Why Ocean Solutions Fail Without Collaboration (And How to Fix It)

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The future of ocean conservation won't be

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built by scientists alone,

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and it won't be built by businesses

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alone. It'll be built

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when those worlds collide.

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Because the biggest ocean problems we

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face today aren't just scientific.

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They're economic, they're political, and

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they're technological.

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And no single sector

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can solve all on its own.

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And if you look at how

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politics are done in today's world,

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if you look at how

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everything is done in today's world,

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businesses play a very important role,

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not only from running the

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economy or influencing the

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economy, but these days, a lot of the

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billionaires or the CEOs tend

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to be the experts that people

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turn to, that politicians turn to, and

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other people turn to, to

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find out how to build businesses

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and how to run a country in some cases.

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So we know that businesses

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are going to be influential,

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and not only being able to scale projects

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like we've talked in

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the last two episodes,

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but also to combine with ocean

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conservationists and

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scientists to help protect the ocean.

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This is the how to protect the ocean

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podcast. And if you're listening, because

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you want to find out more

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about the ocean each and every weekday,

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and you want to find out

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the breakdown of science,

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policy, and solutions, hit that follow

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button right now, because

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this week, we are going over

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solutions and how businesses and science

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can collide together to

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partner in protecting the

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ocean. And we do that at conferences like

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the World Ocean Summit that

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I went to a couple weeks ago.

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And we also can do that at the Earth X

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conference that's happening April 20 to

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the 22nd of this year.

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It happens each and every year. If you

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want to go to it, you're going

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to want to listen to Friday's

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episode, right? Interview the CEO of

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Earth X, Peter Simic, who talks about how

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this conference is not just a

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conference of just the oceans, the

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constant conference of solutions of

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engineering of everything.

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It's actually 20 conferences in one. So

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if you are someone who's interested in

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protecting the ocean,

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want to find solutions, scale those

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solutions, you'll want to listen to that

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episode and go to the Earth X conference.

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And by the way, they are not sponsoring

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us today. They just tend to be the theme

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of this week because I've

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been doing a lot of themes

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for the podcast every week. And today

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we're talking this week, we're talking

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about ocean solutions and something that

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I feel is really, really important.

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Okay, right now, most ocean work still

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happens in silos. Like I have scientists

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talk to scientists,

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businesses talk to businesses,

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policy makers talk to policy makers. And

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even within that escape, I've worked in

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government before, you know, you tend to

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work, you tend to stick in silos within

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government, not just within like

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ministries, but like or among ministries,

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but within the ministry.

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So I remember in Canada for fisheries and

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oceans, Canada, I didn't know really what

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the west and country, west coast was

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doing or the east coast was doing because

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I was in the central coast.

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And that's what we did. We worked on the

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Great Lakes and we didn't really go

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outside unless you met them at a workshop

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or anything like that.

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So silos exist in every aspect of ocean

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conservation, any kind of aquatic

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conservation or just

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conservation in general.

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And when they don't connect, when people

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don't connect, solutions get stuck.

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A scientist can discover a breakthrough

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in coral resilience, but without funding,

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that research never scales.

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A company might build a tool that reduces

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bycatch, but without policy support, no

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one is required to use it.

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A government might create a marine

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protected area, but without enforcement

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or technology, it exists mostly on paper.

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So the problem isn't a lack of solutions.

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It's a lack of connection between the

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people who can make those solutions work.

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Take Global Fishing Watch. The project

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only exists because three very different

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organizations came together.

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Google, Oceana and SkyTruth. They

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combined satellite data, AIS signals and

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machine learning to do something that

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used to be impossible.

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Track fishing activity across the entire

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ocean in near real time. And what they

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found changed everything.

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They revealed that vast areas of the

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ocean, once thought to be lightly fished,

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were actually heavily exploited.

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They exposed patterns of illegal,

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unreported and unregulated fishing, which

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is called IUU fisheries.

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And they made the data public, which

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means governments, NGOs and journalists

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can now hold the bad actors accountable.

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That's not just technology, that's

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collaboration, creating

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transparency at global scale.

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At Earth-X, something unexpected

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happened. Two politicians from completely

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different political backgrounds met.

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Not online, not through headlines. In the

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same room. They had conversations. They

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built trust. And over

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time, they found common ground.

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Eventually, they helped launch a

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bipartisan energy caucus. Now, why does

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that matter for the ocean?

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Because ocean solutions often fail, not

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because they don't work, but because they

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don't survive politics.

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And we've seen that time and time again,

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especially in these days.

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Collaboration creates alignment.

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And alignment creates action. When

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different sectors

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collaborate, something powerful happens.

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Problems get reframed. A scientist may

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see coral bleaching as a biological

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issue. A business might

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see it as a risk to tourism.

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A government might see it as a threat to

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coastal economies. Put

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those perspectives together.

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And suddenly the solutions become bigger,

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faster and more urgent.

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Solutions get stronger.

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Science ensures they work. Businesses

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ensure they scale. And policies ensure

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they stick. And barriers get removed.

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Funding flows more easily. Regulations

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become more realistic. And technology

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gets adopted faster. Because everyone is

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involved from the beginning.

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If you're in science, your work matters.

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But it won't reach its full impact unless

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it connects to the real world.

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If you're in business, you're not just

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part of the problem. You're not just part

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of the problem. You can

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be part of the solution.

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But only if you understand the science

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behind what you're building. And if

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you're early on in your

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career, this is your advantage.

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Because the future belongs to people who

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connect both worlds. People who

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understand science, business and policy.

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And know how to bring them together. This

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is the important part of collaboration.

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And if you are, like I said, if you're an

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early scientist or you are an early

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career scientist or an early career

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conservationist or even someone who has

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an idea for a business.

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This is your advantage now. In today's

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world, when you have the technology, you

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can use a number of different tools to

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start your project, to start your idea

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and develop that along with scientists,

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along with conservationists, along with

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business businesses,

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along with policy makers.

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And make sure that it sticks and make

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sure that you can help solve ocean

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problems and scale that solution to make

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it even bigger and have a bigger impact.

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So if you want to be a part of that

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future, make sure you're following how to

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protect the ocean. And if you are and if

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this episode helped you see conservation

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differently, share with one other person

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who needs to hear it.

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Because the more people who understand

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how solutions actually work, the better

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chance we have to protect the ocean. No

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more just sticking in our silos of

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science,

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conservation, business and policy.

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It is time to bring us everybody to it's

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time to bring everybody together and

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understand that we all have to solve the

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problems that are facing the ocean

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because the problems that are facing us.

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I want to thank you so much for joining

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us on today's episode of the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast. Have a great

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day. Don't forget to follow for the next

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episode and have a great day. Talk to you

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next time and happy conservation.