June Conference to Focus on ‘Our Ocean’

A coral reef ecosystem nestles in an eroded volcanic crater at a marine sanctuary in American Samoa.

Washington — The U.S. Department of State is organizing a June meeting to accelerate action on protecting the oceans.

“This incredible resource is threatened,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in an April 21 Internet announcement of the Our Ocean conference. “It’s threatened by unsustainable fishing, by pollution, by climate change. Indeed, how we respond to these challenges is literally going to help determine the future of our planet.”

Scientific experts from different regions will describe the challenges facing the world’s oceans during the June 16–17 meeting at State Department headquarters in Washington. They will be meeting with government officials, environmentalists and people representing ocean-dependent industries, such as fishing and tourism.

An important conference theme will be the need for collaborative action to properly protect this vast resource, which is essential to food security, human health and scientific advancement.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes the ocean as Earth’s largest habitat, containing 99 percent of the living space on the planet and supporting nearly 50 percent of all species on Earth. Flowing across more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface, the marine environment also regulates climate and weather.

Throughout history, humans have regarded the oceans as invulnerable to human action. Today, science has learned that many human activities are polluting and disrupting the marine environment to the point where long-term sustainability of many species is in doubt.

Although precise data is difficult to obtain, research indicates that more than 50 percent of the world’s fish populations are on the brink of decline without better management, and another 30 percent are overexploited and approaching collapse. Other research shows that as many as 90 percent of the large predator species — sharks and tuna, for example — are lost to overfishing, causing a serious disruption in the overall balance of ecosystems.

Fisheries support a $500 billion industry and provide the major source of essential dietary protein for 1 billion people. The need to protect fisheries for the future with the use of more sustainable practices today is a key issue the conferees will tackle.

Pollution will also be a major issue of concern at Our Ocean. Debris is one of the most widespread pollution problems facing the world's oceans and waterways, according to NOAA. Wastes and chemicals flowing into the ocean from land are less visible but also a major source of pollution and acidification.

Increasing acidity is also due to ocean absorption of excess carbon dioxide that humans have been pumping into the atmosphere since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. The oceans are 30 percent more acidic than they were about a century ago as they absorb roughly one-third of all carbon dioxide emitted into the air.

The oceans’ uptake of these gases is a short-term benefit in lowering atmospheric gas levels. In the long term, however, carbon absorption is changing seawater chemistry to a degree that could harm marine life and transform the ecosystem.

The conference will highlight practices being developed to counteract those trends and will attempt to build greater support for wider adoption of them.

The June meeting will showcase successful sustainable practices, but Kerry envisions the conference as a new start on a bigger effort.

“If we are going to pass on a livable ocean to the next generation, we need to act much more forcefully now,” he said in his April 21 announcement.