World Oceans Day, June 8, can be a saving grace

World Oceans Day, June 8, can be a saving grace
May 19, 2009

There’s no accurate accounting of the damage that man has inflicted on food supplies or the ocean itself over the past 16 years through industrial pollution, waste dumping, over-fishing and reckless fishing that imperil untargeted species.

It’s increasingly clear, however, that man’s compromise of the ocean may soon reach a tipping point, and that nations need to agree on, establish and enforce more sustainable practices.

It has been 16 years since the idea of a World Oceans Day—to raise public support to reverse the declining health of marine eco-systems—was first floated before the United Nations. Since then, hundreds of museums, conservation organizations, agencies, along with the ocean protection and restoration group Oceana (www.oceana.org), have pushed for the UN recognition.

Three-quarters of the world’s fisheries are now over-exploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from over-exploitation, reports the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. “The good news, says Andrew Sharpless, the chief executive of Oceana, “is that restoring abundant oceans is the most solvable global ecological challenge that we face today.”

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