214 



sea turtles and whales in a number of marine ecosystems. 77 

 Additionally, some fisheries that are already closely managed 

 are nevertheless in decline, suggesting that ecosystem health 

 issues such as habitat destruction or persistent pollution may 

 be impacting the stocks. As the participants in this 

 conference have recognized, making management decisions on the 

 basis of looking only at individual constituent elements of 

 marine ecosystems no longer represents an adeguate response to 

 the systemic problems plaguing the oceans and coastal regions 

 today. 78 



On an international level, numerous large marine 

 ecosystems have experienced, or appear to be entering, periods 

 of system-wide degradation and injury to living marine 

 resources. A partial list of these areas includes the Barents 

 Sea, the North Sea, the Great Barrier Reef, the Gulf of 

 Thailand, and the Yellow Sea. The problems that have been 

 documented in all of these areas would benefit from the 

 application of ecosystem-based research and management 

 programs . 



77 Plunderinq the Seas , N.Y. Times, Aug. 2, 1993, at A14 



78 Id. . see aleo International Union for the Conservation of Nature 

 ( " IUCN" ) ; Draft Guidelines For the Ecolooical Sustainabilitv of 

 Nonconsumptlve and Consumptive Pees of Wild Species , May 28, 1993 at 3 

 (which, if adopted by the IUCN General Assembly will "provide Criteria and 

 Requirements .... intended to guide policies, laws and administrative 

 procedures [of member States] aimed at ensuring that any uses of wild 

 species are sustainable and that the affected species and their supporting 

 ecosystems are conserved."). 



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