Chapter 1 - Preamble

Section 1 - Social & Economic Dimensions

Section 2 - Conservation and Management of Resources
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22

Section 3 - Strengthening the Role of Major Groups

Section 4 - Means of Implementation

Complete text of Agenda 21: Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Protecting and Managing the Oceans

The oceans, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, are an essential part of the global life-support system. They cover much of the earth’s surface, influence climate, weather and the state of the atmosphere and provide food and other resources for our growing world population.

The Law of the Sea provides an international basis for the protection and sustainable use of the seas. However, oceans are under increasing environmental stress from pollution, over-fishing and degradation of coastlines and coral reefs.

About 70 per cent of marine pollution comes from sources on land, including towns and cities, industry, construction, agriculture, forestry and tourism.

The contaminants that pose the greatest threat to the marine environment are sewage, chemicals, sediments, litter and plastics, metals, radioactive wastes and oil. Some of these materials are toxic, slow to break down in the environment, and accumulate in living creatures. There is currently no global scheme to address marine pollution from land-based sources.

Pollution also comes from shipping and dumping at sea. About 600,000 tons of oil enter the oceans each year as a result of normal shipping operations, accidents and illegal discharges.

Nations commit themselves to control and reduce degradation of the marine environment to maintain and improve its life-support and productive capacities. It is necessary to:

• Anticipate and prevent further degradation of the marine environment and reduce the risk of long-term or irreversible effects on the oceans.
• Ensure prior assessment of activities that may have significant adverse impacts on the seas.
• Make marine environmental protection part of general environmental, social and economic development policies.
• Apply the "polluter pays" principle, and use economic incentives to reduce pollution of the seas.
• Improve the living standards of coastal-dwellers, particularly in developing countries, so people can help to protect the coastal and marine environment.

Nations need to build and maintain sewage-treatment systems, and avoid discharging sewage near shell fisheries, water intakes and bathing areas. Industrial discharges also need to be controlled and properly treated.

Countries should change sewage-and-waste-management, agricultural practices, mining, construction and transportation to control the run-off of pollutants from diffuse sources.

Countries should consider:

• Reducing or eliminating discharges of synthetic chemicals that threaten to accumulate to dangerous levels in marine life.
• Controlling and reducing toxic-waste discharges, and setting up safe land-based waste disposal systems instead of dumping at sea.
• Stricter international regulations to reduce the risk of accidents and pollution from cargo ships.
• Controlling discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus that threaten to disrupt the marine environment by fertilizing excessive plant growth.
• Developing land-use practices that reduce run-off of soil and wastes to rivers, and thus to the seas.
• Using environmentally less harmful pesticides and fertilizers, and prohibiting those that are environmentally unsound. Using alternative methods for pest control.

Stopping Ocean dumping and the incineration of hazardous wastes at sea. Ports, marinas and fishing harbours should collect oil and chemical wastes and garbage. Pollution from ships should be controlled by stronger regulations.

Parts of the marine environment, such as coral reefs, mangroves and estuaries, are among the most highly diverse and productive of the Earth’s ecosystems. They protect coastlines and contribute to food, energy, tourism and economic development. In many parts of the world these ecosystems are under stress or are threatened. Nations need to protect these ecosystems by such methods as controlling and preventing coastal erosion and silting, due to land uses such as construction.

Marine fisheries yield 80 to 90 million tons of fish and shellfish per year, 95 per cent of which is taken from waters under national jurisdiction. Fish landings have increased nearly fivefold over the past 40 years.

There are increases in over fishing, unauthorized incursions by foreign fleets, ecosystem degradation and in inappropriate equipment that catches too many fish. There is inadequate knowledge of the state of fish stocks, and too little cooperation among nations to prevent over-fishing on the high seas. Countries need to deal with highly migratory fish stocks and those which swim across the boundaries of national economic zones, particularly into the high seas.

Nations commit themselves to the conservation and sustainable use of marine life, including fish and marine mammals, which include whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals.

Nations should:

• Set policies for sustainable use of the seas, accounting for the needs of local communities and indigenous people.
• Develop more aquaculture, in which fish are raised in pens in the sea.
• Negotiate international agreements to manage and conserve fish.
• Strengthen surveillance and enforcement of fisheries regulations.
• Reduce wastage in the catching, handling and processing of fish, and minimize the catches of other species that are often discarded.
• Assess the environmental impact of major new fishery practices, and use environmentally sound fishing technologies.
• Prohibit dynamiting, poisoning and comparable destructive fishing practices.
• Protect certain areas, including coral reefs, estuaries, mangroves and wetlands, seagrass beds and other marine spawning and nursery areas.
• Deter the reflagging of vessels as a way of avoiding compliance with fishery conservation rules.
• Control the use of large-scale drift-net fishing on the high seas.

Global warming caused by climate change is likely to cause sea levels to rise, and even a small increase could cause significant damage to small islands and low-lying coasts. Precautionary measures should be undertaken to diminish the risks and effects, particularly on small islands and low-lying and coastal areas. Already, more than half the world’s population lives within 60 kilometres of the seashore, and this could rise to three quarters by the year 2020.

Small-island developing states are particularly vulnerable, and some could be totally lost to a rise in sea levels. Most tropical islands are now experiencing the more immediate impacts of increasing frequency of cyclones, storms and hurricanes associated with climate change. They need assistance to prepare contingency plans for sea level rise.

Tropical islands are home to many unique species of plant and animal life, and they have rich and diverse cultures with knowledge of the sound management of island resources. Development options for such nations are limited by their small size and they need to:

• Investigate their carrying capacity: the level of use their ecosystems can support over the long term.
• Prepare sustainable development plans that emphasize multiple use of resources, integrate environmental and economic planning, maintain cultural and biological diversity, and conserve endangered species and critical marine habitats.
• Review and modify existing unsustainable policies and practices, and identify technologies that should be excluded because they threaten essential island ecosystems.

Other countries and international organizations should assist small island developing nations to plan and implement sustainable development.

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