Amid an ocean in crisis, a wave of optimism.

We know our oceans and the fish stocks that inhabit them are in a state of crisis. Recently, though, some very encouraging news has been released in the form of an important marine research paper. Published this month in the highly-respected journal "Science", new information details the work of 19 marine scientists, over a two year period, working in 10 large marine ecosystems around the world. Ecosystems that the global population relies on to feed itself. It has already been established that fully one billion humans on this fast-spinning rock rely on the oceans as their only source of protein. Most of the rest of us eat fish often enough that it makes up a significant part of our diets. The depth of understanding these scientists have provided regarding this crisis is worth celebrating for two big reasons.

Firstly, they have confirmed that strict management of fisheries is having a positive effect on the sustainability of these critical resources in areas of North America, New Zealand and Europe. While the findings do show that most of the world's fishing zones are still dangerously over-exploited and degrading, several areas that have been managed well are improving. This shows the promise and value of taking proven steps that will protect what is left. Oceans do recover, given time and careful management and moreover, there seems to still be time to act before a catastrophe is unavoidable.

One of the important differences between this group of scientists and those who have produced such important studies in the past is the team of people involved. By all accounts, this group that carried out the research was an unprecedented mix of two camps who are commonly at odds with each other. This is the second big reason that this study is so significant. Marine ecologists, characterized more by their concern with conservation, and those experts focused more on management of fisheries to produce maximum yields, have apparently found some real common ground at last. According to an article in the New York Times this convergence of interests has been a source of optimism for some who have been witness to deep divisions within the community. Quoting Steve Murawski, chief fisheries scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “This paper starts to bridge that gap.”

Back in 2006 one of the lead scientists on this recent study made a prediction that by 2048 the oceans would be in a state of general collapse due to over-fishing. When Dr. Boris Worm, marine ecologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, made this prediction, many from the other camp saw it as an over-stated, unfounded and alarmist prediction. Dr. Ray Hilborn, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle was one of those critics. Then something unusual happened, the two began a debate. First on a broadcast arranged by National Public Radio and eventually in other venues and settings, the two scientists began to understand they had many more points of agreement than either had realized. A continued dialog eventually led to this important collaboration, and Dr. Murawski of NOAA for one, is encouraged by the potential for progress.

It is now more clear that ever before that a combination of measures: catch quotas, no-take zones, and selective fishing gear, may well be adequate, not just to avoid total collapse of fish stocks, but indeed to actually rebuild ecosystems and help fish stocks recover. The BBC News website quotes from the paper published this Friday: "Some of the most spectacular rebuilding efforts have involved bold experimentation with closed areas, [fishing] gear restrictions and new approaches to catch allocations and enforcement."

The authors warned, however, that the signs of recovery should not be interpreted by policymakers as a sign that all was well beneath the waves. The majority of fisheries are still in serious trouble, and are not being managed or regulated properly. It doesn't take a scientist or a rare meeting of two opposing schools of thought to realize that data alone is not enough to solve one of the world's biggest challenges. It will require extraordinary, and unfortunately rare, political will on the part of our leaders. Leadership is often seen as being in rather short supply these days, let's hope we find some before our food supplies grow short as well.