The oceans are home to an immense diversity of life, with its own intrinsic value. They also are a global commons with an important role in maintaining the planet's life-support processes and in providing resources, transportation and ecological servi ces for all. The oceans receive pollutants from all land areas and from at-sea activities (e.g., vessel-source pollution, offshore oil and gas facility discharges, ocean dumping), and the coasts historically have been sites for intensive human developmen t, concentrating the effects of human activities on beaches, wetlands, bays, coastal lagoons, mangroves, coral reefs and coastal waters.

The world's oceans have been exhibiting clear signs of stress as a result of human activities for many years. Many species of marine fish have been overexploited and many fisheries, especially small-scale and artisanal fisheries, are in decline as a r esult of the excess capacity, overcapitalization and destructive fishing practices of large-scale and distant water fleets, among other causes. Highly productive and biologically diverse marine habitats such as wetlands, estuaries and coral reefs are suf fering from the effects of wholesale destruction and pollution, while coastal communities suffer losses of economic output and ecological services such as shoreline protection. Massive oil spills and chronic oil pollution have killed enormous numbers of sea birds, marine mammals and other marine organisms.

Even the fundamental engine of ocean productivity, primary production of phytoplankton, is being damaged by the increased intensity and altered composition of ultraviolet radiation caused by the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. Many marine ecosystems face a serious threat from the increased rates of sea level rise, increased temperatures, and other climatic changes projected to result from the accumulations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The mass coral bleaching that occurred aroun d the world in the 1980s illustrates the sensitivity of corals to even slight increases in temperature.

Clearly, a diverse array of effective actions are required at the global, regional, national and local levels. By no means are the following international issues areas and recommendations an exhaustive list of concerns. They do, though, address seve ral issues meriting urgent attention.

While recognizing that the "Year of the Ocean" offers numerous other opportunities to focus attention on critical issues - such as Expo '98 in Lisbon, Portugal, the report of the Independent World Commission on the Oceans, a likely special UN General A ssembly plenary session in the autumn, regional and national initiatives - the environmental community and the public at large expect concrete outcomes that can be measured in terms of effective gains for the sustainability and viability of marine ecosyst ems. The action list, below, represents the kind of measurable outcomes that the public would expect - beyond talk - as a basis for judging the success or failure of the "Year of the Ocean."

I. Precautionary Approach: Most international fora have acknowledged the need for a precautionary approach to ensure the integrity, productivity, protection and diversity of marine ecosystems and marine life, in recognition of 1) the uncertainties ass ociated with environmental risk assessments due to the complexity and diversity of living ecosystems, 2) the quantity, diversity and complexity of chemical compounds entering the environment, and 3) the need to limit levels of fishing effort and the impac t of fishing on marine populations to ensure that the character of the marine ecosystem is not appreciably altered by those activities. The principle of precaution prescribes that appropriate preventative measures are taken when there is reason to believ e that an anthropogenic activity such as the introduction of substances or energy in the environment, or the extraction of marine species (including non-target species), is likely to cause harm, even when there is not conclusive evidence to prove a causal relation between the actions and their effects. The precautionary approach has been incorporated into numerous instruments pertinent to marine environmental protection, including the 1996 London Convention Protocol, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, th e Earth Summit's Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Principle 15) and Agenda 21 (17.1, et. seq.), OSPAR and Barcelona conventions. Despite these noteworthy developments, some governments still resist efforts to embrace this essential approac h, and many governments have failed to implement effectively its intent at regional and national levels in relation to ocean pollution and marine life.

1. Governments should support actively the effective implementation of the precautionary approach at home and in other countries that are members of global and regional regimes dealing with marine environment, ecosystems, fisheries and other marine lif e, promoting effective application so as to help crystallize important linkages among diverse, but connected, initiatives involving the marine realm.

II. Fisheries/Aquaculture: There is a global fisheries crisis. Nearly three-fourth's of the population's of all commercially fished species in every ocean and sea are depleted, fully-exploited or over-exploited. Part of the problem derives from the fact that the capacity of the world's fishing fleet greatly exceeds the amount of fish that can be caught on a sustainable basis. Too many boats, especially large-scale, industrial trawlers, longliners and purse-seiners are chasing too few fish, often u sing subsidies paid from tax dollars. As a result, many fish species, such as the Southern Bluefin Tuna, are depleted to dangerously low levels of abundance. In addition, high levels of bycatch, waste and discards are rampant in fisheries worldwide as a result of the widespread use of non-selective fishing gears and techniques, with far too little attention given to this issue. Even in the case of high seas driftnet fishing, where governments, under the auspices of the United Nations, agreed by consensu s (Resolution 46/215) to halt this notoriously wasteful and destructive fishing practice five years ago, some countries (e.g., Italy) continue to allow the use of illegal nets. On another front, governments are failing to protect coastal and marine ecos ystems from the destructive impacts of aquaculture. In particular, the rapid expansion in development of intensive aquaculture for high value species such as shrimp and salmon has resulted in widespread degradation of the environment and displacement of coastal fishing and farming communities. (Note: Greenpeace's "Principles and Guidelines for Ecologically Responsible Fisheries" will be available in early 1998.)

2. The capacity of the world's large-scale, industrial fishing fleet - comprised of factory trawlers, longliners and other large, multi-purpose fishing vessels - must be cut by at least 50% by 2005.

3. Subsidies must be eliminated for destructive fishing practices, large-scale factory trawlers and distant water fleets, and new fishing vessel construction. Fishing vessel decommissioning schemes must be established or strengthened, reflagging and flag of convenience vessels must be prevented from fishing, the "export" of large-scale vessels from northern to southern countries' waters must be halted

4. The UN Agreement on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks must be urgently ratified and effectively implemented by all fishing nations. Similarly, the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries must be effectively put into practice.

5. All governments should honor the UN's moratorium on the use of large-scale pelagic driftnets, demanding a total ban on their use as well as the confiscation and destruction or recycling of the thousands of tonnes of illegal driftnets still in exist ence.

6. A global, open-ended moratorium should be adopted, as part of the Year of the Ocean, on any further expansion of shrimp aquaculture development unless it is both ecologically sound and socially equitable. Governments, in collaboration with the FAO , must ensure that dependent coastal communities and artisanal fisheries are not adversely affected by aquaculture development, prohibit the development and use of genetically manipulated and exotic species, and guarantee that aquaculture development prot ects mangrove forests, wetlands and other ecologically sensitive coastal areas. Proponents of intensive aquaculture must accept responsibility for demonstrating that proposed projects will have no significant impacts on the environment or on local biodiv ersity.

7. Within the Antarctic/Southern Ocean region, governments must act to halt the illegal and unregulated fishing, which is at least 10 times as great as the regulated fishery. The impacts on commercial species (e.g., Patagonian toothfish) and on bycat ch (e.g., albatross, petrels and sharks) is completely unsustainable. Strong enforcement measures, including severe sanctions, are needed by the 23 Member States within the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) , a s well as by other States responsible for such illegal fishing practices. Similarly, the fishery for Southern Bluefin Tuna, a species threatened with extinction, must be suspended until the species recovers and the "bykill" of endangered albatross and ot her species is eliminated.

III. Whales/Marine Mammals: After plundering the great whales for centuries, the nations of the world came together and signed the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, 1946. During its first two decades, the Convention served in a monitoring capacity, keeping records of total whale kills reported to it, but despite the efforts of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to control whaling, whale stocks continued to decline. In 1972, the UN Conference on the Human Environment, i n Stockholm, called for a moratorium on commercial whaling. Ten years later, the IWC enacted a moratorium on commercial whaling that went into effect in 1986. Today that moratorium is threatened - by countries not honoring the moratorium (most notably N orway) and by countries that use "scientific research" as a cover for killing whales for commercial purposes (most notably Japan). Unless firm action is taken to bring the situation under control, unregulated whaling looks set to increase even further.

8. Government members at the May 1998 50th anniversary of the IWC need to seriously consider reforms to the IWC policies and programs that include, at a minimum, the following elements: 1) maintaining the current moratorium on commercial whaling, 2) establishing a global ocean sanctuary for whales, 3) immediately stopping the continuing increases in the annual number of whales killed, and decreasing those numbers in the future, 4) ensure that the evasion of IWC regulations through "scientific" whaling, such as the current scientific whaling by Japan, is phased out rapidly, and 5) ensuring an effective ban on international trade in whale products.

IV. Toxic/Hazardous Wastes: During the 1990s, significant steps have been taken to halt and reverse ocean contamination from toxic waste dumping and other polluting activities. These include steps taken within the global London Convention to ban ocean dumping and seabed burial of radioactive and industrial wastes, and ocean incineration, the Basel Convention prohibition on OECD-to-non-OCED transboundary hazardous waste movement, and UNEP's Governing Council commitment to negotiate a global treaty by 2000 to reduce and eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs). But key governments need to commit to those decisions, ensuring that responsible steps forward are taken. Marine pollution from land-based activities ("point" and "diffuse" sources from r ivers, estuaries and coasts) is thought to represent as much as 90% of all marine pollution inputs world wide. Yet there are far too little efforts to eliminate contaminants at their source. At the same time, unacceptable ocean dumping practices continue on several fronts, including the dumping of oil platforms and other offshore installations, as well as contaminated dredge spoils.

9. Governments must ratify expeditiously and promote early entry into force of the 1996 London Convention Protocol, a regime which incorporates a precautionary approach, the polluter pays principle, and other measures intended to enhance protection o f the marine environment. Regional agreements adopted since 1992 to reduce or eliminate marine pollution (e.g., the North East Atlantic "OSPAR" Convention, or the Mediterranean Barcelona Convention as amended in 1995, and its new protocols) also must ent er into force during the "Year of the Ocean," if governments are truly serious about putting their words into action.

10. Within the revised London Convention Protocol, Governments must take steps to implement effectively the Waste Assessment Framework (WAF), including requirements for waste prevention audits (WPAs) for all wastes containing dredged materials, with a view toward reducing the contamination of sewage sludge and marine sediments.

11. The dumping of decommissioned oil platforms and other offshore installations at sea should be banned at the upcoming Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Commission Ministerial Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, 20-24 July 1998. In the North Sea, alone, several hundre ds of offshore installations are expected to be decommissioned in the years to come. An "integrated removal strategy" on land provides excellent business opportunities (via "forward contracting" of recyclable steel).

V. Radioactive Discharges: The Year of the Ocean provides the opportunity for all governments to comply with principle No. 2 of "The Principles of Radioactive Waste Management," (IAEA Safety Series No. 111/F, 1995), inter alia, that radioactive waste shall be managed in order to provide an acceptable level of protection of the environment, including the need to keep releases to the minimum possible, and that the preferred approach to radioactive waste management is concentration and containment rather than dilution and dispersion in the environment. With their 3 nuclear reprocessing facilities, which account for 90% of all discharges and emissions into the marine environment in Europe, France and the United Kingdom, together with their "client states ," do not comply with this principle. Even the UK and French governments have acknowledged in 1997 that these nuclear reprocessing facilities at La Hague, Sellafield and Dounreay were causing unacceptable marine pollution.

12. The Ministerial Conference of the OSPAR Commission (20-24 July 1998, Lisbon) must adopt an objective and strategy for zero discharge of radioactive wastes into the marine environment.

VI. Nuclear Transport at Sea: Despite the concerns expressed for many years, transport by sea of plutonium, spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste continues with insufficient control and regulation. The Joint IMO/IAEA/UNEP "Inf." Code of Conduct on such maritime transport remains incomplete and not mandatory.

13. The IMO, through Member States, must comply with its commitment (dating back to 1993) to improve the Code of Conduct on the carriage by sea of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high level radioactive waste. The Code must be comprehensive, in particular including new provisions to address issues of prior notification and consultation of coastal states, emergency-response requirements, and the unresolved issues of states' liability, among others, and the final result must be made mandatory.

VII. Climate Change: Despite the failure of governments to agree effective actions in Kyoto in December 1997, the fact remains that the world's ecosystems and social structures are threatened by climate change. The greatest single threat comes from f ossil fuels. To stay within ecological limits, identified by scientists advising the UN, less than half of all known fossil fuel reserves can be burned. Stopping the expansion of industrialized country fossil fuel reserves, including but not limited to those identified in marine and coastal areas, is the logical first step in the longer term phasing out of fossil fuels.

14. Governments planning to develop coastal or offshore oil fields should cancel those plans, announcing such moves as the start of their shift to a genuinely sane energy path. Putting off limits the deeper oceans, the Arctic and new coastal areas, w hich are being explored and developed, as well as other existing oil fields, would help send a strong message that the world's oil addiction must stop. Instead, a sane energy path would entail diverse initiatives, including conservation measures and supp ort for major shifts to alternative energy sources, e.g., a commitment to converting or building tens of thousands of homes to be powered by solar electric within the next 10 years by redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to solar power.

VIII. Vessel Source Pollution: Oil spills from tankers are one of the many devastating consequences of world dependence on oil and other fossil fuels as a major energy source. The U.S. and other nations of the world must take expedited steps to reduc e, substantially, their reliance on such fuels, given the damaging environmental impacts and other impacts and risks associated with such energy sources. Decreased reliance on fossil fuels will not only help abate climate change by reducing CO2 emissions , but also will contribute to reducing risks of marine spills. Similar actions are needed with respect to the marine transport of other hazardous and noxious substances.

15. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), with its maritime transport mandate, should pursue - through Member State initiatives in the Assembly, committees (e.g., MEPC, MSC and LEG) and other subsidiary bodies - every opportunity to find cons tructive ways to help reduce reliance on fossil fuels. At the same time, the IMO should develop minimum standards for effective environmental protection in all offshore oil and gas activities; ensure the comprehensive regulation (through various instrume nts) of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) facilities and Floating Storage Units (FSUs); apply all IMO discharge limitation criteria under all Marpol annexes to all offshore oil and gas activities; and amend Annex VI of Marpol (air polluti on) to include greenhouse gases.

16. The IMO, through its Member States, should designate the Arctic as a "particularly sensitive sea area" (PSSA) for the purpose of restricting vessel traffic/discharges and oil and gas activities - that also could serve as a "climate impact" zone gi ven its key role in regulating global temperature and ocean circulation patterns, and as a sink for greenhouse gases; it should develop more broadly an inventory of potential PSSAs worldwide, including the initiation of a systematic review of each area fo r formal designation; and it should adopt specific navigation/ships' routing measures for protection of the Northern Right Whale population in the Atlantic Ocean.

17. Within the IMO, governments should call for the negotiation, adoption and entry into force by 2001 of a new global liability and compensation instrument for pollution from ships' bunker fuels, with broad environmental damage provisions that reflec t the significant adverse impact of such fuel as a CO2 source and major polluter.

18. Governments should call for strengthened international requirements for liability, compensation and financial responsibility for oil (and other hazardous and noxious substance) spills, including joint and several unlimited liability, broader cover age for environmental damage, narrowing or rejecting defenses to liability, and protection of countries' rights to retain or enact more stringent liability standards.

19. Governments should agree a ban on the use of organotin-based anti-foulants (includes TBT) by 2000.

IX. Law of the Sea Treaty: The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which came into force in November 1996 and has, to date, been ratified or acceded to by 122 countries, establishes an important foundation for the further development and impleme ntation of effective measures for sustainable ocean use. Despite the growing number of countries which have become parties to the Convention, several major maritime countries (e.g., U.S., Canada, Peru, Liberia) remain conspicuously absent from the list of States Parties. The Convention's benefits are substantial, with basic duties for all States to protect and preserve the marine environment and to conserve marine living species, providing a benchmark for the further progressive development of ocean-rela ted international law and policy. Given increasing stresses on oceans and ocean life, as discussed elsewhere in this Statement, States' duties clearly must include ending outdated ideas of the oceans as a waste bin, unsustainable fisheries practices, and ill-considered offshore oil and gas drilling or seabed mining, among other destructive human impacts on the ocean.

20. All governments which have not yet ratified or acceded to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea should do so as soon as possible.

21. The International Seabed Authority, through its Member States, must ensure that no ISA-approved seabed mining occurs unless and until strong, sound and effective environmental regulations have been adopted with respect to prospecting, exploration and exploitation for polymetallic nodules in the "Area."

X. Marine Biodiversity: Marine and coastal biodiversity serves as the foundation of the natural ecosystems that produce and maintain fisheries and other marine life. As addressed elsewhere in this statement, marine biodiversity is increasingly under threat as a result of human activities causing harmful and sometimes irreversible damage. While the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) provides a critical global framework for focusing attention and action for conservation and protection of marine biodiversity, an effective CBD-linked program of action (based on the "Jakarta Mandate") needs to be adopted at the CBD's Fourth Conference of Parties (COP-4) in Bratislava, Slovakia from 4-15 May 1998. In addition to the fisheries and POPs concerns addr essed elsewhere, such an action program needs to address issues involving the introduction of alien, invasive species, the need for research, and the importance of establishing a comprehensive network of marine protected areas.

22. Governments should take the necessary steps within the IMO and other international fora, as well as nationally, to prevent the introduction of alien species, including genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the marine environment.

23. The UN system, governments and the private sector should provide sufficient resources - human, technological and financial - to encourage natural and social scientists to undertake marine conservation biology research that is needed to protect, re store and sustainably use life in the oceans.

24. Government members of the CBD and other global regimes, as well as regional and national marine-related regimes, should devote much more attention and effort to identifying, designating and managing marine protected areas that will 1) protect end angered species, 2) maintain and restore viable populations of native species, 3) maintain and restore communities, habitats, nesting and breeding areas, and genetic diversity, 4) exclude human-caused species introductions, and 5) provide buffer zones to allow species distribution to shift in relation to environmental or human-caused change.

For the above issues, among others, our organization will continue to work with like-minded individuals, organizations, governments, businesses and others toward achieving a "greener and more peaceful planet." In doing so, we are very cognizant of the fact that developing countries require and deserve assistance in achieving those goals. Toward that end, it is essential that more effective measures and mechanisms be implemented in relation to financing, technology transfer and capacity building. Like wise, special attention needs to be given to a range of institutional issues, e.g., interagency coordination (including prioritization and rationalization of work), "ombudsperson" arrangements for key agencies and programs, and strengthened oversight, com pliance and enforcement mechanisms and sanctions.

Greenpeace International stands ready to participate in discussions on these and other issues, and will critique, support and propose helpful ways forward, such that the "Year of the Ocean" can really make a meaningful, lasting contribution to the long -term health and viability of the world's oceans.

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