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Protecting the Oceans
UNA-Canada's "On the Road to Brazil" Series
-Issue Paper No.3-

Why are the Oceans Important?

Very simply, life on our planet depends on the oceans. Water constantly evaporates from these vast bodies to become clouds and vapour in the atmosphere. This falls as rain and provides us with the fresh water needed for agriculture, industry and human uses.

The "hydrological cycle" also moves nutrients through the soil, along rivers and into lakes supporting a rich variety of aquatic life. Thus, plant life thrive on land and in the sea, feeding animal life and producing the oxygen needed for all animals to survive.

Physically, the seas act as a giant reservoir for heat from the sun. Their movements help moderate the planet’s temperatures and shape our climate. Without the atmosphere and the oceans, the effective surface temperature of the world would plunge from the present 15oC to a frigid -25oC. And without water circulation, the human and industrial wastes that have for generations been dumped into the seas would gradually build up and poison both land and air.

Oceans are also a major source of food and employment and balance of trade. Fish and other aquatic animals account for an average of 17% of the animal protein found in all human diets. Over 30 countries get more than one-third of this protein from seafood -- not just nations with huge commercial fishing fleets, but also many developing states in Africa and Asia.

In short, the oceans are a highly productive system which continuously recycles the chemicals necessary for living organisms to survive. However, development in many ways is now threatening the oceans and other seas. The threats are numerous: the unmanaged growth of cities with their large-scale dumping of raw sewage; intensive agricultural practices leading to runoff of fertilizers and feedlot wastes; marine transportation; the destruction of forests; and river basin development are among the land-based assaults.

Although the oceans are vast, they are not infinite in their resources or in what they are able to bear. Change takes place gradually in the open seas and the risks are numerous. The fate of the oceans and the future of our planet are intimately related.

Why are Coastal Zones Especially Important?

Coastal zones are home to the oceans’ bounty. Here, microscopic plants and the small animals which feed on them flourish. These zones are the hatcheries and feeding grounds for important fish and shellfish species. They are home for 30,000 species of mollusc and almost all species of crustaceans. Coastal zones have also attracted many varieties of birds, animals and, perhaps the greatest potential threat, human beings.

Seven out of ten people in the world live within 80 kilometers of a coast. Almost half of the world’s cities with populations of over one million people are sited in and around the tide-washed river mouths known as estuaries.

It is in coastal zones that humans put the most pressure on the marine environment, where 90% of the world’s fish are caught. It is the site of our homes, a major source of food, a favoured place for recreation, and a popular garbage dump. Large numbers of people with their diverse demands on the environment can themselves cause significant unforeseen changes in coastal ecologies.

The Mediterranean, however, provides an illustration of what can be done, at least in theory, to protect coastal areas against the worst excesses of human use and abuse, despite large populations. For over 4,000 years, this sea has been the crossroads of European, Middle Eastern and North African civilizations. It remains highly important today, bordered as it is by 120 cities with a coastal population of at least 100 million and with over 20% of the world’s oil traffic crossing its waters.

For years, most of the municipal waste which flooded into the Mediterranean was untreated or inadequately processed. Pollutants such as mercury, lead, used motor oil and pesticides had been found in its waters. By 1975 the situation was considered critical.

That year the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) began to shape a plan of action for the Mediterranean by bringing together countries bordering on the Mediterranean and the European Economic Community (EEC). Protocols were signed against dumping from ships and aircraft and for cooperation in pollution emergencies. Lists of banned substances were established to regulate dumping, while less noxious but still dangerous materials were to be strictly controlled.

Currently, Mediterranean governments are involved in their most ambitious project so far. This involves placing anti-pollution devices in all factories, regular inspections of facilities, and installing pipelines to take sewage out to sea beyond bathing and shellfish waters. By the time the project is completed, it is estimated that the cost will exceed U.S.$10 billion.

The Mediterranean is far from being the only large body of water to be endangered. UNEP has initiated a Regional Seas Programme which now brings together over 130 states bordering 11 different shared seas around the world. It provides the impetus for bringing governments together to develop a flexible legal framework within which further agreements can be negotiated as needs allow and politics require. No less than 14 UN agencies and over 40 international and regional organizations participate in the world-wide programme.

Nevertheless, although international conventions are important, the fact is that huge investments are needed to roll back land-based pollution in regional seas. All the regulations and international standards in the world are of little use if there is no money or provisions to do effective monitoring of what actually happens. The massive Canada-United States clean-up of the Great Lakes, which cost $8.85 billion over 15 years for partial treatment of municipal and industrial wastes, amply demonstrates the financial burden.

The Need for Fisheries Management

After 1970, the expansion of world fisheries, which had begun following the Second World War, leveled off. The average annual increase in catches fell from 6-7 per cent to about 1 per cent as more and more stocks were depleted and fewer new species were brought into the fishery. Over-exploitation threatens many stocks. Several of the world’s largest fisheries -- the Peruvian anchoveta, several North Atlantic herring stocks, and the Californian sardine -- have collapsed.

Concern among coastal states about the depletion of their fisheries was one factor leading to the establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the Law of the Sea negotiations. The EEZ permits coastal states to exercise sovereign rights over the management of national resources, living and non-living, in the waters, sea-bed, and subsoil, up to 200 nautical miles from their shorelines.

The idea behind the EEZ was that coastal states would introduce effective conservation and management measures within the zone in exchange for control of the activities of foreign fishermen there. But industrial countries have been much more successful in doing this than developing countries. In the north-west Atlantic, the annual catch by long-range fleets declined from over 2 million tons before 1974 to about a quarter of a million tons in 1983, while the share of the catch taken by Canada and the United States rose from less than 50 to over 90 per cent.

By contrast, long-range fishing fleets from industrialized countries still catch about 5 million tons annually in developing regions. Lack of local capital, and lack of expertise in things like processing and marketing, has had a debilitating effect on the capacity of developing countries to take advantage of their own resources.

Even in Canada, however, the crisis in the fisheries is clear. Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence cod has fallen drastically in numbers, haddock stocks are at dangerously low levels, and catches of snow crab in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have declined by more than 50 per cent. Consumers see the crisis reflected in availability and prices. For those whose livelihood depends on harvesting the seas or processing the catch, the crisis is much more acute: it can mean the loss of jobs, the destruction of communities, the end of a way of life.

In Canada, the government has responded in several ways. New conservation measures are being developed regarding minimum fish size, mesh size and gear type. Higher penalties are being proposed for those caught fishing illegally, and monitoring, surveillance and patrol activities are to be improved or increased. Canada is also conducting a diplomatic and public information campaign in Europe to influence those nations that persist in overfishing the stocks in international waters which straddle Canada’s 200-mile zone. It is hoped that an international regime can be put in place so that stocks will be given the chance to rebuild.

International Efforts

Over the years, an impressive body of international agreements of various kinds has been concluded to deal with one or another of the varied threats which endanger the oceans and marine life. These include a series of agreements relating to oil pollution, the London Dumping Convention of 1972 to control large-scale dumping of industrial waste and sewage in the oceans, as well as numerous UN Conventions on marine issues such as the prevention of marine pollution from land-based sources.

The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea provides a comprehensive framework of international law to protect the oceans and seas. It is designed as an umbrella for further global, regional and national actions such as UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme which has already been described. The UN system also provides coverage of most environmental issues relating to oceans and seas and an extensive network of coordinating mechanisms such as periodic inter-agency meetings.

Nevertheless, many problems and considerable discrepancies remain. For example, compliance with internationally agreed rules to prevent marine pollution from ships is hampered by a lack of monitoring to measure compliance, as well as effective enforcement and education. Negotiations must continue to be pursued to ensure that existing fishery stocks are equitably distributed among competing interests, so that overfishing is curbed and depleted stocks rebuilt. Gaps in the present legal framework pertaining to the oceans and seas must also be identified -- a painstaking task in itself because of the wide variety of conventions and agreements in place which cover different geographic areas and different subject matter.

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