By Deborah Rowan Wright
Can we set a longer-term target aiming to safeguard the whole global ocean from harmful exploitation and land and sea-sourced pollution by 2050?
Genuine ocean protection begins in the mind. I believe we need to question our entire approach to protecting the marine world and turn our reasoning on its head.
When it comes to the ocean, today’s guiding political and economic principle can be summed up like this; “commercial exploitation of the sea comes first, but we will allow some protection”. We’re expected to be grateful when governments designate pockets of safeguarded sea, in the form of marine protected areas. The reality is they throw the beleaguered ocean a bone and keep extractive industries happy, because they’re freely able to over-exploit the rest of the sea. And all the while government, business and industry break international law every day by letting the destructive activities continue.
Adding insult to injury, many protected areas are not a safe haven for marine life anyway. It could be because the regulations aren’t enforced, or because restrictions on harmful activities are so minimal they make no difference. Take the UK’s nonsensical ruling to allow destructive bottom trawling within a protected area, which makes a mockery of its marine conservation policy.
The alternative guiding principle of the sea should be;
“ocean protection comes first, but we will allow responsible and respectful exploitation”. Having unpolluted, healthy life-filled seas will then take priority. Human-driven damage and destruction will stop over ALL of the ocean and not just in parts of it.
The rationale for setting a target of 100% ocean protection rests on law, logic, technology and ethics:
Because 100 x 50 is already established in law
The global ocean has been protected by binding international law since 1994, by articles 61;117- 120; 192-216; 242-244 of the United Nations Law of the Sea (the USA hasn’t yet ratified the Treaty but follows it as customary international law). But failure to enforce the law has allowed industries to empty seas of wildlife, pollute waters, destroy habitats and exacerbate the impacts of the climate crisis. While low-lying and fishery-dependent coastal communities face serious economic, climatic and ecological impacts due to governments not taking action sooner.
Because partial protection doesn’t stop the ocean’s destroyers
Designating marine protected areas and marine reserves can be invaluable in enabling habitats to regenerate and wildlife to return and the collective campaign to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 will be a huge step forward when the target is reached. But it won’t stop the primary cause of ocean decline – which is the ruinous over-exploitation of marine resources – and that will be able to continue in the other 70% of the ocean. The threats will persist and we won’t have solved the problem.
Because use we can
With today’s technologies and expertise, enforcing laws and regulations is possible across the globe. Methods include; preventing landing catches in port, withdrawing operating licenses, impounding catches, prosecuting crew members or ship owners, and imposing fines or custodial sentences. At sea, coast guard, naval and former fishing vessels can be part of a patrolling force, monitoring activity and intercepting vessels breaching regulations.
Using satellite technology, organisations like Global Fishing Watch can track the locations, identities, engine power, tonnage, crews, voyage records, and more of around 70,000 commercial fishing vessels around the world. As history shows, when social progress laws are enforced, more enlightened attitudes and new norms of behaviour follow. Putting ocean protection law into action will enable an ocean-respectful culture to develop.
Because it’s right
There are many practical reasons to manage our use of the sea putting nature first. Low-impact, sustainably managed fisheries for example, yield more fish than over-industrialised, over-exploited ones.
There’s also a compelling moral incentive for radical change. Many human activities in the sea are wasteful and extremely cruel. In 2019, at least 230,000 tonnes of fish were dumped in EU waters, most of which was due to indiscriminate capture by bottom-trawling. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 35% of fish, crustacean and mollusc catches are wasted.
Abandoned fishing gear is a deadly menace worldwide. Over 700,000 tons of ghost gear is left in the ocean every year, inflicting incalculable cruelty and death on marine life. Shark finning is a brutal and cruel practice, killing a staggering number of sharks every year, estimates ranging from 70 to 100 million. Losing so many top predators also seriously disrupts the ecological balance in the sea.
A united, cross-sector, cross-border campaign to pressure governments to honour their Treaty commitments by 2050 could see the whole marine environment protected (as it should have been for 30 years).
The anticipated gains of protecting the whole ocean from over-exploitation and destructive practices are plain to see: diminishing pollution and cleaner seas; coral reefs, kelp and mangrove forests regenerating; seas and skies filling with wildlife.
With well-managed fisheries, those who fish for a living or work in related trades will have more to eat and sell, plus employment for the long term. There’ll be more to spend on housing, education and health care, making millions of people better off, healthier and happier.
The global ocean is also Earth’s undisputed champion in confronting the climate crisis. A robust and resilient ocean can absorb heat and atmospheric CO2 and mitigate serious impacts such as ocean acidification, far more effectively than a weakened and depleted one.
Following the original proposal published by Marinet in 2012 (the Principle of Worldwide Marine Protection) the book Future Sea considers how 100% ocean protection could be reached, drawing on international law, successful fisheries management, conservation programmes, law enforcement systems, citizen action, and suggesting lifestyle changes that everyone can make towards marine conservation.
‘All at once eye-opening, thought-provoking, rage-inducing, and empowering, Future Sea is an excellent read for ocean lovers’. Marine Biologist
‘The freshest, most sensible, most optimistic perspective I’ve seen in a long time’. Drew Harvell, Cornell University
‘Rejecting piecemeal strategies, Rowan Wright encourages total ocean protection’. Science
‘The urgency with which she makes her case is utterly convincing. Future Sea is a galvanising book’. The Inquisitive Biologist
‘This book is too important not to be read by the general public, marine scientists, conservationists, representatives of marine-based industries and especially politicians’. The Biologist
About The Author
Deborah Rowan Wright is an independent researcher who writes about ocean conservation policy. Her work on marine renewable energy, public trust law, and ocean governance reform has been published by the International Whaling Commission and The Ecologist, among others. She is currently working on twin campaigns: to achieve a UN Declaration of Ocean Rights and for Ecocide to be recognized as the 5th International Crime.