Protection of the marine environment from pollution

The ‘marine environment’ is used to describe rock pools at our beaches, the entrance to rivers, coral reefs, the seas and oceans off our coastline. The ‘marine environment’ includes the millions of animals and plants that live in the seas and oceans. The air above the seas and oceans is sometimes included in the ‘the marine environment’.

Australia’s seas and oceans are among the cleanest, with a vast variety of animal and plant life. Our seas and oceans are home to nationally and internationally important species. The sea provides living conditions for unique communities of plants and animals. The marine environment supports commercial and recreational fisheries.
Ships use the oceans and seas to transport the world’s cargo.

Many countries of the world depend almost entirely on the sea for their food.

The marine environment must be protected from pollution by everyone. Pollution can cause serious harm to or even kill the plants and animals that live in the sea. To help protect the marine environment, international regulations place strict laws on ships.

All the animals in the sea feed off a range of marine animal or plant life. If the plant life is harmed by pollution this impacts on the lives of all animals such as fish, crabs, crayfish etc.