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No part of the ocean today is safe from potential overexploitation of its resources. Current data suggests that approximately 100 million tons of fish are known to be removed from he ocean annually. At this level of exploitation, sustainability of particular fish populations is questionable. Although much work has been done examining the state of fisheries through various disciplines, the public perception of the state of the world’s marine resources is often limited, and only recently have people started to realize the potential catastrophic nature of marine resource exploitation. Mike Markovina co-leads the Marine Resources Expedition with fellow photographer Linda Schonknecht. Markovina has a masters degree in ichthyology and fisheries science from Rhodes University South Africa. After working on leatherback turtle conservation and fisheries management projects for the Mayumba Marine Park in southern Gabon, he and Linda began a two-year expedition using photography and film to illuminate the positive uses of marine resources they found across Africa, Asia and Europe. |
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“To highlight the plight of our oceans, and to profile some of the positive stories of conservation efforts” he says, “Linda and I packed up a single vehicle with cameras, diving gear and what ever we though we may need to drive across three continents, from Cape Town to Japan and back. Our plan was to use imagery and stories to tell a tale of what we as humans are doing right in the marine realm. On the 25th of August 2008, we drove out of our driveway in Betty’s Bay (just outside Cape Town), only to return in July 2010.” He and Linda hoped to merge her photographic skills with his fisheries science background to understand the technical ramifications towards the current state of our world’s marine resources and its management (i.e. are marine protected areas the ultimate solution, what data is available to decision makers and are we all facing doom and gloom?). Imagery to highlight their findings was critical, as images speak their own language, evoke emotions and most importantly transcend all language barriers and cultural differences. Sitting in their car on the eve before they crossed their first border into Namibia, Mike recalls thinking to himself, “I have no idea what we are going to find, or how my thoughts, arguments, understandings and insight regarding global marine resources will evolve”. It was not far into the expedition, about 35 days actually that the expedition changed. Fisheries management is not about managing fish: it’s about people. Their expedition changed almost as soon as they departed: it changed from filming a documentary depicting the successes of classical fisheries management, to a story of inspiring people making a difference, often with great sacrifice and hardships. It is a story, an expedition and a reality that has changed both Mike and Linda, and they look forward to the privilege of sharing it with everyone. People are not inherently bad, we must believe this to remain positive, however our challenge today can be encapsulated in a quote an Indian biologist once told Mike, “It is not that there are too few fish in the sea, it is that there are too many sharks on land”. Mike has a B.Sc: Zoology and an M.Sc: Ichthyology & Fisheries Science. He has had an interest and passion for fish and fishery science since childhood, which helped him decide to change courses from Construction Engineering at UCT to pursue his passion for zoology, ichthyology and fisheries science. During 2004 he completed Ichthyology honors with his thesis focusing on aquaculture and more specifically cryogenics of finfish spermatozoa to improve broodstock management efficiency, where he obtained a distinction. He completed his masters in 2007 and was then involved in fisheries management and marine conservation in Mayumba National Marine Park, Gabon Central Africa, which helped guide his passions for the Marine Resource Expedition. The development of the Marine Resource Expedition was born out of a passion and the premise that not all people are inherently bad. After working with inspiring people in Gabon, his interest was to discover solutions on a global scale to fisheries management and conservation by highlighting those people who work tirelessly, passionately and adopt a holistic and humanitarian view towards fisheries management. The marine Resource Expedition is therefore a global search for inspiring people and solutions to common fisheries related issues. The expedition lead him and Linda from Cape Town to Japan and back, 42 countries in 24 months. They gained a global understanding of fisheries from discussion policies regarding EU fisheries rights, to the Norwegian system of dynamic marine protected areas, to attempting to grasp the scale size and cultural ethics of fish markets, trading and policies in Japan. Mike conducted a social experiment on people’s perceptions towards fish, i.e. trying to understand associations with fish products, focusing his effort in understanding peoples value towards fish, thereby highlighting the economic interpretation fish has on modern society. He conducted lectures for government scientists, universities and schools, handing out questionnaires designed to understand the flow of fisheries based education and involvement in schools. His interests now lie in furthering his experiences in fisheries management, both socially and scientifically trying ultimately to work towards formalizing a holistic form of fisheries management based on global success stories that are applicable, transcendable and driven by community involvement. He hopes to continue conducting marine expeditions using imagery to showcase important and essential scientific knowledge, thereby contributing to responsible marine resource management, a task he is passionate about. Best Motivational Speaker
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