Just as the wild life on land has been wiped out and decimated, the fish in the sea are being hunted and depleted. The greatest fishing grounds in the world - the Grand Banks off New Foundland - have in the last 50 years been completely denuded of fish that they had to be closed down in 1992. Many other seas in the World's oceans are also under serious threat from pollution, loss of habitat and rampant unsustainable development. There is a chance to save the ocean, but only by strict prevention and control of pollution, protection and conservation of the environment, and by reversing the process of destruction and depletion of the worlds living marine resources.

　

 The way to save the Oceans is by adopting a new security concept, which we call "Securing the Oceans." This is a comprehensive security concept, which looks at the security of the Ocean from a total security concept, wherein national/military security is as important as food, transport, resource, environmental and biodiversity security and all aspects are integrated within a country and also coordinated internationally. The keyword is cooperation and coordination. Ocean governance is ensured through enlightened environment management, which should adhere to ecologically sustainable development. (ESD). The logical steps of ecologically sustainable management are discussed to achieve a safe and secure ocean - a live and friendly ocean - one with total security.

　

 There are a number of systems for implementing the "Securing the Oceans" concept. Environment management draws up the guidelines and the rules for protecting and preserving the oceans and keeping them clean and safe. It then monitors and enforces the rules, and takes actions to develop sustainable coasts and seas. One of the ways of checking the health of the oceans is to monitor the phenomena of interest, and based on the changes, to predict the future state of the oceans and then take actions as suitable to enforce or develop or care for the oceans in the many and diverse fields. Surveillance is a very important system for management decision making. A Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has been developed under the aegis of the 10C, WMO and UNEP. This system though ratified is still in the final implementation stages. The old observing organisations generally worked locally and in some cases with outdated equipment. GOOS would now integrate these organisations and bring all member states of the IOC on a level platform. It has standardised the elements of the observing system. Observations have been planned scientifically and modern equipment has been made available. The data is processed through computer and other models so that it can also be used by the climate and meteorological organisations. The data obtained and various other connected information would be in a ready to use format and also available to industry and the private sector to help the organisation to become financially viable. The success of the system would actually depend on the funding which will have to come from the member states.

　

 Other Securing the Ocean systems are Education, Finance, Research and Development, Legal and Social set-ups. All these systems have to be integrated and coordinated to ensure that the oceans are cared for, revived and developed sustainably so that Peace and prosperity prevail. All countries should feel as secure militarily and environmentally and all users should be safe.

　

　

1. In 1967 when my ship visited Mombassa in Kenya, we went by road to visit Nairobi. The sight was astounding. All across the plains, as far as eye could see, vast hordes of wild animals were generally grazing. There were zebras, giraffes, and some type of antelopes, gnus, wildebeest and many whose names I did not even know. Millions of them. Then I visited Nairobi in 1986, and we went to visit the National Park. After much effort by the trackers, we were able to spot a pride of lions, but those vast herds of gazelles and zebras were missing. After driving every few minutes the guide would stop to show us a few zebras or giraffes. They had all gone, hunted and decimated or just declined due to loss of habitat. It was a saddening experience. Now the same thing is happening in the Oceans, but since everything is underwater, we cannot see it so clearly as on land.

　

2. Hunting down the fish, destruction of habitats and pollution is decimating not only the fish but also much of the living marine resources and the biological diversity, which is responsible for clean and healthy oceans, our health, and also for the coastal and ocean economy. This friend of ours, the Ocean, is also being used for piracy, terror, drug running, human trafficking and war.

　

3. Five hundred years ago, the navigator John Cabot was sent by the king of England to discover a sea route to India, the source of spices, silk and porcelain. Instead he discovered the most fantastic fishing grounds in the world - the Grand Banks off New Foundland. He reported that codfish ran so thick, you could catch them by hanging wicker baskets over the ship's side. There were 6 and 7 foot-long codfish weighing 200 pounds, 8 to 12 foot sturgeons choked New England rivers, salmon packed streams, herring, squid and capelin spawning runs so gigantic that they astonished observers for four centuries. Then after World War II, in the 1950's, the sailpower dominated offshore fisheries were gradually replaced by steam driven trawlers and then by the 2500 ton plus trawler cum factory ships, which worked round the year in 8 hour shifts. In one hour such a trawler would haul up 200 tons of fish, much more than what a 16^th century schooner would catch in an entire season. By the 1970's the Soviet Union had 400 factory trawlers there, Japan 125, Spain 75, West Germany 50, France and Britain 40 each and dozens more from East European countries.¹ The cod catch peaked in 1968, but then kept dropping in subsequent years. In 1977, Canada followed Iceland in unilaterally declaring its territorial waters upto 200 miles offshore, but with remarkable shortsightedness built a deep sea trawler fleet of its own. The fish catch was dropping and fish factories were closing down. By 1988, the survey reported that the ground fish was on the verge of collapse. Yet for political reasons, the catch quotas allowed were much higher than recommended. In 4 years they dropped from 235000 tons to 125000 tons and finally to a shocking 22000 tons. Then in 1992, the government did what it should have done 4 years earlier - closed the Banks altogether. The greatest fishing grounds in the World had collapsed - probably beyond recovery. The stable door had been closed after the horse had bolted. There are similar examples from other parts of the World - the Black sea, Baltic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, -if its not overfishing, then its pollution and excessive exploitation/habitat destruction or invasive species. The tragic fate of mankind is that abundance leads to abuse and waste.

　

4. All is not yet lost. With intelligent and enlightened environment management, we can save the ocean, its uses and users, the denizens, and the vast ecosystems, which control life and a broad spectrum of goods and services that are essential to the integrity of the biosphere and to human welfare. The management has to be ecologically sustainable development so that resources are not exhausted, but meet the requirements of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. But act we must, NOW. Failure to act to halt the degradation of the oceans would be a blow to the people of the World and a betrayal of future generations. It is mind boggling to think that the biodiversity which evolved over 65 million years has in the last 200 years been subjected to such a high level of human activity that it is deteriorating and in danger of collapsing.²

　

5. There are a number of issues concerning security of the ocean either to its uses, users, resources or its biodiversity. All the securities finally impinge on the main user - Man. The security issues range from national/military security, to food, energy, transportation, resources and biodiversity security. Nations have been dealing with these securities either independently or in regional groupings or sometimes as a world body. But each issue is dealt with at the national or international level separately and hence lack jointmanship and some amount of efficiency. For example there are separate conventions and agreements on Fisheries and straddling fish stocks, Search and Rescue, Safety of Life at Sea, Pollution, Ballast water, Greenhouse gases, etc., which are not coordinated and also dealt with separately within a country and at international levels. Basically these securities are interdependent, as are Peace, Environment and Development. The new concept of Ocean Security is "Securing the Oceans". This is a comprehensive security concept which by looking at implementation of ocean governance from a security stand point sees it as a potential force for improving the security of all nations. It is based on the idea that all aspects of ocean management, including military activities, maintaining the peace, use, resource extraction and environmental management must be addressed and integrated. Ocean governance is based on principles of coordination and cooperation, resulting in interaction between users and groupings and thereby in greater efficiency and greater security.

　

6. In the earlier session we examined the Political Will, Policy and Institutional Framework for implementation of the "Securing the Oceans Concept". Let us now see the systems for the implementation of the concept - the surveillance, environment management and various "Securing the Oceans" systems and their integration.

　

7. Environment management involves making a policy to protect and preserve the environment and from there evolving an ocean strategy for ecologically sustainable development (ESD). Thereafter a plan is to be drawn up for implementing the strategy through a suitable organisation. A set of rules and regulations will have to be enacted to protect and preserve the environment and to maintain clean and safe seas. They will have to be enforced through a suitable organisation.

　

8. The many rules and regulations that had been enacted at different times earlier, need to be revised if necessary and compiled into an integrated law which is coordinated within the various sectors and ocean regimes into a comprehensive Maritime or Ocean Act, ensuring no conflicts among uses and users. Various countries have different laws and many loopholes. The law and the management are generally oriented towards the predominant occupation, industry or problem. For example some states are more concerned with fishing, others with tourism, and still others with pollution or invasive species or loss of habitat. If the ocean act is standardised then all countries could adopt it and no time would be lost in laborious drafting. This would also provide an umbrella Act for all ocean activities. This should result in protection and improvement of the marine environment, biodiversity and resources, and maximum wealth generation based on ecologically sustainable development. It may be mentioned that a major reason that people are attracted to the coastal environments is because of the goods and services from natural resources, recreation and aesthetic appeal. A comprehensive assessment values ecosystem goods and services globally to be of the value of 33 trillion US $ a year, though this appears to be slightly on the higher side. Of this 64% is provided by marine/ocean services. Thirty eight percent of the global total is provided by coastal systems.³ Ocean management is a horizontal issue requiring collaboration between government and stakeholders and internationally among governments. There is a need to clarify roles and responsibilities with respect to ocean management and change tack to a new approach. This new approach would mean change from (a) single species obsession to ecosystem and precautionary approach, (b) single sector (such as fishery, energy, transportation) to integrated management, (c) autocratic centralized government decision making to consultative and transparent decision making (including private sector business, community and indigenous groups), (d) trading off environmental economic goals to advancing sustainable development objectives and (e) clearing every new development only after environmental impact assessment.

　

9. The Ocean Act would be the legal basis for modern oceans management based on strategic objectives of increasing our understanding and protection of the marine environment, of supporting sustainable economic policies and of encouraging scientific know how, research and engineering to provide new technologies and new opportunities for sustainable development.

　

10. After drawing up an Ocean Strategy, an environment management organisation must have a Plan of Action. The Plan should ensure the various securities of the Ocean from national sovereignty and security to the other forms of Ocean security mentioned earlier, namely transport, food, resources, environment and biodiversity security. The laws with respect to each of these securities must also cater to all the safeties such as SAR and SOLAS, etc and protection of users, resources and the environment from the full range of threats. For example transportation security would inter alia include safe navigation and safety of ships, crews and passengers from pirates and terrorists. Safety from terrorists has been taken a step further to also ensure port security, safety of cargo and minimizing threat from containers. In similar manner, environment security management would include protection and preservation/conservation of the environment (including fish, marine resources and biodiversity), and prevention and control of pollution.⁴ It may be mentioned here that prevention is a more efficient and cost effective solution to many threats, although in practice most superiors are more impressed with cures. Good examples are that the cost of double hulled tankers or ballast water precautions is far less than dealing with an accidental oilspill or with quick multiplying invasive species, respectively. The total liability of Exxon in the Exxon Valdez disaster was several billion dollars, of which cleanup costs were 50%. Exxon finally settled for one billion dollars⁵.

　

11. The environment is ever changing. Just as events half way around the globe can affect weather (e.g. El Nino and the Indian monsoons), similarly phenomena in one part of the ocean can affect events in a completely different location. One way of checking the health of the ocean is by monitoring the phenomena of interest and the variables. On the bases of nowcasts and hindcasts (past observations), these units of change are applied to models and interpolated or extrapolated to forecast the future state. Accordingly action can be taken to prevent or warn, to regulate or to take direct action. These observations together with research and changing technology are essential inputs to managers, not only of the Oceans but also of other allied sciences and regimes, and hence have to be so integrated into the monitoring system. The physical and scientific aspects of surveillance are indeed very detailed, laborious, perhaps boring, but constitute a most important aspect of environment management. Surveillance may be widely construed as monitoring, recording and inspection. At each step I must stress cooperation and coordination, and therefore environment management would require sharing, communication and consultation within a national set up and internationally with other governments and agencies.