HRH Prince Philip Launches Call to Action for International Year of the Ocean
Overfishing, Pollution & Coastal Development Threaten Oceans
(En Français)
January 12th, 1998
LONDON -- At a news conference here today marking the beginning of
the International Year of the Ocean, His Royal Highness, The Duke of
Edinburgh, President-Emeritus of the WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature
highlighted the growing threats facing the world's oceans and called for
a sea change in the way human use of the marine environment is
managed.
"There may have been a time when it was legitimate to question whether
there was conclusive evidence that the oceans were being
over-fished," said His Royal Highness. "That time has long since gone.
There is overwhelming evidence that, not just the fish stocks, but the
vast bulk of the renewable resources of the oceans are being
over-exploited."
WWF stressed the need for governments, businesses and individuals to
take urgent action during the International Year of the Ocean.
Specifically, WWF called for more responsible fisheries management and
the creation of an effective global network of marine parks and reserves
to safeguard critical ocean habitats.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, at least 60
percent of the world's 200 most commercially valuable fish species are
either overfished or fished to the limit. Overfishing and destructive
fishing practices have pushed numbers of many valuable species to
all-time lows. More than 100 marine fishes, along with many other
species that live in the oceans, are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Animals. Less than one percent of the world's oceans and seas have
been designated as protected.
"For more than 30 years, WWF has been an active and effective force in
marine wildlife and habitat conservation," said Dr. Claude Martin, WWF
Director-General. "The International Year of the Ocean presents an
opportunity to expand and accelerate our marine conservation efforts, to
call governments and industry to account, and to demand a change in
policies and practices."
WWF is calling for the following kinds of action:
- Governments should eliminate the tens of billions of dollars in
government subsidies that contribute to overfishing, establish new
marine protected areas and improve the management of existing
reserves. Governments can also support international treaties such as
the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, which sets new international standards
for marine fishing but has yet to enter into force for lack of political will.
- The fishing industry should reduce the incidental killing of fish and
other marine wildlife that now accounts for more than one-quarter of the
world catch, and support market incentives for sustainable fishing, such
as the Marine Stewardship Council, a new initiative designed to label
seafood from independently-certified, well-managed sources.
- "During this Year of the Ocean, we need everyone's help to guarantee
that our children will inherit a living planet, abundant with fish and other
marine life," said Dr. Martin. "The lives and livelihoods of millions of
people around the world, in both the North and South, are at stake."
Notes to Editors:
- The United Nations has designated 1998 as the International Year
of the Ocean in recognition of its importance of the ocean, the marine
environment and its resources for life on earth and for sustainable
development. This will provide a window of opportunity for
governments, organisations and individuals to become aware of the
ocean situation and to consider the actions needed to undertake our
common responsibility to sustain the greatest common heritage we have
and without which we cannot exist.
- Through its global Marine Programme, WWF is working in more
than 100 nations with governments, industries and conservation
partners to reduce pollution on land and sea, eliminate overfishing and
destructive fishing practices, and establish marine protected areas.
- In 1995, WWF launched the Endangered Seas initiative to address
one of the most pressing ocean conservation issues: the rampant
destruction of our magnificent ocean fisheries.
- The Endangered Seas initiative is working to reverse the effects
of overfishing and other destructive fishing practices on marine fishes
and the ocean ecosystems on which they depend.
- IUCN-The World Conservation Union updates and publishes its
Red List of Threatened Animals every three years.
For more information, contact: WWF's Conservation News Service in
Switzerland (+41) 223 649554 or Leigh Ann Hurt at WWF's Endangered
Seas Campaign in the United Kingdom (+44) 1483 419294.
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