The decision goes against international agreements aimed at guaranteeing the health of the ocean
Some days ago, a proclamation declaring the opening to commercial fishing of the only marine monument of the east coast of US, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which is located off the coast of New England and occupies an area of 12,725 square kilometres, was signed.
The ICM regrets this decision, which represents the loss of one of the largest marine protected areas in the United States and goes against the efforts being made around the world to protect the oceans. We consider the decision a setback on the path to sustainable management of the oceans, which offers substantial improvements in protecting our coasts against storms and floods, helps us to reduce carbon levels in the atmosphere, improves the quality of waters and contributes to the preservation of biodiversity, in addition to encouraging the creation of jobs within the framework of a future economy.
Against international agreements
The opening of this marine monument to commercial fishing goes against various international agreements aimed at guaranteeing the health of the ocean for the well-being of our societies. Probably the most important agreement is the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14: “Life under the sea”), which was adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.
Measures in the SDG14 agreement include increasing the protected area of the ocean, which is in line with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the recommendations of the IPCC report published last year on the Cryosphere and the Ocean. It is precisely within this framework that the United Nations has declared the 'Decade of the Oceans', that will begin in 2021. Therefore, the opening to commercial fishing of this marine monument represents a serious setback for marine life, which in this area of the United States has been seriously affected for many years by trawl fishing.
Currently, only around 7% of the ocean surface is protected in some way and less than 1% enjoys complete protection, which is the one that provides the most effective conservation results. Climate change, which represents another additional threat to marine ecosystems, reinforces the need to increase marine protected areas, which according to the SDG14 should represent at least 10% of the ocean surface by the end of 2020. From the ICM we consider the opening to commercial fishing of the canyons and seamounts of the northeastern United States an unfortunate step backwards, a new wrong decision on the road towards a sustainable planet.