Marine conservation is a term generally describing activities undertaken by concerned parties to protect ocean environments and species. According to experts, the activities of human beings often pose a great threat to oceanic environments, sometimes because of a lack of caution and, at other times, due to a lack of knowledge. Those involved in marine conservation generally strive to curb activities that might threaten the ocean, mostly through a combination of regulation and education. Protecting the ocean presents several unique challenges partially due to its size and the difficulty in performing important research. Sometimes economic issues can also make marine conservation especially difficult, and this is particularly true in an international context because of legal and cultural differences.
There are several potentially dangerous threats to oceanic environments due to human activity, including things like industrial pollution and overfishing. Many of these things are deeply tied to the economic stability of people who live near the ocean. Regulations against fishing and laws against certain manufacturing practices can sometimes have a direct effect on jobs, and there are cases where this leads to political obstacles that limit marine conservation efforts. These problems can become especially severe in situations where people have to deal with international law and differences in global values.
The activities used in marine conservation efforts generally tend to focus around attempts to sway public opinion and advocate for certain changes in law. These laws could include things like restrictions against overfishing, laws against behaviors that endanger marine habitats such as oil drilling or dumping industrial waste, and laws that set aside certain areas as protected zones. Education can be a big part of this process because sometimes marine conservationists have to overcome a lot of public resistance to their suggested reforms, and this can be easier to do if people have a better understanding about the value of marine ecosystems to their everyday lives.
There are a few special challenges associated with marine conservation that specifically relate to the practical difficulties of dealing with the ocean. Since the ocean is a much larger area to protect in comparison to the land, and because so much of it is unexplored, employing the same kinds of conservation tactics used on land can sometimes be much more difficult. It is also often very difficult to study ocean species in comparison to land species, and this means that it might be harder to understand why a particular species is threatened or come up with viable protection strategies.