Today we see the islands of garbage on the ocean surface. The ocean converts into the molls of debris just because of human activities. Every year many industries dump millions of their trash and waste material into the ocean. Oil and gas mining activities and some accidents like oil spills also polluting the ocean and harm the aquatic life. Every year millions of fishes die by trapping in the net and wires that fisherman discards into the ocean.
Thousands of aquatic life die due to eating plastic material. The toxic material that we throw into the ocean also affects all species around, either directly or indirectly. Fish eat the poison and toxic material, the cycle continues and the toxic materials fish eat enter into our bodies. These toxic materials not only affect aquatic life also affect the overall food chain. The only way to get rid of this worst situation is “Ocean Privatization”.
How we solve this problem?
This problem can resolve by privatizing the ocean. Ocean privatization is a process in which the Government gives property rights of some part of the ocean to the company and any individual, same as the selling some part of land property.
As an American economist and theorist Walter Block said that “there are vast areas of human existence where the private property right plays no role at all”. We can say that the ocean privatization is a very interesting story to develop the property right of ocean fisheries.
How pubic pollute an Ocean?
A serious problem with our masses is the misuse of public places. This process starts when the landlord keeps a large area of land and gives on rent to the farmer and labor. The farmer is not allowed to use the plot for farming and other cattle grazing purposes because these activities diminish its value. This problem of land ownership still present. To solve this problem Government act as landlord charging taxes.
Consequently, the landlord abandons the land and the area used for different public outing sites like national parks, beaches, etc. Due to these activities, the oceans have badly affected. Peoples throw bottles, cans and other plastic materials into the sea and making it over-polluted.
Don’t pollute own land
Most of the companies working on ocean businesses never prefer an area filled with debris. The fish companies don’t show interest to catch or buy fishes those are contaminated with toxic material which will eventually result in a slight decrease in fisheries business.
Charge those, who pollute your ocean part
When an ocean is got privatized, the owner would generate his own rules and rights, policies and can charge other companies as per desire. The owner invests on his own ocean plot to attract the companies and other tourists.
Therefore, when someone pollutes his piece of the ocean he will charge a fee and can punish if the shipping industry and oil and gas mining companies pollute the ocean more than his set limit he will be able to charge these companies as well. The same policies apply in the Montreal protocol in which, if industry release more (CO2) from the set limit, the industry has to pay for it. In this way, ocean privatization can play its part in the eradication of environmental pollution.
Benefits of the ocean privatization & How an ocean can get privatize?
At present, many countries invest in ocean cleaning projects and thousands of dollars have invested for the coastal guards. This year, the US government owed $10.6 Billion to the coast guard. According to an official working on ocean privatizing project:
If the Government sells the property right to a company then it could not invest in the coastal guards. We are working to ensure the business policies and novelty in the private ocean and will give rise in the revenue. We are hopeful that such efforts will result in the wellbeing of the aquatic life and ocean water quality.
Zulakha Rasheed is a student of the University of Gujrat Pakistan. She is an Environmentalist, poet Urdu English content & scriptwriter, Graphic Designer, afsana-nighar, and novelist.
