July 15, 2022 — Today, motivated by a love of country, a connection with the ocean and those who live from it, Vasquez advocates for the fishing communities of Central America with nonprofit global environmental organization, “Rare.” The mid-sized NGO (FY2022 budget $32 million) is based in Arlington, Virginia. Grants from governments and foundations as well as contributions from individuals support Rare’s global staff of 178 with their environmental work, on both land and sea. This includes not only the time-tested work of grass roots organization, but also the scientific gathering and sharing of data about the state of waters, the creatures that live in them, and the families dependent upon a robust catch to provide food to their families and beyond.

All over Honduras, communities now need to mobilize to hold on to their coastal livelihoods in the face of not only climate pressures but also the impact of overfishing, great and small – from big commercial trawlers to local fishermen. Vasquez has been helping community groups there to organize and work with their government to produce outcomes that preserve their unique way of life, born of the link between ocean and culture.

he challenge is not peculiar to just Honduras or even just Central America. The U.N. this summer advanced its global “Blue Transformation” endeavor, to, as it says, “enhance the potential of food systems underwater and feed the world’s growing population sustainably.”

Rare says almost three billion people around the world rely on fish as a major source of protein. Indeed, the ascendance of fish as a significant food source is of critical importance, the World Food Programme reporting this month that global hunger is on the rise, with an estimated 828 million people in a state of hunger in 2021. In fact, the U.N.’s WFP has raised a red alert on rising global hunger due to the war in Ukraine, climate change, and pandemic and economic stresses.

Marine ecologist and nature photographer George Stoyle is the digital architect of Rare’s Fish Forever data pipeline of widely available aggregated data about ecosystems health, climate change resilience, fisheries production, household surveys, and, most contemporary, the impact of the Covid pandemic.

In England, a team of University of Cambridge scientists this summer identified what they see as fifteen of the top challenges to marine biodiversity. Enumerated in the Journal “Nature Ecology and Evolution,” they range from the impact of wildfires, resource exploitation, overfishing, ocean mining of several types, and of course rampant pollution.

On the immediate receiving end of these stresses are the constituents of Rare – buffeted in hurricanes, suffering through extreme heat and drought, casting lines in depleted waters. By extension, though, so are we all.

Read the full article at Forbes