“There is no regulation, we need severity”, alerted Friday August 26 on franceinfo the navigator Jean-Louis Etienne who defines himself as a “distant expedition entrepreneur”. After 15 years of informal discussions, negotiations opened two weeks ago at the United Nations to find an agreement to better protect the oceans. The objective is to reach a binding treaty to preserve biodiversity and better regulate exploitation in international waters.
franceinfo: Why is it urgent to protect the high seas?
Jean Louis Etienne : It is urgent to take care of it for a long time. What is happening is a further step. The ocean is suffering from global warming, pollution and overfishing. These are three elements on which we can act. Overfishing is a problem because all areas that are beyond the coastal areas are open and there is overfishing. The Chinese boats which are large containers transformed into freezers contract with local fishermen who bring them the fish which they sell in international waters and these large freezers leave for China. There is no regulation. The squid, for example, is often fished at night and we realize this with the satellites which make it possible to follow these pirate ships.
What impact does global warming have?
Thanks to the ocean for regulating the climate. The ocean surface absorbs 93% of our excess heat and, in addition, it is a carbon sink. CO2 is captured by the ocean in two ways. On the one hand, by planktonic grasses. It also dissolves in water. It is an important element of regulation. What the ocean suffers from is this expansion and melting of the polar caps and glaciers, which bring water to the sea and the level rises. Pollution is something on which we citizens can act. What pollutes the ocean is the Earth. All this is done by the rivers which have been considered as great sewers.
Have you noticed the evolution of pollution?
I made an expedition to Clipperton, a small French islet of 2 by 3 kilometers in the Pacific where there is not a single inhabitant. We are three days at sea from the Mexican coast. When you get to Clipperton, you step on the plastic. I have pictures. It is the illustration of a total non-respect. Each citizen is an actor of this pollution. Off the coast of Greenland, the sea is transparent, magnificent, but in this water there are pesticides, heavy metals which come from the great rivers which cross Russia.
What is the responsibility of States? Are there economic issues?
Yes, there are economic issues behind it. It’s an immensity difficult to monitor, the satellites do a lot of work. We can control the fishing when the boats come ashore. The ocean has medicinal and genetic resources that we are beginning to explore. There is wind and the wind turbines are efficient. Maritime transport is growing by setting more sails. So there is a resource that must be protected. It takes severity. France is quite remarkable because 33% of the areas around it are marine protected areas. We are pushing more and more so that there are maritime areas where we do not go fishing.