08/26/2026
Please adopt and share this policy initiative
Global High Seas Marine Preserve
The Five-Year Time-Out: A Last Chance for the Global High Seas
By Global High Seas Marine Preserve
What is it going to take to turn around our massive ocean environmental crisis? The data is more harrowing today than ever before. Over half of the ocean’s wildlife has vanished. Large apex predators—bluefin tuna, marlin, sailfish, manta rays, and sharks—have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Today, 90 percent of these magnificent creatures are gone.
Meanwhile, giant industrial trawlers continue to scar the pristine ecosystems of the deep, dragging massive nets across the ocean floor and destroying coral reefs worldwide. Every year, 15 million tons of garbage are dumped into our waters. Combined with the 100 million barrels of oil fueling our atmosphere every day, we are crafting a dystopian future for our children and the wildlife that sustains our planet.
A Global Legal Turning Point
There are significant efforts underway to rectify these horrific man-made problems through international law. In 2025, the world’s governments—notably absent the United States—ratified the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
While the BBNJ High Seas Treaty officially enters into force in January 2026, other fronts remain stalled. Negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty are deadlocked by fossil-fuel-producing nations, even as microplastics become a permanent, existential reality. Furthermore, the United States remains a non-party to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, choosing to drift toward disaster rather than lead.
We are also facing a new frontier of destruction: deep-sea mining. While countries like Canada, France, and the UK recently blocked the International Seabed Authority (ISA) from issuing the first "commercial exploitation" licenses, the pressure to destroy these ancient environments for rare metals remains high.
The Slaughter Continues
Without a unified rule of law, the slaughter continues. Humans kill over 200,000 sharks every single day for shark fin soup. This systematic removal of top predators threatens the collapse of the entire marine food chain.
We need a practical legal solution that matches the scale of the crisis. We are proposing a Five-Year Moratorium on Industrial Commercial Fishing in the High Seas, combined with a global "cleaning up" of our oceans during this time-out.
A Win-Win for the Planet
The High Seas are currently the "Wild West." Beyond the "Tragedy of the Commons," these waters are plagued by fish fraud, illegal harvesting, kidnappings, and even murders. A five-year moratorium addresses these issues by replacing chaos with the rule of law.
Five years is not a long time in the history of our planet, but it is long enough for forage fish populations to recover. As the base of the food chain reproduces, the large predators will follow. This is a win-win: more fish, a cleaner ocean, and an expanded rule of law.
The 70-Year Descent
The "take-off" point for our current crisis was 1950. Following World War II, the chemical infrastructure built for war found a new market in plastic. In 1950, global plastic production was approximately 2 million tonnes. By the mid-1950s, a "throwaway living" revolution convinced the public that sustainability was a chore. Today, we produce nearly 500 million tonnes of plastic annually, with plans to increase that by 40 percent by 2030.
During these same 70 years, government-subsidized industrial fishing took flight. In 1950, the global population was 2.53 billion; today, it is over 8.3 billion and increasing by 250,000 people every day. We have tripled our population and increased our plastic waste 250-fold. The ocean is in trouble, but we can turn it around.
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Our long-term goal is a Global High Seas Marine Preserve, protecting 100 percent of international waters. While some say this is an idea ahead of its time, history proves that "radical" ideas eventually become the foundations of justice.
In 1825, proposing an end to slavery, voting rights for women, or citizenship for Native Americans was considered "ahead of its time." Yet, in 1863, slavery was abolished; in 1920, women gained the right to vote; and in 1924, Native Americans finally became U.S. citizens.
Political change takes time, but we are running out of time. Let us work together on this five-year moratorium. Let us close the high seas to industrial fishing, clean our rivers, ban shark finning, and end the subsidies that fund the destruction of our common heritage. Our goal is to save the fishing industry and the wildlife alike. Success is the only option.
GLOBAL HIGH SEAS MARINE PRESERVE
12121 Wilshire Blvd., Ste 525,
Los Angeles, CA 90025 Tax ID 81-2865575
Website: savingoceans.org
