Deborah Rowan Wright – Future Sea – Sep 21

Such a time has passed since I posted the idea of Complete Worldwide Marine Protection on Marinet’s website and much has happened since.

Encouraged by Stephen Eades and David Levy, I expanded the 100% protection idea and Marinet published a pamphlet Conserving the Great Blue to outline why and how we could safeguard the whole global ocean.

Then the University of Chicago Press invited me to take the idea further and write it as a book.   There was a long process of proposal-writing, peer reviews, editorial committee and faculty board approvals, with plenty of waiting between each stage (when I worried that the evidence to support my argument was going out of date).   Eventually though, the book was published in October 2020, which felt like a real achievement.

But there was a major hitch — it was the worst time to have a book published — possibly since Gutenberg came up with the printing press.   The pandemic meant that no bookshops were open and none of the usual promotional events, such as book launches and signings, were possible. Hey ho.

The upside however, is that the book has had many great editorial and customer reviews.   They ran out of copies and did a 2nd print run in February.   Here’s a smattering of the reviews:

Stephen R. Hoskins CBiol FRSB FLS | The Biologist “This book is simply too important not to be read by the general public, marine scientists, conservationists, representatives of marine-based industries and especially politicians.”
Rishad Maynard | Marine Biologist “All at once eye-opening, thought-provoking, rage-inducing, and empowering, Future Sea is an excellent read for ocean lovers.”
Drew Harvell, Cornell University, author of ‘A Sea of Glass’ and ‘Ocean Outbreak’ “This is the freshest, most sensible, and most optimistic perspective I have seen in a long time. Very motivating.”
Megin Jimenez | Chicago Review of Books “I found myself changed after reading the book, feeling that understanding, bearing witness, is also part of making a change.”

And how do I describe the response from the marine conservation community?

A few have voiced their support enthusiastically, which is invaluable, but the greater part have metaphorically put their fingers in their ears and turned their backs.   If you’ve ever been to a social gathering where everyone knows each other well, seem to share the same views on any subject and aren’t interested in engaging with anyone outside the clique who may have a different take on things, you’ll know the feeling.

The cherry on the cake was to be banned by Greenpeace HQ/Politburo from speaking about the idea at an event organised by a local Greenpeace group.   The fact that I was unsurprised isn’t a good sign of the times.   Luckily I remain undeterred.

If you’d like to read it, you can order a copy from your local independent bookshop, or from Blackwell’s https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home

If you’d like a free copy of the book for a school, college, university or local library, or for a conservation organisation, please contact Stephen Eades at Marinet to arrange for one to be sent to you, click here.

For additional details, see Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans.