The Global Ocean Commission, a group made up of 17 former heads of state, government, ministers and business leaders, on Tuesday released a report calling on world leaders to adopt a 5-year plan for ocean protection.
Consisting of eight proposals, the integrated global ocean rescue package identifies a lack of adequate governance as the key issue and calls for the negotiation of a new agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to prioritize ocean health and resilience, restore ocean productivity, guard against IUU fishing and allow for the creation of high seas marine protected areas (MPAs).
“The current lack of high seas governance, together with invisibility in political debate, is resulting in mismanagement of resources, lost revenue and global inequity,” the commission said.
In addition, the report calls upon UN member states and relevant stakeholder to agree to a stand-alone Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on ocean sustainability. The commission said doing so will put a ocean conservation at the heart of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.
The commission’s proposals also call for mandatory tracking of all vessels fishing in the high seas, a ban on the transshipment of fish at sea, measures to end plastics pollution, and binding standards for the regulation and control of offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation.
“Failure to take collective responsibility for ocean health within five years should trigger consideration by the international community of designating the high seas as a regeneration zone, said the commission. “With the objective of fish stock recovery, this would mean the prevention of industrial fishing in high seas areas where Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are ineffective.”
