ABSTRACT
Th e marine environment is vulnerable to a spectrum of direct and indirect impacts arising from human activities both at sea and on land (see Table 5.1). As ‘downstream’ recipients of degrading impacts caused by poor land-use and catchment management, and simultaneously under increasing pressure to provide resources and space to meet human needs, the world’s coasts and shallow seas are aff ected both directly and indirectly (Agardy, 2000) (see Box 5.1). It is,
however, recognized that human impacts, both near-and far-fi eld, need to be reduced to a level where marine ecosystems can function without serious impairment. Th is is particularly evident in fi shing where past practice has overexploited many marine fi sheries and where in some marine ecosystems most stocks supporting traditional fi sheries are in a state of collapse. Th e Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Th e State of World Fisheries and Agriculture reports, for example, conclude that nearly 20 per cent of fi sh stocks globally are collapsed, over-exploited or recovering from past over-exploitation, and another 60 per cent are fully exploited (FAO, 2009). Similarly, where regional extirpations or near-extirpations have taken place, the cause is overfi shing and habitat degradation together with biological and ecological factors (Powles et al, 2000).
