8 Ocean Resources and Sustainability Free Online FlashCards

What does sustainable use of ocean resources mean?

Sustainable use meets human needs while maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems and preserving options for future generations.

What counts as a living ocean resource?

Living resources are organisms or populations people use or value, such as fish, shellfish, and seaweeds; they also include the habitats and ecological relationships that sustain them.

What are nonliving ocean resources?

Nonliving ocean resources include seabed minerals, sand and gravel, fossil fuels, and energy from waves, tides, currents, or ocean-temperature differences. Some are finite; renewable energy is replenished naturally.

What is a fishery?

A fishery is an activity, industry, or area associated with catching fish and other seafood.

What is bycatch?

Bycatch is the unintended capture of species other than those a fishing operation intends to catch.

Which tools can help manage fisheries sustainably?

Managers can use stock assessments and harvest limits, seasonal or area closures, size limits, and gear rules that reduce bycatch; depleted populations may need rebuilding plans.

What factors affect aquaculture sustainability?

Aquaculture raises aquatic organisms in farms. Its sustainability depends on feed, disease control, waste, escaped farmed organisms, and effects on nearby habitats.

Which ocean processes can provide renewable energy?

Ocean energy can be captured from waves, tides, currents, and temperature differences between warm surface water and colder deep water. Projects must consider navigation, habitats, and wildlife.

What are two environmental costs of offshore fossil fuels?

Offshore oil and natural gas are nonrenewable. Extraction, transport, and spills can harm marine environments, while their use releases greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Where are three major types of deep-sea mineral deposits found?

Polymetallic nodules occur on abyssal plains, cobalt-rich crusts on seamounts, and polymetallic sulfides near hydrothermal vents.

Why does deep-sea mining call for a precautionary approach?

Seabed mining can disturb habitats, create sediment plumes, and affect poorly understood or slow-recovering organisms. Because impacts and recovery are uncertain, environmental assessment and precaution are important.

How can fertilizer runoff harm marine animals?

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers can fuel algal growth. When algae die and decompose, oxygen may be depleted, creating conditions that harm or kill marine animals.