Nations of the world have reached a historic agreement to protect the oceans following 10 years of negotiations. The High Seas Treaty aims to protect 30% of the seas area by 2030, to safeguard and recuperate marine nature.
The last international agreement on ocean protection was signed 40 years ago in 1982, called the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. That agreement established an area called the high seas seas – international waters where all countries have a right to ship, fish and do research – however only 1.2% of these waters are protected. Marine life living outside these protected areas has been at risk from overfishing, climate change and shipping traffic.
The newly protected areas will put limits on how much fishing can take place, the routes of shipping lanes and exploration activities like deep sea mining – when minerals are taken from a sea bed 200m or more below the surface.
Environmental groups have been concerned that mining projects could disturb animal breeding grounds, create noise pollution and be toxic for marine life.
According to Minna Epps, director of the IUCN Ocean team, the main issue was over the sharing of marine genetic resources. These genetic resources are biological material from plants and animals in the ocean that can have benefits for society, such as pharmaceuticals, industrial processes and food. Wealthier nations currently have the resources and funding to explore the deep ocean but poorer nations wanted to ensure any benefits they find are shared equally.
Dr. Robert Blasiak, ocean researcher at Stockholm University said, “If you imagine a big, high-definition, widescreen TV, and if only like three or four of the pixels on that giant screen are working, that’s our knowledge of the deep ocean. So we’ve recorded about 230,000 species in the ocean, but it’s estimated that there are over two million.”
Liz Karan, director of Pews Trust ocean governance team, said, “It will take some time to take effect. Countries have to ratify it [legally adopt it] for it to enter force. Then there are a lot of institutional bodies like the Science and Technical Committee that have to get set up.”