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Life began in the seas more than 3,500,000,000 years ago. But in the last 50 years, we have put the life in our oceans in peril. We are taking too many fish out of the oceans and dumping in too much pollution. Development along the coastline, where more and more people live, is destroying essential fish habitat and threatening the web of life. To raise public awareness, the United Nations has declared 1998, The International Year of the Ocean.

To address the problems threatening our oceans, WWF- World Wide Fund For Nature has dedicated 1998 to Creating a Sea Change for our Future.

For more than 30 years, WWF has been an active and effective force in marine wildlife and habitat conservation.

Through its global network, WWF is working in more than 100 nations with governments, businesses and conservation partners to reduce pollution on land and sea, eliminate overfishing, curtail the destructive and illegal trade in marine wildlife, and establish marine protected areas.

In addition, WWF's Endangered Seas Campaign is working to establish effective recovery plans for threatened marine fishes, create market incentives for sustainable fishing, abolish fisheries subsidies, eliminate destructive fishing practices and reduce the bycatch of marine wildlife in fisheries.

The International Year of the Ocean presents an opportunity to expand and accelerate our conservation efforts, to hold governments and industry accountable, and to demand a change in policies and practices.