Press Release: Urgent coordinated action is needed to restore the health of the world’s oceans says panelists attending Global summit on oceans.

Press Release: Urgent coordinated action is needed to restore the health of the world’s oceans says panelists attending Global summit on oceans.
Friday 25th April 2014.

Urgent coordinated action is needed to restore the health of the world’s oceans and secure the long-term well-being and food security of a growing global population. That is a key message of an international summit which being held in  The Hague, the Netherlands. Prof. Rolph Payet, Minister for Environment and Energy  is attending the High-level gathering which is focusing on identifying solutions for healthy oceans.
Ministers and senior representatives from Governments, the fishing industry, coastal communities, science and civil society attended the Global Oceans Action Summit for Food Security and Blue Growth from the 22nd  to the 25th  April, which aims to bring global attention and increased investment into addressing the three key threats to ocean health and food security: overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution.
“Joint urgent action of the global community is needed to address the threats facing our oceans”, said H.E Sharon Dijksma, minister for Agriculture of the Netherlands, who is hosting the summit. “Local innovations to balance ecology and economy at sea must be identified and put into practice in other regions. The Global Oceans Action Summit in The Hague provides the opportunity to make a difference.”

On his side Minister Rolph Payet, says that Seychelles is well ahead  in transforming towards a blue economy. In a special Panel Session with Zenab Badawi, of the BBC News, Prof. Payet called on the world to manage the oceans from an ocean perspective and not from a land perspective.

On average, 17 percent of global animal protein intake comes from fisheries and aquaculture, and demand for fish protein is expected to double in the next 20 years, yet some 28 percent of global stocks are already overfished. At the same time, climate change is threatening biodiversity, altering habitats and changing the productivity of our fisheries.
Over 500 delegates are attending the Summit, including more than 60 ministers, CEOs and leaders from civil society. Hosted by the Government of the Netherlands, the Summit is co-organized by the World Bank, FAO and the Governments of Grenada, Indonesia, Mauritius, Norway and the United States of America.
The Summit will focus on some of the underlying causes that have led to the overfishing, increased marine pollution and loss of critical habitat as well as potential solutions. This means balancing the demand for growth with the need for conservation of marine areas; addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the high seas and within national exclusive economic zones; and ensuring private sector growth does not come at the expense of protecting the livelihoods of local communities.
Additional information:
•    80 percent of all life on the planet is found in oceans
•    The oceans provide half of the planet’s oxygen
•    Blue carbon sinks (mangrove forests, seagrass beds, other vegetated ocean habitats) can sequester up to five times as much carbon as tropical forests
•    More than 40 percent of the global population lives within 100 km of the coast
•    13 of the world’s 20 megacities lie along coasts
•    Nearly 700 million people live in low lying coastal areas less than 10 metres above sea level
•    10 to 12 percent of the world’s population is dependent on fisheries and aquaculture for livelihoods.
•    Over 90 percent of the 58.3 million people engaged in the primary fisheries and aquaculture sector work in small-scale fisheries.
•    The impact of IUU fishing is estimated at $10-23.5 billion annually.
•    Potential economic gain from restoring fish stocks is estimated at $50 billion a year.