The United States and China, two of the top three fishing nations in terms of catch and importing fish, have agreed to collaborate on a series of bilateral measures to conserve and protect the Pacific Ocean between them.
Maritime agency leaders from both countries met on 24 June 2015 to strengthen agreements looking to tackle global climate change, ocean acidification, unsustainable fishing, and marine pollution.
These outcomes demonstrate an increasing commitment to ocean conversation by both countries, and form part of a broader trend of various bilateral agreements following the seventh China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) conference.
Maritime agencies from both the United States and China have agreed to work together to:
- Reduce and prevent marine litter in the area, through more proactive waste management and public awareness campaigns.
- Increase efforts in establishing a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in in Ross Sea, Antarctica as one of the world’s last remaining unspoiled marine environments.
- Implement tougher law enforcement measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
- Address the trafficking of endangered species (eg. totaba and sea turtles)
- Support greater co-operation between both Chinese and US maritime enforcement authorities.
- Strengthen bi-lateral collaboration in ocean scientific research, monitoring, and conservation. This will include establishing a South China Sea Tsunami Warning Centre to improve maritime safety, navigation and crisis response in the area.
- Develop a ‘Green Ports initiative‘ aimed to reduce marine pollution and increase monitoring of ocean and climate changes in the area.
Signal spotted by Carolyne Okeijn
Image Credit: US Pacific Command
