Objective 14: marine life
Over-fishing, pollution and the increasingly adverse effects of climate change are putting the oceans in danger. Given that drinking water, climate, weather, coasts, much of our food and even the oxygen in the air we breathe originally come from the sea and are regulated by it, this crisis is not good news. Coastal waters undergo a continuous degradation due to pollution and eutrophication, while acidification of the water, due to CO2 emissions, is putting the coral reefs and a lot of animals with calcium carbonate shells at risk.
The following photos illustrate two opposed methods of fishing exploitation; above, traditional inshore fishing: less volume of total catches but much more efficient in terms of catches/tons of fuel, less polluting, less aggressive to fish stocks, generating many more jobs and a product basically for human consumption. Below, industrial fishing (and fish farming): greater volume of total catches, less efficient, more polluting, generating less employment, more predatory (unwanted fish returned dead to the sea) and the product is partly used to make flour for bonemeal.
Some of the goals of this Objective 14 (Conserving and using the oceans, seas and marine resources in a sustainable way for sustainable development) are: preventing and significantly reducing pollution of the seas, minimising the effects of acidification, putting a stop to over-fishing, illegal fishing and destructive fishing practices, and applying management plans with a scientific basis to re-establish fish stocks in a short a time as possible.