In June, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hosted leaders from almost 90 countries (including Japan) and from many fields, including government, civil society and academia, at a conference in Washington to discuss how to better protect the oceans.
Many participants made public commitments to create new, large marine protected areas (MPAs) or marine sanctuaries. Some of these commitments are especially noteworthy because they fall within exclusive economic zones (EEZs), the ocean area over which a country has exclusive control.
As EEZs are often the areas most heavily used by commercial and recreational fishers, tourists and industry, it is often difficult to protect them because these groups will protest any restrictions on their activities.