Biologist proposes increasing ocean protection to increase fishing

2023-07-07 12:46:45

The increase to 30% of the oceans would contribute to “repopulating the rest of the sea” and would allow the capture of approximately 12% more fish globally, the biologist said today. Enric Sala, before the Organization of American States (OAS).

As agreed, in December 2022 during the biodiversity summit in Montreal (Canada), more than 190 countries have pledged to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030but currently only 8% of the sea globally is protected and only 3% is fully protected.

Henry Sala, Marine Biologist and National Geographic Explorerargued before the OAS, that the highest priority areas are within the so-called Exclusive Economic Zonein reference to the 200 nautical miles over which each coastal country has jurisdiction, according to the AFP agency.

During an extraordinary meeting of the Permanent Council dedicated to “Ocean and marine biodiversity in the face of climate change,” the expert said that “if we protect the right areas, those areas can help repopulate the rest of the sea” and He gave as an example, what happened in Cabo Pulmo in northwestern Mexico“which became a protected area at the request of local fishermen who saw that they were running out of fish.”

«We went in 1999 and it was an underwater desert but when we returned 10 years following the protection everything had changed, that area had become a paradise pristine with an abundance of marine life, including large fish such as groupers or sharks,” Sala said.

The cost of protecting 30% of the sea rises to regarding 20,000 million dollars. “It seems like a lot of money, but it is the same money that the countries of the world use to subsidize overfishing,” said the biologist, who added that “protecting 30% is only a milestone and that the goal is to reach 45%.”

Telam Agency

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