Covering more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface, our oceans were once thought to be an inexhaustible resource, too vast to be damaged by the actions of humans. But we have removed such huge numbers of fish and destroyed so many other kinds of sea life that we now know we have the capacity to pluck the sea bare. We have carved up our coastlines to make room for housing, hotels, roads and fish farms, and allowed our waterways to be dumping grounds for toxins and other waste.

From icy seas to warm tropical waters, more than two-thirds of the world's fisheries have been fully exploited or overfished. Billions of pounds of fish each year are wasted as unwanted "bycatch" (catch tossed overboard, dead or dying, because of regulatory mandates and lack of market), and hundreds of thousands of seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine life are also killed through destructive and inefficient fishing practices.

The recent explosion in fish farming to satiate our growing appetite for seafood is polluting our coastal waters with fish waste, antibiotics and other pollutants. Runoff from farms, animal feedlots and streets has created huge "dead zones" in many bays and some estuaries, where few life forms survive. Our oceans are in trouble -- but with the right tools we can reverse this decline. Environmental Defense has long sought practical solutions to revitalizing our marine waters and sea life. Our Oceans Alive campaign is dedicated to protecting and restoring this vital web of life.

1. Ocean and Coastal Habitats
2. Failing Fisheries
3. Dead Zones
4. Pollution
5. Oceans Management
6. Conservation Laws
7. Ocean Ecosystems

1.  Ocean and Coastal Habitats

All around the United States, habitats essential to fish production and ecosystem health -- estuaries, wetlands, coral reefs, mangroves, shellfish beds, bays and sounds -- are being damaged or destroyed at alarming rates by coastal development and water quality degradation.

Coastal marshes, which trap floodwaters, filter out pollution and nurture fish, birds and other wildlife, are disappearing at a rate of 20,000 acres a year. More than half the seagrass cover has been lost in Tampa Bay, as has more than three-quarters in the Mississippi Sound, and 90% in Galveston Bay. These critical wetlands provide nursery and feeding grounds for almost all marine life during a portion of their lives.

Coral reefs are also in serious trouble. They have been called the rain forests of the ocean for their rich array of sea life. Tens of thousands of marine animals depend on them to survive: fish, turtles, sharks, lobsters, shrimp, sea urchins, sea stars, anemones and sponges. Coral reefs also buffer coasts against storm damage and beach erosion. Yet these life-sustaining habitats are being destroyed in unprecedented numbers. (Find out how our staff of experts and advocates are working to protect marine habitats.)

We urge President George W. Bush to establish a network of protected areas in the ocean to parallel the system of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, nature preserves and wilderness areas we have on land. By placing America's remaining great coral treasures, tropical reefs and essential fish habitat under protection, we can better safeguard our nation's beaches, coastal wetlands, estuaries and fish populations, as well as our economically vital fishing and recreation industries.

2.  Failing Fisheries

Not so long ago the world's oceans teemed with huge predatory fish like the giant 18-foot-long marlin immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1952 book, The Old Man and the Sea. But as extraordinary as that marlin was in its time, today the chances that an angler will find one anywhere near that size are next to nil. Populations of large predatory fish like swordfish, marlin and sharks are a fraction of what they were 50 years ago. And catches of other popular seafood -- tuna, cod, skate and grouper -- are much smaller than those of decades ago. Too many boats using ever more sophisticated technology are chasing too few fish.

In the United States, fisheries in much of the Grand Banks off eastern North America -- once considered the world's most productive fishing area -- have been closed because of dwindling fish populations. On the West Coast, plummeting Pacific rockfish populations have forced fishery closures. In the Gulf of Mexico, snappers and groupers are being depleted.

The way fish are caught or farmed can also harm marine habitat and animals. Heavy trawl nets dragged over the ocean floor behind fishing boats can destroy sea life in their path. Turtles, whales, dolphins and porpoises can become entangled in nets and die. Also, the use of wild fish for aquaculture feed can affect ecosystem dynamics.

Recent reports have shown that a growing number of popular kinds of seafood are contaminated with heavy metals (like mercury), industrial pollutants (like PCBs), and pesticides (like DDT).

Aside from the priceless value of protecting our ocean's rich biodiversity for future generations to enjoy, there are enormous economic benefits from respecting the sea's resources. The seafood industry creates more than 250,000 jobs in the U.S., contributing $28.6 billion to our nation's economy in 2001. The collapse of fisheries has either cost or placed in jeopardy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment, while rising demand means the U.S. now imports 75% of its seafood. Rebuilding America's fisheries would add at least $1.3 billion to our nation's economy. (Find out how our staff of experts and advocates are collaborating with fishermen and other concerned stakeholders to restore ailing fish populations and provide more economic certainty for fishermen.)

We urge President Bush to guarantee safe and abundant seafood by ensuring ecologically and economically sustainable fish stocks through sound management and market-based approaches, and commit to keeping adverse impacts of marine aquaculture on ocean ecosystems and wild fish stocks minimal.

3.  Dead Zones

Nearly everything eventually ends up in the ocean. Snow falling on high mountain peaks melts in the spring, swelling streams and rivers. Waters rich with silt rush downstream to deltas and estuaries, where saltwater meets freshwater. The plume of water and silt fed by highland headwaters may extend 20 miles or more offshore.

Unfortunately, unregulated waste and runoff (like fertilizer, pesticides and oil) also enter our waterways and wash into the ocean. This pollution is one of the biggest threats to coastal areas today. In particular, agricultural activities dramatically impact the water quality of our bays and estuaries. Farmland and ranchland cover more than half of the American landscape, and nearly nine out of ten raindrops fall on private land -- mostly farms and ranches -- before flowing into rivers, lakes and bays. Animal feedlots in the U.S. alone produce about 500 million tons of manure every year, more than three times the waste produced by humans.

This nutrient-rich runoff flows into coastal waters, chokes off oxygen and fosters algal blooms. These in turn cause seagrass meadows, kelp beds and other important coastal habitat to die off -- creating dead zones almost devoid of life. A huge void the size of New Jersey forms every summer off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, and similar dead zones exist in all our major bays and estuaries. (Find out what our staff of experts and advocates are doing to reduce the amount of pollution washing into our waterways and oceans.)

We urge President Bush to dramatically cut the number and size of "dead zones," and improve coastal water quality nationwide.

4.  Pollution

Public enjoyment of beaches and seaside ambiance on every coast is threatened by pollution. More than 12,000 beaches were declared unsafe or off-limits for swimming or recreation in 2002 because of contamination problems. Booming coastal counties are now home to more than half the U.S. population, yet comprise only 17% of the nation's land area. The crisscross of roads, shopping centers and housing that come with burgeoning growth eat up wetlands and estuaries, profoundly altering the landscape.

But unsightly sprawl carries hidden costs as well. A one-acre parking lot produces 16 times the volume of runoff from a one-acre meadow. Paved surfaces do not absorb pollution, so runoff quickly drains into waterways. Every year, more than 28 million gallons of oil from human activities (like driving a car or heating a home) run off streets and driveways into our rivers, lakes and streams -- an amount more than double the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Our nation's growing thirst for petroleum (almost 30% of our oil supply comes from offshore drilling) puts marine life at risk. More than a dozen years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, highly toxic deposits of oil are still leaching into Prince William Sound, causing harm to Pink salmon. Fortunately, there is a moratorium on further offshore oil and gas drilling in most of the U.S. (Find out what our staff of experts and advocates are doing to protect our valuable and most vulnerable offshore areas.)  

We urge President Bush to maintain this moratorium that has served the country well for decades, and establish an effective framework for addressing protection of our most sensitive offshore areas as oil demand grows.

5.  Ocean Management

Rather than one overarching law, much like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act that cover air and water, there is a hodgepodge of laws and agencies governing our country's territorial waters. Among other laws enacted in the 1970s, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act created a complicated structure of regional councils to oversee fisheries within their domain, under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Commerce. Although it was a big step forward when passed in 1976, the law is now outmoded and does not take a "big-picture," ecosystems-based approach.

Magnuson-Stevens emphasizes short-term gains over long-term conservation. It also leaves decisions on the number of fish that can sustainably be caught (i.e., the number of fish that can be taken from the sea without endangering the long-term survival of a species) and who gets to catch them up to the regional fisheries councils, and does not require a management plan based on science for every fishery. More than 60 Congressional committees and subcommittees watch over some 20 federal agencies and permanent commissions in implementing more than 140 federal ocean-related statutes! The enactment of the Oceans Act of 2000 has set the stage for developing and implementing a cohesive national policy to sustainably manage U.S. territorial waters.

We urge President Bush to improve ocean management at all levels by coordinating the hodgepodge of laws and agencies responsible for ocean protection. Revamp fisheries management so that decisions are based on science, not politics. And promote management approaches that address entire ecosystems, not just individual parts.

6.  Conservation Laws

Several conservation laws now exist that, if enforced, would provide much needed protection to marine mammals, fish habitats and other coastal and ocean resources. Unfortunately, enforcement of these laws is inadequate.

For example, provisions of our nation's Clean Water Act are designed to protect wetlands and prevent pollution. Commendable efforts are under way to strengthen watershed protection through a comprehensive wetlands program covering coastal habitat and watershed management. However, existing provisions for preserving wetlands have not been adequately implemented and enforced for years. As a result, coastal wetlands continue to be lost and degraded at alarming rates. To see real progress in wetland protection, we need additional funding, staff and public oversight to ensure full enforcement and accountability.

Likewise, current policies regulating pollution in coastal waters are not always carried out as intended. For example, many states have identified rivers and coastal waters still impaired by pollution from farms, factories, cities and other sources, but have not taken steps to clean up those waters (as they are required to do under the Clean Water Act). And many towns and cities are not in compliance with the act's mandates to reduce stormwater pollution. Better implementation mechanisms and stronger enforcement of these existing programs are important first steps.

Similarly, threats to seals, sea lions, manatees, whales, dolphins, polar bears and other marine mammals are well documented, yet the Marine Mammal Protection Act has been poorly enforced over the past decade. Even though Florida's manatees, for example, are protected under this law as well as the Endangered Species Act, they still face a high risk of extinction. Nearly half their deaths can be attributed to human actions: often they are injured or killed by boats, drowned or crushed in canal locks or entangled in fishing gear. We need clear-cut mechanisms for improving compliance with the act's provisions to protect marine mammals.

In areas designated as no-take sanctuaries (like the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve), enforcement of fishing caps, area closures and other conservation measures must take a higher priority. Also critically important in the case of the proposed NWHI National Marine Sanctuary is to ensure that Congress strengthens existing protections, as recommended by the NWHI Reserve Advisory Council. This sanctuary contains 70% of America's coral reefs and is home to the rare Hawaiian monk seal. (Find out about our work to enforce and strengthen laws that protect coastal wetlands, estuaries and sea life.)

We urge President Bush to protect the full spectrum of ocean wildlife and the ecosystems that sustain them by aggressively maintaining and fully enforcing protections provided in current conservation laws.

7.  Ocean Ecosystems

Like all living things, the sea is a complex system that can only function properly with all its vital parts. As ocean habitats disappear, the fish and other marine life that depend on them disappear also. Sea turtles and manatees, for instance, graze on seagrass meadows, which shelter and nourish fish, shrimps and crabs. As seagrass meadows die off from pollution, ship-channel dredging and coastal development, the effects ripple through the whole web of life. In some places, sea urchin populations have exploded as their natural predators like sea lions have been removed, upsetting the delicate balance among sea animals and plants. Our seas are home to millions of species, yet many marine plants and animals may vanish before we have a chance to understand their full value.

Despite the ocean's vastness, only a tiny fraction of it has been explored or studied -- we know less about the oceans than we do about the surface of the Moon and other planets. Scientists have only recently discovered ancient deep-sea corals and sponges in cold waters that provide habitat for fish and other marine life. Many offer the potential for advances in health care and medicine. For example, an antiviral medicine and two anticancer drugs used today were derived from a chemical found in a sea sponge. (Read about our scientists' and economists' research and education efforts.)

We urge President Bush to recognize the importance of studying and understanding the final frontier on Earth -- our oceans -- and double the federal investment in ocean science, exploration and education over the next five years to ensure that all scientific research is compatible with stringent conservation standards.

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