Dear friends and colleagues, With pride, I welcome you to Matters Academy’s booklet, "Why The Ocean Matters". Hong Kong and our surrounding seas have provided us with a livelihood for generations. We have achieved international importance because of our relationship with the ocean. Our Fragrant Harbour and our bond to the Greater Bay Area are home to more than 30 million people and play an ever-expanding role in global development. We rely on the oceans for food, transportation, and recreation. And yet, our oceans are under substantial threat. How can we not put our concern on the ocean and our future? World Ocean Day is upcoming on 8 June. We take this opportunity to commemorate World Ocean Day by this booklet sharing the work of ten leading individuals and their organizations affecting ocean change in Southeast Asia. We celebrate and dive into the work of Ocean Warriors, Thailand Manta Project, saving corals in the Philippines, OceansAsia, the Shark Foundation, Conservation of Green Sea Turtles, Bloom Association in HK, and CITES Enforcement. We also provide the latest insights on underwater ecology: how do fish feel? What do they know? the benefits of the ocean ecosystem, fish stock depletion, and coral reef ecology. Lastly, let's work toward the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, to embark on our journey echoing "Why The Ocean Matters". Welcome.

2. We celebrate and dive into the work of Ocean
We celebrate and dive into the work of Ocean
Warriors, Thailand Manta Project, saving corals in the
Warriors, Thailand Manta Project, saving corals in the
Philippines, OceansAsia, the Shark Foundation,
Philippines, OceansAsia, the Shark Foundation,
Conservation of Green Sea Turtles, Bloom
Conservation of Green Sea Turtles, Bloom
Association in HK, and CITES Enforcement.
Association in HK, and CITES Enforcement.
We also provide the latest insights on underwater
We also provide the latest insights on underwater
ecology: how do fish feel? What do they know? the
ecology: how do fish feel? What do they know? the
benefits of the ocean ecosystem, fish stock depletion,
benefits of the ocean ecosystem, fish stock depletion,
and coral reef ecology.
and coral reef ecology.
Lastly, let's work toward the United Nation's
Lastly, let's work toward the United Nation's
Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water,
Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water,
to embark on our journey echoing "Why The Ocean
to embark on our journey echoing "Why The Ocean
Matters".
Matters".
Welcome.
Welcome.
Dr Glenn Frommer
Dr Glenn Frommer
Executive Programme Director of Matters Academy
Executive Programme Director of Matters Academy
Dear friends and colleagues,
Dear friends and colleagues,
With pride, I welcome you to Matters Academy’s
With pride, I welcome you to Matters Academy’s
booklet, "Why The Ocean Matters".
booklet, "Why The Ocean Matters".
Hong Kong and our surrounding seas have provided
Hong Kong and our surrounding seas have provided
us with a livelihood for generations. We have achieved
us with a livelihood for generations. We have achieved
international importance because of our relationship
international importance because of our relationship
with the ocean. Our Fragrant Harbour and our bond to
with the ocean. Our Fragrant Harbour and our bond to
the Greater Bay Area are home to more than 30 million
the Greater Bay Area are home to more than 30 million
people and play an ever-expanding role in global
people and play an ever-expanding role in global
development.
development.
We rely on the oceans for food, transportation, and
We rely on the oceans for food, transportation, and
recreation. And yet, our oceans are under substantial
recreation. And yet, our oceans are under substantial
threat. How can we not put our concern on the ocean
threat. How can we not put our concern on the ocean
and our future?
and our future?
World Ocean Day is upcoming on 8 June. We take this
World Ocean Day is upcoming on 8 June. We take this
opportunity to commemorate World Ocean Day by this
opportunity to commemorate World Ocean Day by this
booklet sharing the work of ten leading individuals and
booklet sharing the work of ten leading individuals and
their organizations affecting ocean change in
their organizations affecting ocean change in
Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia.

3. Harry Chan (2020 HKSAR Honours and Awards Medal of Honour (M.H.))
Hidy Yu (Founder from DEVE)
Jamie Piyada Monmannerat (Thailand Manta Project Leader)
William Restauro Villaver (Marine Biologist)
Gary Stokes (Co-Founder of OceansAsia)
Sam Cooke (Research Associate of OceansAsia)
Andrea Richey (Execeutive Driector of H.K. Shark Foundation)
Sharon Kwok (Director of Aquameridian Conservation & Education)
Stan Shea (Marine Ecologist of Bloom Association HK)
Hau Cheuk Yu Loby (Ph.D. in Marine Ecology, The University Of Hong Kong)
Can fish remember? Can fish feel?
What do fish know?
What does the ocean ecosystem do for us?
The wrong pick in the ocean
Do fish need showers?
What is it about under Hong Kong waters?
Global actions
What we can do for our future, inspired by SDG 14 targets
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01 Sharing from Ocean Leaders
02 Facts about the Ocean
03 What we can do for the Future

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6. Some ghost nets I had handled were huge - this size was about two ferries. Some ghost nets are as large as a
basketball court. Those nets piled up. You'd find the coral covered by the ghost net, whitening by looking close. It
causes them to lack sunlight exposure. Worse still, ghost nets could trap coral reef fish. Imagine how the divers feel
if they get trapped by a ghost net. Ghost nets pose a danger to divers. It causes harm to marine lives such as crabs
too. We've seen so many times when we dive that the ghost net entangled crabs. They're still alive. We used
scissors to release them. It's sad to see this. Marine lives are innocent to be killed in this way. I suggest divers take
scissors and torches with them when they dive. Some divers have experienced entangling by ghost net. Ghost net
may induce economic loss too. Imagine if a boat's engine got entangled by a ghost net. It costs a fortune to repair
it. The ghost net is part of the marine rubbish, about 46 per cent. It's a significant proportion. The whole thing will
affect the ecology. Ghost nets and garbage kill marine creatures, leading to a loss of some species, which could be
the enemy of other species to maintain the marine ecosystem. In the end, the whole ecosystem loses its balance.
For human beings, our economy, lives and health are heavily influenced severely. Misfortune never comes singly.
In recent years, the decomposing styrofoam on the beach has also been discovered to harm living things.
HARRY CHAN
2020 HKSAR Honours and Awards Medal of Honour (M.H.)
in recognition of dedicated community service and
contribution to the promotion of environment and
conservation education
"
"
Fireside Chat with Ocean Warriors Cantonese

8. HIDY YU
Other than ghost nets, which I have seen a lot underwater, I have organised shoreline cleanup—a lot of rubbish.
Such as construction waste, medical waste, expired food, animal bodies. You name it: Mahjong, broom, air
conditioner. Now the, plastic bottle, beer cans, soft drink cans, plastic bags, and masks are typical in the world.
The weirdest rubbish I have ever seen is Guan Yu's figurine, which was thrown into the sea. I asked my buddy if
we wanted to take it. My buddy nodded. So we picked it up. There's lots of rubbish out there. It's hard to imagine
what you'd find. The most unforgettable scene to me is the scene of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018. Typhoon
Mangkhut raged loads of rubbish to Heng Fa Chuen, one of the residential estates located along the coast. From
the photos, you will notice indecomposable plastics remaining. Maybe those plastics have existed for over 20-30
years. Typhoon Mangkhut brought up the plastic issue to us. It's horrible.
Founder, DEVE
"
"
Fireside Chat with Ocean Warriors
Cantonese

10. All species in the ocean are suffering. Bycatch is caused by the wrong method of fishing using the wrong type
of gear, such as trolling boats which drag everything on the face of the ocean, including the coral reefs, and
everything gets destroyed. To help with this problem is very simple. Just know where your seafood comes from
and try to reduce your seafood consumption. You can save a lot of beautiful fish that you love just by choosing
what you’re eating for each meal. The second one is tourism as you know and you see on social media, people
are more drawn into the ocean nowadays, and you see a lot of people going to the beach, want to swim with
these beautiful fishes. So we impact these animals when inserting ourselves into the ocean that’s not our
natural habitat. It’s theirs. It’s your choice to choose how much negative impact you want to leave. Try to
reduce that to as minimum as possible, starting from choosing the right sunscreen before going into the ocean.
Make sure they’re not full of chemicals and going to damage the coral reefs. As simple as that, be more
mindful of what we are doing. Be more mindful that we are going into becoming a guest at another person’s
house. Behave.
"
JAMIE PIYADA
MONMANEERAT
Project Leader, Manta Trust (Thailand)
"
Thailand Manta Project
English

12. WILLIAM RESTAURO VILLAVER
Corals, both the fast-growing and the slow-growing, on
average, grow only three centimetres per year. Branching
corals like the Staghorn corals can grow as fast as 10
centimetres per year. For the massive corals like the practice
at Pavona, the growth increment is less than 1 cm per year. In
this regard, it will take at least 50 years for a damaged coral
reef to recover, or it will not recover at all in some instances.
So you end up with the dead coral reef. Most people,
especially those not living in the coastal areas and going into
the sea, think they are rocks, but corals are animals. An
indication that corals are animals is that they need sunlight to
survive. Night divers observe another indicator. During the
daytime, what is seen as just stumps of some coral stones that
when during night time they start to bloom into some beautiful
flowers.
Marine Biologist
"
"
Saving Corals, A Philippines Story
English

14. GARY STOKES
Teams from OceansAsia have found dozens of masks
washed up on this beach and others around Hong Kong
on every subsequent visit. While this problem was first
noticed in Hong Kong, it is an international issue: divers
have found face masks on the seabed while on clean-ups
near Côte d'Azur, France; over 300 discarded gloves and
face masks were seen and photographed around
Southampton in the UK over four days by a British
photographer, and it's not hard to find masks littering the
streets of most major cities. And more stories keep
coming out regarding PPE littering cities across the globe.
Co-founder, OceansAsia
"
"
Marine Plastic Pollution
from Face Masks
English

16. SAM COOKE
As I'm sure most of you know, plastic is everywhere. It is a highly versatile, lightweight
material that can be fashioned into thin, transparent films or shaped into highly durable
building materials. Humans produce a lot of plastic. Since it became a consumer product in
1950, plastic production has grown by 8.7 per cent per year! In 2018, annual global plastic
production totalled ~359 million tonnes. That's the same as nearly 740,000 jumbos 747's, or
to put it differently, that's 63 times higher than all the waste Hong Kong produced in 2019!
The rise in plastic production has been linked with the versatility of plastic and the increased
demand from the expansion of 'throwaway culture. Throwaway culture isn't just single-use
plastic bottles replacing recycled or reused glass bottles or other single-use consumer items
taking over markets. It also became part of the medical profession, with hospitals moving
towards a 'total disposable system' in the late 1960s. Throwaway culture results in a
considerable amount of plastic being discarded. This was partially by design, with the term
'throwaway living' being coined in the mid-1950s. In Hong Kong alone, up to 2,320 tonnes of
plastic waste is sent to landfills every day (846,800 tons per year) in 2019, of which 33% is
plastic bags alone.
Research Associate, OceansAsia
"
"
Marine Plastic Pollution
from Face Masks
English

18. Executive Director, H.K. Shark Foundation
ANDREA RICHEY
When I first volunteered for H.K. Shark Foundation, I was blown away. I
never thought that I was contributing to the destruction of the shark
population by eating sharks. And sometimes, I didn’t even know I was
eating a shark. So, I decided to quit my job and full volunteer time for three
years for the shark foundation, and later on, I became the executive
director. Over a hundred a million sharks have been killed for shark fin
soup. But the number is more like two hundred and seventy-nine. It’s no
longer just for shark fins, but other products also. I was so blown away by
this number, and I thought I needed to be the voice. There are so many
charities doing good for children, but we talk about sharks as the impact
that do so much for our ocean. They keep the sea clean. They manage the
balance of the ecosystem. They control the fish population. They like to go
after the weak and sick fish, so the sharks are cleaners, and that’s
important.
"
"
Save Sharks, Secure Your Future
English

20. Director, Aquameridian Conservation & Education
The green sea turtle has existed for so long in the earth. It's a pity not
to protect them, pushing them to extinction. How can we teach our
descendants? This is already an adequate reason to conserve the
green sea turtle. Human beings overthink themselves as the most
intelligent living creatures on the earth. But those scientific people who
have natural talents know we know a little about the planet. We are still
undergoing discoveries from the ocean in recent years - new marine
creatures, new micro-organisms, and new whale species. The sea is
enormous. Over 70 per cent of the earth's surface is the ocean. We
have not counted the depth of the sea, where we barely have been
there. We do not know what we can find from the sea to contribute to
human beings. We do not even put a minute to think about it and
destroy it very quickly. On land, it's easier for us to conduct
conservation because we see the trash. We believe there is no trash in
the ocean as we cannot see them. Remember, nowadays, the sea has
become our garbage pitch. The green sea turtle is one of the greatest
victims. The green sea turtle is vulnerable even for its survival. We
should not take them for granted.
SHARON KWOK
"
"
Conservation of Green Sea Turtles
Cantonese

22. STAN SHEA
Once, I went to an aquarium. The tour guide and people around
me pointed at the fish, saying what they had tasted on this fish that
fish. It is the way how they appreciate fish. And indeed, there are
different ways to look at fish. What is overfish? To put it into a
simple term, the rate of catching fish exceeding the fish growth rate
is overfishing. There are 61% full-fished, and 29% of them are
over-fished in the world, according to the United Nations Food And
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) data in 2014. Another fish crisis
indicator is the size of the fish we catch today compared with the
old days. In the same fishing competition held in the US, the winner
caught the fish weighing around 20 kg in 1956. In 1980, the biggest
fish caught in the competition was 9kg. In 2007, it was 2.3kg. The
change is not merely the fish size but also the fish categories. This
is a phenomenon around the world.
Marine Ecologist, Bloom Association HK
"
"
Fantastic Fishes and Where to
Find Them
Cantonese

24. Humphead Wrasses have an extraordinary life. They are one of the
very few species which eat coral-attack Crown-of-thorns starfish. In
other words, they can protect coral reefs. Another characteristic is that
Humphead Wrasses is a protogynous hermaphrodite - born female
and changes gender to male at a point in their lifespan. Around 9
years old, some Humphead Wrasses will become male to mate with
the female to reproduce. As a fish species, their sexual maturity comes
in very late. The prematurity stage is therefore very critical for the
species to survive.
Ph.D. in Marine Ecology, The University Of Hong Kong
"
Saving Face: Humphead Wrasse
CITES Enforcement
Cantonese
HAU CHEUK YU LOBY
"

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26. How many times have you travelled for
How many times have you travelled for
water? The crystal blue ocean, vivid and
water? The crystal blue ocean, vivid and
colour underwater creatures, gentle sea
colour underwater creatures, gentle sea
breeze. All that make us involuntarily go
breeze. All that make us involuntarily go
"wow". Natural as the ocean may seem,
"wow". Natural as the ocean may seem,
there is no such thing in the world that we
there is no such thing in the world that we
can take for granted.
can take for granted.
Human beings are regarded as advanced
Human beings are regarded as advanced
species on earth. We learn from experience
species on earth. We learn from experience
and are adaptive to change. Our knowledge
and are adaptive to change. Our knowledge
also directs us to manipulate the
also directs us to manipulate the
environment around us.
environment around us.
The current ocean news raises the alarm
The current ocean news raises the alarm
about our behaviours towards our
about our behaviours towards our
environment and other living creatures.
environment and other living creatures.
Climate change, loss of species, trash
Climate change, loss of species, trash
pollution startle us with what we have used
pollution startle us with what we have used
for our betterment on earth. It is time for
for our betterment on earth. It is time for
everyone to be made aware of our
everyone to be made aware of our
degrading oceans. Together we shall dive
degrading oceans. Together we shall dive
into the knowledge of protecting our oceans.
into the knowledge of protecting our oceans.
The ocean is beautiful. The ocean is
The ocean is beautiful. The ocean is
unfathomable too. After a series of
unfathomable too. After a series of
discoveries about the ocean, we will realise
discoveries about the ocean, we will realise
that marine creatures are cognitive. They
that marine creatures are cognitive. They
provide services to us as part of the
provide services to us as part of the
ecosystem. They evolve and improve just like
ecosystem. They evolve and improve just like
us. They are skilful at making a living, just like
us. They are skilful at making a living, just like
us.
us.
Should we feel grateful? Ocean conservation
Should we feel grateful? Ocean conservation
leaders help us be aware of the hidden issues
leaders help us be aware of the hidden issues
and drive us to be good global citizens. If
and drive us to be good global citizens. If
there is no such ocean problem, would there
there is no such ocean problem, would there
have been the coming up of these leaders?
have been the coming up of these leaders?
We should feel fortunate to have these
We should feel fortunate to have these
proactive, heartful leaders bringing up the
proactive, heartful leaders bringing up the
issues. Because "ignorance is not bliss".
issues. Because "ignorance is not bliss".
Let's learn more about the facts about the
Let's learn more about the facts about the
ocean!
ocean!

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35. Source: https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/14-life-below-water/#things-to-do
01 Find a Goal 14 charity you want
to support. Any donation, big or
small, can make a difference!
02 Reduce waste – much of the trash
we produce on land ends up in
the oceans. Stop using plastic
bags: Usage and improper
disposal of plastic is a major
cause of marine pollution.
03 Never buy bottled water – boil,
filter, chlorine, rainwater, do
what you can.

36. Source: https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/14-life-below-water/#things-to-do
04 Run a campaign on the effects of
plastic use on the seas and
oceans.
05 Organise a cleanup project for
rivers and oceans. Engage your
whole community to clean up a
local river, seaside or ocean.
06 Buy local and certified fish. You
can support small-scale
producers by shopping in local
markets and shops.
07 Stay informed. Follow your local
news and stay in touch with the
Global Goals online or social
media.

37. SPECIAL THANKS TO:

38. SPECIAL THANKS TO:

39. SPECIAL THANKS TO:

40. www.matters.academy
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