Alan M. Friedlander

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Alan Friedlander is an American marine ecologist and fisheries scientist focusing on protecting ocean habitats and incorporating traditional indigenous knowledge into contemporary conservation management. [1] Friedlander was the lead author of the first study to describe inverted biomass pyramids in un-fished coral reef ecosystems. [2] He has authored or contributed to over 400 publications, book chapters, and articles that have been cited over 15,000 times. [3] As chief scientist for National Geographic's Pristine Seas project, Friedlander has led over 40 expeditions resulting in the creation of 26 new marine reserves protecting more than 6.5 million square kilometres (2.5×10^6 sq mi) of remote and exceptional ocean habitats. [4]

Contents

Education

Alan Marc Friedlander was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in November 1958. [5] Friedlander received his B.S. in Biology from Roanoke College in 1980. [6] After serving two years in the Peace Corps in Tonga, [6] [7] working with local fishing communities, he went on to receive an M.S. in Oceanography from Old Dominion University in 1987. [8] Following that, he worked in the US Virgin Islands, first as a fisheries biologist with the territorial government and then as a marine biologist with the Virgin Islands National Park. [9] [10] He then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Zoology (Marine Biology) from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1996, [7] [8] and then conducted post-doctoral research with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Pacific Grove, California. [8] [11] [12]

Work

Over the past 40 years, [8] Friedlander has spent more than 12,000 hours underwater – from coral reefs to the poles and to depths of thousands of meters – to better understand the functioning of marine ecosystems. [13] While in Tonga, he learned the value of a healthy ocean to indigenous communities, which sparked his interest in traditional ecological knowledge and its importance in contemporary marine resource management. His master's research focused on fish aggregating devices in Puerto Rico [14] and artificial reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. [15] His Ph.D. research had examined the role of habitat complexity and ocean processes in structuring coral reef fish assemblages. [16] [17] His work comparing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands' reef ecosystems to those of the main Hawaiian Islands found that remote areas without people had far greater populations of large predators (e.g., sharks and jacks) compared to inhabited areas. [2] His surveys in the Northern Line Islands [18] revealed a similar trend, and subsequent expeditions across the globe have corroborated these findings. [19]

Friedlander has contributed to ocean ecosystem management in Hawaii for decades, assisting in the regulation of fisheries, [20] assessing the efficacy of marine protected areas, [21] [22] [23] and studying the effects of fishing [24] [25] [26] and other anthropogenic influences on island ecosystems. [27] [28]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Friedlander surveyed Molokini Shoal Marine Protected Area (MPA), one of the most heavily visited MPAs in the world. He found that in the absence of people, fish recovered quickly. However, once people returned, fish populations returned to their pre-COVID levels. [28] [29]

Since 2013, Friedlander has been the Chief Scientist for National Geographic's Pristine Seas project, supporting global communities and governmental goals to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. [4] [6] Some projects Dr. Friedlander has been involved in include: helping to establish the Nazca Ridge–Desventuradas Islands MPA in Peru [30] [31] and the Juan Fernández Islands MPA in Chile, [31] [32] battling Chilean salmon farming on the ancestral lands of the Kawésqar people, [33] protecting kelp forests off Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, [34] opposing shark culling in Western Australia, [35] and tagging sharks to track their behavior in Palmyra Atoll. [36] Friedlander is also a researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. [13] [37]

Awards

Memberships

Related Research Articles

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A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow tang</span> Species of fish

The yellow tang, also known as the lemon sailfin, yellow sailfin tang or somber surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. It is one of the most popular marine aquarium fish. It is bright yellow in color, and it lives in reefs. The yellow tang spawn around a full moon. The yellow tang eats algae. The yellow tang has a white barb, located just before the tail fin, to protect itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable fishery</span> Sustainable fishing for the long term fishing

A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical disciplines, such as the population dynamics of fisheries, with practical strategies, such as avoiding overfishing through techniques such as individual fishing quotas, curtailing destructive and illegal fishing practices by lobbying for appropriate law and policy, setting up protected areas, restoring collapsed fisheries, incorporating all externalities involved in harvesting marine ecosystems into fishery economics, educating stakeholders and the wider public, and developing independent certification programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearl and Hermes Atoll</span> Atoll of Hawaii

The Pearl and Hermes Atoll, also known as Pearl and Hermes Reef, is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a group of small islands and atolls that form the farthest northwest portion of the Hawaiian island chain. The atoll consists of a variable number of flat and sandy islets, typically between five and seven. More were noted in historical sources but have since been lost to erosion and rising sea levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanauma Bay</span> Marine embayment in Hawaii Kai, Oʻahu, Hawaii, US

Hanauma is a marine embayment formed within a tuff ring and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oʻahu in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of East Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Asian coral reefs</span> Marine ecosystem

Southeast Asian coral reefs have the highest levels of biodiversity for the world's marine ecosystems. They serve many functions, such as forming the livelihood for subsistence fishermen and even function as jewelry and construction materials. Corals inhabit coastal waters off of every continent except Antarctica, with an abundance of reefs residing along Southeast Asian coastline in several countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Coral reefs are developed by the carbonate-based skeletons of a variety of animals and algae. Slowly and over time, the reefs build up to the surface in oceans. Coral reefs are found in shallow, warm salt water. The sunlight filters through clear water and allows microscopic organisms to live and reproduce. Coral reefs are actually composed of tiny, fragile animals known as coral polyps. Coral reefs are significantly important because of the biodiversity. Although the number of fish are decreasing, the remaining coral reefs contain more unique sea creatures. The variety of species living on a coral reef is greater than anywhere else in the world. An estimation of 70-90% of fish caught are dependent on coral reefs in Southeast Asia and reefs support over 25% of all known marine species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine protected area</span> Protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or large lakes

A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. MPAs can provide economic benefits by supporting the fishing industry through the revival of fish stocks, as well as job creation and other market benefits via ecotourism. The value of MPA to mobile species is unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blast fishing</span> Using bombs underwater to kill fish

Blast fishing, fish bombing, dynamite fishing or grenade fishing is a destructive fishing practice using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice is extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat that supports the fish. The frequently improvised nature of the explosives used, and undetonated charges, means danger for fishermen and divers as well, with accidents and injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine ecosystem</span> Ecosystem in saltwater environment

Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument</span> Protected region of ocean and islands

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The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Mokumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument</span> Group of unorganized United States Pacific Island territories

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The giant trevally, also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, ronin jack, giant kingfish, or ulua, is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, with a range stretching from South Africa to Hawaii, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south. Two were documented in the eastern tropical Pacific in the 2010s, but whether the species will become established there remains to be seen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of fishing</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild fisheries</span> Area containing fish that are harvested commercially

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral reef protection</span> Modifying human activities to reduce impact on coral reefs.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council</span>

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Jeffrey Polovina is an American marine scientist. He is known for creating the marine ecosystem model Ecopath.

References

  1. ↑ Friedlander, Alan (2018). "Marine conservation in Oceania: Past, present, and future". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 135: 139–149. Bibcode:2018MarPB.135..139F. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.064. ISSN   0025-326X. PMID   30301023. S2CID   52945508.
  2. 1 2 Friedlander, Alan M.; DeMartini, Edward E. (2002-04-05). "Contrasts in density, size, and biomass of reef fishes between the northwestern and the main Hawaiian islands: the effects of fishing down apex predators". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 230: 253–264. Bibcode:2002MEPS..230..253F. doi: 10.3354/meps230253 . ISSN   0171-8630.
  3. ↑ "Alan Friedlander". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  4. 1 2 "Pristine Seas". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  5. ↑ "Index of Births, Maryland" (PDF). Maryland State Archives. 1958.
  6. 1 2 3 Taylor, Leslie (2015-12-31). "Protecting pristine places". Roanoke College. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  7. 1 2 "Alan Marc Friedlander - University of Hawaiʻi". studylib.net. 1998. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Alan Friedlander". Fisheries Ecology Research Lab. 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  9. 1 2 "GLORES Partner Spotlight: Dr. Alan Friedlander". Marine Conservation Institute. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  10. ↑ "Our Researchers". Ocean Tipping Points. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  11. 1 2 3 "Alan Friedlander". Biocultural Initiative of the Pacific. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  12. 1 2 Friedlander, Alan; Boehlert, George; Field, Michael; Mason, Janet; Gardner, James; Dartnell, James (7 April 1999). "Sidescan sonar mapping of benthic trawl tracks on the shelf and slope off Eureka, California". Fishery Bulletin. 97 (4): 786–801.
  13. 1 2 "Alan Friedlander". Marine Conservation Institute. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  14. ↑ Friedlander, Alan (1992). "A comparison of fishing methods associated with fish aggregating devices (FADs) off Puerto Rico" (PDF). Proceedings of the 42nd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. 42: 233–246.
  15. ↑ Feigenbaum, David; Bushing, Mark; Woodward, Jay; Friedlander, Alan (1989-03-01). "Artificial Reefs in Chesapeake Bay and Nearby Coastal Waters". Bulletin of Marine Science. 44 (2): 734–742.
  16. ↑ Friedlander, Alan M; Parrish, James D (1998-06-01). "Habitat characteristics affecting fish assemblages on a Hawaiian coral reef". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 224 (1): 1–30. Bibcode:1998JEMBE.224....1F. doi:10.1016/S0022-0981(97)00164-0. ISSN   0022-0981.
  17. ↑ Friedlander, Alan M.; Parrish, James D. (1998-09-01). "Temporal dynamics of fish communities on an exposed shoreline in Hawaii". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 53 (1): 1–18. Bibcode:1998EnvBF..53....1F. doi:10.1023/A:1007497210998. ISSN   1573-5133. S2CID   26659348.
  18. ↑ Watts, Rachel (2022-08-07). "National Geographic expedition teaming up with Inuit to visit Nunavik, Que., on conservation mission". CBC News.
  19. ↑ "Pristine Seas: Scientific Publications". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  20. ↑ Associated Press (2017-11-05). "Isle reefs and fisheries facing decline, scientists warn". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  21. ↑ Friedlander, Alan M.; Donovan, Mary K.; Koike, Haruko; Murakawa, Paul; Goodell, Whitney (2019-10-21). "Characteristics of effective marine protected areas in Hawaiʻi". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 29 (S2): 103–117. Bibcode:2019ACMFE..29S.103F. doi:10.1002/aqc.3043. ISSN   1052-7613. S2CID   208575666.
  22. ↑ Friedlander, Alan M.; Brown, Eric K.; Monaco, Mark E. (2007-04-01). "Coupling Ecology and GIS to Evaluate Efficacy of Marine Protected Areas in Hawaii". Ecological Applications. 17 (3): 715–730. Bibcode:2007EcoAp..17..715F. doi:10.1890/06-0536. ISSN   1051-0761. PMID   17494391.
  23. ↑ Friedlander, Alan M.; Stamoulis, Kostantinos A.; Kittinger, John N.; Drazen, Jeffrey C.; Tissot, Brian N. (2014-01-01), Johnson, Magnus L.; Sandell, Jane (eds.), "Chapter Five - Understanding the Scale of Marine Protection in Hawai'i: From Community-Based Management to the Remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands", Advances in Marine Biology, Marine Managed Areas and Fisheries, 69, Academic Press: 153–203, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800214-8.00005-0, PMID   25358300 , retrieved 2023-04-24
  24. ↑ Friedlander, Alan; Pyle, Richard (2020-06-17). "Column: Industrial fishing harms ecosystems". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  25. ↑ Pala, Christopher (2017-10-31). "Pacific reefs could be at risk". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  26. ↑ Hurley, Timothy (2017-09-30). "Overfishing is jeopardizing reefs, study finds". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  27. ↑ Wu, Nina (2018-03-02). "UH researchers help map human impacts on Hawaii reefs". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  28. 1 2 Carpenter, Mark (14 April 2023). "Before the pandemic, Molokini was being 'loved to death.' Could a new study offer a different path forward?". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  29. ↑ Weng, Kevin C.; Friedlander, Alan M.; Gajdzik, Laura; Goodell, Whitney; Sparks, Russell T. (2023-04-12). "Decreased tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic positively affects reef fish in a high use marine protected area". PLOS ONE. 18 (4): e0283683. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1883683W. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283683 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   10096236 . PMID   37043450.
  30. ↑ Lima, Eduardo (2021-09-17). "The Hole in Peru's Nazca Ridge National Reserve".
  31. 1 2 "Chile crea la reserva marina más grande de las Américas" [Chile creates the largest marine reserve in the Americas]. National Geographic Society (in Spanish). 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  32. ↑ "Experto alerta sobre el ecosistema de Juan Fernández". Revista Qué Pasa. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  33. ↑ De Augustinis, Francesco (2023-01-26). "Indigenous Kawésqar take on salmon farms in Chile's southernmost fjords". Mongabay.
  34. ↑ Alberts, Elizabeth Claire (2022-12-08). "Peat on land and kelp at sea as Argentina protects tip of Tierra del Fuego". Mongabay.
  35. ↑ Paddenburg, Trevor (2014-02-08). "Hawaii authorities criticise WA Premier Colin Barnett for catch-and-kill shark plan". Perth Now.
  36. ↑ Jenkins, Matt (2013-03-01). "Kingdom of the Hungry". The Nature Conservancy .
  37. ↑ Friedlander, Alan (2021-01-06). "Let's Honor Our Pacific Marine Monuments By Building On Their Legacy". Honolulu Civil Beat. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  38. ↑ Harrison, John (November 2002). "The Nature of Community" (PDF). Hawai'i Audubon Society.
  39. ↑ "Ka'u News Briefs Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017". The Kaʻū Calendar News Briefs. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  40. ↑ "Pristine Seas: Meet the team". National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  41. ↑ "Hawai'i and Palmyra: Contact Us". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
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