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‘Our Ocean’ 2014 brought together leaders from business, government and academic institutions, and NGOs from over 80 countries to discuss how economic development and ocean conservation can be reconciled. The oceans are extremely important for humans, generating more than 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe, absorbing excess carbon dioxide, and providing a source of food and income for millions of people worldwide.
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The summit concentrated on several key themes in ocean conservation including sustainable fishing, marine pollution, and ocean acidification. Perhaps one of the most significant announcements at Our Ocean was President Obama’s intention to expand and create new marine reserves in the Pacific Ocean, while Kiribati announced it will expand its already vast Phoenix Islands Protected Area. If implemented, these proposals will more than double the total area of legally protected oceans.
Many of the world’s fish stocks are being fished at unsustainable levels, and it is thought that around 30 percent of the world’s fisheries are overexploited. The Our Ocean summit aimed to examine the steps fishery management authorities need to take to reduce, and ultimately end, overfishing and to mitigate adverse impacts on the broader marine environment. Initiatives proposed at the summit aim to end all overfishing on marine fish stocks by 2020, through a series of measures including increased transparency in allocating fishing rights, tougher enforcement of legislation and penalties for illegal fisheries, elimination of excess capacity in fishing fleets and minimising bycatch.
To this end, President Obama has announced a comprehensive new national programme on seafood traceability and openness which will allow customers in the United States to ensure that their seafood has been harvested legally and sustainably. Additionally, the United States launched the ‘mFish’ partnership, which will provide mobile devices to small-scale fisheries in developing nations with apps designed to access market and weather information and ensure accurate and easy catch reporting. Norway also pledged more than $150 million to promote fishery management and development abroad, including a new research vessel to train fisheries experts and managers around the world.
Continue reading at ENN affiliate, ARKive.org.
Marine image via Shutterstock.
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