December 8, 1998
Web posted at: 12:40 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

The oceans today are threatened by overfishing, marine pollution, bottom trawling and global climate change.

(ENN) -- As delegates arrive in London for an international meeting on sustainable development, the World Wide Fund for Nature is voicing concern for the ocean and warns that a lack of political will by the world's governments may be the biggest threat to the worlds' oceans.

"The world's oceans are in a perilous state," said WWF's Director General Dr Claude Martin. "While some governments made measurable progress during the past 12 months, most governments failed to take the critical steps needed to manage this last wild frontier and to ensure that its resources are safeguarded for future generations."

The agenda for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development's annual meeting, scheduled for April 1999, is being developed during the meeting this week in London. WWF is calling for problems such as overfishing and marine pollution to be placed high on the agenda and for governments to commit to implementing a global network of marine protected areas.

The oceans today are threatened by overfishing, marine pollution, bottom trawling and global climate change. The United Nations designated 1998 as the Year of the Ocean and there have been many meetings and pronouncements calling for reform, but not a lot of action, WWF says. The organization is concerned that the issue will fade from governments' radar screens once the Year of the Ocean concludes.

Some governments have made concrete advances. Ecuador passed a law to strengthen the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which extends 40 miles offshore and outlaws industrial fishing in this area. In Turkey, the government established six new marine protected areas to help safeguard the endangered Mediterranean monk seals, and Portugal declared two new marine protected areas earlier this year. Canada announced new measures to protect the Gully, an underwater canyon off Newfoundland.

On the upside internationally, governments agreed to a timetable to phase out toxic pollutants known as organotins, which are used in anti-fouling paints on ships and known to affect marine biodiversity worldwide. However, the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement -- which sets new guidelines for high seas fishing -- has still not been ratified by the majority of the world's leading fishing nations. The European Commission has ratified the treaty, but it will not take effect until each of the European Union member states has followed suit.

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