Commercial fishermen are the greediest, stupidest people on earth.
The oceans are a way of life. We fish; we sail; we have a robust marine economy.
I think people had somehow gotten the sense that we have explored everything, when that isn't the case. We so know so little about the ocean, and so much of it is being destroyed.
Fifty percent of our country that we own, have all legal jurisdiction, have all rights to do whatever we want, lies beneath the sea and we have better maps of Mars than that 50 percent.
Maritime nations still respond automatically to the shibboleth of the "freedom of the seas." Professing to believe in the "inexhaustible resources of the oceans," they bring species after species of fish and whales closer to extinction.
The oceans are the last free place on the planet.
A healthy ocean is not a luxury item. It is a necessity for survival. And taking care of the ocean means taking care of ourselves.
The crazy thing is we live on an ocean planet - nobody gets that yet.
The seas are the heart's blood of the earth.
Neither does man have gills for living in a water environment; yet it is not sinful to explore the depths of the oceans in search of food or other blessings.
Our oceans cover two-thirds of what my grandfather called our water planet, and the part of the ocean that falls under the jurisdiction of the United States covers an area larger than the country itself.
We've built, drilled, and shipped indiscriminately across our oceans, with little consideration for the natural environment that is critical to the health of many of our other ocean uses, like food and recreation.
We never see any journalism or documentaries on the oceans and what we're doing on this Earth and how it affects the oceans and how important they are. I'm intrigued by it. It's almost an untold story.
In the United States, we do a pretty good job of protecting iconic landscapes and postcard views, but the ocean gets no respect.
Some parts of our oceans, like the rich and mysterious recesses of our Atlantic submarine canyons and seamounts, are so stunning and sensitive they deserve to be protected from destructive activities.
Seventy percent of the fish we eat is black market, fished in violation of international laws. Our ignorance makes us unwilling partners in crime. Rogue economics is turning the global market into our worst nightmare.
This is part of what's driving me, is this feeling like there's so much yet to be discovered in the oceans, and we're destroying it before we even know what's in it.
It is important to remember that the Pacific Ocean covers a quarter of the world's surface and that each Pacific country has its own cultural, historical and ethnic identity.
