Our Ocean: Protecting the seas and marine resources globally
I mentioned US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his questionable ?peace? credentials in an earlier post. Kerry is on much firmer ground (or sea) when it comes to his involvement in the marine conservation movement globally.
The US has spearheaded a number of initiatives and hosted the ‘Our Ocean’ conference last month.
Ahead of the conference the New York Times journalist Ian Urbina published an article about how technology can make the seas globally more secure from illegal fishing and ensure that the term sustainable fishing really means something and also that small countries like those in the pacific and Indian Oceans with large sea areas can effectively police them without needing to maintain a vast coastguard or fishery protection infrastructure.
Ian?s article is at this link ?it is lengthy but well worth the full read:
The report on the ?Our Ocean? conference is here with a detailed outline of the agreements reached. There are interactive sections not least on the Marine Protected Areas now being created globally. Time will tell if this is a meaningful development or ? in the case of the old colonial powers ? simply a way of maintaining their influence in parts of the globe far removed from their shores (link):
Image: Vessels can be tracked digitally to ensure they don?t fish restricted areas satellite imagery can also expose transhipment of fish stocks to large refrigerated ?mother ships? at sea like the ?Lafayette? that we highlighted in an earlier post (related link):
BERNARD MOFFATT
pp Celtic League.
30/10/16
■