World Ocean Day: The case for an ambitious Labour strategy for UK seas

As we move towards the publication of Labour’s election manifesto, the Party’s general silence on nature protection – and its particular silence on marine issues – is notable. On World Ocean Day and throughout the run-up to party conference season, we will be working to ensure this gap is closed. 

The scale of the global ocean crisis is too great to ignore. 90% of the world's fish stocks are already fully or over-exploited. As fish are extracted at an unsustainable pace, an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year. The ocean has absorbed about 30% of the carbon dioxide generated by human activity, shielding us from far more drastic climate change impacts, but at great cost to its own health. Our destruction of the ocean threatens the hundreds of thousands of marine species living within, but equally has implications far beyond its waters. An estimated 3 billion people depend on the ocean for their livelihood and for nutrition, and all life on earth depends on it indirectly as it underpins the stable functioning of the entire global climate system. 

The UK claims to be a global marine conservation leader but the reality is far from the rhetoric. We ‘protect’ 38% of our waters but most of these designations are little more than lines on a map. Rampant overfishing continues, at levels far above the independent scientific advice commissioned by the Government. This is decimating marine life, emitting carbon through fuel use and disruption of seabed carbon stores, and pushing small-scale fisheries to the brink as inshore fish populations dwindle under pressure from larger industrial vessels. The environmental movement has undoubtedly been let down by a Government which claimed to be an ocean leader – but so have fishing businesses and communities who are yet to experience the ‘Brexit benefits’ of leaving the Common Fisheries policy they were promised. 

The urgency of these issues, and the current Government’s failure to address them meaningfully, creates a significant space to fill – but Labour has so far not taken the opportunity to do so. With a few notable exceptions such as Elizabeth Warren’s Blue New Deal, ocean protection remains inexplicably absent from progressive political debate, too often seen incorrectly as a niche issue or one which is of interest only to coastal communities. We are all dependent on the ecological services provided by the ocean, from provision of food through to the stable functioning of our climate. The undermining of these common resources, and of smaller-scale local businesses, by larger industrial interests is a social and environmental injustice which Labour should passionately rally against. 

At an electoral level, their silence on this issue represents a notable failure to appeal to younger voters who want to see a bolder environmental offer from Labour and also to set out a compelling vision of revival and a renewed sense of place to increasingly politically-adrift coastal communities. While this sometimes risks being obscured by industry lobbying, recent polling by Oceana found 80% of UK adults supported a strengthening of ocean protection laws. Furthermore, it’s an area where Labour could achieve key conservation objectives through relatively simple, low-cost interventions that offer a substantial return on investment. WWF has estimated that fully protecting a third of UK seas through a well-managed network of MPAs would yield net gains estimated at £10.5 billion. 

There is a real opportunity for Labour to demonstrate leadership by building an ocean strategy based on a genuine understanding that ocean protection is not a niche or siloed issue, but a fundamental underpinning of any serious attempt at tackling the climate crisis. A complex, interlinked system needs a comprehensive policy plan. Likewise, there is an opportunity for Labour to fill gaps left by the current Government and appeal to the clear public support for stronger marine protection.  

If we leave marine ecosystems to flourish, they will not only store carbon and help mitigate climate change, but also provide a home for wildlife, improve food security, create jobs and much more. Labour could deliver this by banning supertrawlers from UK seas and bottom-trawling and dredging from Marine Protected Areas, alongside rolling out a substantial number of no-take highly protected areas to serve as sanctuaries to replenish ecosystems (including commercial fish populations). Beyond the UK’s seas, in line with its commitment to support an international law on ecocide, Labour should set out how it intends to demonstrate real global ocean leadership, including supporting a moratorium on commercial deep-sea mining – a hugely destructive industrial activity which could be unleashed as soon as next month. 

Last but absolutely not least, Labour has committed to delivering sustainable jobs for all parts of the UK. To contribute to this, an ambitious and proactive ocean strategy could unlock the 100,000 jobs which WWF has calculated that ocean recovery could create. This could involve a fundamental reimagining of what coastal economies could and should look like, replacing extractive, declining industries with innovative, regenerative ones which underpin a new sense of pride for coastal communities.  

A strong sustainable blue economy plan for the UK should include a vision for a fishing industry which respects scientific advice and operates within sustainable limits: one in which quota allocation is reformed so that responsible small-scale actors, who contribute culturally and economically to their communities, are prioritised over distant and damaging industrial fleets – and one which is on a just and well-managed transition pathway away from those forms of fishing activity which are no longer appropriate in the face of nature and climate crises. Simultaneously, there is real scope for innovation in setting out a plan to develop economic and employment potential provided by non-extractive uses of the sea, notably renewable energy, marine restoration, tourism, and recreation. In doing so, it could drive the renewal of coastal economies – and replace the maritime heritage so often evoked by politicians with a sustainable maritime future which delivers for people and for nature.