1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Living Resources 



Box 1: The Value of Living Marine Resources" 



The diversity of life in the ocean provides a natural "hope chest" for 

 current and future generations. The ocean's biological diversity — the living 

 resources that compose it and the ecological processes that sustain it — form a 

 foundation for the quality of human life as well as the raw materials to enrich it. 

 Biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers to the variety and variability among 

 living organisms, and among the ecological complexes of which they are a part. It 

 encompasses all of the world's living resources. Marine living resources provide 

 essential economic, environmental, aesthetic, and cultural benefits to humanity. 



Direct use values: The fish humans consume represent the most widely 

 recognized economic value, whether from capture fisheries or marine aquaculture. 

 Sixteen percent of all animal protein consumed worldwide comes from the ocean. 

 In Asia alone, one billion people rely on fish as their main source of protein. The 

 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates the total value 

 to fishers of the world's marine catch at $80 billion per year. The comparable 

 value of fishes landed by U.S. fishers is $3.5 billion. Fishes and seaweeds provide 

 important fertilizers and livestock feed. Besides food, marine living resources 

 provide products including ornamental marine life, raw materials, and medicines. 

 Marine bioprospecting extracted Arabinosides from the sponge, Tethya crypta, 

 leading to more than $50 million annual sales in derived antiviral medicines. Just 

 five drugs developed over the past few years in research funded by Sea Grant 

 have a market potential estimated at $2 billion annually. 



Direct uses also include non-consumptive uses such as ecotourism, 

 recreation, and research. The economic return from whale watching, SCUBA 

 diving, and visits to aquariums far exceeds that which could be earned from 

 consumptive use of the organisms in question. Millions of tourists spend about $2 

 billion a year in the Florida Keys, with the Nafional Marine Sanctuary and other 

 marine protected areas providing a major attraction. Without sustainable 

 management of these nature-based tourist attractions, economic potential can 

 diminish or be lost entirely. 



(continued) 



^The system for valuations for marine biodiversity (direct, indirect, option, and non-use values), follows: LTNEP 1995. Global 

 Biodiversity Assessment. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, U.K. 1 140 pp. 



C-5 



