1. Managing the world’s oceans
A threatened resource
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

2. Oceans separate continents and are deep.
The ocean resource
Covering 70% of Earth’s surface, oceans are a key global resource.
Both ownership and management of the oceans is complex.
Once only used for transport and fishing, technology has allowed the energy potential of oceans to be developed in the last 50 years.
This includes oil, gas, offshore wind, tidal and wave power.
Oceans have become a major pollution sink for carbon dioxide, organic waste and garbage.
Oceans separate continents and are deep.
Seas are smaller, shallower bodies of water enclosed by land on two or more sides.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

3. Global commons
Much of the ocean is part of the global commons.
The commons are large resource pools which are not owned by nations and are used by everyone.
The atmosphere, oceans, polar regions (Antarctica and much of the Arctic Ocean) and outer space are examples.
Lack of ownership risks lack of management because no one is directly responsible if commons become degraded or polluted.
Just as the oceans have become a dumping ground for waste, so outer space has become littered with 500,000 pieces of ‘space junk’ — debris from old rockets and satellites.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017
Image source:

4. Exclusive Economic Zones
Nations do own and control some parts of the oceans.
Territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from a coastline.
These waters are sovereign territory.
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends up 200 nautical miles from a coast.
This can be extended if the ocean is shallow i.e. a continental shelf
A nation has sole rights to the ocean and seabed resources in its EEZ e.g. fish, oil and gas reserves
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

5. Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the international treaty that governs EEZs.
Most, but not all, countries have ratified UNCLOS and abide by its rules.
UNCLOS is under increasing pressure.
There are numerous disputes over EEZ limits especially in the South and East China Seas.
As technology allows resources to be exploited in ever deeper waters, the size of a nation’s EEZ becomes ever more important
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

6. Fish stocks
Lack of successful management of global fisheries has created a crisis in fish stocks.
Both EEZ fishing and fishing in international waters areunsustainable in many cases.
Many fisheries have collapsed or are close to this point due to over-fishing.
Some open-ocean fish such as Atlantic bluefin tuna are now endangered.
Attempts to add this fish to the CITES list failed in 2010.
Monitoring and policing fishing in international waters is costly and difficult, even when agreements on management and quotas have been reached.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

7. International Whaling Commission (IWC)
One relative success is the IWC.
Since 1982 there has been a global ban on whaling.
About ten countries continue to catch whales, but the number caught is small.
Norway and Japan have commercial whaling.
In Canada, Russia and the USA a small number of whales are caught annually by indigenous people such as the Inuit.
In 1994 the IWC established a Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary although Japan continues to hunt whales there.
Protected humpback whales feeding in Alaska.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

8. The Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean is managed through the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
This agreement is part of the Antarctic Treaty System.
It attempts to manage fishing around Antarctica, especially the fishing of krill which is important to the whole marine food-web.
More recently the sustainability of the Patagonian Toothfish fishery has been called into question.
Preventing illegal and unsustainable fishing in the harsh, isolated Southern Ocean is a major challenge.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

9. Global agreements
Various global agreements protect some aspects of the oceans: 
MARPOL, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, has been in force since 1973.
This bans dumping of waste and release of pollution from ships at sea.
Since 2005 it has included regulating air pollution from ships.
Some groups of countries, such as the EU, have supra-national fisheries policies but these are not widespread or always effective.
The International Seabed Authority manages ocean-floor mining.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

10. Future threats
The world’s oceans face a number of threats, which in most cases are not currently managed globally:
Increasing amounts of land-derived garbage in the oceans, especially plastics.
Widespread and continued over-fishing.
Acidification from increased carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans.
Increased use of the oceans for cruising and tourism, raising the risks of pollution incidents.
Disagreements over the extent of EEZs, leading to inter-state conflict.
An expansion of oil and gas drilling, and ocean-floor mining for minerals, as deep-sea technology improves.
Hodder & Stoughton 2017

11. This resource is part of Geography Review, a magazine written for A-level students by subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go to:  
Philip Allan Publishers © 2015