Obama joins other world leaders to create new ocean sanctuaries

Record ID: 86872

  • Title: Obama joins other world leaders to create new ocean sanctuaries
  • Date: 15th September 2016
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 15, 2016) (STATE DEPARTMENT TV) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY INTRODUCING U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WIDE OF ROOM, OBAMA ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "So today we're building on this approach by establishing the first marine national monument
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2016 17:47
  • Keywords: Obama ocean marine life preservation
  • Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014ZOGOJR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The United States on Thursday (September 15) joined more than 20 countries in creating 40 new marine sanctuaries around the world to protect oceans from the threat of climate change and pollution.
    The sanctuaries, unveiled at a high-level conference in Washington, limit commercial fishing, oil and gas drilling, and other human activity that affects ocean ecosystems.
    Altogether, countries at the oceans conference will announce new sanctuaries covering nearly 460,000 square miles (1.19 million sq km) of ocean, an area around the size of South Africa.
    President Barack Obama designated the first U.S. marine reserve in the Atlantic Ocean: 4,913 square miles (12,724 sq km) known for their underwater mountains and canyons off the coast of New England.
    "We're protecting fragile ecosystems off the coast of New England, including pristine underseas canyons and seamounts. We're helping make the oceans more resilient to climate change. And this will help fishermen better understand the changes that are taking place that will affect their livelihood, and we're doing it in a way that respects the fishing industry's unique role in New England's economy and history," Obama said.
    Obama, who recalled body-surfing in the Pacific Ocean while he was growing up in Hawaii, called the pledges a "pretty good down payment" but said bolder international action was needed.
    "I know that, in a contest between us and the oceans, eventually the oceans will win one way or the other. So it's us that has to adapt. Not the other way around," Obama told the conference.
    Last month, Obama expanded a massive reserve off the coast of Hawaii - the world's largest such protected area - as he works to cement his environmental legacy before his time in the White House ends in January.
    He traveled to the remote Midway Atoll in the reserve, and told the conference what it was like to snorkel among purple and orange coral as endangered monk seals sunned themselves on nearby rocks.
    "I saw it. It was right there, evidence of the incredible power of nature to rebuild itself, if we're not consistently trying to tear it down," Obama said.
    Opponents of the new Atlantic reserve have complained that it threatens the commercial seafood industry in the region.
    But Obama said it was designed to respect the fishing industry's role in the region's economy and history.
  • Copyright Holder: STATE DEPARTMENT TV
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