How humans relate to the global ocean

MANAGING CONTROVERSY-AN ESSENTIAL SKILL

A Major dialogue related to the Ocean derives from the fact that all of us are dependent on it, but no one owns it. Indeed the ocean underpins both the environmental stability of our planet, as well as economic globalization.

The May 27, 2017 Issue of the Economist - the premier business journal from the UK - published a major article on the state of the Ocean - https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21722647-ocean-sustains-humanity-humanity-treats-it-contempt-how-improve-health signaling that both the Environmental and the Economic sides of the Oceans Dialogue have been joined. 

One of the major conclusions in the article was that: "The Ocean Sustains Humanity, Humanity Treats it with Contempt". 

Image from the Economist Article published May 27, 2017 

Much of the dialogue related to the oceans derives from the fact that all are dependent on them, but no one owns them. So it is difficult to settle on rules by acclimation or vote. The seccond issue is that not only does the ocean provide the energetic engine that operates the global weather and climate behavior on Earth, but the oceans are also the basic underpinning of the global economy. Those two facts result in an inevitable debate on how to protect the oceans (and ourselves) while stimulating and sustaining a vital economy that impacts peoples well-being financially....

POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES - http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/open_ocean/ocean_importance/

1) Unsustainable Fishing: 90% of the world's fisheries are already fully exploited or overfished, while billions of unwanted fish and other animals die needlessly each year. Unsustainable fishing is the largest threat to ocean life and habitats ... not to mention the livelihoods and food security of over a billion people.
2) Inadequate Protection: They might cover over 70% of our planet’s surface, but only a tiny fraction of the oceans has been protected: just 3.4%. Even worse, the vast majority of the world’s few marine parks and reserves are protected in name only. Without more and better managed Marine Protected Areas, the future of the ocean’s rich biodiversity - and the local economies it supports - remains uncertain.
3) Tourism and Development: The beach is not just a favourite holiday destination, it’s our favourite place to live. Around the world, coastlines have been steadily turned into new housing and tourist developments, and many beaches all but disappear under flocks of holiday-makers each year. This intense human presence is taking its toll on marine life.
4) Shipping: The oceans are huge highways, across which we ship all kinds of goods. Like other human activities, this heavy traffic is leaving its mark: oil spills, ship groundings, anchor damage, and the dumping of rubbish, ballast water, and oily waste are endangering marine habitats around the world.
5) Pollution: Untreated sewage, garbage, fertilizers, pesticides, industrial chemicals, plastics ... most of the pollutants on land eventually make their way into the ocean, either deliberately dumped there or entering from water run-off and the atmosphere. Not surprisingly, this pollution is harming the entire marine food chain - all the way up to humans.
6) Aquaculture: Fish farming is often touted as the answer to declining wild fish stocks. But more often than not, the farming of fish and shellfish is actually harming wild fish, through the pollution the farms discharge, escaped farmed fish, increased parasite loads, and the need to catch wild fish as feed.
7) Climate Change: Coral bleaching, rising sea levels, changing species distributions - global warming and climate change are already having a marked affect on the oceans. Strategies are needed to deal with these phenomena, and to reduce other pressures on marine habitats already stressed by rising water temperatures and levels.
8) Hazards: Natural and Man-made - Much is known about hazards and how to deal with them, but often little is done ahead of time to alleviate or mitigate the damage that is inevitable, but not clearly scheduled so that it can be dealt with cleanly.
9) Public awareness of Inner space is much less well developed than public awareness of outer space...why?