The good news is that we can restore our oceans to their former glory. In many cases, laws governing fishing and pollution already exist – we need to enforce them and ensure that management and industry obey a few commonsense principles:
- Fishing boats should catch what they intend to catch (fish as selectively as possible).
- We should leave enough fish in the water to ensure healthy oceans and healthy fishing communities for future generations.
- We should ensure that the seafood that we eat and the water we swim in are healthy for humans and other creatures.
- We should protect important ocean habitat (like coral reefs) to ensure more, not less, marine life in the future.
- We should respect and encourage the long term development of local fishing economies and cultures.
- We should use science and objective and measurable facts to manage our oceans as what they are – interconnected ecosystems.
