Originally published on Grist.

Finding money in the world’s oceans is a lot easier than finding Dory, at least according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A team of researchers from NOAA Fisheries has put a dollar value on the “ecosystem services” provided by the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean: about 17 billion clams, and we’re not talking about the bivalves. The swath of open sea extends west from the stretch of the Pacific Coast starting in Southern California and ending in northern Peru, and is considered the world’s most productive tropical ocean.

The researchers found that commercial and sport fishing are responsible for more than $4 billion of this blue economy. But less obvious benefits — like the value the ocean and its inhabitants provide as a giant carbon sink, or the worth of its biodiversity as a hedge against the effects of climate change — were valued at more than $12 billion.

Training an economist’s lens on the deep blue sea might help ocean management organizations and the public better understand the value of whole ecosystems as opposed to individual species. Sure, a whale is totally cute and savable, but it’s nothing without the — distinctly unsexy, we know — krill population.

Economists are particularly good at measuring trade-offs, too: the big-picture idea that foregoing something of value now could save you a lot more in the future.

For example: Commercial tuna fishing operations, which rake in a lot of cash at the moment, tend to scoop up dolphin populations as well — and that has a monetary and ecological cost. Our favorite cetaceans, in addition to being annoyingly photogenic, act as the trees of the ocean: They actually store carbon in their bodies. Removing them from an ecosystem reduces the ocean’s ability to absorb atmospheric CO2. Scientists estimate that dolphin populations lost through by-catch represent $3.2 million worth of carbon storage, based on average European carbon market prices.

Measuring the ocean’s value in dollars isn’t anything new, and researchers warn that their numbers are conservative estimates. But this is the first time people are paying close attention to the value of the remote open ocean — and, even more importantly, the benefit it serves in preventing a warmer planet. Sexier seascapes like coastal areas and coral reefs have stolen the Eastern Tropical Pacific’s thunder — until now.

Grist is a nonprofit news site that uses humor to shine a light on big green issues. Get their email newsletter here, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Originally published on Grist.

Coral reefs seem to be having a bad century, with global bleaching events and the Great Barrier Reef fading away before our eyes.

But there’s a bright spot, folks! Actually, there are 15 of them, according to a new study published in Nature.

A group of marine researchers has identified places where reef ecosystems are thriving despite environmental and human pressures. These “bright spots” are rays of hope for future conservation efforts, which may use them to apply better practices to less lucky places.

The study drew data from 2,500 reefs in 46 countries. The 15 reefs with unexpectedly robust fish populations were not necessarily in the most remote areas with low fishing activity. In fact, most of them included “localities where human populations and use of ecosystem resources is high,” the study notes. They are also typically found in the Pacific Ocean, in places like the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and parts of Indonesia.

The bright spots, it turns out, tend to benefit from responsible local management and traditional customs. For example, on Papua New Guinea’s Karkar Island, locals have the right to prevent outsiders from fishing in their particular plot of ocean. They also practice a rotational fishing system where, as in farming, they leave off fishing a part of the reef to allow populations to recover.

On the flip side are the 35 “dark spots” the study identified, where fish stocks aren’t faring too well. These are places like Hawaii and Australia where locals tend to have greater access to fishing technologies — such as nets and freezers for stockpiling fish — that aid and abet intensive exploitation. Dark spots also were more likely to be suffering from recent environmental shocks, like bleaching.

Experts hope to use the bright spots as blueprints for more creative conservation efforts.

“We believe the bright spots offer hope and some solutions that can be applied more broadly across the world’s coral reefs,” says Josh Cinner, the lead author on the study. “Specifically, investments that foster local involvement and provide people with ownership rights can allow people to develop creative solutions that help defy expectations of reef fisheries depletion.”

Grist is a nonprofit news site that uses humor to shine a light on big green issues. Get their email newsletter here, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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