[A page from the Oceana website]
With the UN Ocean Conference officially opening in Nice – co-hosted by France and Costa Rica – Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse has called on our Government to do its bit in saving our seas from senseless destruction..
The conference theme is “Accelerating action and mobilising all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.”
Speaking in Parliament during business questions, the Bath MP referenced David Attenborough’s new film ‘Ocean’, released on his 99th birthday, which highlights the existential crisis facing our oceans. The Bath MP’s comments followed her attendance at a private screening of Mr. Attenborough’s film in the House of Lords.
Mr. Attenborough has described Ocean as one of the most important films of his career and a call to action to protect the world’s oceans from harmful fishing practices and climate change.
In the UK, half of key fish populations are either overfished or critically low, according to Oceana’s 2023 report. The film features disturbing footage of bottom trawling, a destructive commercial fishing method where heavy nets drag along the ocean floor, scouring the seabed and capturing marine life indiscriminately. This wasteful practice discards over three-quarters of the catch and releases large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Mrs. Hobhouse described the ‘senseless destruction of our oceans’ and called them the ‘lifeblood of our planet’. She highlighted Attenborough’s claim that in order to save our ‘sick oceans’, we need to safeguard about 30% of them; yet currently, only about 3% are currently marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs restrict destructive human activities, protect marine biodiversity, and benefit coastal communities. One of the key pledges made at the COP 15 UN biodiversity summit in 2022 was to place 30% of the world’s oceans into protected areas by 2030.
The Bath MP urged the Government to provide Parliament with a clear statement on the outcomes of the UN Ocean Conference and their plans to safeguard our oceans.
Responding to Wera’s question, Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, shared her concerns and expressed optimism that the oceans could recover if decisive steps are taken. Powell welcomed the Environmental Secretary’s attendance at the summit and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty ’in good time’.
The Global Ocean Treaty, agreed by UN negotiators in March 2023 after over a decade of talks, aims to ensure the ‘conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction’. Once ratified, it will create a committee to oversee regulations and establish a mechanism to create marine protected areas in the high seas, helping achieve the international goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said:
“Our oceans are in crisis, facing unprecedented threats from overfishing, pollution, and destructive practices like bottom trawling.
“We must listen to experts like Sir David Attenborough and act urgently to protect marine biodiversity. This must start with banning bottom trawling within marine protected areas and building a fisheries management system that puts fishers, scientists, and conservationists at its heart.”
“We cannot afford to wait – the Government must use this conference to act now and save our sick oceans.”
