This article by UNEP
Executive Director Achim
Steiner and Joshua S. Reichert, Managing
Director of the Pew Environment Group, was
first published by Project Syndicate. For
permission to reprint, please contact distribution@project-syndicate.org
Nairobi, 17 June 2011
– Many people know that oceans cover more
than 70% of the world's surface, and that
marine fisheries provide food for billions
of people. What is less known is that the
high seas – the areas of the world's oceans
that lie beyond the limits of national jurisdiction,
which extend 200 miles from shore – make
up roughly two-thirds of our oceans and
45% of the planet's surface.
This area, which contains
perhaps the largest reservoir of biodiversity
left on earth, is exploited by many countries,
but managed by no one. Moreover, it is under
extreme pressure. The United Nations Environment
Program's (UNEP) Global Environment Outlook
concluded that three-quarters of marine
fisheries are exploited up to, or beyond,
their maximum capacity. According to the
UN's most recent "State of the World's
Fisheries and Aquaculture" report,
85% of fish stocks are fully exploited or
worse – the highest levels ever recorded.
The problem is certainly
not a lack of commitments, including those
made at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Rather,
what has been missing is the fulfillment
of these commitments.
Governments are once
again on the "Road to Rio" for
a summit in June 2012 – aptly referred to
as Rio+20. Later this month, they are meeting
in New York at the UN as part of their preparations
for the summit, with a particular focus
on oceans. It is an appropriate time to
remind ourselves of the commitments made
in Rio 20 years ago, and to get on with
the process of implementing them. This is
true for ecosystems generally, and for oceans
in particular.
Much of the current
plight of the world's marine fisheries is
a result of subsidized, industrial-scale
overfishing. This is imposing an increasing
burden on the poor and vulnerable, especially
in developing coastal countries and small
island states.
The Rio Declaration,
issued at the Earth Summit in 1992, recognizes
a responsibility to ensure that activities
do not damage other states' environment
or that of areas beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction. Fisheries depletion, in both
exclusive economic zones and on the high
seas, reveals how the international community
is failing to meet one of the most important
commitments that came out of the 1992 meeting.
Further attempts to
sustainably manage the marine environment
emerged 10 years after the Rio meeting,
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg, South Africa. A series
of UN General Assembly resolutions negotiated
and adopted since 2004 have also set out
regimes to protect the biodiversity of the
deep seas. Yet compliance has been patchy
at best.
Another approach championed
at the Johannesburg meeting was to establish
a representative network of Marine Protected
Areas (MPAs), including no-take reserves.
Last year in Nagoya, Japan, governments
agreed to establish such areas in 10% of
the world's oceans by 2020. Currently, such
levels of protection apply to only about
1%, so there is a long way to go.
The science relating
to fisheries has been clear for decades.
Yet governments have consistently failed
to heed their own experts' warnings. Marine
management remains a fragmented patchwork
of national and international bodies, with
separate and often overlapping jurisdictions,
and no global accountability. Moreover,
in many parts of the world's oceans, there
is no one in charge. This critical shortcoming
must be resolved.
One particular impediment
is high-seas governance, or the lack thereof.
Without internationally agreed-upon mechanisms
for designating and managing marine-protected
areas in international waters, the commitments
made in Nagoya will amount to little more
than hollow promises.
Subsidies are another
major problem. It is estimated that around
$27 billion a year in subsidies to the fishing
industry worldwide have generated excess
fishing capacity that exceeds by a factor
of two the ability of fish to reproduce.
In other words, there are twice as many
industrial fishing vessels catching fish
as the oceans can sustain.
UNEP calculates that
investing $110 billion over the coming years
in strengthened fisheries management – including
the establishment of MPAs, the decommissioning
and reduction of fleet capacity, and retraining
of workers – will allow the planet's fisheries
to recover. Such an investment, backed by
policy measures, would result in an increase
in catch levels from 80 million tons now
to 90 million tons in 2050, following an
initial decline between now and 2020.
The bottom line is that
the present value of benefits from "greening"
the fishing sector is estimated to be 3-5
times the investment – an excellent return
for both people and the ocean environment.
Meanwhile, job losses in the short to medium
term can be minimized by focusing cuts in
capacity on a relatively small number of
large industrial vessels, as opposed to
small-scale artisanal fleets.
Employment in fisheries
in many countries is projected to grow again
over the coming decades as depleted stocks
recover. Next year's Rio+20 conference presents
a major opportunity to demonstrate that
international cooperation through the UN
is possible, and that transformational change
can be achieved.
The world can no longer
afford to delay restoring the health and
wealth of the oceans. The half-billion people
who depend on a healthy fishing industry,
and the one billion who rely on fish as
a primary source of protein, cannot wait
another 20 years for the international community
to act.
Achim Steiner is UN
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Program.
Joshua S. Reichert is Managing Director
of The Pew Environment Group.
