In 1982, 119 states, within the framework of the United Nations, signed the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay (Jamaica), which defined the rights and responsibilities of nations in relation to the use of the oceans. Today, thirty years later, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is responsible for establishing trade and the safeguarding and management of the resources of the sea, is celebrating its anniversary.

The countries that signed the convention at the time thus agreed to combine the exploitation of their resources with the preservation of the marine environment. However, according to the latest data collected, the protection of the oceans barely reaches 2%, with 87% of fisheries fully exploited, or in a state of overexploitation or depletion, which puts a high number of species such as sharks, swordfish or Atlantic tuna at risk. A deficit that Oceana wanted to highlight, as it is too slow a rate of protection and “soon it will be too late for flagship species such as sharks, swordfish or Atlantic tuna or habitats such as deep-sea corals”, the organisation points out.