Marine Biodiversity: Challenges, Trends, and a New Treaty

Abstract

Marine biodiversity is an important component of global biodiversity, which is under threat from a variety of anthropogenic stressors—some of the most important of which include overfishing, pollution, invasive species, climate change, and ocean acidification. After summarizing the scientific evidence that global marine biodiversity is declining, this article examines the two primary legal approaches to protecting marine biodiversity: area-based management, including marine protected areas; and species-specific protections. While, in general, place-based legal protections can offer the most holistic approach to protecting marine biodiversity, especially when warming oceans are inducing species shifts, this article argues that both the United States and the global community should increase protections for individual species at the same time. Species-based protections are especially critical for highly migratory species like bluefin tuna.

Keywords: marine biodiversity, marine protected areas, BBNJ, Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, Endangered Species