ABSTRACT
Marine pollution and human overuse of the oceans' store of food threaten the stability of ocean ecosystems, with a potential impact on the economy of many developing and developed countries. This chapter examines the susceptibility of different marine environments to degradation, and also addresses the only way in which damage can be managed, i.e. the legal framework which may control human use of the oceans. The balance to be struck is between the conflicting needs of nature conservation and human resource requirements.
