Managing the Oceans - Page 68

C2 Proficiency · Gapped Text · Ready for C2 Proficiency Student's Book, Macmillan

You are going to read an article about managing the world's oceans. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A–H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Despite the legal work on the idea of freedom of the high seas, nothing concrete materialised for centuries. The finer details of an agreement which would satisfy all the nations involved would require serious time and effort; therefore it was not until the mid-20th century that treaties started to be drafted and ratified.

The birth of the United Nations in the mid-20th century had heralded a sea change in how the world came together to agree on matters of environmental importance. Since then, it has consistently been part of marine conservation and as recently as 2023 created a new agreement. This latest, The High Seas Treaty, will designate 30% of the oceans as protected zones and has been hailed as an historic piece of legislation, an example of working around national interests for a global solution.

Getting countries to sign up for these types of treaties is a delicate balance of encouragement, incentives and diplomacy. Some can be hesitant until they know what's in it for them, and others can be overly enthusiastic. Emotions can run high in highly polluted regions or areas where fishing is an important livelihood, but negotiations must be entered into in good faith.

The current international approach to marine conservation has its roots in the development of two key areas during the 17th century, the rule of law and the establishment of trading routes. The initial treaties and agreements, often drawn up between neighbouring countries, focused on getting wider access to the oceans' resources either for feeding ever growing domestic populations or for international commerce.

This expansion in maritime trade meant that competition for resources grew fierce. Maintaining access to the oceans was vital for many seafaring nations, especially those whose economies depended on fish. As fishermen and traders extended their routes, thoughts turned to protectionism and thus the idea of treating their territorial or coastal waters differently from the high seas was born.

There were several initial attempts which received a lukewarm reaction in some parts of the world, but in 1982 comprehensive agreement finally prevailed and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was signed. It was seen as a ground-breaking moment in international law, one which showed how collaboration could be achieved through hard work and determination.

Back in the 1970s, marine conservation as a discipline was still young, and little was known about the oceans. Scientists had a more thorough knowledge of the moon than the oceans and they had no feasible ways of getting to the depths of the oceans or sea beds in order to carry out research. This changed with the advent of underwater cameras and other enabling technology.

The initial concept put forward as a potential solution was that of making the high seas free for ships from any country to travel through. As a result of promoting the view that the oceans connect the world and therefore should be a shared resource, this became accepted. This fundamental shift from the idea of territorial acquisition to shared ownership was key to how ocean management would develop over the centuries.

Managing the world's oceans has an interesting history that is seldom told in full. While once nations sought to dominate them and assert sovereignty over them for trade purposes, the focus nowadays is on international collaboration to preserve these precious habitats under serious threat after centuries of human exploitation. Satisfying the needs of countries large and small all over the world is no mean feat and one which should be celebrated.

Humans have traded fish and products derived from sea mammals and plants since they first took to the water in rudimentary sailing vessels several thousand years ago. Sailing technology gradually improved over time resulting in more of the oceans becoming navigable. This in turn led to a global maritime trading network in the 16th century linking regions of the world such as Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

This distinction was to give countries jurisdiction over the seas and oceans around their coasts and also started the process of working out how to deal with the high seas. While it was acknowledged that countries should be able to use the oceans bordering their land for their own purposes, deciding what to do with the rest raised questions which were difficult to resolve for obvious reasons until a Dutch legal expert named Hugo Grotius took up the challenge in the 17th century.

Deciding on the content of a law to ensure 'freedom of the high seas', as the concept became known, was always going to be a daunting task. There were many aspects to take into consideration not least the issue of the distribution of resources in the oceans. While coral reefs and tropical seas are teeming with life, vast stretches of coastlines host far fewer species and as such resources are unevenly spread.

By this time, it was becoming increasingly clear that any international disagreements would have to be put aside. The oceans were suffering from a raft of issues such as overfishing and pollution, all caused by human activity. There was no doubt that something needed to be done and any action would have to be on a global scale.

Yet it could not have been accomplished without scientific development. At its heart was the growing understanding that the world's oceans are linked by currents that enable life to thrive and that human impact can have far-reaching consequences. Marine conservationists had started stressing that the only way forward was international cooperation and the United Nations listened.

As new information was uncovered, more charitable organisations appeared to champion the cause. Spurred on by the success of the UN and bolstered by research data, they too made great leaps in ocean protection, with successful international collaboration projects boosting whale populations, reducing coastal pollution and a host of other improvements.

In the face of climate change and the devasting effects on marine life, demonstrating effective leadership is necessary. Modern ocean management bears little resemblance to the trade-based treaties of the 17th century and is concerned solely with stewardship rather than ownership. Now that the issues are better understood, modernising old international treaties is of utmost importance.

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