The United Nations has declared 1998 the International year of the Ocean, with the hope of drawing attention to this important resource and the stresses it is facing from unsustainable human activity.

There is increasing evidence that the ocean is in trouble - pollution, exhausted fishing stocks, rising sea level, more frequent storms, increasing surface temperatures, melting ice caps, etc.

About two-thirds of the world's population (3.6 billion people) live within 60 kilometers of the coast. The ocean is especially important for small island states such Trinidad and Tobago, and form an integral part of the local as well as global economy, environment and culture. Action must urgently be taken to protect our ocean and coastal resources.

Over 70 percent of the surface of the globe is ocean. This huge ecosystem fundamentally shapes the environment of our world and makes human life possible. It plays an important role in global climatic stability in the medium and long term. It has a huge capacity to absorb pollutants and recycle greenhouse gases to maintain global climatic stability, but this capacity is finite. There is an urgent need to control the levels of pollutants that we are continuously dumping in the ocean, both in Trinidad and Tobago as well as internationally.

The ocean freely provides humans with important goods and services. One recent analysis has shown that if we had to pay for all of the goods and services that the ocean provides (such as regulating atmospheric gases, cycling nutrients, producing food, raw materials, recreation, etc.) the cost would be about US $21,000 billion per year.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that the fishing industry directly or indirectly supports about 200 million people and 12.5 million fishermen and about 90 million tons of fish a year.

However, these once abundant stocks are being severely depleted due to over-fishing and inappropriate technologies such as trawling.

The FAO estimates that 70 percent of fish stocks are currently either fully exploited, over-fished or in recovery from over-fishing. They estimate that every year about 27 million tons of fish are discarded as they are inedible, unwanted, or too small.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the fishing industry is extremely important and also facing problems due to over-exploitation and trawling. One has only to take part in one of the regular community beach seining events to see that the catch has declined considerably from previous years, and the activity no longer produces a sufficient harvest to support the local community.

The oceans are also a reservoir for very large, but finite, reserves of fossil fuels. The latest estimates put global offshore reserves of oil at 36.5 billion tons and of gas at 21.4 trillion tons. We are fortunate in this country to benefit from these valuable resources which still account for a large part of our national economy.

The oceans are also an important source of bio-diversity, with an estimated 80 percent of the world's bio-diversity living in the ocean. Mangrove swamps and coral reefs are two important coastal ecosystems that provide economic as well as socio-cultural benefits socio-cultural benefits to Trinidad and Tobago as well as other countries. This bio-diversity has an important economic use in the newly emerged marine bio-technology industry. Japanese scientists, the leaders in the field, have already isolated 3,000 pharmaceutically active substances from marine animals and plants, and a single successful product can be worth as much as US $1 billion in world sales.

Much of this marine bio-diversity is still undiscovered. As recently as 1993 scientists discovered a community of giant tube worms, clams and bacteria that live in underwater volcanic vents. These amazing organisms are under great pressure, subjected to temperatures well over 200 degrees Celcius, in an environment lacking oxygen and sunlight that is highly toxic, containing poisonous hydrogen sulphide.

The bacteria found in these communities have potential uses for waste treatment, food processing, oil well services, paper processing, mining applications, and in the pharmaceutical industry. Their estimated potential value is US $3 billion per year.

The evidence for the incredible existing and potential value of marine bio-diversity is clear. The ocean is a vital economic resource and essential for global climatic stability.

Let us commit to sustainable use and protection of ocean resources to ensure that they are maintained for current and future generations.

International year of the Ocean is an attempt to bring ocean issues tot he attention of decision makers and the general public. Let us all join the commitment to protecting this valuable resource.

We can do this through taking individual action as well as engaging in our civic responsibility to urge the decision makers and managers in our government to protect our ocean.

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