6.8C - Declining Ocean Health
Threats to ocean health pose threats to human wellbeing, especially in developing regions that depend on marine resources as a food source and for tourism and coastal protection.
The decline in ocean health caused by acidification and bleaching is resulting in changes to marine food webs. In particular, fish and crustacean stocks are both declining and changing their distributions. Such changes are being particularly felt by developing countries.
- the FAO estimates that fishing supports 500 million people, 90% of whom live in developing countries
- Millions of fishing families depend on seafood for income as well as food.
- Seafood is also the dietary preference of some wealthier countries, notably Iceland and Japan.
- Aquaculture is on the rise, but its productivity is also being affected by declining pH values and rising temperatures.
Tourism is another activity under threat, particularly in those countries, for example in the Caribbean, where coral reefs, now showing signs of degradation, have traditionally attracted scuba-diving tourists. The rising sea level is yet another consequence of climate change that threatens the very survival of tourism and its coastal infrastructure, as for example the Maldives and Seychelles. The costs of strengthening coastal defences can often exceed the financial resources of poorer coastal countries.