Who Speaks for the Ocean?

The ocean covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and drives global water, energy, and carbon cycles. More than 90% of the heat trapped by human carbon pollution is taken up by the oceans. In 2025 the amount of heat that went into the ocean was 23 zettajoules (a zettajoule is a one with 21 zeroes after it). This is comparable to 12 Hiroshima bombs detonating every second of last year.[1]

The ocean is also half of the planet’s natural carbon sinks and has absorbed a quarter of human-generated CO2. Acting as heat reservoir and carbon sink leads to compounding climate change stressors - heat and acidification and deoxygenation, with profound effects on sea life. Habitats become unfriendly, shells and skeletons are thin or deformed, and no life survives in dead zones. On top of that are threats from human activities, especially overfishing, but also from plastic and other pollution, mining and infrastructure, and shipping.

As air moves over the warmer ocean it picks up more heat and more moisture, supercharging hurricanes and storms, rainfall and droughts. The sustainability of the ocean food sources is at risk, at a time when aquatic food consumption is increasing twice as fast as the global population.[2] Island nations and coastal populations face flooding and sea level rise, as heat makes water expand and melts glaciers. We are near tipping points such as coral die-off and ice sheet melting that may not be reversible. The ability of the ocean to continue functioning as a carbon sink is in question. Who will protect the ocean?

THE LAW OF THE SEA

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) took effect in 1994. At least 169 states and the EU are parties, with the United States (US) a notable exception. Under the convention, the coastal state has jurisdiction over territorial sea, out to 12 nautical miles from the coast, and has sole exploitation rights within the exclusive economic zone, for 200 nautical miles beyond. Everything else is the high seas or international waters. Specialized agencies established by UNCLOS include the International Maritime Organization for maritime transport and the International Seabed Authority.[3]

U.S. Department of State and NOAA, via Wikimedia Commons

MARINE PROTECTED AREAS and the HIGH SEAS TREATY

Over a third of marine fishery stocks are overfished.[2] Overexploitation hurts fishermen as well as ecosystems.[4] Industrial fleets are expanding, for example, to harvest krill in the Southern Ocean, not for human consumption, but to feed aquaculture or turn into diet supplements or cosmetics. Yet krill are the basis of the Southern Ocean food web, that includes seals and penguins already suffering from declining sea ice, and migrating whales.

UN Photo/Martine Perret

If fishing is halted, it is possible for stocks to recover. That is the idea behind Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where excessive human fishing and extraction are regulated. However, MPAs protect only 9.6% of the ocean, mostly coastal waters rather than high seas, and only 3.2% of the ocean is fully or highly protected.[5] Fishing, even bottom trawling, is allowed in many MPAs, and illegal fishing persists.

Progress toward protecting oceans in 2025:

• Samoa created nine new marine protected areas covering 30% of its ocean

• The new Panaon Island Protected Seascape safeguards Philippine corals

• Pakistan declared Miani Hor Lagoon a MPA, protecting mangrove forests and biodiversity

• French Polynesia announced that it would protect its entire exclusive economic zone

• The Marshall Islands announced a coral reef sanctuary around two atolls, Bikar and Bokak [6]

The High Seas Treaty achieved ratification by 60 countries in 2025 and is now in effect, applicable to ratifying nations (which do not include the US). Also known as Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), it lays out a way to establish networks of marine protected areas. This can help realize the 30/30 target of protecting at least 30% of our ocean by 2030, per the Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework. The High Seas Treaty also requires environmental impact assessments for activities such as deep-sea mining; shares marine genetic resources; and supports marine science and technology in developing states. Implementation and coordination with other regulatory bodies will be key.[7]

Eight areas that could make up the first generation of high seas MPAs:

• Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges in the waters of the southeast Pacific

• The Thermal Dome in the Eastern Pacific

• Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific

• Walvis Ridge that runs from the coast of Namibia to the mid-Atlantic Ridge

• Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean

• South Tasman Sea/Lord Howe Rise between Australia and New Zealand

• The Lost City in the mid-Atlantic ridge

• Saya de Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean [7]

DEEP SEA MINING

Polymetallic nodules are targets of deep-sea mining, most immediately in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), stretching 1.7-million-square-miles from Hawaii to Mexico. The potato-sized accretions of manganese, nickel, copper, cobalt form very slowly, over millions of years, and are not just rocks but rich ecosystems. Other mining proposals aim to harvest metal-rich sulfide deposits at hydrothermal vents or to scrape crusts of dissolved and accumulated metals from the tops of seamounts.

Proponents of deep-sea mining say minerals are needed for green technology and that it is less damaging than mining on land. But deep-sea mining is not needed, not easy, and not risk-free.

• The mining process involves a seafloor collector, vertical transport to a surface vessel, and discharge of sediments and water back into the ocean. There would be direct damage to the seabed and its life. Carbon stored in the seafloor could be disturbed. Sediment plumes and noise could harm delicate animals in midwater ecosystems that are key to ocean food webs and carbon export.

• Habitat and diversity losses could linger for decades

• Operating heavy machinery in the deep sea presents technical and financial challenges

• Other terrestrial sources of minerals exist. Recycling can improve. Evolving technology may turn to alternate minerals

• Too little is known about the deep sea to say what might be lost [8]

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) oversees extraction and mining activities on the seabed of the high seas. Under the Law of the Sea, ISA is also legally bound to safeguard ocean ecosystems.[9] There is a conflict of interest when ISA functions as both exploiter and protector of the deep seabed. A moratorium on deep-sea mining is backed by many scientists and countries.[10] The Metals Company, based in Canada, proposes mining the CCZ, piggybacking on Nauru’s license. In the US, President Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 to advance seabed mining and The Metals Company’s application is under review.[11]

SHIPPING

After years of negotiations, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) drafted a plan for cutting carbon emissions from global shipping. The Net-Zero Framework incorporated carbon trading for high emitters, a flat fee per ton of emissions for lesser emitters, and rewards for meeting fuel requirements that would over time ratchet down to zero or near-zero. However, the US withdrew from negotiations and Saudi Arabia called for a one-year adjournment.[12]

UN Photo/Choi

Another approach is to look at options to increase efficiency, such as slowing down, wind power retrofits, and coordinating with ports to reduce waiting time. These are already available to many ships globally and could be effective near-term solutions. Improving energy efficiency and setting fuel standards to pay down pollution can both help to lower shipping emissions.[13] Will the IMO get this international shipping treaty passed in 2026?[14]

PLASTICS

Where does plastic wind up? Plastic trash washes into rivers and flows into the ocean. Some 39,000 tons float on the surface; tinier bits contaminate sinking marine snow and are consumed by sea life; a plastic bag and candy wrappers were found on the deep Mariana Trench ocean floor.[15] About 350 million metric tons of visible plastic waste is generated globally each year. Coal, oil, and natural gas are the raw materials used to make plastics. Petrostates promote recycling and waste-management while others want to tackle plastics at the source by curbing plastic production.[16] We did not get a Global Plastics Treaty in 2025.[17]

UN photo/Martine Perret

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

UN treaties only recognize states, and not Indigenous peoples. Although Indigenous peoples represent less than 5% of the world’s population, they steward over 25% of the Earth’s land and seas.[18] Pacific Islanders see dying coral reefs and declining fish stocks; sea level rise means thousands of residents of Kiribati and Tuvalu and other low-lying nations may be forced to relocate; important traditional skills and cultural icons are being lost. More and more conservation efforts recognize native expertise. For example, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade) acknowledges the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing: one eye looking at the world through the strengths of Indigenous knowledge, the other through the strengths of Western science, and using both to support ocean health and human well-being.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

The High Seas Treaty is a win for the ocean and biodiversity! However, NO international agreements were achieved for Deep Sea Mining, Shipping, or Plastics. We can’t wait for global consensus. We can’t wait for multiple years of similar deliberations. Different kinds of collaborative alliances are needed, among regions, nations, provinces, and communities. Since ecosystems are ignorant of national borders, regional coordination is important; for example for India and Bangladesh to jointly protect the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Indigenous peoples, fisherman, and local interests must be part of MPAs if they are to be effective and sustainable. Other collaborations can focus on segments of carbon pollution. The drafted international shipping treaty is a model for this, bringing together stakeholders across governments, port authorities, shipbuilders, and shipping companies, to find a way forward.

Who speaks for the ocean? Our home is a water planet and the ocean belongs to all of us. Add your voice to protect it.

NASA

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Tell your legislators and government that you think protecting the ocean is important

• Join a group involved in safeguarding marine biodiversity or local clean-ups

• Learn about a nearby MPA or one encountered in travels or reading. (I support protecting the Southern Ocean against surging industrial harvesting of Antarctic krill.)

• Especially if you are in the US, submit a comment to stop deep-sea mining

• If you eat seafood, think about how it was caught.[19] Sustainable fishing means not harming habitats, not killing lots of “bycatch,” not overfishing. Avoid large, long-lived fish (like 200-year-old orange roughy and deep-sea Patagonian and Antarctic toothyfish marketed as Chilean seabass) that mature late, making it difficult for them to return to original population size.

• Stop using single-use plastics (e.g., grocery bags, straws, to-go containers, bottled drinks) and opt for reusable items. Refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle [20]

• The ocean is ailing from climate change and cannot recover unless greenhouse gas emissions are subdued. Ask how your city is dependent on fossil fuels and push for renewable energy and electrification. Support the preservation of forests, grasslands, wetlands, mangroves

REFERENCES

[1] Ocean warming breaks record for ninth straight year. Sturgeon J, Jan 2026 (https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09012026/ocean-warming-breaks-record-for-ninth-straight-year/)

[2] FAO. 2024. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024. Blue transformation in action. Key messages. Rome (https://doi.org/10.4060/cd0683en)

[3] United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, accessed 16 Jan 2026 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea)

[4] Roberts CM et al, Jun 2025. Why we should protect the high seas from all extraction, forever (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01665-0)

[5] The Marine Protection Atlas, accessed 16 Jan 2026 (https://mpatlas.org). US protected waters are at risk.

[6] Marine protected areas expanded in 2025 but still far from 30% goal. Hanbury S, Jan 2026 (https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/marine-protected-areas-expanded-in-2025-but-still-far-from-30-goal/)

[7] Factsheet High Seas Treaty 2023 (https://highseasalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/HSA_Treaty_Factsheet_27June23.pdf)

[8] Challenges persist in TMC’s bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump. Alberts EC, Jul 2025 (https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/07/challenges-persist-in-tmcs-bid-to-mine-the-deep-sea-even-after-boost-from-trump/)

[9] Frequently asked questions about the International Seabed Authority and deep-sea mining (https://isa.org.jm/faq-for-media/)

[10] Marine expert statement calling for a pause to deep-sea mining (https://seabedminingsciencestatement.org) and Momentum for a moratorium (https://deep-sea-conservation.org/solutions/no-deep-sea-mining/)

[11] Deep seabed hard minerals mining. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/deep-seabed-mining/)

[12] The entire world was ready to reduce shipping emissions. Then Trump stepped in. Sadasivam N, Oct 2025 (https://grist.org/transportation/shipping-carbon-tax-international-maritime-organization-trump/)

[13] Harnessing wind, slower speeds, efficient routing to reduce climate impact. Brown K, Mar 2025 (https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/harnessing-wind-slower-speeds-efficient-routing-to-reduce-climate-impact)

[14] Charging shipping emissions. Blocked by US intimidation tactics. Oct 2025 (https://www.fridaysforfuturenewsletter.org/post/charging-shipping-emissions)

[15] The Brilliant Abyss, by Helen Scales, 2001. See chapter “The Eternal Junkyard”

[16] How can we solve the plastic pollution crisis? Lee-Emery A, et al, Sep 2025 (https://www.wri.org/insights/plastic-pollution-global-plastics-treaty-explained)

[17] Plastics treaty fails, Sep 2025 (https://www.fridaysforfuturenewsletter.org/post/plastics-treaty-fails)

[18] Ocean science in action: how indigenous knowledge advances ocean science across the world. Dec 2025 (https://oceandecade.org/news/ocean-science-in-action-how-indigenous-knowledge-advances-ocean-science-across-the-world/)

[19] Sustainable seafood guides, from the US: What you can do, Monterey Bay Aquarium (https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/act-for-the-ocean/sustainable-seafood/what-you-can-do) and from the United Kingdom: Good Fish Guide, Marine Conservation Society (https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/)

[20]10 Things you can do for the ocean right now (https://marine-conservation.org/10-things-you-can-do/)