Do you know Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14)?
Overfishing
depletes fish stocks, a third of which are already overexploited. Land-based
pollutants, including plastic pollution and nutrient and sewage runoff,
adversely affect coastal habitats and communities. These changes have long-term
repercussions that require urgent scaling up of protection of marine
environments, investment in ocean science, and support for small-scale fishing communities
and the sustainable management of the oceans.
The
sustainability of our oceans demands renewed efforts to safeguard key
biodiversity areas
The
extent of marine protected areas has increased significantly, with 2020
coverage reaching 7.74 per cent of global coastal waters and oceans. The 10 per
cent target set for 2020 may still be met, because several sites planned for
designation in 2020 were delayed.
Between
2000 and 2020, the mean percentage of key biodiversity areas (KBAs) covered by
protected areas grew from 28 per cent to 44 per cent. However, increases have
plateaued, and coverage rose by only 1 percentage point over the last five
years. On average, over half of each KBA remains outside of any form of
protection.
Safeguarding
KBAs remains crucial to the sustainability of oceans. A recent example from the
South Atlantic used satellite tracking data for 14 species of seabirds and
seals to pinpoint breeding grounds and feeding sites crucial to the
preservation of these and other species.
This
information was used to revise the management of a marine protected area by
extending the closure of fisheries by two months and expanding several
permanent no-fishing zones, while allowing commercial fishing to occur in a
regulated manner.
The
number of dead zones in the world’s coastal waters is growing at an alarming
rate
Coastal
areas, home to almost 40 per cent of the world’s population, face growing risks
from eutrophication – excess nutrient loading into coastal environments
resulting from human activities. The primary drivers of eutrophication are
fertilizer run-off, livestock waste, sewage discharge, aquaculture and
atmospheric nitrogen emissions. Coastal eutrophication is detrimental to the
environment and coastal populations, and is associated with harmful algal
blooms, hypoxia, fish kills, seagrass die-off, loss of coral reef and nearshore
hard-bottom habitats, and health hazards to swimmers and fishers. The number of
dead zones worldwide – areas of water that lack sufficient oxygen to support
marine life – increased from around 400 in 2008 to approximately 700 in 2019.
Changes
in eutrophication can be indirectly monitored by analysing algal growth and
chlorophyll-a (the pigment that makes plants and algae green). Global satellite
data show that countries’ exclusive economic zones have higher levels of
chlorophyll-a compared with baseline values from 2000–2004. Still, there are
some signs of progress: the frequency of chlorophyll-a anomalies in countries’ exclusive
economic zones fell by 20 per cent from 2018 to 2020.
Efforts
to reduce nutrient inputs into coastal areas are yielding results in some
regions; however, algal blooms suggest that coastal eutrophication remains a
challenge.
Implementation
of international instruments to conserve and responsibly use ocean resources
remains uneven, highlighting the need for increased support
Achieving
Goal 14 requires the implementation of international instruments, through legal
and institutional frameworks, for the conservation and sustainable use of
oceans in a cross-sectoral and integrated manner. While progress has been made,
implementation varies among the instruments, highlighting the need for renewed effort
and increased support.
1982 United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its implementing agreements
To
date, 168 Parties (including the European Union) have ratified or acceded to
UNCLOS. In addition, Member States have also ratified or acceded to its
implementing agreements (150 Parties for the 1994 Part XI Agreement and 91
Parties for the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement). A large number of
States Parties to these treaties have taken steps to implement them through legal,
policy and institutional frameworks. However, the extent of ratification,
accession and implementation varies by country. Data collected in 2021 from 45
States and the European Union show that in terms of ratification and accession,
84 per cent of the countries score very high or high, and 16 per cent score low
or very low; with regard to implementation, 69 per cent score very high or
high, 12 per cent score medium, and 19 per cent score low or very low.
Effectively implementing UNCLOS and its implementing agreements requires understanding
existing bottlenecks for countries. Targeted and sustained capacity-development
initiatives, particularly for developing countries, are key to removing such
obstacles.
Agreement on Port State
Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated
Fishing
Fisheries
resources are frequently poached, leading to the collapse of local fisheries
and undermining efforts to manage fisheries sustainably. Part of the framework
developed over the past decades to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated
(IUU) fishing includes the Agreement on Port State Measures – the first binding
international agreement that specifically targets IUU fishing. The Agreement came
into force in 2016 and currently includes 66 Parties (including the European
Union). Its objective is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by
preventing vessels engaged in it from using ports and landing their catches.
Between 2018 and 2020, the average degree of implementation of international
instruments to combat IUU fishing improved, with the global composite measure
rising from 3/5 to 4/5 over this period. This slight improvement in the global
trend helps bring the target of eliminating IUU fishing closer to being met.
However,
more concerted efforts are needed.
Voluntary Guidelines for
Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and
Poverty Eradication
The
Voluntary Guidelines are an internationally agreed instrument that promotes
improved governance of small-scale fisheries, including in value chains,
post-harvest operations and trade. About half of countries worldwide have
adopted specific initiatives to support small-scale fishers. Such fishers
contribute about half of global fish catches in developing countries and employ
more than 90 per cent of the world’s capture fishers and fish workers, about half
of whom are women. These small-scale fishing communities are largely
marginalized and tend to have limited or disadvantaged access to resources and
markets. The situation is compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, which has
triggered reduced global demand and transportation restrictions.
Since
2015, most regions have expanded the adoption of regulatory frameworks that
support small-scale fisheries and promote participatory decision-making.
Globally, the average composite score for implementation of these frameworks
improved from 3/5 to 4/5 between 2018 and 2020. At the regional level, Northern
Africa and Western Asia reflects this leap, while Central and Southern Asia reduced
its regional score from 3/5 to 2/5, highlighting the need for redoubled
efforts. While countries’ commitment is gaining traction, increased support for
small-scale fishers is critical in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Funding
for marine research pales in comparison to the enormous economic contribution
of the world’s oceans
Marine
research can be expensive and logistically challenging, requiring advanced
technologies and equipment, research vessels and specially designed sensors and
facilities. However, the proportion of gross domestic expenditure on research
and development devoted to ocean science is decidedly smaller than that of
other major fields of research and innovation. On average, only 1.2 per cent of
national research budgets were allocated for ocean science between 2013 and 2017,
with shares ranging from around 0.02 per cent to 9.5 per cent. This proportion
is miniscule compared with the modestly estimated $1.5 trillion contribution of
the ocean to the global economy in 2010.
The
United States of America reported the highest budget for ocean and coastal
activities, a figure that includes ocean science, as well as other ocean and
coastal government programmes ($12 billion), followed by Japan ($600 million)
and Australia ($511 million) in 2017.
The
full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ocean science is still unknown.
Immediate effects have included dramatic reductions in ocean observations with
almost all research vessels called to home ports. Mooring arrays (buoys and
moored systems with instruments and communication equipment) are at risk of
failure, threatening long-lasting repercussions for international ocean
research.
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