The high seas have long represented a frontier of wild adventure — a place where people took significant risks and untold fortunes were waiting to be snatched from the jaws of a capricious ocean.
These seas have sustained our planet’s vast flora and fauna by nourishing us, storing carbon, creating oxygen, and regulating temperatures and climate. With our ocean playing such a valuable role in the human experience, why do we seemingly place such little value on conserving and preserving it?
Part of it is geography. The high seas are beyond the jurisdiction of coastal nations yet represent nearly 60% of the world’s oceans. These vast marine wildernesses have long been exploited with devastating consequences that we are only now beginning to realize. The importance of preserving the high seas has never been greater than it is now. The High Seas Treaty — which the United Nations (UN) adopted in 2023 and 105 nations have signed to date, with 15 of those nations ratifying it — aims to do exactly that.
As an island nation and a stakeholder in overall ocean health, the Philippines plans to ratify the High Seas Treaty soon. This commitment will align the country with the UN and further protect marine biodiversity while promoting sustainable use of ocean resources and expanding their marine protected areas (MPAs).
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Marshall Louis Alferez said the Philippines hopes to be among the first group of countries to ratify the treaty. It may be that archipelagic countries such as the Philippines are seeking to protect their special interests, but they could also be spearheading a movement that will encourage other nations to share their passion for conservation.
Why is the high seas treaty necessary?
The High Sea Treaty’s primary tenets are protection, prevention, and preservation. Depletion of global fish stocks and damage to delicate ecosystems from trawling and cyanide and dynamite fishing are evident on some of the most remote seamounts worldwide. These practices — coupled with pollution from land, such as plastics and other single-use products — are having serious impacts.
The ocean and the land are interconnected biospheres. To improve the health of our seas, we must also consider what we do on land. Recycling and creating a new value system for common-grade plastics are helping in areas such as the Philippines, which has the privately supported Aling Tindera program, which provides infrastructure for residents to sell their plastic waste, which is then recycled or processed. Governments need to support more municipal infrastructure, and further steps in developing smarter fuels for transportation and manufacturing and more efficient farming are necessary.
Key provisions of the High Seas Treaty
Conservation: The treaty will help enable countries to achieve the goal of protecting 30% of the high seas by 2030. It supports countries creating MPAs, which are proven to promote healthier fish stocks by protecting specific zones. Commercial fishing benefits the most from no-take zones that encourage reproduction, although there is still prevalent corporate opposition to creating more MPAs.
Sustainable use: This objective involves regulating human activities such as fishing, mining, and shipping to support the sustainability of biodiversity in the high seas. The Earth’s population is increasing, and finding ways to manage and regulate the ocean’s resources is paramount. Defining sustainability and achieving enforceable goals, however, are challenges.
Equity and balance: There is a need to ensure that developing countries benefit from marine resources when the High Seas Treaty is ratified. The provisions that involve Indigenous peoples in conservation and sustainable use help them have a seat at the table and give them a voice against corruption and harmful practices such as dumping and poaching. The treaty also helps empower smaller maritime countries and local communities to manage their resources more effectively.
Governance: The treaty has ambitious goals for establishing a global framework for high seas management. The oceans’ tremendous expanses make managing them the most challenging aspect. Cooperation among all nations will be necessary for global benefit. It will require a philosophy of long-term protections for marine ecosystems taking precedence over short-term revenue from unregulated extraction.
Global call to action
As divers and dive professionals, we can help. Our daily actions and activities may influence others to do things such as advocate for the ocean, pick up trash during a dive, or volunteer with conservation organizations. Using social media to create a positive conversation around the High Seas Treaty will help bring it to life. We must raise awareness, teach the value of protecting and preserving, and encourage others to do the same.
The High Seas Treaty requires 60 countries to ratify it before it can be enforced. Robust monitoring and enforcement mechanisms must be put into place, and funds need to be earmarked for these types of operations. Creating new jobs on land and sea is a collateral benefit, as are the new types of technology that will need to be created to assist in the monumental tasks ahead.
Most maritime countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North, Central, and South America have embraced the concept and signed the High Seas Treaty. Only a handful of countries have taken the additional step of ratifying the treaty so far, including Belize, Chile, Maldives, Micronesia, Palau, Seychelles, Singapore, Timor Leste, Belize, and soon the Philippines will join the list.These countries have taken significant steps toward protecting marine biodiversity and promoting sustainable use of our oceans by 2030. They serve as guiding lights to inspire other nations to follow suit. While the treaty’s proposals might seem costly, the cost of doing nothing is even greater.
En savoir plus
Learn more about the High Seas Treaty in this video.
© Alert Diver – Q1 2025