Marine resources: what are, types and examples

The Marine resources They are the set of elements, considering living beings and non -living elements, which can be found in the seas and oceans and that have an intrinsic or economic value and that, in addition, are or can be exploited for the human being.

The resources we get from marine waters They are multiple, covering resources from which we obtain economic and ecological benefit. However, none of them is infinite, since the overexploitation of marine resources entails great environmental impacts and, as a consequence, large economic losses.

The Types of Marine Resources They have been increasing over the years as new technologies were incorporated into the market, so that today the following types of sea and ocean resources are considered:

Living beings

Animal species are one of the main resources of the marine extractive industry, fishing. This type of resource is exploited through artisanal, industrial, aquaculture or shellfish fishing. According to the United Nations Organization (UN), fishing and aquaculture provide 15% of animal protein per year to 4.3 billion people. The overexploitation of the fishing industry, as well as the pirate fishery, have helped the decrease up to 90% of marine predators such as tunas, swords or cod. On the other hand, another living resource of great importance is also algae, which are exploited for food, alcohol or even paper and cardboard. We encourage you to meet marine animals: characteristics, types and ready with this other post.

Minerals

The most extracted resource of seabed today are hydrocarbons and is exploited to obtain oil or natural gas, although today the existing reserves that are under seas and oceans are not known exactly. According to the UN, more than 30% of the oil and gas produced from the sea and to a lesser extent, due to its high cost and environmental impact, minerals such as gold, tin or diamonds can also be obtained. Here you can learn more about mineral resources: what are, classification, examples and importance.

Energy

From the currents, tides, waves, thermal differences or differences in salt concentration in the water, different types of energy can be obtained, so that they help to supply the current energy demand. With these other articles you can learn more about the different energies that we get from the sea: undymootriz energy: what it is, how it works, types, examples, advantages and disadvantages, tidal energy: what is and how it works and dizziness energy: advantages and disadvantages.

Tourism

Another of the uses of marine and coastal resources It is tourism, which is increasingly going to carry out sports or recreation activities (such as diving or surfing) to countries with large proportions of beach and good environmental quality. This sector is of great impact, since coast tourism accounts for 5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

Communication

The seas and oceans are a great international communication route; From the first navigators they were used to discover new territories to the present, where they represent a key piece for the world economy. They are not only a communication route for commercial ships that transport goods from one place to another on the planet, but also by submarine cables that transport 95% of world telecommunications.

Ecosystems

The seas and oceans house many types of ecosystems and suppose one of the main biodiversity reserves of the planet. More than 250,000 species are distributed in the different marine ecosystems, such as mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries, coastal lagoons, marshes, estuaries or intermareal areas. Learn more about this topic with this article about the marine ecosystem: what is, characteristics, flora and fauna.

Next, we review throughout some countries and examples of marine resources of these, as well as the danger in which some are found.

• Marine resources of the Peruvian Sea: Along 3,000 km of coast that covers Peru, is the Grau Sea, known as the Peruvian Sea and that is part of the Pacific Ocean. In it, there is extraordinary wealth with thousands of species of fish, mollusks, crustaceans or algae and its exploitation contributes significantly to the economy of Peru. We advise you to consult this other article about the Peruvian Sea: characteristics and animals.
• Marine resources from Chile: In Chile, as well as in Peru, anchovy is a resource that has been exploited for the elaboration of fishmeal and its subsequent export to other countries to feed salmon. It is known that in northern Chile the anchovy is overexploited and in the south there are no exemplary.
• Marine resources from Panama: The exploitation of the marine resources of Panama has led to which species of white shrimp, sharks, mantaryas, sea turtles or sea cucumber, among others, they are currently overexploited. In recent years, this region has opted for aquaculture, concentrating on sea shrimp and trout.
• Marine resources from Costa Rica: In this region, sustainable fishing has been encouraged both commercial and recreational extractive and aquaculture has been developed for the production of fish and marine shrimp.

Conservation and Sustainable use of marine resources and coastal are collected in the objective of sustainable development (SDGs) number 14 since 2013, since until that time the importance of seas and oceans had not been collected.

The marine resources and its importance for environmental conservation They are fundamental to the health of planet Earth, since the imbalance derived from overexploitation would mean very important and irreversible ecological and economic losses. Therefore, the sustainable use of these is necessary because they provide innumerable services to the whole world and get to an end cannot and should not be an option.

To preserve these resources it is necessary to carry out a sustainable use of them but, What measures are applied to protect marine resources? Because there are ways to keep the oceans and seas and their resources such as:

• Increase the proportion of marine and coastal protected areas. Here you can inform yourself about the importance of natural reserves and protected areas.
• Regulate the overexploitation of fishing and avoid the fishing of species that have suffered a drastic decrease in their populations.
• Perform citizen awareness campaigns to inform about the state of resources and thus promote responsible consumption and sustainable use of marine resources.
• Promote and participate in sustainable marine and coastal tourism, in which the impacts for the environment are reduced and so that future generations can enjoy the benefits provided by these marine resources.
• Perform actions that contribute to the fight against climate change, since the impacts on the oceans and seas entail the loss of much of their biodiversity.

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