He said during the third edition of #Biodirectos, organised by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) with the aim of raising awareness of the important role that biodiversity plays in relation to human health.

Oceanographer Carlos Duarte confirms that there is scientific evidence that allows us to affirm that it is possible to recover the abundance of life in the ocean in a generation, in 2050. “The wave of recovery of the ocean is going to continue, we just have to promote it from the responsibility and work of seafarers,” he said during the third edition of #Biodirectos, the cycle of online meetings that, since May 22, has been organized by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) with the aim of raising awareness of the important role that biodiversity plays in relation to human health.

In this broadcast, dedicated to the celebration of Seafarers’ Day, the work of the people who contribute to a healthier ocean through the improvement of knowledge, marine conservation and the sustainable development of uses and activities linked to the sea has been highlighted.

The Spanish scientist, author of more than 800 articles and holder of the Tarek Ahmed Juffali Research Chair in Red Sea Ecology, at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, has stated that the recovery from the global COVID crisis “must not only be green, but also blue”.

According to the researcher, evidence has emerged of a recovery of the abundance of life in the ocean, from habitats to large whales, as a result of conservation policies progressively introduced since the 80s. Thanks to these advances, currently, globally, 10% of the sea is protected.

However, he added that international coordination and cooperation are required to protect spaces until at least 30% of the ocean’s surface is protected by 2030; protect species, particularly those most at risk; eliminate pollution, from plastics to persistent synthetic pollutants; regulate fishing to recover fish stocks ; as well as mitigating climate change with the fulfillment of the most ambitious objectives set by the Paris agreement.

Duarte concluded that “we are all people of the sea and our destiny is linked to the ocean”.

SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY AND FISHING

Recovering the ocean, according to Duarte, means contributing to human health and well-being. Objectives shared by gastronomy. In this area, the coordinator of the cuisine area of the Basque Culinary Center, Jorge Bretón, showed how innovation and training in cooking can help protect biodiversity. During the meeting, the chef stressed the need to promote sustainable gastronomy, while preparing live dishes made with products that are usually discarded such as salmon fin, hake scales and head, and bonito skin.

The importance of knowing the origin of seafood products and food safety were also topics addressed during the meeting. The manager of the Organization of Artisanal Fishing Producers Lonja de Conil (OPP72), Nicolás Fernández, has pointed out the importance of the consumer “being able to identify that the product has been worked in a sustainable way”.

With 31,473 direct jobs, the fishing sector is the livelihood of many families in Spain. “This activity must be developed in a sustainable way; We need the sea to have the best products and more care. The important thing is not to fish more but to sell better “, he added.