Monmouth University student Johanna Vonderhorst recently completed a paper titled “Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: A Need to Improve Governing Frameworks and Enhance a Global Commitment to Conservation” as part of her work as a spring intern at the Global Ocean Forum (GOF). In it, Vonderhorst contends that the high seas “are home to a wealth of ocean resources that are taken for granted” and deserve greater legal protections.
The internship gave Vonderhorst, a NOAA Hollings Scholar and former UCI research assistant, the opportunity to earn university credits while conducting external research on ocean policy. The senior majoring in chemistry and political science plans to continue her internship with the GOF in the fall. Read below to learn more about the issues explored in her paper.
Q: Your paper focuses on the need for greater protections for Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) – typically deep-sea zones that fall outside of the governance of any national entities. Why are these areas so important and what are some of the threats they face?
ABNJ are extremely important not only because they house major fisheries that feed millions worldwide, but also because they provide shipping and transportation routes, seabed for laying telephone cables, and resources used in medicine and scientific research. They also provide vital ecosystem services, acting as carbon sinks to regulate climate change impacts and generating over half of the world’s oxygen. Some of the biggest threats to ABNJ are overfishing, resource overexploitation, plastic and oil pollution, and climate change, which exacerbates all other threats to the health of ABNJ.
Q: You highlight some of the international frameworks that have been initiated to guide human activities in ABNJ, notably the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which calls for nations to cooperate on issues such as the exploitation of marine resources and the management of fisheries. Why do you believe UNCLOS and other existing initiatives are inadequate?
UNCLOS and other regulatory frameworks are inadequate primarily because they provide no mechanism for global enforcement and create no international entity to punish violators of their terms. UNCLOS is also anthropocentric, advocating for preservation of marine resources in ABNJ only to the extent that it benefits humans and not for the sake of the environment in its own right. Additionally, under UNCLOS, each member state is responsible for gathering its own scientific information regarding the condition of fisheries and other ABNJ resources and for creating and implementing policies in line with its findings and the terms of UNCLOS, resulting in fragmented governance.
Q: What steps do you think should be taken for the international community to better address the challenges for ABNJ?
A new framework under UNCLOS is currently being negotiated to improve cross-sectoral and transnational communication and build equivalent scientific capacity and information-sharing networks among party states, and this is a great place to start. The creation of an international enforcement body under this new framework would also be an important step forward. Increased support and funding for initiatives like the Deep Seas Project and the Common Oceans ABNJ Project, as well as regional projects such as the Global Ocean Forum’s efforts to enhance capacity-building and cross-sectoral communication, would also be beneficial.
Through CLONet, university scientists and students have trained and equipped community members to sample Monmouth County’s beach-adjacent lakes for properties such as temperature, salinity, clarity and dissolved oxygen levels, then file their readings into an online database. Since the summer of 2019, citizen scientists have been sampling Deal Lake, Fletcher Lake, Lake Como, Lake Takanassee, Sunset Lake, Sylvan Lake and Wesley Lake. Monmouth students and scientists have supplemented the data by regularly sampling the same bodies, along with Silver Lake, Spring Lake, Sylvan Lake and Wreck Pond.
The UCI has awarded three Faculty Enrichment Grants for projects that will research whether sea level rise has impacted Jersey Shore home values, how engagement in climate activism influences young people’s social views and identities, and the psychological benefits of experiencing nature.
The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has formed a Faculty Advisory Council to provide it with guidance and new perspectives for enhancing academic and student engagement at Monmouth University. The inaugural council includes 13 members representing a broad spectrum of academic disciplines and departments across campus.
Monmouth University Endowed Associate Professor of Marine Science Jason Adolf contributed the article “What is a harmful algal bloom (HAB) and why do they form?” to the summer issue of ANJEC Report, published by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. The piece offers a scientific explanation of the types of phytoplankton that cause HABs and how these organisms can harm wildlife and humans who come in contact with them. 
When Fesselmeyer examined the accuracy of calls for 18,907 MLB games played between 2007 and 2017, he discovered a clear inverted U-pattern. Umpire accuracy was 86.3% when the temperature was below 50 degrees; 86.4% for temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees; 86.6% for temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees; peaked at 86.9% accuracy for temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees; and fell to 86.5% for temperatures between 90 and 95 degrees. Accuracy was lowest, 85.9%, when the temperature was higher than 95 degrees.
Eric V. Hull currently serves as a visiting professor of law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. Professor Hull has published widely on animal law, environmental law, ocean and coastal law, and maritime law topics, with an emphasis on climate change and the impacts of pollution on ocean and coastal systems, human health, and the environment. His scholarship has been published in many of the leading environmental law journals and his work on the management of marine resources in U.S. waters is included in an international text on ocean and coastal governance. His article on ocean acidification was peer-nominated as one of a top environmental and land use law articles and was included in the seminal text on ocean acidification. Professor Hull teaches courses in administrative law, animal law, civil procedure, climate change law and policy, environmental law, environmental and toxic torts, environmental justice, ocean and coastal law, property law, and zoning. He has taught internationally in Costa Rica, France, and Korea. In addition to holding a juris doctor degree, he holds an undergraduate degree in biology, and graduate degrees in marine biology and coastal zone management. He also holds an LL.M. degree in environmental and land use law.
Now in its second year, #BEachSAFEly was developed by the New Jersey and New York Sea Grant programs at the height of the pandemic to build awareness of precautions that visitors should take while at the beach. The 2020 campaign featured nine bilingual (available in English and Spanish) illustrated messages, which stressed standard ocean hazard tips such as “Break the Grip of the Rip” as well as messages related to the pandemic such as, “Stay social, be distant”; “Don’t let your mask become marine debris!”; “Stay dry when waves are high”; and “Grab your sunscreen and sanitizer.”