My forefathers are from the Egyptian Nile Delta, an area that would have been a total desert had it not been for the River Nile. Thanks to abundant freshwater resources coming from the subtropical parts of Africa, a thriving civilisation has flourished in this area for thousands of years. The Nile flows through the entire country running from south to north before spilling into the Mediterranean Sea. My Middle Eastern heritage means that I have always understood water scarcity and have therefore deeply appreciated the importance of water resources. When I moved to Canada for University, I remember thinking how so much of the so-called developed world completely takes the water resources they are blessed with for granted.
It’s important to remember that we all originally came from the sea; that is something that has given me great comfort at many points in my life and it’s also been a source of inspiration for me and my work. My first job out of University was working with the Government in Canada. We were out on the water in the Great Lakes of Ontario, sampling fish and monitoring levels of contaminants. I remember thinking just how vulnerable the fish living there were and as a result, I decided to dedicate my career to helping aquatic animals cope better in the environment we had created for them and reduce the negative effects that humans have on them.
As a passionate advocate for the ocean and as a marine biologist, I’d like to see a large increase in the area of the marine environment that’s currently under protection and to see a lot more of it be totally off limits to human exploitation. We’ve already seen some fish populations bounce back after being heavily over-exploited so we know that, with the right measures in place, environmental restoration is possible. In general, nature and wildlife have a way of coming back. This is why I’d like to see the nearshore environment receive more protection. For starters, I’d like to see ‘high-impact’ fishing activities such as trawling restricted within three miles of the shore. I think this would have a great effect on the wider ecosystem and the seagrass habitats which we know are very important for the marine wildlife that live in this area.
One thing that gives me hope in Scotland and really inspires me is how passionate everyday people are about protecting the ocean and taking the action we need to bring about changes. The sea belongs to all of us and that’s why we have a collective responsibility to look after it. Even if the coastal communities are on the frontline, we can all play a supporting role.
I worry deeply about the future of the sea.
I don’t think we’re doing anywhere near enough to actually protect the ocean both at the national and international policy levels. It feels like we’re doing far too little, far too late and that really worries me. Between ocean acidification, climate change, sea level rise, deep sea mining and habitat degradation, we have likely taken the world’s oceans past their tipping point. But I remain hopeful that with determination, innovation and the collective caring spirit that COVID-19 has shown us that we can muster, we may still be able to bring things back from the brink.
