OCEAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COGNIZANCE ABSTRACT: Goal To improve and sustain the ecological, cultural, economic and

Social benefits, we derive from ocean resources. Motivation The opportunity to enjoy oceans plentiful bounty is very essential To our health and well being. However, there is insufficient Amount of planning associated between the government and nonprofit organizations who are working in this aspect. If we want our future generations to play in ocean and enjoy the comforts of healthy ocean life, we would have to change our current practices, laws, regulations, and community-government interactions. Its necessary to alter the ways in which we handle the ocean resources, otherwise they would become extinct one day, and our Major Challenges Completely remove the Sector-based approach that is Currently associated in handling ocean resources. Management Efforts are fragmented with many gaps and overlaps in Implementation just because of this approach. Integration of efforts between the government and nonprofit Organizations that are working in preserving the ocean Resources. Ocean-Zoning: - A concept considered as a means to guide human Uses of the ocean, to optimize utilization of marine resources and Also to provide protection of marine ecosystems. DESCRIPTION OF DOMAIN: The main domain of the system is Natural Resources Conservation. This is a very vast field, wherein all the small blocks of the society are trying to contribute their parts. As everything is sector-based, what happens is that there is no mutual coordination and integration among the various communities that are working together. Due to this lack of integration, we generally waste a large amount of resources on some Unwanted purposes. Replenishment of natural resources is a big challenge and ocean Resources are no exceptions. Hence, how do we conserve our available ocean resources, How to best utilize them, so that it helps the country financially and how to best OCEAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM COGNIZANCE 2 Maintain them, so that they are in perfect synchronization with the environment, and We enjoy its soothing nature in future, are the key milestones to be considered, while Developing this system. Thus, this forms the basis of domain of system. Soil erosion, Waste management, ocean-ecosystem protections are some of the few domains to be Considered, while designing this system. Working with integrity and co-ordination, The Ocean Resources: ocean is one of Earth's most valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form of fish and shellfishabout 200 billion pounds are caught each year. It's used for transportationboth travel and shipping. It provides a treasured source of recreation for humans. It is mined for minerals (salt, sand, gravel, and some manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found in the deep sea) and drilled for crude oil.

Oil Rig off Santa Barbara. Wolcott Henry 2001 The ocean plays a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere and providing oxygen. It regulates Earth's climate. The ocean is an increasingly important source of biomedical organisms with enormous potential for fighting disease. These are just a few examples of the importance of the ocean to life on land. Explore them in greater detail to understand why we must keep the ocean healthy for future generations Shipping: The word shipping refers to the activity of moving cargo with ships in between seaports. Windpowered ships exist, but more often ships are powered by steam turbine plants or diesel engines. Naval ships are usually responsible for transporting most of trade from one country to another and are called merchant navies. The various types of ships include container ships, tankers, crude oil ships, product ships, chemical ships, bulk carriers, cable layers, general cargo ships, offshore supply vessels, dynamically-positioned ships, ferries, gas and car carriers, tugboats, barges and dredgers.

. Tourism: Tourism is the fastest growing division of the world economy and is responsible for more than 200 million jobs all over the world. In the US alone, tourism resulted in an economic gain of 478 billion dollars. With 700 million people traveling to another country in the year 2000, tourism is in the top five economic contributors to 83% of all countries and the most important economy for 38% of countries. The tourism industry is based on natural resources present in each country and usually negatively affect ecosystems because it is often left unmanaged. However, sustainable tourism can actually promote conservation of the environment.

Dive boat with recreational divers, Key Largo, Florida. Wolcott Henry 2001 Mining: Humans began to mine the ocean floor for diamonds, gold, silver, metal ores like manganese nodules and gravel mines in the 1950's when the company Tidal Diamonds was established by Sam Collins. Diamonds are found in greater number and quality in the ocean than on land, but are much harder to mine. When diamonds are mined, the ocean floor is dredged to bring it up to the boat and sift through the sediment for valuable gems. The process is difficult as sediment is not easy to bring up to the surface, but will probably become a huge industry once technology evolves to solve the logistical problem. Climate Buffer: The ocean is an integral component of the world's climate due to its capacity to collect, drive and mix water, heat, and carbon dioxide. The ocean can hold and circulate more water, heat and carbon dioxide than the atmosphere although the components of the Earth's climate are constantly exchanged. Because the ocean can store so much heat, seasons occur later than they would and air above the ocean is warmed. Heat energy stored in the ocean in one season will affect the climate almost an entire season later. The ocean and the atmosphere work together to form complex weather phenomena like the North Atlantic Oscillation and El Nio. The many chemical cycles occurring between the ocean and the atmosphere also influence the climate by controlling the amount of radiation released into ecosystems and our environment. Oxygen Production: Gases in the atmosphere like carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen are dissolved through the water cycle. The gases that are now crucial to all ecosystems and biological processes originally came from the inside layers of the earth during the period when the earth was first formed. The rate of flow for oxygen as well as other gases is controlled by biological processes, especially metabolism of organisms like prokaryotes and bacteria. Prokaryotes have been around since the beginning of the Earth, have evolved to be able to use chemical energy to create organic matter and are capable of both reducing and oxidizing inorganic compounds. Bacteria that can reduce inorganic compounds are anaerobic and those that oxidize inorganic compounds are aerobic. Aerobic bacteria release oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. Major stresses on marine ecosystems are listed below1. Pollution of marine water due to disposal of municipal, industrial, chemical and toxic wastes in the sea water. 2. Dumping of various biodegradable and non- biodegradable wastes including plastics and torn fishing nets etc. into sea water. 3. Over exploitation of living marine resources. 4. Heavy sedimentation of sea water. 5. Global climatic and atmospheric changes induced by human activities leading to atmospheric pollution. 6. Introduction of exotic species for example introduction of Jelly fish in the black sea. 7. Oil spills on water surface from ships and natural sources. Stresses on coastal ecosystems are listed below1. Increasing pressure on terrestrial and marine natural resources cause coastal degradation. 2. Dumping of wastes in coastal areas intoxicate the coastal and estuarine waters. 3. Population growth, increasing urbanisation, industrialization and tourism in coastal areas damage coastal ecosystems. 4. Pollution of coastal water by industrial wastes is damaging coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Deaths of sea birds due to intoxication of sea-water by pesticides (DDT in particular) and outbreak of Mina Mata disease in Japan from mercury contaminated seafood are two examples of serious pollutions of coastal ecosystems.

5. Exploitation of living resources from coastal areas is causing excessive pressures on coastal ecosystems. 6. Contamination of sea water with sewage is causing nutrient enrichment of coastal ecosystems. It is further leading to a serious condition of eutrophication. The sewage discharge into sea water has increased dramatically in the past three decades. Several enclosed or semi-enclosed seas like the Black Sea are experiencing serious problem of eutrophication. 7. The contamination of coastal water by sewage borne pathogens is causing serious public health problems. 8. Port dredging, land filling, coastal solid waste dumps, coastal constructions, beech and reef- mining, damage from tourism and recreation are causing serious impacts on these ecosystems. 9. Destruction of mangrove vegetation has put severe stresses on these ecosystems. Conservation and Management of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems According to a report of the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme), the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems has intensified since last 30 years. The progress in the protection of these ecosystems has so far remained very slow. Fortunately, there is an emerging concern in some parts of the globe that the loss of living marine resources is as dangerous to the health of marine and coastal ecosystems as marine pollution. Some of the major threats to these ecosystems that have been identified are- pollutions, over- exploitation of marine living resources and loss of coastal habitats. Major strategies of conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems are described below India has a coastline of over 7,500 km .It has about 2 million sq km area within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). It has been authorised to explore about 150,000 sq km of marine area in the Indian Ocean by Seabed Authority which offers immense scope for exploration and study of ocean resources. The Government of India created the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) in July 1981. An Ocean Policy Statement was brought out in 1982 by this department. Some of the features of this policy are- Exploratory survey; Assessment and sustainable utilization of ocean resources; Technical advances geared to the utilisation and preservation of the marine and coastal ecosystems; Integrated Coastal and Marine area Development; and Coastal Community Development. The Government of India has created following systems for the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems(i) Coastal Area Monitoring and Prediction System (OMAPS)-1990. (ii) Two Coastal Research Vessels (under National Institute of Ocean Technology) namely - Sagar Purvi and Sagar Paschimi. These vessels are meant for the monitoring of marine and coastal pollutions for Integrated Coastal and Marine area Management. The Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Programme (ICMAM) is a project under implementation since 1997. This project has two major components- (a) Capacity building, and (b) Development of infra structure for research and development.The capacity building component of ICMAM incorporates(a)Development of information system for critical habitats of India such as Gulf of Khambat, Karwar Island, Gulf of Kutch, Cochin Islands, Sunder bans, Malwan, Kadmat Island, Gulf of Mannar,Pichavaran, Caring and Gahirmatha. (b) Development of guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment. First, accept that you are only able to control your actions and responses to changing conditions around you. Take responsibility for your actions in all things. It sounds simple but being accountable to yourself will help you make the necessary changes. Stop to consider the consequences of your actions (if I choose to do this, what will be the result?). Lead by example! If you can change, then it just might inspire others. Remember that one person can make a difference. Small accomplishments add up quicker then you might think. Remember, no matter what your economic standing, you can help save the environment and money at the same time. You the consumer drive the market; products are made because you buy them. If you buy products that are better for the environment it will become profitable for companies to respond to the demand for environmentally-friendly products. It really is that simple. Read other resources on how to protect the ocean such as 50 Ways to Save the Ocean by David Helvarg, an excellent resource filled with information on what you can do to protect the ocean (that we used to add to this page) and Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea's Biodiversity by Michael E. Soule, Elliott A. Norse, and Larry B. Crowder of MCBI . Become a marine biologistor better yet, a marine conservation biologist. This emerging field of marine biology is an important area of research needed to inform policy makers by providing evidence-based data that shows the ocean is in trouble and the solutions that are needed. Don't buy live saltwater fish caught in the wild for your aquarium. The fishing methods, such as cyaniding and dynamiting, for the live fish trade are horribly degrading to the marine environment. Hundreds of thousands of young and rare tropical

reef fish die every year in aquariums in the US along If you must keep a saltwater tank, buy only Marine Aquarium Council certified fish to ensure your fish are sustainably caught or reared in captivity. Never return aquarium fish into the ocean or other body of water. This practice has introduced non-native species to many areas disrupting the balance of marine ecosystems often causing widespread destruction. Learn to scuba dive if you want to experience the underwater realm. Diving is safer now than riding a bicycle, and, if you really like what you see when you're diving you can keep it forever! How? Take a digital camera or even a video camera with you! If you learn to dive, learn to dive responsibly. Don't touch the reefs or marine life, and don't take souvenirs. Leave only bubbles. Only patronize environmentally-conscious dive operators and refuse to dive on cattle boats that carry more than 10 divers per boat. Choose dive spots at ecotourism destinations where marine resources are protected

and marine conservation is a priority.