Overview
- Delegates at the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa demanded fast implementation of the High Seas Treaty, arguing that international promises must be turned into measurable protection and enforcement on the high seas.
- The High Seas Treaty entered into force in January 2026 after 60 ratifications and for the first time gives a legal route to create protected areas in international waters.
- Speakers highlighted a protection shortfall, noting roughly 10% of the ocean is nominally protected and only about 3% is highly or fully protected, and warned that industrial fleets and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing continue to degrade marine life.
- Regional leadership examples cited at the conference include an eight‑nation Gulf of Guinea pledge to manage all waters sustainably by 2030 and Kenya’s expanded coastal plans and stepped‑up anti‑IUU efforts, with the Commonwealth holding a large share of ocean jurisdiction.
- Delegates stressed the urgent task now is to turn more than 2,900 past pledges and reported financing into concrete management plans, monitoring, financing and enforcement that will determine whether the treaty produces real benefits for coastal communities and ocean ecosystems.