Marine Resources: Physical and biological resources, marine energy

Marine resources are physical and biological entities that are found in seas and oceans that are beneficial to man. They include fish, coral reefs and crabs, fungi, etc. A lot of conservation effort is required to protect these resources from human destruction activities like pollution and over fishing. Marine natural resources include both biological and physical sources. Biological sources include anything attributed to life forms whereas physical sources are considered to be those things that are not part of life processes. In a few instances some resources are both biological and physical. In considering the outlook of our oceans it is important to first identify the main natural resources and their status.

1. Marine resources: physical and biological resources, marine energy

Introduction
Marine resources are physical and biological entities that are found in seas and oceans that are
beneficial to man. They include fish, coral reefs and crabs, fungi, etc. A lot of conservation effort
is required to protect these resources from human destruction activities like pollution and over
fishing. Marine natural resources include both biological and physical sources. Biological
sources include anything attributed to life forms whereas physical sources are considered to be
those things that are not part of life processes. In a few instances some resources are both
biological and physical. In considering the outlook of our oceans it is important to first identify
the main natural resources and their status.

Importance of marine resources
There are many marine resources like salt, seaweed, fish, etc. and the importance is that it would
make life more comfortable. Each has its own importance but it remains for the same possible
concept for your comfort in living. A marine protected area (MPA) is essentially a space in the
ocean where human activities are more strictly regulated than the surrounding waters - similar to
parks we have on land. These places are given special protections for natural or historic marine
resources by local, state, territorial, native, regional, or national authorities. Authorities differ
substantially from nation to nation. Marine conservation, also known as marine resources
conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Marine
conservation focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, and on restoring
damaged marine ecosystems. Marine conservation also focuses on preserving vulnerable marine
species. The ocean is one of Earth's most valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form
of fish and shellfish; about 200 billion pounds are caught each year. It's used for transportation;
both travel and shipping. It provides a treasured source of recreation for humans. It is mined for
minerals (salt, sand, gravel, and some manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found
in the deep sea) and drilled for crude oil.
Marine Resources are living organisms that can be found in water such as lobster, fish, crab, and
sponges.

There are many marine resources some of them are given below-

1 . Physical
a. Petroleum
b. Sand and Gravel
c. Evaporative salts
d. Fresh water
e. Methane hydrates
2. Biological

2. 3. Energy
a. Waves, currents, and tides
b. Thermal gradient

Physical resources
The oceans hold an enormous reservoirs of minerals. The oceans also hold reservoirs of fossil
fuel or the potential for harnessing forces for energy development. For example:petroleum and
natural gas, methane hydrate,sand and gravel,salts,manganese nodules,freshwater. Some of them
given below-
Petroleum
Petroleum (L. petroleum, from Greek: πέτρα (rock) + Latin: oleum (oil) is a naturally occurring,
yellow-to-black liquid found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface, which is
commonly refined into various types of fuels. It consists of hydrocarbons of various molecular
weights and other liquid organic compounds. The name petroleum covers both naturally
occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. A
fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton
and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to intense heat and pressure.
Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. This comes after the studies of structural
geology (at the reservoir scale), sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization (mainly in
terms of the porosity and permeability of geologic reservoir structures).It is refined and
separated, most easily by boiling point, into a large number of consumer products, from gasoline
(petrol) and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and
pharmaceuticals. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, and it is
estimated that the world consumes about 90 million barrels each day.
Manganese nodule
Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions on the sea bottom
formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core. The core may be
microscopically small and is sometimes completely transformed into manganese minerals by
crystallization. When visible to the naked eye, it can be a small test (shell) of a microfossil
(radiolarian or foraminifer), a phosphatized shark tooth, basalt debris or even fragments of earlier
nodules.

3. Fig:Manganese nodule Fig:Nodules on the Seabed
Nodules vary in size from tiny particles visible only under a microscope to large pellets more
than 20 centimetres (8 in) across. However, most nodules are between 5 and 10 cm (2 and 4 in)
in diameter, about the size of potatoes. Their surface is generally smooth, sometimes rough,
mammilated (knobby) or otherwise irregular. The bottom, buried in sediment, is generally
rougher than the top
Biological Resources
Benthos
Benthos are bottom-dwelling organisms that generally live non-mobile lifestyles, though some
mobile species such as crabs do exist. In the Bay Area, many benthic invertebrates live within
sedimentary or soft-bottom habitats, usually within the top 2 to 3 centimeters of the soft
sediment. Some benthic invertebrates also live on hard substrates, which are much less common
in the Bay compared to sedimentary habitats.
Three major benthic species assemblages (groups of organisms that inhabit a location or
locations at a certain time or over a period of time) are present in the Bay Area: fresh-brackish,
estuarine, and marine assemblages. Fresh-brackish assemblages are found in the delta, with a
transition assemblage extending into Suisun Bay. Estuarine assemblages are prevalent in San
Pablo Bay. The Central Bay harbors marine assemblages. Assemblage characteristics, such as
species composition and abundance, are affected by many physical factors, including salinity and
sediment grain size, or by biological factors such as competition and predation. Changes in these
factors can influence individual benthic species differently.
Many of the more common benthic species in San Francisco Bay today are accidentally or
intentionally introduced species. Most of these non-native species were transported here in
ballast water of ships or on the oyster shells brought from the east coast for commercial farming
purposes in the late 19th century. Some of these non indigenous species serve ecological
functions similar to those of the native species that they have displaced. Examples of these
include the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), the Japanese littleneck clam (Tapes
philippinarum), and the soft-shelled clam (Mya arenaria), all of which have supported
commercial or sport fisheries. However, other species, such as one of the so-called Asian clam
species (Potamocorbula amurensis), have a negative effect on phytoplankton and zooplankton
populations and organisms that depend on them. Though P. amurensis may serve as a food
source for diving ducks and sturgeon, their high feeding rates can remove much of the

4. phytoplankton from the water column and may have an adverse effect on zooplankton and other
organisms that in the food chain that feed on them.
Fish
More than 100 species of fish inhabit the San Francisco Bay system. The majority of species are
native, but there are also many introduced species. A large portion complete all life stages within
the Bay. A smaller portion, anadromous fish, migrate from ocean waters, through the estuary,
and into a series of freshwater streams where they spawn. Common fish species found in the Bay
are include northern anchovy, topsmelt (Atherinops affinis), jacksmelt, striped bass, white
croaker (Genyonemus lineatus), Pacific herring, and English sole (Parophrys vetulus).
Fish population trends can be determined by analyzing the data resulting from the monitoring
efforts of CDFG. An analysis of these data from a monitoring study between 1980 and 1995
suggests a general distribution of fishes in the Bay as follows
 North Bay – Fish species typically found in the North Bay include sharks, rays, longfin
smelt, staghorn sculpin, starry flounder, topsmelt, arrow goby (Clevelandia ios),
yellowfin goby (Acanthogobius flavimanus), stickleback (Gasterosteus sp.), mosquitofish
(Gambusia affinis), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), Pacific herring, Chinook salmon
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
 Central Bay – Typical fish species occurring in the Central Bay include Chinook salmon,
striped bass (Morone saxatillis), white croaker, Pacific herring, and northern anchovy.
Federally Managed Fish Species
Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the Pacific Fisheries
Management Council (PFMC) is responsible for managing commercial fisheries resources along
the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Managed species are covered under three
fisheries management plans:
 Coastal Pelagic Fishery Management Plan (includes species such as sardines and
anchovy)
 Pacific Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (includes species groups such as flatfish
and rockfish)
 Pacific Salmon Fishery Management Plan (includes Chinook and other salmon)
Most of the federally managed species in these plans are not found in San Francisco Bay.


Birds

5. San Francisco Bay provides diverse habitat for many species of waterfowl and shorebirds. Open
water, Bay flats, and tidal marsh are just some of these habitats.Roughly 120 species from 16
avian families occur in the Bay. Of these birds, approximately two-thirds are represented by
three families: Anatidae (waterfowl), Laridae (gulls and terns), and Scolopacidae (sandpipers and
phalaropes).
The Bay serves as an important staging and wintering ground on the Pacific Flyway for
numerous species of water birds. The Pacific Flyway is a bird migration corridor along the
Pacific Coast that stretches as far north as northern Canada and Alaska, and as far south as the
southern tip of South America. In the Bay, the greatest water bird abundance and species
diversity is seen in winter, as birds migrate along the flyway. Each year, nearly one million
waterfowl and more than one million shorebirds pass through this area. No other site within the
Pacific Flyway supported more than 16 to 32 percent of these species. Tidal Bay flats in
particular offer important habitat and a migratory staging area for shorebirds.
The most predominant birds in the open Bay are diving ducks, including scaup, scoter, and
canvasback.
Marine Mammals
The waters off California support an abundance and diversity of marine mammals, primarily
because of the numerous upwelling centers that stimulate primary production, the central
location between arctic and subtropical areas, and the diversity of habitats. Some species migrate
through the area on their way to summer feeding or winter breeding areas; others reside in the
area year-round. San Francisco Bay, like many estuaries, serves as a nursery for some species of
marine mammals (e.g., harbor seals), provides protected waters for resting ashore and in the
water (e.g., California sea lions and harbor seals), and is used as a foraging area (e.g., harbor
seals and, occasionally, gray whales).
Several marine mammal species can be found in San Francisco Bay including the harbor seal
(Phoca vitulina), California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), and more recently, the gray whale
(Eschrichtius robustus).
Harbor seals are the most common and abundant marine mammal in the Bay and are the only
marine mammals that are permanent residents in the Bay. All harbor seals use resting areas
(called haul-out sites) that are free from frequent disturbance and near channels or open water.
Habitats used as haul-out sites include tidal rocks, mudflats, sandbars, and sandy beaches.
Other marine mammal species that have been seen very rarely in the Bay include the humpback
whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), northern elephant seal
(Mirounga angustirostris), Steller sea lion (Eumetopius jubatus), northern fur seal (Callorhinus
ursinus), and the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris). The species occur frequently off the
California coast and occasionally enter the Bay either mistakenly, or while searching for food.
Aquatic Plants

6. Substrate in much of the Bay consists of soft mud, making it difficult for many macroalgal
species to colonize. Some types can initially attach to a hard substrate such as a small rock or
piece of shell, and, as they become larger, move with the small attachment. Common Bay
species include the green algae Enteromorpha clathrata, E. intestinalis, U. lactuca, and
Cladophora sericea and the aquatic plant eelgrass (Zostera marina).
Eelgrass (Zostera marina)
Eelgrass is a native marine vascular plant indigenous to the soft-bottom bays and estuaries of the
Northern Hemisphere. The species is found from middle Baja California and the Sea of Cortez to
northern Alaska along the west coast of North America and is common in healthy shallow bays
and estuaries. Eelgrass serves as a food source for a number of invertebrates, fish, and some
migratory birds. It also provides habitat for many commercially and recreationally important
finfish and shellfish species. Pacific herring regularly spawn on eelgrass leaves, and juvenile
salmonid and smelt often spend extensive amounts of time within eelgrass habitats prior to
heading for the open ocean.
Marine energy: Wind, waves and currents etc.
Potential of ocean energy
The theoretical potential is equivalent to 4-18 million ToE.
Capacity
(GW)
Annual gen.
(TW·h)
Form
5,000 50,000 Marine current power
20 2,000 Osmotic power
1,000 10,000 Ocean thermal energy
90 800 Tidal energy
1,000—9,000 8,000—80,000 Wave energy
Indonesia as archipelagic country with three quarter of the area is ocean, has 49 GW recognized
potential ocean energy and has 727 GW theoretical potential ocean energy.
Forms of ocean energy

Renewable

This section requires expansion.
The oceans represent a vast and largely untapped source of energy in the form of surface waves,
fluid flow, salinity gradients, and thermal.
Marine current power
Main article: Marine current power

7. The energy obtained from ocean currents
Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides
into useful forms of power - mainly electricity.
The operating principle behind tidal energy converters is that the energy contained within the
moving current is harnessed by a device that extracts kinetic energy from the flow and imparts
this into a mechanical motion of a rotor or foil. The device then converts the mechanical motion
of the structure into electrical energy by means of a power take-off system. Before connection to
the electricity grid, the electrical power output from the device will need to be conditioned in
order to make it compliant with grid code regulations. In essence, tidal device operation is
synonymous to that of a wind turbine, albeit operating within a different fluid medium.
Osmotic power
Main article: Salinity Gradient
At the mouth of rivers where fresh water mixes with salt water, energy associated with the
salinity gradient can be harnessed using pressure-retarded reverse osmosis process and
associated conversion technologies. Another system is based on using freshwater upwelling
through a turbine immersed in seawater, and one involving electrochemical reactions is also in
development.
Ocean thermal energy
Main article: Ocean thermal energy
The power from temperature differences at varying depths.
Tidal power
Main article: Tidal power
The energy from moving masses of water — a popular form of hydroelectric power generation.
Tidal power generation comprises three main forms, namely: tidal stream power, tidal barrage
power, and dynamic tidal power.
Wave power
Main article: Wave power
Wave energy forms as kinetic energy from the wind is transmitted to the upper surface of the
ocean. The height and period of resulting waves will vary depending on the energy flux between
the wind and the ocean surface. Much work has been carried out in the field of research and
development of technology capable of harnessing energy from the waves. At present there is
limited design consensus surrounding the design of wave energy technology, and there are
several areas in which a wave energy converter can be placed in order to harness the energy most
efficiently.
The wave energy sector is reaching a significant milestone in the development of the industry,
with positive steps towards commercial viability being taken. The more advanced device
developers are now progressing beyond single unit demonstration devices and are proceeding to

8. array development and multi-megawatt projects.
[7]
The backing of major utility companies is
now manifesting itself through partnerships within the development process, unlocking further
investment and, in some cases, international co-operation.
At a simplified level, wave energy technology can be located near-shore and offshore. Wave
energy converters can also be designed for operation in specific water depth conditions: deep
water, intermediate water or shallow water. The fundamental device design will be dependent on
the location of the device and the intended resource characteristics.
Non-renewable
Petroleum and natural gas beneath the ocean floor are also sometimes considered a form of
ocean energy. An ocean engineer directs all phases of discovering, extracting, and delivering
offshore petroleum (via oil tankers and pipelines,) a complex and demanding task. Also centrally
important is the development of new methods to protect marine wildlife and coastal regions
anbgainst the undesirable side














Conclusion:
Marine environment is rich in marine resources. These are utilized by man for many reasons .So
we should have proper knowledge about them. This knowledge is necessary to establish an
effective strategy for protection. Public education and appreciation for marine resources is
needed for protection. An educated public understands how to interact in the environment to
avoid damaging marine resources and will help to promote the main conservation messages.

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