Director of Guy Harvey Research Institute

Thank you so much for your patronage of Guy Harvey art inspired sportswear. Did you know that your purchase of this high quality fishing clothing and fishing t shirts helps our collective efforts on behalf of ocean conservation? Let me explain.

The oceans are a signature part of life on Planet Earth, including factors critical to human survival such as food resources and climate modulation. Most people who earn their livelihoods from the ocean or use it for their recreation are now well aware of the increasingly degraded state of marine ecosystems resulting from overfishing, coastal over-development, pollution and habitat destruction by humans.

But can anything be done to stop this degradation and even restore our marine ecosystems before these changes become irreversible?

Luckily, the answer is still yes and there is evidence to support this optimistic outlook. There is, however, also a strong “but” associated with this optimism – and that is corrective action can no longer be kept on the back burner on our environmental priority list. In fact, all credible science points to the fact that preventing irreversible damage to our oceans will need effective management and conservation actions to be implemented immediately and dynamically on a global scale.

Unfortunately, taking corrective action to restore the health of our oceans has been easier said than done because the issues involved are socioeconomically and scientifically complex. Adding to this complexity is that the oceans provide an average of 18% (developed countries) to 25% (developing countries) of the protein consumed by humans. And the demand for seafood continues to increase with growing human populations and space limitations for agriculture on land. Without urgent, major improvements in how we collectively manage and conserve our oceans worldwide, we face the alarming prospect that the health of earth’s marine ecosystems and fishery resources is quickly becoming strained beyond the point of recovery.

So what’s to be done to improve the state of our oceans?

The absolute foundation for improving ocean governance is the availability of solid scientific information on how marine ecosystems work, and a much larger segment of the public that is educated and passionate about and involved in ocean issues. And this is where we fall short.

Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center campus in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

And this is where the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) and its sister organization, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) are playing major roles. Providing this critical foundation of marine ecosystem knowledge via high quality scientific research, university-level education and national and international dissemination of research findings to the general public via major media is the focus of the GHRI’s activities. The GHOF supports the scientific research of the GHRI as its research arm, and also focuses on public education and ocean advocacy activities via documentaries and new generation (social and web) media dissemination of marine conservation issues.

History of the Guy Harvey Research Institute

Dr. Guy Harvey, himself a marine biologist, has long recognized the foundational relationship between scientific knowledge and effective ocean governance. To advance this knowledge he established in 1999 the Guy Harvey Research Institute in collaboration with the Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. The mission of the GHRI is to play a global leadership role in providing the scientific information required for effective marine conservation. Its worldwide research work is supported by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and various government and private foundation grants and individual donors who are passionate about the welfare of the earth’s oceans. A major and long-standing supporter of the GHRI’s scientific research activities is the AFTCO Mfg Co. Incorporated via its AFTCO Bluewater line of Guy Harvey sportswear. The GHRI is also part of the academic arm of the Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University, and provides advanced training to U.S. and international students in marine conservation research. This research training focus is an important part of the GHRI’s activities in educating the future stewards of our ocean’s health.

As a guest blogger on this site, I will periodically report on the GHRI’s research activities and important new findings generally in marine science and conservation. Also, please visit our web sites for an overall perspective on what we do. I hope you will find this information to be of interest and it will spur you on to become and remain active supporters for protecting and restoring our fragile oceans and its ecosystems. Thank you again for supporting ocean conservation with your purchases. I hope you will wear your Guy Harvey sportswear with pride and the knowledge that you are making a difference!