Place-Based Ecosystem Management in the Open Ocean

Elliott A. Norse, Larry B. Crowder, Kristina Gjerde, David
Hyrenbach, Callum Roberts, Carl Safina, and Michael E. Soulé


Our modern human brain evolved in the African sa-vanna, where our ability to learn the rewards and per-ils of its vast landscape was the key to our survival.
Now that humans have expanded far beyond our motherland, our success depends on our ability to
handle the rewards and perils of ecosystems very different from the one that shaped us. Of these, none is larger, more complex, nor more difficult for people to fathom than the blue and black waters of the open ocean.
Our terrestrial species pays little attention to the open ocean for several reasons:
1. It is remote from human observers, out of sight, hence out of mind.
2. To our unattuned eyes, its wavy surface seems impenetrable, featureless, and trackless.
3. Conducting research there is much more expensive and requires more labor, expensive equip-
ment, and logistical coordination than doing research in intertidal, estuarine, and inshore areas.
4. In contrast to marine biologists’ in situ research
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