Sea squirts on the Inner Hebrides seamount, Scotland
The threats which face the oceans are many and varied. Left unchecked our seas are rapidly being emptied by a combination of overfishing, climate change and industrial pollution. Vital breathing space is needed if there is to be a genuine chance of recovery from the damage caused by years of human activity - but it needs to happen now.
Marine reserves
A crucial step on the road to recovery would be the establishment of marine reserves across the world's oceans, closed areas where no fishing or polluting industries (such as oil and gravel extraction) would be permitted. A global network of marine reserves - essentially national parks at sea - is vital to protect battered ecosystems and give threatened species time to recover.
End destructive fishing practices
Urgent action is also needed to change destructive fishing practices. The cost of bycatch to the ocean ecosystems is immense, with as much as 70 per cent of a trawler's catch thrown back into the sea, dead or dying. This level of waste is neither acceptable nor sustainable, but it will continue as long as regulations for fishing vessels are feebly enforced. More often than not, governments grant their fishing fleets access to fish stocks before the impact of their fishing practices is known.
Bycatch will only be reduced when governments introduce selective fishing methods with clear bycatch reduction targets.
Whale-watching
One of the ironies of the fight to end commercial whaling is that, over the past decade, whale-watching has shown the potential to become far more profitable than whaling ever was. Around the world, over ten million people in 90 countries go whale-watching every year, spending around $1.25 billion in the process. In ex-whaling nations such as the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, the penny has dropped that you can only kill a whale once, but if you let it live you can take eager tourists out to watch it over and over again. In simple terms, whale-watching is a truly sustainable industry.
The creation of ocean sanctuaries is essential if we are to safeguard the future of whales. In these safe areas people can learn more about whales and the world in which they live without harming them or damaging their environment.
