Oceans [English] Debates

About this book

Language: English, also available in Frenc

The oceans cover 71% of the earth's surface and three-quarters of the world's population live on or near the oceans shores. For a long time the deepest parts of the oceans were thought not to contain any substantial life form; however, we now know that they have a biological diversity that is infinitely richer than that of the land.

Man lives from the sea, but at the same time subjects it to enormous pressure. Pollution, either from sources on land or linked to the exploitation of the sea‘s resources, is seriously affecting the quality of both the water and its environment. In order to preserve the quality of the sea's resources, fisheries management policies must take into account not only economic, biological and environmental aspects of this problem, but also its social aspects.

Marine science and technology research on, for example, fisheries and fish stocks, biodiversity, the ocean's moderation of the greenhouse effect, undersea exploration and coastal management, all play a significant role in the formulation of policies for long-term management of the sea's biological resources.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recommends the creation of a European maritime agency which would develop a coherent global policy which takes into account the ocean's many functions and uses. Oceans explores all of these ideas, reviews all the legal instruments linked to the exploitation of the oceans, and details the new trends in the international law of the sea – the sea "which belongs to no one".
 

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