1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Gilein Maxwell. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 I'm passionate about the ocean, the deep sea and the wild animals that live there. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000 It became a focus after one of my first submarine dives. 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:26,000 I was so excited, nervous, going down to 1,500 feet, 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,000 hoping to see a mythical, never seen before sea creature. 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:35,000 I arrived, I switched on the lights, hoping to see this exciting creature. 7 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:41,000 I flew through the darkness, put on the lights, I didn't see an exotic creature. 8 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,000 I didn't see a fish, I didn't even see a coral. 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 I saw a plastic hanger. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:55,000 I was devastated, I was angry and I understood immediately that the ocean was in trouble 11 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,000 and that we absolutely needed to take immediate action. 12 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:07,000 I've gone around the world since, diving in some of the most beautiful and pristine places in the world, 13 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:14,000 joining expeditions, and I've also dived in some of the most terrible places known as dead spots, 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:21,000 places where the oxygen levels are so depleted that most marine life cannot survive. 15 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:27,000 The ocean covers 71% of the earth's surface. 16 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,000 That and 64% of that lies outside of any country's jurisdiction. 17 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:42,000 What that means is that 64% of the ocean is belonging to us, we co-own it. 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,000 The earth's, we co-own it. 19 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,000 Sorry, there it is. 20 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:58,000 64% of the ocean is an open access common area known as the high seas, the international waters, or the global commons. 21 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000 The ocean is essential to life on earth. 22 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:08,000 When we take a deep breath, it's the ocean that produces more than half of that oxygen rich breath. 23 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,000 It cycles over a quarter of the CO2 in the atmosphere. 24 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,000 It plays an integral role in our climate and in our weather patterns. 25 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:24,000 16% of the globe's population depend on fish as a primary source of protein. 26 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000 The ocean is essential to the world economy. 27 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000 90% of global trade moves by ship. 28 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Yet, despite the ocean's importance to us, we know so little about it. 29 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Less than 1% of the deep sea has been explored. 30 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:50,000 We spend approximately 150 times more exploring space looking for life than we do exploring the ocean. 31 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Yet each new dive reveals astonishing new life forms. 32 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,000 The discovery of hydrothermal vents changed our very definition of life. 33 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:08,000 We had no idea that life could exist in such a depth, in such a toxic environment in a place where no sunlight penetrated. 34 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Just last year, a ghostly white snail fish was discovered at four and a half miles beneath the surface in the South Pacific new life. 35 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 So why don't we ever talk about the high seas? 36 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,000 The 64% that we co-own, our commons. 37 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Why aren't the high seas the hot topic at dinner, even as we eat our fish? 38 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,000 We can change our relationship to this half of our planet. 39 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:45,000 We can begin by understanding and appreciating its value and understanding definitively that we really, really own it. 40 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,000 It's ours. 41 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:58,000 Our ownership stems from the public trust doctrine, the Institutes of Justinian, which declared, by the law of nature, these things are common to mankind. 42 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Air, running water, the sea. 43 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:14,000 England incorporated this doctrine into its earliest laws and the US courts determined that upon independence, the 13 original colonies inherited the law. 44 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:27,000 In 1982, the law of the sea convention ratified by 164 countries declared the seabed area, its mineral resources as the common heritage of mankind. 45 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:35,000 This law requires activities on the seabed to be carried out for the benefit of all of us, making it our common resource. 46 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:42,000 The reality today though is that the current law of the seas is basis on an outdated mindset. 47 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:52,000 It says that the high seas can be exploited by the flu, by the flu, and by the way it is being exploited by the flu, so long as we all still have the right of access. 48 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,000 It's an area that's not governed by a single entity. 49 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,000 It's a mess of incoherent laws, unenforce laws, and no laws. 50 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,000 That's half our planet we're talking about. 51 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Activities are largely unregulated and unmonited. 52 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Some scientists are predicting the total collapse of commercial fisheries within the next 50 years, unless we'd make fundamental changes. 53 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:25,000 The largest fishing net can fit 12 Boeing 747s taking out entire shores of fish in its mouth. 54 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:31,000 Destructive fishing practices like bottom trolling destroy ancient coral habitats. 55 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Discarded trash and plastic can be seen swirling in gyrs, the size of countries. 56 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:47,000 We use and discard one trillion plastic bags worldwide every year, and they end up in some form, one way or another in our oceans. 57 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:57,000 Mining is also becoming a reality in our high seas with the international sea bed authority currently selling mining rights to our comans. 58 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Minerals on the sea bed are at the center of disputes with countries lobbying and politicking to extend their continental shelves, trying to take control of our resources. 59 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,000 And where are we the actual owners of the high seas in this process? 60 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Do we really really want countries divving up our comans? 61 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Do we want subsidized fleets taking our fish? 62 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,000 Don't we need and want to say in what happens in our comans? 63 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:32,000 We can change businesses usual, and I'd like to propose six things that we can do. 64 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:41,000 One, as co-owners of the high seas, we can demand the application of the public trust doctrine for the sea as well as for the sea bed. 65 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:47,000 The high seas and all marine living resources could be held in a public trust. 66 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:57,000 This would recognize all citizens, present and future as beneficiaries with states and trustees and international bodies as having monitoring and oversight duties. 67 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:04,000 Countries that last year's Rio Plus 20 conference committed to restoring productivity and resilience to our oceans. 68 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,000 I think we should all demand that our governments follow through. 69 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Two, we could have more marine protected areas places where marine species can thrive. 70 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:21,000 Imagine 12% of land is protected whilst a measly half a percent of the high seas are. 71 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:27,000 Three, we could adopt models that produce more revenue without destroying the capital base. 72 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:33,000 When sharp thinning was banned in Palau, a thriving dive tourist industry took its place. 73 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:45,000 Sharks that were killed for their finto loan, which was sold for around $200, became hugely valuable instead, worth an approximate $1.9 million over their lifetime. 74 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,000 Four, we could ban wasteful fishing practices. 75 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:56,000 Some fisheries catch one kilo of target fish to 15 kilos of unwanted catch. 76 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Five, we could fish sustainably. Over 90% of the Pacific bluefin tuna has been fished out. 77 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,000 One bluefin just sold ever so recently for 1.7 million dollars. 78 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:13,000 I find that just the most incredible price to play on every level. 79 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Six, we could come together to create a community of citizens around the high seas and build a dedicated community to speak up and protect our global commons. 80 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:33,000 Whilst today, technology has made it easier to strip our oceans of their riches, it has also become easier for us to reclaim our ocean. 81 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,000 In the hyper connected world, change starts with awareness. 82 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Connected citizens armed with knowledge and information can bring about change and a huge different. 83 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:50,000 Just look at the shifting political map of the last few years. The world in some places is barely recognizable. 84 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:58,000 In 2012, I founded the Terra Mar project. It addresses many of these important issues. 85 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:09,000 Terra Mar citizens have an education platform and ambassadors, a daily online newspaper, weather reports, a flag, passports and a social networking community. 86 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:19,000 We can protect this half of our planet by building a large educated invested community that could, should and must be heard. 87 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Frankly, don't we owe the next generation the certainty of a productive and sustainable ocean? 88 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:32,000 And frankly, a better legacy than a plastic hanger. 89 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,000 Here is my passport to Terra Mar. 90 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Thank you.