Ten years ago, I stood with then US Secretary of State John Kerry in the spectacular Sant Ocean Hall of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC to discuss an issue dear to both of us: the state of the oceans in the world.
Before that week in 2014, no one had brought together world leaders, funders, nonprofits and academics under one roof to spend time solving some of the biggest threats facing our oceans.
That all changed when Secretary Kerry created Our Ocean – an annual international conference that will take place for the ninth time this week in Athens, Greece.
International meetings can be difficult and disappointing and often end in deadlocks over important decisions.
At Our Ocean there is no problem. There is real progress, with each annual meeting ending with a healthier path forward for the oceans.
Since 2014, the Our Ocean Conference has mobilized more than 2,160 commitments worth approximately $130 billion (122.5 billion euros) and protected more than 13 million square kilometers of ocean.
Last year’s conference in Panama alone culminated in 360 commitments, including an announcement by the government of Panama that it would protect more than 54% of the ocean.
One of my favorite announcements was at the 2016 Our Ocean conference, when Sec. Kerry helped Oceana, SkyTruth and Google unveil Global Fishing Watch to the world – a unique technology platform that allows anyone to see and track the activity of commercial fishing vessels in near real-time – for free.
Global Fishing Watch is now working on mapping all human activities at sea. What a powerful tool.
Overfished and overloaded
These commitments are essential as our oceans face many threats. Half of the world’s fisheries are overfished and another 40% are fished to maximum levels.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is also a serious threat that depletes ocean resources, destroys habitats and is even linked to forced labor and other human rights violations.
Nearly 33 billion pounds (15 billion kilograms) of plastic pollution enters the oceans every year – the equivalent of dumping two garbage trucks full of plastic into the oceans every minute.
The oceans have also borne the brunt of climate change, absorbing more than 90% of all excess heat trapped on Earth, contributing to a range of impacts including coral bleaching, warming ocean temperatures and rising sea level.
It’s safe to say we’re taking a lot of abuse from the oceans. And bold action is needed to counter these harsh consequences. Fortunately, it is in Our Ocean where we can chart a course forward.
From plastic to overfishing, our task is grim and long
First, world leaders must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by halting the expansion of new offshore drilling and switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Corporate polluters must be held accountable for the pollution they cause and the devastation it wreaks on the oceans, and that means reducing the production and use of unnecessary single-use plastics.
To control overfishing, governments at national level must draw up scientifically based management plans and set catch limits.
But if we want to save the oceans and help feed the world, it’s not just about who catches the most fish, it’s also about who needs the most fish. We must ensure that local catch supports local people and is not turned into food for pigs or farmed salmon.
We must also continue to make progress towards the global commitment to protect 30% of our oceans by 2030, an ambitious target that will preserve ocean biodiversity for generations to come.
In doing so, we must ensure that these protected areas prohibit destructive activities such as bottom trawling, which can bulldoze the seabed.
Global victories are happening
While these may seem monumental undertakings, we have seen so many victories for our oceans in the past year, including the creation of several new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), such as the Bajos del Norte National Park in the Gulf of Mexico, a new MPA that Chile’s iconic Humboldt Archipelago, and two new MPAs here in the Mediterranean.
Belize has passed a historic “People Power” law that requires any decision to open its ocean to oil and gas drilling must first be voted on by the Belizean people through a national referendum.
The European Union has increased transparency at sea by creating a new database that makes public the activities of EU vessels fishing outside EU waters.
The EU now also requires all its fishing vessels, including 49,000 small-scale vessels, to have tracking systems.
And with their new sanctions system, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean can now sanction states that fail to tackle overfishing or illegal fishing by their fleets.
A new law in Peru strengthened protection of the first five nautical miles of the entire coast (one of the most productive ocean areas in the world), which is reserved exclusively for artisanal fishermen.
And in Brazil, following a 2018 law led by artisanal fishermen, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on bottom trawling along the coast of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, where more than 20,000 families depend on artisanal fishing for their livelihoods.
This is just a short list of recent achievements from around the world.
I want to thank Secretary Kerry for his role in catalyzing the wave of ocean action over the past decade since the first Our Ocean conference. His vision for a restored, healthy ocean helped bring the world together to meet these challenges.
If there’s one thing I learned from him, it’s that there is still hope for the oceans and for the future of our planet. The world could use more leaders like him today.
Ted Danson is an award-winning actor and board member of Oceana.
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