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Main driver for changes to marine ecosystem in SG

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Main driver for changes to marine ecosystem in SG

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- Unsustainable development

- Rapid urbanization
- Increase in operations and development

Coastal developments

Fishing

Exploitation of resources

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- Throwing plastic into the ocean can cause a threat to the marine environment
- Dumping of chemicals from industrial sites or sewage plants

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Implement laws such as introducing the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act(Chapter 243):
- Prevention of Pollution from Land and Apparatus
- Prevention of Pollution from Ships
When guilty to an offence under these subsets, the person can be charged with a fine or imprisonment

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CO2 results in the increase of acidity in the ocean
- Affects corals

Reduce carbon footprints by:
- Walk, cycle, or take public transport instead of using vehicles
- Use lesser electricity

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- Singapore's coastal reefs are lost from land reclamation
- Nparks is growing corals in nurseries and transplanting it
- Restoration of the reef can create new niche, new ecosystem

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- Species diversity will decrease, causes lower trophic levels
- Fewer interaction between the species
- Create imbalance of population within the ecosystem

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Sustainable fishery is a concept of harvesting wildfish at a sustainable rate. These are some methods of making fisheries more sustainable.

- More subsidies. Government subsidies can allow more budget for fishing fleets to fish in distant waters, stretching the impact over a larger area. Reducing heavier impact on nearer waters

- Make fisheries market more attractive. One example is implementing fishing quotas to individuals, to make individual fishing less worth it compare to buying fishes supplied by fisheries.

- Laws and treaties. Be it national legislation or international laws, these rules can be implemented to reduce the practise of less sustainable fishing practises, such as cyanide and dynamite fishing.  For example under the Fisheries Act in Singapore chapter 111 part IV para 9 - Any person who, except under the authority issued under this act, uses any poisonous or explosive substance with intent to stupefy, poison or kill fish shall be guilty of an offense. Can be fined for $10,00 or imprisonment for <12months

- Community-based enforcements
Continuing from the previous point, Laws and treaties can be implemented but can be difficult to enforce. Hence the community can also assists in mitigating these laws. For example in Tanzania, fisheries officers and village communities join forces in order to manage blast fishing. By joining forces, they help enforcement agencies recognise offenders by patrolling the sea as well as providing information collected in villages. As a result, this assisted the agencies to reduce the occurance of fish blasting from average of 8/day to 0/day

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- Use fewer plastic products
- Do not purchase items that exploit Marine Life
- Support organizations working to protect the ocean
- Make safe, sustainable seafood choices
- Mind our carbon footprint
- Reduce energy consumption

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Agriculture runoff:
- Excess fertilisers get runoff by rainfall into the ocean, leading to eutrophication
- Results in more algal blooms
- Mortality in species
Oil spills:
- Blocks sunlight
- Clogging of blowholes in dolphins, whales etc.
Dumping of wastes:
- Wastes contain unknown substances that can absorb dissolved oxygen
- Marine organisms can mistake wastes for food

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- Approximately 75% of corals are threatened

- Climate change -> rising ocean temperature

- Lack of effective managed Marine protected areas -> 6% effective, 13% partially effective

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- More than 80% of corals in Southeast Asia are at risk
- Over reliance of marine resources
- Main threats includes: Overfishing, destructive fishing habits and over pollution from terrestrial influx
- Major coral threats in Singapore include habitat loss, habitat degradation and habitat modification.

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- Habitat disturbance
- Fragmentation of habitat
- Simplification of habitat complexity

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What measures can be taken to mitigate the impact and conserve marine biodiversity?

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What measures can be taken to mitigate the impact and conserve marine biodiversity?

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How has that impacted the marine biodiversity

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How has that impacted the marine biodiversity

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What is the main driver for these changes

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What is the main driver for these changes