Find teaching resources for World Ocean Day which is celebrated around the world on 8th June each year.
World Ocean Day is celebrated around the world on the 8th June each year. It is great moment to show your class how sustainable fishing contributes to protecting our ocean.
Our ocean supports life on Earth in many different ways. It feeds billions of people, regulates the world's climate and is home to an extraordinary variety of life. But the ocean is now unquestionably under pressure. Over a third of global fish stocks are exploited at an unsustainable rate.
Together, we can spread the word and help ocean lovers to understand what sustainable fishing means and what they can do to protect the ocean.
World Ocean Day Learning Activity (Ages 10-14 years old)
This World Ocean Day, learners can investigate how we can help protect our ocean, by using clues to solve a big ocean mystery: Can we keep eating fish, and still have enough fish in the ocean? Ocean sustainability is a complex challenge. It is critical to strike a balance between the economic and social benefits of fishing – from livelihoods in coastal communities, to sufficient nutritious food for a growing global population – with the need to protect the marine environment for future generations. This activity has been designed for 10-14 year olds.
World Ocean Day Learning Activity (Ages 7-10 years old)
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) works to reward sustainable fishing practices, but just as students might get a sticker as a reward for effort or achievement, only fishers who pass the tests to show that they are fishing sustainably, are rewarded with the MSC blue label. It’s a sticker for their hard work! This activity is designed for 7 - 10 year olds and is based around the theme that at MSC we love to put stickers on things.
Minecraft Competition 2024
Get your blocks ready for the INTERFACE Minecraft Student Competition 2024. We’ve teamed up with the Interface Magazine and the official launch of the competition is World Ocean Day June 8th 2024. Your challenge is to come up with a design within our guidelines, construct it in Minecraft, record a short, 3-minute video tour, and submit your entry.
Sustainable fishing means more choice (through consumer driven change)
Seth McCurry, Senior Commercial Outreach Manager for the Marine Stewardship Council, explains how consumers can drive fisheries to improve their fishing operations through sustainable choices. Fisheries can work to ensure abundance and minimise their impacts on other species, habitats and the wider ecosystem, by fishing at sustainable levels. When consumers choose sustainably caught fish and seafood, more fisheries are incentivised to harvest sustainably. This means more choice on the supermarket shelves.
Sustainable fishing means more fish in the ocean (fishing supported by science)
Sustainable fishing allows fish stocks to replenish themselves naturally and balances the needs of the marine ecosystem for present and future generations. In this short explainer Alex Holdgate, fisheries scientist and Outreach Manager for the Marine Stewardship Council, describes how scientists help fishers improve the sustainability of their catch and keep abundance high. Following scientific advice and fishing at sustainable levels, gives fish stocks the ability to grow, with more time to reproduce, resulting in bigger, healthier fish communities in the future.
Sustainable fishing means more life in the ocean (fishing that supports abundance and biodiversity)
Ocean ecosystems are delicately balanced environments. A successful and robust ecosystem needs a combination of abundance and a variety of species to thrive and withstand environmental challenges. In this short explainer Ritu Singh, Science Communications and Content Producer for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), describes how scientists look at the balance of abundance and different species to calculate how much life there is in the ocean. By fishing at sustainable levels, fisheries work to ensure abundance while minimising their impacts on other species, habitats and the wider ecosystem. These efforts this have positive effects on ocean communities and biodiversity.
Sustainable fishing means more colour in our ocean (and more variety of life)
Loren Hiller, UK commercial outreach manager for the Marine Stewardship Council, explains why it’s important that the variety of marine species and their habitats must be protected from overfishing and kept in balance. By working with scientists, sustainable fishers actively and continually modify their fishing practices so their impact on marine species and their habitats are minimised. By supporting the balance and variety of marine ecosystems, sustainable fishers help maintain the ocean’s resilience and its ability to recover from change and disturbance.
World Ocean Day Quiz
The ocean sustains our whole planet. But it is unquestionably under pressure due to global warming or human activities such as overfishing. World Ocean Day is a great moment to learn more about how sustainable fishing contributes to protecting the ocean. Play our kahoot and find out how much you know about it. Explore our education resources and subscribe to our NZ ocean newsletter here: www.msc.org/tangaroa
More information about World Ocean Day
World Ocean Day is an annual global celebration of the ocean and highlights our need to protect it. It takes place every 8 June. The initiative was first proposed at the 1992 Earth Summit, which was marked by several landmark agreements on the environment, from climate change to ocean management. The day is officially recognised by the United Nations and supports its Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about why we need World Ocean Day and how we celebrate it.
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