By Izzy Curtis
Image by Standing Crow from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/fish-anglerfish-wildlife-cartoon-7725794
The Story
In February 2025, for the first time documented, a deep-sea Anglerfish saw sunlight as it swam to the ocean’s surface off the coast of Tenerife. The fish quickly went viral when videos of it surfaced online, with both the general public and scientists speculating about why it ended up over 2000 metres away from its home. This species of fish has rarely left the depths of the ocean because it has adapted to living in little-to-no light. While for many on social media the fish was a symbol of hope, scientists viewed the sighting as an omen of the potential impacts of negative environmental changes occurring in our oceans.
Environmental Injustice and the Ocean
The Anglerfish’s unexpected appearance sparked a conversation about environmental injustice, especially concerning how human actions are affecting marine life and ecosystems. The concept of justice can take on many different meanings in different practical contexts. The ocean and its inhabitants have largely been de-emphasised in discussions relating to environmental issues, often being viewed as ‘beyond human intervention.’
This event illustrates an example of distributive injustice, with marine animals becoming victims of environmental speciesism– the belief that human interests outweigh those of other species, justifying environmental harm. Distributive justice relates to how environmental benefits and burdens are shared. Here, the burdens fall disproportionately on ocean life, which has little voice or protection. This also links to the concept of procedural justice. Procedural justice addresses the meaningful involvement of affected communities as stakeholders in environmental decision-making processes. Procedural justice contributes to distributive justice by informing the policies and procedures that determine how environmental harms and benefits are distributed to individuals, nations, and generations. In the ocean, the creatures who are affected by environmental burdens should be given greater consideration when decisions are made that directly affect them.
Nathan Benntt et al established five main injustices that relate to the ocean:
- Pollution and toxic wastes,
- Climate change,
- Plastics and marine debris,
- Fisheries declines,
- Ecosystem, biodiversity and ecosystem service degradation
These injustices will all impact the Anglerfish. The fish has decided to take a journey to the surface to warn humans about these injustices before it is too late. This blog will follow the Anglerfish on their journey and look at these ocean issues and how they affect the Anglerfish and their ocean friends.
The Zones of the Ocean and Injustices
The ocean is made up of five different zones.
- The Sunlight zone (Epipelagic)
- The Twilight zone (Mesopelagic)
- The Midnight zone (Bathypelagic)
- The Abyssal zone (Abyssopelagic) and
- The Hadal zone (Trenches)
As we travel through the different zones of the ocean and the issues they face, we will also explore the efforts that are being made through the law to rectify these issues and evaluate their success in resolving these injustices.
The Hadal Zone
This is the deepest and most mysterious part of the ocean, extending from 6,000 to 11,000 meters down. It is pitch-black, freezing, and under immense pressure. Few species are known to inhabit this zone, but even here, human influence is present. Toxic waste and microplastics have been found in some of the world’s most remote trenches. With increased pollution and toxic waste dumped into the ocean, even the planet’s deepest depth could soon find themselves in crisis. At the moment, these issues appear to be out of sight, out of mind for human intervention, Recent research in the Philippine Trench found plastic bag tracks erasing the natural sedimentary structures, with the ecological consequences yet to be established. As of 2019, microplastics have been found in all the sediments of the three deepest trenches and have covered the full depth of the ocean. The true effects of these discoveries is unknown but the species living in the hadal zone are now vulnerable to ingesting these microplastics which will impact the entirety of the ocean’s ecosystem. In 2023, the European Commission adopted a REACH restriction on microplastics. This aims to reduce microplastic releases into the ocean by 30% in 2030. However, there is currently no EU law in place that applies to microplastics in a comprehensive manner. While there are policies in place, decision-makers must acknowledge the damage microplastics is causing to the environment and working towards preventing them ever entering the ocean. The Anglerfish, though not a resident of the Hadal Zone, will begin its journey to the surface with the knowledge that even the deepest parts of its home are no longer untouched by ocean injustice.
The Abyssal Zone
Home to species uniquely adapted to darkness and cold, this zone is increasingly affected by climate change due to deep-sea mining. Deep-sea mining is the process of extracting and excavating mineral deposits from the deep seabed. These extractions often lead to permanent displacement of fragile habitats and guarantee a significant loss of biodiversity. There have been discussions about the prohibiting the destruction of the seabed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under this Convention, the seabed is considered “common heritage of mankind” and States are responsible for the protection and preservation of the marine environment. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) also acknowledges the negative impact deep-sea mining can have on deep sea animals. However, despite this recognition of harm, the ISA have 15 contracts allowing the exploration of the seabed for mining. This is a clear example of speciesism, with the economic benefit gained by humans seemingly outweighing the potential damage faced by the animals that inhabit the deep sea. Deep-sea mining can harm marine organisms that are crucial for climate regulation. According to Planet Tracker, the cost of restoring the damage of these deep-sea ecosystems would be “astronomical.” Further, the effects of deep-sea mining are not in line with a sustainable blue economy, which refers to the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth. The Anglerfish, though adapted to this extreme environment, may find its home growing increasingly disrupted and uninhabitable.
The Midnight Zone
This is the Anglerfish’s usual territory. It extends to 4,000 meters and is in near total darkness. While the midnight zone has a steady temperature of 4ºc, this may not be the case in the near future due to the ocean’s temperature warming. The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, leading to rising ocean temperatures. This concept and its impact can be difficult to comprehend. Researchers have contextualised the issue; every day, 432,000 atomic bombs’ worth of excess heat energy enters the ocean. This change in temperature has staggering effects on the entirety of the globe, including ice-melting, sea-level rise, marine heatwaves, and ocean acidification. It can also have dire effects on the marine life that lives in this zone, such as the Anglerfish. These include habitat loss, population declines, increased risks of species extinctions, and rearrangements of marine food webs. There are numerous initiatives taking place in an attempt to reduce the rising temperatures. In 2016 the Paris Agreement was brought into force with its objective to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. One of the ways they aim to do this is by limiting the increase of temperature by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. If States fail to successfully meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, there may be further consequences than have been identified. Many scientists believe that the reason our Anglerfish began their journey to the surface was because of the rising temperature of the ocean. The rising temperature may have caused a change in the ocean current patterns, leading to deoxygenation and potentially making deep-sea environments inhabitable for many species. As the Anglerfish begins their ascent to the surface to warn humans about the changes happening below, it will find itself facing even more man-made obstacles along the way.
The Twilight Zone
This zone stretches around the globe and lies between 200 and 1000 metres below the surface. This zone is now a target for commercial fishing, as surface stocks decline. Overfishing refers to vessels catching fish faster than stocks can replenish. This can affect biodiversity, habitats and ecosystems that make vital contributions to the climate, clean air, water and food. Overfishing also contributes to the decline in fisheries, destabilising food webs. The process used in commercial fishing to catch fish furthers contributes to the decline in fisheries. Over 80% of fish are caught with large nets. The issue with net fishing compared to angling is the fisherman have significantly less control about which fish end up stuck in their nets. The nets are often dragged behind a boat and can trap sharks, seabirds, marine turtles and cetaceans. The accidental catches are then discarded back into the ocean but the damage they sustain in the nets often means they do not survive.
Because of the growing issue of overfishing on the surface, there are discussions in starting to identify and exploit new fish stocks in deeper international waters. The worry shared by many marine researchers about this new exploration is that outside of jurisdictional waters, there are no regulations to protect the fish in the twilight zone. While the UN is negotiating a new international agreement to improve management and conservation, twilight zone fish have been largely ignored in these negotiations to date. The fish who live in this zone are extremely important players in several cycles in the ocean that would affect the entire ocean’s ecosystem if they were exploited by commercial fishing. Fish in the twilight zone are responsible for the organic export of carbon dioxide from the surface to the deep sea which subsequently aid to slow the rate of global warming. They are also a staple in the diets of many surface living predators such as Tuna, so their disappearance could result in devastating disruption to the ocean’s food webs. The importance of the fish within the twilight zone demands that they are acknowledged in discussions about conservation against overfishing and protected from exploitation. As the Anglerfish rises, they must be careful to avoid these dangerous nets and not be trapped and then discarded in the name of increasing human’s economic gain and overconsumption.
The Sunlight Zone
The most familiar part of the ocean to us and unfortunately the most heavily impacted. This is where the culmination of all ocean injustices is most visible. All the challenges that the Anglerfish has encountered began at the surface, so it is imperative that change begins here. In this zone, the Anglerfish will face one of the most visible issues within the ocean: garbage. The Ellen McArthur Foundation have predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.
Image by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/a-plastic-bag-floating-on-top-of-a-body-of-water-isBu-nDo9-I
Fish and marine mammals can in some cases mistake plastics for food and they can also get trapped in plastic ropes, nets, bags and other items. In Thailand, a whale was found beached with 17 pounds of plastic inside of them after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags. There have been some attempts by decision-makers to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in the ocean before it is too late. The International Marine Organisation established the MARPOL Annex V. This is an international regulation designed to minimise the disposal of garbage in the sea to help prevent pollution. This treaty applies to all ships registered to States who are party to the treaty. It specifies when and where the discharge of garbage is prohibited. While more than 150 countries have signed up to MARPOL Annex V, research by Catarina Serra-Gonçalves et al suggests that the efforts to reduce marine debris in the environment, such as MARPOL, have been exceeded by the marine debris emissions in the environment. This shows more must be done to protect our ocean from irreversible damage.
The Anglerfish’s emergence to the surface is symbolic. For a creature so specialised to darkness, reaching the light is unnatural. It serves as a warning of the need to change. It has swum through many zones plagued by different human caused injustices and while there are laws in place to try and rectify these injustices, none have successfully delivered the urgency required to ensure the Anglerfish has a home to return too. While this journey has been a whistle-stop tour of the ocean, it has highlighted the overwhelming amount of issues humans have caused and highlights the urgency decision-makers must take to ensure future generations of species have a clean ocean to enjoy.
Source List
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