|
Managing
the World's Oceans
By Hari
Srinivas Coordinator, Global Development Research Center
 |
Man's relation
with the ocean has often been characterized by an
"out-of-sight-out-of-mind" attitude. Yet the ocean
is what makes the earth livable--it powers the climate and
weather, shapes planetary chemistry, regulates temperature and
is the foundation of the earth's life support. Almost all of
the earth's water is there, along with most of its living
creatures, in terms of both biomass and genetic diversity.
It is only in the last few hundred years that a better
understanding of the oceans has begun to emerge--especially
the cyclical linkages of the oceans' impact on our daily lives
(food, climate, water, etc.) and our impact on oceans
(pollution, biodiversity, etc.). The oceans contain a vast,
and largely unexplored, diversity of life, from the smallest
of microorganisms to the largest mammals on Earth, blue
whales.
The ocean provides food, medicine and energy and serves as a
recreational resource for millions of people. Its biological
wealth (estimated to be 300 to 500 million species of
organisms) is concentrated along a relatively narrow strip
formed by continental shelves, coastal margins and estuaries.
These contain the major fishing grounds, yielding more than 80
percent of the world's fishing catch. Here, too, are the
world's most productive and diverse habitats: mangroves,
saltmarshes, mudflats, seagrass and seaweed beds, and coral
reefs.
Globally, seafood represents one-fifth of animal protein and
five percent of the total protein in the human diet. Global
fish production exceeds that of cattle, sheep, poultry or
eggs. It is the biggest source of wild or domestic protein in
the world. But this high demand for food has left 15 of the
world's 17 largest fisheries either overfished or in trouble.
Oceans
and Climate
The most significant insight emerging from recent
oceanographic and scientific research has been the influence
of oceans on climate. Any major weather event, such as a
hurricane, typhoon, flood or drought, is generated by ocean
conditions.
The oceans and the atmosphere are tightly linked and together
form the most dynamic component of our climate system,
influencing weather over long and short timescales. They play
a critical role in storing heat and carbon. Ocean water is
constantly being moved about by powerful currents which
influence the climate by transporting heat. Currents involved
in "deep-water formation" are particularly important
for climate. An apparently small change in just one aspect of
the ocean's behavior can produce major climate variations over
large areas of the earth, sometimes lasting for decades.
Human
Fingerprints
Whereas in the 1950s one scientist remarked, " . . . it
may be rash to put any limit on the mischief of which man is
capable, but it would seem that those 100 and more million
cubic miles of water . . . is the great matrix that man can
hardly sully and cannot appreciably despoil," now the
effect of human activity on the oceans is depressingly clear.
Fish stocks are close to collapse, pollution has claimed the
lives of millions of seabirds, and untold numbers of birds,
marine mammals and sea turtles become entangled or ensnared
each year in plastic debris or fishing nets. Vital coastal
habitats are being buried, damaged, altered or destroyed by
construction and development.
|
|
In order to
understand and reduce the impact of human activities on the
ocean, policies and programs need to revolve around the key
dimensions of the interaction between humans and oceans. They
include bio-resource utilization, transportation and harbors,
mineral resource exploitation, scientific research, recreation
and tourism, and military activities. These dimensions are the
focal points of human environmental impact on the oceans.
Consider these facts--three out of five persons in the world
live within 60 kilometers of an ocean; in many countries
one-fourth to one-third of the gross domestic product derives
from coastal areas through fishing, transportation, recreation
and related industries; virtually every commercial fish
species in every ocean and sea is seriously depleted, and
marine biological diversity is slowly being destroyed as a
result of overexploitation of species, physical alteration of
ecosystems, pollution, alien species from distant waters which
are transported in ships' ballast water and disrupt local food
webs, global atmospheric change and other causes.
Nearly six billion of us are putting great pressure on the
marine environment that sustains us. The life-support
functions of the earth's oceans are burdened with oily ballast
and other wastes dumped overboard from millions of motorized
vessels and pollution flowing from land and air to the sea,
along with millions of tons of hard trash. Oil spills are
among the most obvious forms of pollution, but attention is
shifting to less visible contaminants, especially the flow of
excess fertilizer and other chemicals that are applied to
crops, lawns, golf courses, fields and parks.
Many species of fish are threatened with extinction, and coral
reefs, once a safe haven for a wide variety of animal and
plant life, have suffered greatly. The reefs' proximity to
coastal regions makes them especially susceptible to
land-based sources of pollution.
Oceans
as Dumpsites
Most of the wastes and contaminants produced by human
activities end up in the oceans. Some are directly drained or
dumped, either purposely or accidentally, as in the case of
oil spills. Rivers carry sewage, runoff from city streets,
industrial wastes, pesticides and fertilizers from farms, and
silt from land-clearing and construction projects. Some 40
percent of the land in the United States, including the
farmlands of the Midwest, drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The
nitrate-rich river water has spoiled an area of the seabed the
size of New Jersey. The web of responsibility spreads very
wide--nobody knows the cost of this damage, how much each
farmer caused or what it would cost to prevent it.
More than 80 percent of pollution to the marine environment
comes from land-based sources, such as runoff pollution.
Runoff pollution includes many small sources, like septic
tanks, cars, trucks and boats, as well as the larger sources
such as farms, ranches and forest areas. Millions of motor
vehicle engines make daily, one-drop-at-a-time "oil
spills" onto roads and parking lots, which add
significantly to runoff pollution. Some water pollution starts
as air pollution which settles into waterways and oceans. Dirt
can also be a pollutant. Topsoil or silt from fields or
construction sites can run off into waterways, harming fish
and wildlife habitats.
Chemical contamination and litter exist from the poles to the
tropics, from beaches to the ocean depths. However, the open
ocean is relatively clean because most pollutants come from
land and remain in water near coastal areas.
A Vision
for the Oceans
A drastic rethinking of our relationship with oceans requires,
as a first step, a vision to guide action. Such a vision
should stress the point that oceans and the creatures that
live in them are a vital and necessary part of life on this
planet. The necessity of maintaining the health of the oceans
and the abundance of its fisheries, together with the wise and
safe usage of all its resources, must be accepted and honored
by governments, for the sake of future generations. It is also
important to holistically understand the marine environment
and its living community so that appropriate decisions can be
made to protect its resources.
Concerted action involving stakeholders from the local level
to the global level is necessary in order to succeed--within
countries people can influence ocean policies if they act
together; internationally, countries can help their neighbors
and adopt regional policies and actions. Data and information
on the ocean should be readily available--international and
intergovernmental organizations should be used to generate
global programs and agreements.
|
|
Because of the
global nature of human activities that impact the oceans, and
the fact that national "ownership" of the oceans has
always been limited and a contentious issue, several
international legal instruments and conventions aimed at
protecting the oceans have been adopted. Specifically these
include the UN Convention on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly
Migratory Fish Stocks--which deals with the difficult issue of
fisheries whose targets migrate between countries' national
waters and the high seas--and the UN Law of the Sea, which
covers a wide array of issues from navigation rights to
fisheries and seabed mining.
However, such conventions may look good on paper, but often
their content reflects the interests of powerful nations, and
their enforcement is not monitored or taken very seriously.
The inevitable compromise between conservation and
exploitation almost invariably tends to leave us in a position
which does not provide the protection the environment needs.
Environmentalists are increasingly looking at other means to
bring about change.
The WWF Endangered Seas Campaign, for example, has begun
focusing more on the market, and has been working with
Unilever to establish a Marine Stewardship Council, setting up
a global, industry-wide mechanism for identifying and labeling
sustainably caught fish. In India, the National Fishworkers'
Forum is seeking to establish the first-ever international
association of small-scale, inshore fishers, to draw global
attention to the threat to their livelihood from giant
offshore fishing fleets and the destructive environmental and
social effects of shrimp aquaculture.
Globally, the opposition to shrimp aquaculture has become a
real grassroots movement, the thrust of which is trying to
persuade American consumers that "all you can eat"
deals are not good deals from the point of view of the
environment or inshore fishers in India, Thailand and Ecuador.
Community
Participation in Ocean Management
No global agreement on oceans can be fruitful without adequate
local community commitment. Oceans and coastal areas are
distinctive resource systems that require special management
and planning strategies. A systematic, incremental approach in
developing and implementing ocean management projects and
programs is needed. Awareness-building and education at the
local level remain the cornerstones of any approach that
integrates environmental, economic and social information from
the very beginning of the process.
|
|
Preserving and
managing resources (seafood, aesthetic, recreation, marine and
mineral) of the oceans involves a multiplicity of actors and
actions at various levels. But some of the most effective and
sustainable actions come as a groundswell of participation
from coastal communities themselves, influencing the use of
ocean resources in a variety of ways.
Depending on local conditions such as culture, income levels,
settlement patterns, etc., the degree and range of community
participation activities vary. On the whole, three broad
categories of community participation with respect to ocean
management can be developed--(1) changing lifestyles, (2)
interaction with oceans and coastal regions, and (3)
awareness-building and education.
Changing
Lifestyles
We have to focus on reducing waste generation and disposal
from households and businesses/industries that may drain into
rivers and oceans. Changing lifestyles also requires
minimizing air pollution and CO2 emissions that could increase
acid rain and influence various climatic aspects. Prudent
consumption of seafood that does not affect or strain existing
fish stocks or endangered marine species will be necessary, as
will minimizing the use of household pollutants, including
herbicides, pesticides, etc., that may end up in coastal
watersheds.
Ocean
Interaction
Enlightened beach behavior can lead to reduction of wastes and
will not disturb sea habitats and ecosystems. Gentle
interaction, where marine life forms are treated with respect
and understanding, as well as reducing the environmental
impact of boating, fishing, diving and other coastal
recreational activities, will go a long way in reducing human
impact on the oceans.
Awareness-building
and Education
Being aware of the direct and indirect effects of individual
actions on the oceans is indeed a starting point for any
comprehensive ocean management program. Participation in
activities relating to coasts and oceans, volunteering for
cleanups, etc., has to be balanced with the enforcement of
laws and legislation related to coasts and oceans.
Thus, while appropriate
policy, program and fiscal actions will go a long way in
managing our oceans, it is the active and concerted
involvement of local communities at all stages of
implementation that will eventually lead to long-lasting
positive results.
|
