Law, Policy, and Wildlife:  Analysis of a Regional Arrangement for the Conservation and Management of Living Marine Resources

Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean

Operative Mechanism:  United Nations Environment Programme:  Caribbean Environment Programme

PART ONE:  THE GLOBAL SITUATION

Overfishing.  Pollution.  Habitat destruction.  The perilous state of the world’s oceans is hanging in the balance between thriving and merely trying to survive.  Human activities all over the world have contributed to the demise and pollution of sea creatures and to the oceans themselves in so many ways that it is impossible to pinpoint the damage to just one area of the world.  For centuries, humans have depended on the oceans for their survival and their livelihood and now the tables have turned, as the oceans now depend on humans for its survival.  Though overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction, resulting in the extinction of countless fish and wildlife species, have already caused much damage, steps are being taken to conserve what is left of the majestic oceans and to ensure that the damage will be stopped.  Some species of wildlife and fish have been lost forever, but it is crucial that these conservation steps are implemented to prevent the extinction of thousands of other unique species.

Overfishing in years past in all oceans has led to drastic problems with the food supply of today.  As fishing technology has gotten more advanced over the decades, bigger crops of fish have been harvested, leaving behind hundreds of decimated species that find it difficult to populate their species to a healthy level again.  In waters that have been overfished, the populations of fish have simply not bounded back to point where it is safe to fish them again.  Many nations have recognized this problem and have implemented fisheries programs to remedy the situation.  However, these remedies might have come too late, as Scheiber points out in his article, “Ocean Governance and the Marine Fisheries Crisis:  Two Decades of Innovation and Frustration.”  Scheiber notes, “The truly shocking datum, however, is that one in six of the world's ocean fisheries is now evaluated as "overexploited" or at the point where commercial use will soon be no longer feasible.  Excluded from current assessments in the FAO reports are some once-important fisheries that have already been so fully depleted that they are left out of the calculations. Among the fisheries located within the United States' 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, where foreign fishing is not permitted, more than one third of the stocks are deemed over-utilized, and another 44% fully-utilized.”

The rise of fisheries and of aquaculture itself has had both positive and negative impacts on the ocean’s environment.  Authors Phillips, Macintosh, and Barg state on the FAO website, “Nutrient enrichment of water bodies may provide nutrients beneficial to aquaculture production in some extensive culture systems (e.g. seaweeds, mollusks). However, excessive loadings with urban and industrial wastes can have severe consequences for aquaculture operations, particularly shellfish culture, when exposed to contamination with toxic pollutants, pathogens and phycotoxins. With increasing aquatic pollution and physical degradation of aquatic habitats by other developments, aquaculturists can face risks of mass mortalities of farmed stock, disease outbreaks, product contamination and reduced availability of wild seed or broodstock. Such impacts are in addition to the adverse effects on composition, abundance and distribution of wild fish populations, which affect capture fisheries.”  Numerous countries around the world face both positive and negative impacts such as the ones above, but it is clear that the need for fisheries and aquaculture is valid to reintroduce dying species back into our oceans.

Pollution caused by human development and waste quickly and effectively damages and/or destroys the marine environment, whether that effect was meant intentionally or unintentionally.  According to a speech made by Timothy E. Wirth, found on the U.S. Department of State website under Clinton’s Administration, “All told, these are the source for 70-80 percent of the total pollutant loading in the marine environment and includes such sources as the vast volume of coastal sewage which are discharged untreated; the sediments that wash into the sea from onshore development, logging and construction; and the nutrients that runoff from fertilizers and persistent organic compounds from pesticides.”   Pollution can cause the total destruction of fisheries, not to mention the livelihoods of those dependent on the fisheries.  Mr. Wirth also says, “Pollution also affects and reduces the habitat available for marine life and lowers reproductive success.  Contamination can shut down entire coastal fishing areas as we have seen with frequency here in the United States, where approximately one-fourth of all shellfish beds are closed each year to avoid public health problems caused by pathogens.”  This is a serious problem that all nations of the world are responsible for, especially those with coastal areas where development projects take place regularly.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed in 1982 and amended in 1994, established a legal regime for the protection and conservation of the world’s oceans.  While many industrial states, the United States included, did not actually sign the Convention until it was amended in 1994, it still provides a guideline for governing the world’s oceans.  In Article 73, Enforcement of Laws and Regulations of the Coastal State, it states, “The coastal State may, in the exercise of its sovereign rights to explore, exploit, conserve and manage the living resources in the exclusive economic zone, take such measures, including boarding, inspection, arrest and judicial proceedings, as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations adopted by it in conformity with this Convention.”  While this article does not specifically mention pollution control, it does mention the need to make inspections and hold proceedings in order to ensure the full compliance of the law of all nations regarding ocean environment.  More specific conventions concerning the world’s oceans are needed, especially concerning the many different forms of pollution that contaminates the oceans every day.  Until nations and individuals are held completely and unequivocally accountable for using the oceans as dumping grounds for their pollutants, this serious problem may never go away.

Pollution is probably the major source of habitat destruction of species within the oceans.  It can destroy and seep into every aspect of the ocean, killing and displacing thousands of species at the same time.  Displacing and destroying marine mammal and fish habitats alike, can cause such stress to species that they simply cannot carry on the survival or reproduction of their species any longer.  The Convention of the Law on the Sea also addresses the conservation of marine mammals.  Article 65, Marine Mammals, of the Convention states, “Nothing in this Part restricts the right of a coastal State or the competence of an international organization, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals more strictly than provided for in this Part. States shall co-operate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.”  Since this Convention applies to all signatory states, marine mammals are supposedly guaranteed protection and conservation.  This is definitely a step in the right direction, but how can those species that are nearly extinct, such as some species of whales, which were slaughtered from the mid-to-late 1900s, rebound after such catastrophe to their stocks?  More comprehensive legislation is needed in this area to ensure the survival of existing marine mammals.

One such type of legislation, like the Marine Mammal Protection Act of the United States, functions to reverse the destruction by human activity on marine mammals.  If effective legislation, such as the MMPA, could be adopted and signed by all or most of the nations of the world, the state of marine mammals worldwide would truly be protected.  From the NOAA Marine Mammals website under MMPA Legislation, a list of objectives concerning the MMPA are given.  The objective that most poignantly describes what marine mammals mean to most people states, “Marine mammals have proven themselves to be resources of great international significance, aesthetic and recreational as well as economic.”  Marine mammals, whether a humpback whale, a sea otter, or a manatee, never fail to bring a smile to any person, worldwide.  Most people feel affection and an affinity towards protecting them and their habitats and would not have any objection to instating a global convention on the protection of marine mammals.  Until this happens, marine mammals are still in mortal danger of being hunted and slaughtered.

“Every day, thousands of fish, turtles, dolphins and other marine life are drowned, crushed, and suffocated after being caught on fishing hooks and nets meant for other species. Each year, an estimated 44 billion pounds of unwanted, dead or dying fish and countless numbers of turtles, porpoises, and sharks are simply thrown overboard.” (Oceana.org).  As described throughout this report, the oceans of the world are in grave danger from pollution, habitat and marine life destruction, and overfishing.  Though the laws described here (and there are more) have taken considerable action in enforcing the conservation of the oceans, more legislation is needed in countries throughout the world to ensure the continued vigilance in protecting the marine environment.  The threat to our oceans affects every person on this earth. Our oceans are at risk, and with them our food supplies, our coastal economies, and even humans themselves. Oceans generate much of the world's oxygen, provide 95% of the living space for the earth's animals and plants, and feed billions of people around the world. We need healthy oceans to survive.  Even though the oceans are at great risk because of human activity, they are not totally ruined yet, and with their continued and enforced conservation, we can ensure that future generations be able to enjoy the beauty and magnificence of the seas.

PART TWO:  THE REGIONAL SITUATION

A. IMPORTANT LIVING MARINE RESOURCES IN THE REGION

  • Coral Reefs

  • Nassau Grouper

  • Mangroves

  • Seagrass Beds

  • Queen Conch

  • Caribbean Spiny Lobster

  • Reef Fishes

  • Invertebrates

  • Tropical Ornamental Fishes

  • Caribbean Monk Seal

  • Sea Turtles

  • Manatees

  • The wider marine habitat as a whole and all resources within

B. STATUS OF RESOURCE STOCKS

C. THREATS TO SPECIES

1.  Man-made

"Like other marine regions, the Wider Caribbean is affected by four principal sources of pollution:  shipping, dumping, sea-bed activities, and land activities.  These activities can damage fisheries, as well as foul the seas and beaches.  Large amounts of debris enter the Caribbean from offshore activities.  These include discarded nets from fishing-craft, packing material from merchant shipping vessels, garbage from cruise ships, and tar and dispersed petroleum hydrocarbons from tankers and offshore petroleum development" (Source: Protecting the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region:  The Challenge of Institution-Building).

2. Natural

I did not come across any natural threats to the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean in my research.

PART THREE:  LAW, POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION

A. BASIC DOCUMENTS

1. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region Text.

2. Additional Protocols:

3. Resolutions adopted by the Cartagena Convention

B. SCOPE

1.  Geographical 

The "Convention area" means the marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the areas of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent thereto, south of 30 deg north latitude and within 200 nautical miles of the Atlantic coasts of the States referred to in article 25 of the Convention (Article 2, paragraph 1).  However, this Convention does not apply to internal waters of any contracting party, unless they specify otherwise.  Click here to see map.

2.  Material 

This Convention applies to the wider marine environment, including coastal areas, of the Caribbean region stated above. 

C. ADOPTION

1. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention) was adopted on March 24, 1983.

2. The Cartagena Convention was adopted in Cartagena de Indias.

D. ENTRY INTO FORCE

The Cartagena Convention entered into force on October 11, 1986.

E. NUMBER OF PARTIES

The Cartagena Convention has been ratified by 21 United Nations Member States in the Wider Caribbean Region.  Click here to see map of Member States.  Click here to see a table of the Member States and when they signed the Convention (you must scroll down the linked page to get to the table).

F. OBJECTIVES AND DECISION MAKING

The objective of the Cartagena Convention is to achieve sustainable development of marine and coastal resources in the wider Caribbean region through effective integrated management that allows for increased economic growth.  "The Convention covers the various aspects of marine pollution for which the Contracting Parties must adopt measures. Thus, the Convention requires the adoption of measures aimed at preventing, reducing and controlling pollution of the following areas: pollution from ships, pollution caused by dumping, pollution from sea-bed activities, airborne pollution, pollution from land-based sources and activities. In addition, the Parties are required to take appropriate measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered species and to develop technical and other guidelines for the planning and environmental impact assessments of important development projects in order to prevent or reduce harmful impacts on the area of application."  (Cited from the Global Marine Litter Information Gateway website).

The Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) was established under the United Nations Environment Programme by the diverse States and Territories of the Wider Caribbean to collectively address the protection and development in the coastal area. 

G. EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE

Assessing the action plan of the Caribbean Environment Programme is basically an assessment of the Cartagena Convention.  According to Marian A. L. Miller's article, Protecting the Marine Envrironment of the Wider Caribbean Region:  The Challenge of Institution-Building, "An assessment of the progress towards meeting the objectives [of the Cartagena Convention] will give some preliminary indication of the Action Plan's effectiveness.  The programme on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) has made some limited progress toward fulfilling its short-term objectives at the national lvel.  While there are already more than 100 leagally established marine protected areas in the Caribbean Region, many of them still have no management arrangements.  At the regional level, SPAW has made scant progress towards supporting national efforts at species and habitat protection with information exchange, training, and technical assistance.  However, there has been significant progress on the development of specific management plans for two of the three species named in SPAW's short-term objectives.  Nine states and territories already have management plans for sea-turtles.  In addition, a regional management plan for the West Indian manatee is under way. 

"For the programme on Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution (CEPPOL), the major short-term objective, the finalization of the Protocol on land-based sources of marine pollution (LBSMP), will not be achieved on schedule.  The accomplishment of some of the supporting short-term objectives are also behind schedule; however, much of the basic task of identifying sources, levels, trends, and effects of pollutants has been done, and environmental quality criteria have been presented.  CEPPOL's progress has been constrained by inadequate participation and commitment by participating countries, unrealistic time-frames for scheduled activities, and inadequate and delayed funding.  CEPPOL, and other regional programmes, suffer from the Caribbean Environment Programme's practice of approving programme proposals in the absence of specific funding commitments."

Miller then goes on to say that basically all implementation of the Convention and its Protocols remain slow due to the fact that some countries still need to ratify the Protocols and make their own legislation concerning problems such as oil spills.  One of the main reasons that implementation has been so slow is owed to a lack of proper funding to fully institute the Convention and its Protocols.

Also important to note, is ICRAN's Strategic Plan for the Wider Caribbean; click here to read their comprehensive website on the assessment of Caribbean Coral Reefs.

H. IMPORTANT RECENT PUBLICATIONS

I.  USEFUL INTERNET LINKS

Regional Resources
27 March 2003 Copyright © 2002 by Erin O'Connor.  All rights reserved for all original material in all media.