June 2021 the deteriorationofmarineenvironment,reducingbiodiversity and excessivehumanactivitiesrecentclimatechangearecausing the manyjobsassociatedwithoceanactivities.However,unregulated leisure andhealingplacestovisit,seawaysfortransportation, benefited fromtheoceanforoxygentobreathe,fishandseafood eat, supports humankind.Humanwell-beingandoureconomyhave The ,connectedoverapproximately71%oftheEarth’ssurface, • • and threateningitsecosystemservices. Keyareasofconcerninclude: extensive habitatdestruction due The world’soceans areexperiencing health. solutions toprotectandrestore ocean marine environmentandtoimplement understand complexprocesses inthe diverse stakeholdersareneeded to ocean sciencesandcooperationof many levels.Facilitationofholistic has alreadybeencompromisedon by excessivehumanactivitiesand Earth. Oceanhealthisthreatened and tothehomeostasisoflifeon to humanwell-beingandvitality A healthyoceanisindispensable on Protection ofMarine Environments IAP Statement pollution). Inparticular,coastal (e.g. climatechange,invasivespecies, development) andindirectimpacts to bothdirectimpacts(e.g.coastal Most ofthesesensitive habitats habitats toprovide ecosystemservices. as wellthecapacityformarine ecosystem structureandfunction, anthropogenic stressorsdamage extends tothedeepsea.Multiple and loss.Thisdestructionincreasingly from massivehabitatdegradation and intertidalmudflats,havesuffered forests, mangroves,seagrassbeds areas, includingcoralreefs,kelp

• Anthropogenic be implemented immediately. environmental contaminants should Strict controlsforthemanagement of and inflictsmajoreconomiclosses. processes, degradesnaturalresources nano-plastics, destabilizesecological including macro-,micro-and heavy metals,andmarinedebris excessive nutrients,toxicchemicals, marine ecosystems.Accumulationof contaminants continuetodisrupt rehabilitation. for protection,conservationand are inneedofimmediatemeasures environmental

Statements 2021 IAP STATEMENT ON PROTECTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS especially becauseclimatechangehas threats andeliminatedisruptions, to nurturetheocean’sresilience,remove highly recommended.Wehavelittletime appreciation ofoceanconservationis integrity. Consequently,ashared resources haveledtodecliningocean Exploitative approachestomarine health 1. Ocean • viable meansof enhancingbiodiversity, accepted worldwide asaneconomically example, MarineProtectedAreas are have substantialecologicalbenefits. For of theocean.Marineinterventions can interest inanddependenceon the status universal recognitionofourcommon A holisticapproachtotheoceanrequires data, informationandknowledge. , withpublicaccesstoscientific of inclusiveandintegratedmarine ocean iscontingentonthedevelopment The recoveryandprotectionofthe an increasingimpactonoceanhealth. •

aquaculture productionareneeded. take zonestogetherwithsustainable the implementationofextensiveno recovery ofdepletedfishstocksthrough of thegrowinghumanpopulation current andfuturefoodrequirements decline offisheriesresources.Tomeet of worldfisheriesiscausingarapid nutritional security.Over-exploitation contributors tohumanfoodand Marine fisheriesareimportant mitigate andadapttoclimatechange. management strategieswillhelp atmosphere anddevelopmentofnew research ontheoceanand acidification. Interdisciplinary dioxide emissionsalsocauseocean tropical cyclones.Excessivecarbon intensification ofheatwavesand and alterationofmarinelife, of dissolvedoxygen,redistribution warming causessealevelrise,loss effects ofclimatechange.Ocean environment issubjecttoadverse .Inreturn,themarine climate andprovidesabufferto The oceanregulatestheEarth’s

sea habitats.Coastal habitatscontribute impacts alsothreaten pelagicanddeep- socioeconomic consequences.These suffered ecologicallywithassociated and kelpmangroveforests, have reefs, oystertidalwetlands, such asestuaries,seagrassbeds, coral critically importantcoastalhabitats species andclimatechange.Accordingly, been damagedbypollution,invasive loss, manysensitiveecosystemshave growth. Inadditiontodirecthabitat expansion) andhumanpopulation intensified agricultureandurban to development(e.g.landreclamation, threatened byhabitatdestructiondue Coastal areashavelongbeen destruction Habitat 2. sciences isessential. among interdisciplinaryocean-related marine resources.Dynamiccooperation sustainable managementanduseof on theoceanandsubscribesto grasps thecompletenessofourreliance toward aglobalconstituencythatfully large-scale behaviouraltransformation (UNESCO, 2020a).Theobjectiveisa ocean atalllevelsthroughoutcultures Literacy forAllseeksappreciationofthe and shellfishstocks. and maintainingreplenishingfish and Technology (KIOST) The UNESCOphilosophyofOcean Photo: Unhyuk Yim Unhyuk Photo: Ocean of Institute © Korea debris, causeecological impactsby which accountfor upto80%ofmarine plastics intheoceanannually. Plastics, including over8milliontonnes of in theaccumulationofmarine debris, fisheries. health andcauseseconomiclossin commercial seafoodthreatenshuman substances, includingtoxicmetals,in bioaccumulation ofpersistentandtoxic is problematicglobally.Furthermore, transportation ofchemicalcontaminants Persistence andlong-range organisms andinhibittheirreproduction. can suppressthegrowthofmarine in mid-to-highertrophiclevels to humancasualties. produce toxinsthatmayevenlead marine life.Somealgalspeciesalso with massmortalityoffishandother leading totheexpansionofdead-zones, (eutrophication) causesalgalblooms activities andcoastalaquaculture matters fromterrestrialhuman Excess loadingofnutrientsandorganic contaminants 3. Environmental rehabilitated. must beprotectedand,inmanycases, integrity inthesemarinehabitats health andbiodiversity.Environmental are substantialdeterminantsofocean (IPBES, 2019).Nurseryareasinparticular of generationsmarineorganisms of biodiversityandtothesuccession substantially tothemaintenance Poor solidwastemanagement results Biomagnification oftoxicsubstances

entanglement and ingestion by marine ecosystem services such as food supply, organisms, dispersion of pathogens carbon storage, oxygen generation and and non-indigenous species, and climate stability. Global warming leads compromised benthic habitats. In to melting of glaciers and polar ice caps addition, marine plastic debris can as well as thermal seawater expansion. result in economic losses due to decline In turn, these processes lead to of tourism, damage to fishing gear worldwide sea level rise that is and boats, and obstruction of nautical threatening for the many people living propellers and cooling systems. Micro- in coastal areas. threatens carbonate shell synthesis, respiration, reproduction, early development, and the growth and survival of innumerable marine animals. Expanding oxygen-depleted dead- zones are uninhabitable by aerobic organisms. The IPCC Special Report (2019) highlights the extreme urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean. One obvious priority measure is the protection of seagrass beds, salt marshes and kelp and © National Institute of Fisheries Science, Korea/ mangrove forests, which utilize excess Photo: Hyun Woo Kim nutrients, generate oxygen, and sequester carbon in the form of organic and nano-plastics are everywhere in the matter through photosynthesis, thereby marine environment, including marine moderating global warming. food webs, and even in the human diet. 5. Overexploitation 4. Climate change Most fisheries stocks are fully exploited: The continuous increase in atmospheric more than 90% of marine stocks are greenhouse gases is recognized as a either overfished (34.2%) or fished at ocean ecosystems. The focused removal global threat that needs ambitious maximum sustainable levels (59.6%; of organisms at one trophic level can goals and international collaboration FAO, 2020). Additional disruptions result destabilize marine ecosystems. For to combat the resulting climate change. from illegal, unreported and unregulated example, harvests of higher-value The ocean has absorbed 30% of total (IUU) fishing, habitat degradation, predatory species cause the loss of anthropogenic CO2 emissions since the pollution and gear abandonment. biodiversity and disruptive imbalances 1980s with enormous global impacts Capture fisheries yields plateaued in marine communities. In addition, (IPCC, 2019). Climate change alters ocean in the late 1980s and are unlikely to heavy harvests of young and otherwise circulation and mixing, biogeochemistry increase. Maintaining even current unmarketable fish for agricultural and and ecosystems. These changes could yields (84.4 million tonnes in 2018) will aquaculture feeds exert additional interfere with the ocean’s capacity for require rethinking our husbandry of pressure on already-distressed marine ecosystems. IUU fishing is thought to be responsible for annual catches of up to 25.9 million tonnes (FAO, 2016) and has undermined sustainable fisheries management, threatening 4.3 billion people who depend on fisheries for nutrition (FAO, 2020). Aquaculture production in aquatic environments (including fish, invertebrates and aquatic plants) reached 114.5 million tonnes in 2018, expanding at 5-6% annually (FAO, 2020). Aquaculture is already delivering 50% of the seafood we consume, and is expected to meet an increasing proportion of humanity’s nutritional requirements. Refinement of culture

© National Institute of Fisheries Science, Korea/ Photo: Cheol Beom Kim understood problems,manyofwhich ocean issubjecttocomplex,poorly- consideration thaneverbefore.The have leftouroceansmoreinneedof chronic disregardformarineecosystems impacts ofmultiplestressors,and resources andproducts,thecumulative Excessive exploitationofmarine Recommendations and 6. Conclusions marine stocks. relieve pressureonwild,overexploited conservation-sensitivity isnecessaryto practices towardsustainabilityand Photo: Deokbae Park (BBNJ) alsoseek theconservationof Biodiversity Beyond NationalJurisdiction and EcosystemServices(IPBES), and Science-Policy PlatformonBiodiversity Diversity (CBD),theIntergovernmental such astheConventiononBiological ocean’s ecosystemservices. and theessentialcontributionsof importance oftheoceantohumanity raise consciousnessaboutthevital Advancement of‘oceanliteracy’will (2021-2030; UNESCO,2020b). Science forSustainableDevelopment proclaiming theUNDecadeofOcean to solvethreatstheoceanby cooperation amongglobalcommunities nationalities tothehealthofocean. of currentandfuturegenerations new approach,andfreshcommitments calls foracomprehensiveandpervasive (EASAC, 2016).Thissituationurgently achieve asustainableuseoftheoceans policy-makers mustaddressishowto valid. Thefundamentalchallengethat with unlimitedresiliencearenolonger of theoceanasanimmenserealm of lifeonEarth.Earliermisconceptions threatening theintegrityandcontinuity interact withone-another,collectively Other internationalinitiatives The UnitedNationshasurged

• • • • • • • academies to: governments, NGOsandIAPmember InterAcademy Partnershipcallson targets. to ‘LifeBelowWater’withsevenspecific (SDG) #14oftheUN2030Agendarefers while SustainableDevelopmentGoal marine environmentsandbiodiversity,

sensitive marinehabitats. measures forcoastalandother Implement inclusiveprotection restore oceanhealthwithexpansion Coordinate actionstoprotectand policies anddecisions. for devisingsolutionsandmaking database thatisequitablyaccessible, international oceanknowledge of theocean,anddevelopan build comprehensiveunderstanding Share scientificinformationanddata, intricate connectiontotheoceans the globalsocietytounderstandits Increase oceanliteracy,encouraging aquaculture. environmentally sensitivemarine IUU fisheries,andpromote strengthen enforcementagainst management ofcapturefisheries, Ensure improvedscientific livelihoods ofpeoplewhodepend life, therebyavoidingfailureinthe redistribution andchangeofmarine acidification, deoxygenationand change ontheoceanecosystemin of greenhousegasesandclimate Mitigate andadapttotheimpacts distributions, fatesandimpacts contaminants, addresstheir Assess sourcesofenvironmental Through thisStatement,the at thescience-policyinterface. promote theexchangeofinformation ocean literacyandmechanismsto of researchcapacitydevelopment, and habitability. in maintainingEarth’sbiodiversity and torespecttheroleofoceans on theocean. to reducetheirmarineimpacts. contaminants intotheoceanand to eliminateentryofland-based on oceanhealth,anddevelopmeans © KIOST/Photo: Joon-Yeon Chung

Statements 2021 IAP STATEMENT ON PROTECTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS FAO, 2016.TheFAOAgreementonPortState EASAC, 2016.MarineSustainabilityinan References: http://www.fao.org/port-state-measures/en retrieved 24May2020:Rome:FAO. Unregulated Fishing.Availableonline; and EliminateIllegal,Unreported Measures (PSMA)toPrevent,Deter changing--and-seas/ marine--in-an-age-of- https://easac.eu/publications/details/ Available online;retrieved24May2020. Science AdvisoryCouncil(EASAC). and Statements,EuropeanAcademies’ Age ofChangingOceansandSeas.Reports IPBES, 2019.SummaryforPolicymakersofthe FAO, 2020.TheStateofWorldFisheriesand S. Polasky,A.Purvis,J.Razzaque,B.Reyers, P. Miloslavich,Z.Molnár,D.Obura,A.Pfaff, Ichii, J.Liu,S.M.Subramanian,G.F.Midgley, M. Butchart,K.A.Chan,L.Garibaldi, A. Arneth,P.Balvanera,K.Brauman,S.H. S. BrondízioE.S.,H.T.Ngo,M.Guèze,J.Agard, and EcosystemServices.S.Díaz,J.Settele,E. Science-Policy PlatformonBiodiversity Ecosystem ServicesoftheIntergovernmental Global AssessmentReportonBiodiversityand https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9229en Rome. Availableonline;retrieved9June2020: Aquaculture 2020.Sustainabilityinaction. UNESCO, 2020b.UnitedNationsDecadeofOcean UNESCO, 2020a.OceanLiteracyPortal.Available IPCC, 2019:IPCCSpecialReportontheOcean IPBES secretariat,Bonn,Germany.56pages. Hamakers, K.J.Willis,andC.N.Zayas(eds.). R. RoyChowdhury,Y.J.Shin,I.Visseren- https://en.unesco.org/ocean-decade 2030). Availableonline;accessed24May 2020: Science forSustainableDevelopment(2021- https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org online; retrieved16May2020: B. Rama,N.WWeyer(eds.)]. Mintenbeck, M.Nicolai,A.Okem,J.Petzold, P. Zhai,M.Tignor,E.Poloczanska,K. Pörtner, D.C.Roberts,V.Masson-Delmotte, and CryosphereinaChangingClimate[H.O. Photos: IAP/Peter McGrath Photo: Wonjoon Shim

Statements 2021 IAP STATEMENT ON PROTECTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS Academies that have endorsed Akademi Sains Malaysia June 2021 the IAP Statement on Protection Mauritius Academy of Science and of Marine Environments Technology Albanian Academy of Sciences Mexican Academy of Sciences Algerian Academy of Sciences and Mongolian Academy of Sciences Technology Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Fiscas Sciences y Naturales de la Republica Argentina Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Pakistan Academy of Sciences The InteracAdemy Partnership Aires, Argentina Palestine Academy for Science and Under the umbrella of the InterAcademy National Academy of Sciences of Cordoba, Technology Partnership (IAP), more than 140 Argentina National Academy of Science and national, regional and global member Australian Academy of Science Technology, Philippines academies work together to support Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Polish Academy of Sciences the vital role of science in seeking Academie Nationale de Sciences, Arts et Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts evidence-based solutions to the Lettres du Benin Romanian Academy world’s most challenging problems. Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian In particular, IAP harnesses the expertise and Herzegovina Branch of the world’s scientific, medical and Brazilian Academy of Sciences Rwanda Academy of Sciences engineering leaders to advance sound Academia Nacionale de Medicina, Brazil Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts policies, improve public health, promote Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Academy of Science of South Africa excellence in science education, and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Arts National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka achieve other critical development goals. Cameroon Academy of Sciences Sudanese National Academy of Sciences Statements such as this one are prepared Royal Society of Canada Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences by a working group comprising experts Chilean Academy of Sciences Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters nominated by member academies, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Arts Beit al Hikma and are released once they have been IAP STATEMENT ON PROTECTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS Chinese Academy of Engineering Turkish Academy of Sciences endorsed by more than half the member Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical Uganda National Academy of Sciences academies of the network. & Natural Sciences Royal Society, UK Academia Nacional de Medicina de Colombia National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences US National Academies Cuban Academy of Sciences Caribbean Academy of Sciences Czech Academy of Sciences Islamic World Academy of Sciences Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Global Young Academy Letters The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Academia de Ciencias de la Republica World Academy of Art and Science Dominicana Academy of Scientific Research and Working Group Technology, Egypt Suam Kim (Republic of Korea, chair) Ethiopian Academy of Sciences Leif Anderson (Sweden) Council of Finnish Academies Antje Boetius (Germany) Academie des Sciences, France Jaime Ricardo Cantera Kintz (Colombia) Academie Nationale de Medecine, France Luiz Drude de Lacerda (Brazil) Union of German Academies of Sciences Alaa Eldin Abdel-Mouty Mohamed Eissa This work is © the InterAcademy and Humanities (Egypt) Partnership and is licensed German National Academy of Sciences, Judith Gobin (Trinidad & Tobago) under Creative Commons Leopoldina Sung Yun Hong (Republic of Korea) Attribution 4.0 International Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Jeffrey A. Hutchings (Canada) Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas Lekelia Jenkins (USA) Additional copies of this statement y Naturales de Guatemala Monika Kedra (Poland) can be downloaded from: Hungarian Academy of Sciences Youn-Ho Lee (Republic of Korea) www.interacademies.org/statement/ Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi (India) protection-marine-environments Republic of Iran Japhet Micheni Ntiba (Kenya) Royal Irish Academy Hugh Possingham (Australia) Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Yoshihisa Shirayama (Japan) Contacts Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy Richard Thompson (UK) [email protected] Science Council of Japan Jaehyoung Lee (Republic of Korea, Kenya National Academy of Sciences KAST project manager) @IAPartnership National Academy of Sciences, Republic www.linkedin.com/company/ of Korea IAP appreciates the initial contribution interacademypartnership Korean Academy of Science and Technology of the Zero Draft Committee members https://tinyurl.com/IAPyoutube Lebanese Academy of Sciences (C. Brown, S. Kang, J.S. Khim, S. Kim, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Y-H. Lee and W. Shim) assigned by KAST www.interacademies.org