Introduction

Marine Ecosystem
Marine Ecosystem is considered the largest ecosystem, covering about 71% of
Earths surface. Water in this ecosystem has high amount of dissolved salts and other
minerals. It includes oceans, coral reefs, deep sea and the sea floor. This type of
ecosystem has high biodiversity.

Discussion/Theoretical Background
The marine environment (our oceans and seas) account for more than 97 % of
that. The marine ecosystem can be divided into smaller ecosystems, such as rocky shores
and submarine canyons. The Marine Institutes Center for Fisheries Ecosystem Research
(CFER) is based in the Memorial University of Newfoundland. From Europe,
HERMINONE (Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Mans Impact on European Seas) are
trying to discover how human are impacting the deep-sea environment. There are also
independent consultants such as Cofad Consultants of Germany, who specialize fisheries,
aquaculture, and conservation. Their work is international with clients in Africa, Asia,
Europe and Latin America.
They are interested in oceans and fish because most people do not realize how
important the oceans are, to economy, food supply and the overall health of the planet. In
the US alone 28.3 million jobs directly involve the ocean. These industries contribute $54
billion to the US economy. In other parts of the world fish are the primary protein source
for entire populations who would perish without it. All over the world nations rely in our
mostly silent partner the ocean, which provides food, recreation, and revenue.

The deep sea is the largest habitat on Earth. It hosts some of the most diverse
ecosystems on the planet (e.g. Koslow 2007) in a wide variety of habitats such as
seamounts, cold water coral reefs, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, submarine canyons,
open slopes and basins. With such a diversity of habitats and features the seabed is
thought to be home to 98% of all marine species, and more species may live in deep
seabed environments than in all other marine environments combined (Gjerde 2006). The
wide variety of habitats gives rise to unique organisms and life forms with amazing
adaptations to these harsh environments.
In recent years, and in particular since the publication of the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (MA 2005), there has been a strong emphasis on the theoretical
and practical development of approaches based on identifying, measuring and in some
cases valuing the goods and services provided by ecosystems (Costanza et al. 1997; Daily
1997; Boyd and Banzhaf 2007; Fisher and Turner 2008; Luck et al. 2009; Mace et al.
2009; Haines-Young et al. 2009). These arguments do not seek to replace ethical
justifications for conservation, but rather to complement them. The concept of ecosystem
services captures the dependence of human well-being on natural capital and on the flow
of services it provides (Daily 1997; MA 2003; MA 2005; Turner and Daily 2008). This
development has occurred alongside a progression in biodiversity science, policy and
management over the last two decades, shifting from a relatively simple framing in
purely conservation terms focusing mostly on species and habitats, to a framing in terms
of conservation, sustainable uses and benefit sharing2 and a more systemic approach in
terms of socio-ecological systems (Young et al. 2006)

References

Anonymous (2009). Marine Ecosystem Research. Fish Research. Retrieved from

http://www.fishresearch.org/marine-ecosystem-research/

Barange M, Field JG, Harris RP, Eileen E, Hofmann EE, Perry RI and Werner F
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978-0-19-955802-5

Heip, C., Hummel, H., van Avesaath, P., Appeltans, W., Arvanitidis, C., Aspden,
R., Austen, M., Boero, F., Bouma, T.J. and Boxshall, G., 2009. Marine Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Functioning. Printbase, Dublin, Ireland: ISSN 2009-2539.

HERMES 2006. Critical governance, socio-economic, management and scientific

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http://www.euhermes.net/policy/D35_final.pdf.
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prospects. Report of the third meeting of the HERMES Science-Policy Panel.
March 2009. Available at: http://www.eu-hermes.net/policy/D136_final.pdf.