Kerry: Protecting World’s Oceans Isn’t Just Environmentalist, It’s ‘An Economic Imperative’

[ProSense]

Kerry: Protecting World’s Oceans Isn’t Just Environmentalist, It’s ‘An Economic Imperative’

By Michael Conathan

HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA — We know how to solve many of the crises facing the world’s oceans. Now all we need is consensus and enforcement, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a conversation via video link at the Economist’s World Ocean Summit on Tuesday.

“We know exactly what is threatening our oceans,” said Sec. Kerry who specifically pointed to overfishing, pollution, and climate change as the three major threats. “And we have a good understanding of what we need to do.” But political opposition and insufficient enforcement of existing regulations remain major hurdles to implementing known solutions.

As an example, Kerry pointed to his efforts with the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to convince the United Nations to ban driftnet fishing. “Yet we know people are still fishing with driftnets,” he said, referencing statistics that suggest worldwide illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing activities — known as “pirate fishing” — cost U.S. fishermen as much as $115 million in market share annually.

“Environmental reasons for protecting the world’s oceans should be leaping out at people, but it’s also an economic imperative,” said Kerry, citing the more than one billion people, primarily in developing countries, who rely on fish for their primary source of protein.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/25/3329311/kerry-oceans-economic-imperative/

Text and video: http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/02/222532.htm

[MBS]

1. thanks for this!

He's of course, right. How lucky we are to have a Secretary of State who is knowledgeable on environmental problems, and so committed to doing something about them.
I also love thinking about this conference being held in Half Moon Bay. : )

[mylye2222]

2. He spokes of the most impostants issues of the future.

He's also commited to promote understanding policies , respect and dignity such as his remaks on homofobia growing in Africa, as well as on the protersto's repression in Vénésuela! Bravo, Mr Secretary!