, human rights law and the United Nations system. I did an internship at the UN Institute for Training and Research, where I researched the application of space technology and international law to UN peace-keeping operations. As there were no careers yet in international space law, I went for the more ancient tradition of admiralty law, of international shipping and trade, with its roots in ancient Greece and Roman law. Though at the time I hadn’t expected to apply my interests to ocean issues, I often lean on these early foundations.

Kristina with IUCN delegation at the Organizational Meeting for the BBNJ Preparatory Commission, June 2024: Frances Dsiga, Maria-Goreti Mauvesi, Cymie Payne, Daniel Kachelreis, and Heidi Weiskel

Marine issues became central to my passion and my career path in the 1980s. In 1984, I joined the oldest law firm in New York City, Lord Day and Lord, in its admiralty law department, where I focused on contracts to lease ships, shipping disputes, and bankruptcy. However, my first scuba diving adventure in Palau in 1987 with my now husband, Adam de Sola Pool, opened my eyes to the wonderous world at risk from the very ships I was defending. I quickly decided to dedicate my life to protecting the vibrant corals and colorful fish.

Working out what to do or where to go to follow my passion was the next task. As I had no background in international environmental law, I realized I needed to learn more. I reached out to Sarah Chasis, a lawyer working with NRDC on ocean issues, who generously counseled me on various pathways, including educational opportunities.

Based on Sarah’s advice, I secured a post-doctoral Fellowship at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Marine Policy Center. With the help of Lynn Davidson, Greenpeace’s Marine Habitat Policy Coordinator, I was able to enter the world of coral reef conservation, international law, and ocean advocacy. Lynn, an innovator for her time, recognized the need to go beyond single-species to focus on coral reefs and associated ecosystems. With Lynn as co-author, we produced An Evaluation of International Protection Offered to Caribbean Coral Reefs and Associated Ecosystems. Working with Lynn, and yes, a professional editor, I learned to translate international legalese into understandable tools for advocacy and action.

My time at the WHOI Marine Policy Center also enabled me to interact with scientists studying the wealth of ocean ecosystems. An encounter with Cindy van Dover over a Xerox machine (remember them?) introduced me to the wonders of hydrothermal vents, inspiring my passion to defend little known and poorly protected marine ecosystems be they shallow or deep, within or beyond national boundaries. Cindy’s skill at translating complex science into visions the layperson could understand taught me the importance of working directly with scientists to inform international environmental policy.

Moving to the high seas

My career started to take shape through the 1990s and early 2000s and eventually centered on the conservation of marine life in the high seas and deep waters beyond national boundaries. My experiences and mentors taught me the benefits of networking between scientists and lawyers, the importance of tailoring arguments to an audience, and the need to balance passion with pragmatism.

Kristina with Sargasso Sea Alliance Steering Committee and Secretariat at the BAL DE LA MER and Seakeeper Award Ceremony, September 2013: David Freestone, David Shaw, Sylvia Earle, Howard Roe, Derek Binns, Richard Rockefeller, and Kate Killerlain Morrison

When my husband was offered a job in London in 1991, we jumped at the opportunity for international living. In addition to working as a part-time research fellow with David Freestone (a wonderful male mentor) at the University of Hull, I was invited to attend the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on behalf of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre. There I got involved in the evolution of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs), an IMO designation for sea areas sensitive to shipping impacts. Through this work I met two amazing women. Lindy S. Johnson, Attorney Advisor at the NOAA’s Office of General Counsel, and Sian Pullen Prior , then of WWF UK Marine. Lindy, as part of the US delegation to the IMO, excelled at using the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to advance marine protection, even within the confines of conservative organizations such as the US Coast Guard and the IMO. From Lindy I learned to craft arguments based on international law to build support for protection measures. Through Sian, I learned the fine art of combining ocean science, law and advocacy to help secure the adoption of PSSAs for coral reef ecosystems including the Sabana Camagüey Archipelago in Cuba, Malpelo Island in Colombia, and the sea around the Florida Keys.

During the mid-1990s, I became a mother and we moved to Warsaw, Poland as a family. With my husband’s encouragement, I continued writing academic papers with David Freestone, policy briefs for Sian, and occasionally attending the IMO as well as other international coral reef and associated conferences. This helped me to stay involved even though we were far from the seat of the IMO.

In 2001, I was invited to a workshop on the Isle of Vilm in Germany to help figure out how to adopt marine protected areas (MPAs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). At the time there were few measures to protect scientific research sites, deep sea corals, hydrothermal vents, seabirds, cetaceans and other creatures dwelling beyond national boundaries. My talk was to explore the application of PSSAs to the high seas.

At the Vilm Workshop, Lindy Johnson developed an analytical tool for determining when a particular threat might be redressed through existing legal instruments or where additional measures might be necessary. The PSSA turned out to be an important tool for shipping impacts but in my view did not do so well for the rising array of threats (habitat destruction, bycatch, IUU fishing, pollution, climate change) or provide active management to address cumulative effects. Lindy’s framework and the often-vigorous legal debates at Vilm inspired me to start thinking strategically about how to advance a truly global system of MPAs including in ABNJ under international law. Again, Lindy’s lessons in crafting legal arguments to appeal to even the most conservative audiences proved vital.

A timely Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (together with funding from the JM Kaplan Fund) helped me secure a position as high seas policy advisor to IUCN, where I initiated development of a 10-Year Strategy for high seas MPAs with colleagues from IUCN, WWF International, IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN’s Environmental Law Center, BirdLife International, among others, during the 2003 World Parks Congress. There we agreed to advance MPAs on a regional basis, seek a global moratorium on destructive bottom trawling practices, and to collaboratively advance discussions on a possible new global legal framework. Working with scientists, MPAs managers, NGOs members, and legal experts helped to fill knowledge gaps and maintain the big picture of priorities. It was fun too.

Lee Kimball, a member of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental Law taught me how to work remotely in a complex organization like IUCN. Based on her 15 years’ experience as an NGO representative during the Law of the Sea negotiations, she also taught me how to work within the United Nations system to achieve change by crafting “options” rather than demands and crafting suggestions so they become another’s passion.

Also, in 2003 I was invited by Sylvia Earle to a conference called “Defying Ocean’s End”. I was instantly swept away by Sylvia’s audacious vision, grand convening capacity, silken voice, and infectious enthusiasm. Sylvia embraced me and the goal of protecting the high seas (she had first espoused the idea of Wild Ocean Reserves in ABNJ in 1999 when she was Chief Scientist at NOAA) and has been a tireless champion throughout the BBNJ processes. From Sylvia, I hopefully absorbed some of her ability to inspire and “infect” others with my own enthusiasm and passion.

Building coalitions

Kristina with IUCN and DOSI delegation members at the International Seabed Authority July 2019: Minna Epps (IUCN) Anna Metaxas (DOSI), Diva Amon (DOSI, Lisa Levin (DOSI)

As many organizations were already working on sharks, cetaceans, sea turtles, seabirds, deep-sea corals, seamounts, fishing, shipping and other issues relevant to ABNJ, I began to wonder about the benefits of allying to better coordinate our efforts. Over lunch with Mirella von Lindenfels, the communications director for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, we dreamt up the idea of a high seas alliance. Mirella’s expertise in big picture yet very down-to-earth strategic thinking enabled us to organize the first meeting of what became the High Seas Alliance (HSA) in 2011. The HSA grew into a political powerhouse of NGOs that played a leading role in advancing the BBNJ treaty discussions at the UN in New York and beyond.

To help foster more scientific input into the UN discussions, I joined forces with Lisa Levin, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who was determined to make knowledge of the deep ocean accessible and policy relevant. Together with deep sea scientists involved in the Census of Marine Life we formed the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI). DOSI became a key scientific voice during the UN BBNJ negotiations. It is because of Lisa’s persistence (and DOSI’s and IUCN’s support) throughout the UN negotiations that “climate resilience” plays such a major role in the BBNJ Agreement text. Lesson: be persistent in providing understandable science for busy diplomats.

Kristina at IUCN World Parks Congress, November 2014, with Carole Durussel, Lora Nordvelt Reeve and Harriet Harden-Davis.

Empowering the next generation

I can’t end this essay without a call-out to Harriet Harden Davies. I met Harriet in 2014 when, as a graduate student at the University of Wollongong researching marine genetic resources in ABNJ, she reached out to me. Harriet proved herself an essential partner and we have been collaborators and friends ever since. Now through her own initiative Ocean Voices, Harriet puts often vague promises of capacity building to work by enabling graduate students and early career professionals from ocean-dependent states to hone their science-diplomacy skills through training and access to international meetings. Working with Harriet helped me to realize that mentoring early career professionals can be one of the most rewarding aspects of a career.

Thus, to all the people aspiring to a career in marine conservation, I encourage you to be bold, brave, persistent, to believe in yourselves and to uplift others.

Here are some of my lessons that may help you along the way.

Even the most obscure topics can be relevant to your future career.
Follow your heart but do your homework. Be creative and persistent in seeking out mentors.
Your own enthusiasm may be contagious. Make it so.
Don’t tell people what they “must” do. Tailor your arguments to your target audience(s) and craft your suggestions so your ideas become their passion.
Be pragmatic and creative in applying existing tools to new areas but keep the big picture and larger goal in mind.
Try to see the commonalities in what others are working on and join forces where possible. Building networks can fill expertise gaps, reach new audiences and magnify strengths.
Take the time to mentor early career professionals: it can be one of the most rewarding aspects of a career.

Acknowledgements

I would like to close by thanking the many colleagues, diplomats and government officials without whose hard work the BBNJ Agreement would not have been possible. I would particularly like to thank my IUCN colleagues including Grethel Aquilar, Minna Epps, Cymie Payne, Lydia Slobodian, Aurelie Spadone and Heidi Weiskel; my High Seas Alliance colleagues including Nichola Clark, Susanna Fuller, Liz Karan, Lisa Speer, Mirella von Lindenfels, Bec Hubbard, Peggy Kalas and Karen Sack, as well as my DOSI colleagues Maria Baker, Diva Amon, Harriet Harden Davies, Elva Escobar, Maila Guilhon and Lisa Levin. They all played an indispensable role in this long journey. And finally, I would like to thank the many men in my life I had the pleasure to work with as mentors, partners, collaborators and friends. But that is a topic for another essay.

Kristina diving (with Sylvia Earle) in shark tank at the Melbourne Aquarium, October 2005. Photo credit: Dana Saunders.

Image at top: Kristina at the 1st Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee, April 2016. Photo by IISD ENB Francis Dejon

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Issue 116 - January 2025

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Since 2004, SEVENSEAS Media has fostered an informal and non-partisan platform to promote understanding of key issues and challenges while building partnerships across an increasingly diverse group of marine conservation professionals and students.

Our mission is to promote communication and build partnerships across the global marine community and to identify and address gaps in the community’s work. SEVENSEAS Media achieves this through multimedia promotion and partnerships. The community consists of a diverse and growing group of participants, including non-governmental organizations, government agencies, foundations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, fellowship programs, independent consultants, and academia/students.

Issue 116 - January 2025

It Begins with the Ocean Biome

By Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine, Media, PA, USA

My inspiration for this quilt came from an unexpected event – a virtual podcast discussion about world biomes.

Back in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing the temporary closure of my university and a local arboretum, a colleague and I started hosting biweekly Zoom sessions with members from both communities. This was the start of an online podcast club, where we developed curated, nature-themed podcast listening lists for participants to listen to before our Zoom gatherings. The topic for one of our discussions was World Biomes, which was a suggestion from one of our regular podcast club participants. During a prior discussion, when we asked our participants for suggestions about topics for future weeks, one attendee shared that world biomes would be a good topic, as there’s a “pointlessness of saving the pandas if you don’t start by saving the biome.”

We set up a list of six podcasts and seven questions for our community to listen to and to reflect upon. When we came virtually together, we had a great hour-long discussion among our 13 participants. Towards the end of the session, many of the attendees were questioning what we could do for biomes, what the next steps could be for each of us to take. Keeping in mind the “pointlessness of pandas” and thinking what action I could individually pursue, I decided to make a quilt.

Before the pandemic, I recalled going to a local fabric store and seeing several flannel fabrics that had messages printed on them with the words “save the dolphins” and “save the sea turtles.” I thought this might be an interesting fabric to tie into the take-home message from our discussion of starting with the biome. So I ordered some fabrics online and created my first pandemic quilt, dedicated to the ocean biome.

The center of the quilt represents the biome, containing images of plants and animals from the ocean. Then around the center square are the messages of saving various animals that are popular with people (dolphins, sea turtles, belugas, sea lions). I intentionally have the words pointing outward from the center square, emphasizing the focus in the center (the biome) and where we need to start our conservation efforts, and then moving out to the individual species and those efforts necessary for protection.

This quilt measures 40 inches by 40 inches and was completed September 20, 2020.

About The Author

Distinguished Professor Laura Guertin holds a Ph.D. in marine geology & geophysics from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science and has served as faculty at Penn State Brandywine (Media, Pennsylvania, USA) since 2001. With a passion for science outreach, she taps into creative approaches such as quilting to engage audiences in learning about Earth science and its applications.

Issue 116 - January 2025

Genuine Ocean Protection: 100 x 50

By Deborah Rowan Wright

Can we set a longer-term target aiming to safeguard the whole global ocean from harmful exploitation and land and sea-sourced pollution by 2050?

Young male humpback whales, Moorea, French Polynesia Credit: Ron Watkins / Ocean Image Bank

Genuine ocean protection begins in the mind. I believe we need to question our entire approach to protecting the marine world and turn our reasoning on its head.

When it comes to the ocean, today’s guiding political and economic principle can be summed up like this; “commercial exploitation of the sea comes first, but we will allow some protection”. We’re expected to be grateful when governments designate pockets of safeguarded sea, in the form of marine protected areas. The reality is they throw the beleaguered ocean a bone and keep extractive industries happy, because they’re freely able to over-exploit the rest of the sea. And all the while government, business and industry break international law every day by letting the destructive activities continue.

Adding insult to injury, many protected areas are not a safe haven for marine life anyway. It could be because the regulations aren’t enforced, or because restrictions on harmful activities are so minimal they make no difference. Take the UK’s nonsensical ruling to allow destructive bottom trawling within a protected area, which makes a mockery of its marine conservation policy.

The alternative guiding principle of the sea should be;
“ocean protection comes first, but we will allow responsible and respectful exploitation”. Having unpolluted, healthy life-filled seas will then take priority. Human-driven damage and destruction will stop over ALL of the ocean and not just in parts of it.

The rationale for setting a target of 100% ocean protection rests on law, logic, technology and ethics:

Because 100 x 50 is already established in law

The global ocean has been protected by binding international law since 1994, by articles 61;117- 120; 192-216; 242-244 of the United Nations Law of the Sea (the USA hasn’t yet ratified the Treaty but follows it as customary international law). But failure to enforce the law has allowed industries to empty seas of wildlife, pollute waters, destroy habitats and exacerbate the impacts of the climate crisis. While low-lying and fishery-dependent coastal communities face serious economic, climatic and ecological impacts due to governments not taking action sooner.

Mangroves, Orpheus Island, Australia Credit: Matt Curnock/ Ocean Image Bank

Because partial protection doesn’t stop the ocean’s destroyers

Designating marine protected areas and marine reserves can be invaluable in enabling habitats to regenerate and wildlife to return and the collective campaign to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 will be a huge step forward when the target is reached. But it won’t stop the primary cause of ocean decline – which is the ruinous over-exploitation of marine resources – and that will be able to continue in the other 70% of the ocean. The threats will persist and we won’t have solved the problem.

Because use we can

With today’s technologies and expertise, enforcing laws and regulations is possible across the globe. Methods include; preventing landing catches in port, withdrawing operating licenses, impounding catches, prosecuting crew members or ship owners, and imposing fines or custodial sentences. At sea, coast guard, naval and former fishing vessels can be part of a patrolling force, monitoring activity and intercepting vessels breaching regulations.

Using satellite technology, organisations like Global Fishing Watch can track the locations, identities, engine power, tonnage, crews, voyage records, and more of around 70,000 commercial fishing vessels around the world. As history shows, when social progress laws are enforced, more enlightened attitudes and new norms of behaviour follow. Putting ocean protection law into action will enable an ocean-respectful culture to develop.

Because it’s right

There are many practical reasons to manage our use of the sea putting nature first. Low-impact, sustainably managed fisheries for example, yield more fish than over-industrialised, over-exploited ones.

There’s also a compelling moral incentive for radical change. Many human activities in the sea are wasteful and extremely cruel. In 2019, at least 230,000 tonnes of fish were dumped in EU waters, most of which was due to indiscriminate capture by bottom-trawling. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 35% of fish, crustacean and mollusc catches are wasted.

Abandoned fishing gear is a deadly menace worldwide. Over 700,000 tons of ghost gear is left in the ocean every year, inflicting incalculable cruelty and death on marine life. Shark finning is a brutal and cruel practice, killing a staggering number of sharks every year, estimates ranging from 70 to 100 million. Losing so many top predators also seriously disrupts the ecological balance in the sea.

A united, cross-sector, cross-border campaign to pressure governments to honour their Treaty commitments by 2050 could see the whole marine environment protected (as it should have been for 30 years).

The anticipated gains of protecting the whole ocean from over-exploitation and destructive practices are plain to see: diminishing pollution and cleaner seas; coral reefs, kelp and mangrove forests regenerating; seas and skies filling with wildlife.

With well-managed fisheries, those who fish for a living or work in related trades will have more to eat and sell, plus employment for the long term. There’ll be more to spend on housing, education and health care, making millions of people better off, healthier and happier.

The global ocean is also Earth’s undisputed champion in confronting the climate crisis. A robust and resilient ocean can absorb heat and atmospheric CO2 and mitigate serious impacts such as ocean acidification, far more effectively than a weakened and depleted one.

Following the original proposal published by Marinet in 2012 (the Principle of Worldwide Marine Protection) the book Future Sea considers how 100% ocean protection could be reached, drawing on international law, successful fisheries management, conservation programmes, law enforcement systems, citizen action, and suggesting lifestyle changes that everyone can make towards marine conservation.

‘All at once eye-opening, thought-provoking, rage-inducing, and empowering, Future Sea is an excellent read for ocean lovers’. Marine Biologist

‘The freshest, most sensible, most optimistic perspective I’ve seen in a long time’. Drew Harvell, Cornell University

‘Rejecting piecemeal strategies, Rowan Wright encourages total ocean protection’. Science

‘The urgency with which she makes her case is utterly convincing. Future Sea is a galvanising book’. The Inquisitive Biologist

‘This book is too important not to be read by the general public, marine scientists, conservationists, representatives of marine-based industries and especially politicians’. The Biologist

About The Author

Deborah Rowan Wright is an independent researcher who writes about ocean conservation policy. Her work on marine renewable energy, public trust law, and ocean governance reform has been published by the International Whaling Commission and The Ecologist, among others. She is currently working on twin campaigns: to achieve a UN Declaration of Ocean Rights and for Ecocide to be recognized as the 5th International Crime.