Scientists from 35 nations are urging the creation of large marine reserves, similar to the protected area encompassing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, to preserve the planet’s oceans and halt overfishing. While existing small reserves already provide conservation benefits at local levels worldwide, they have limited effect on wide-ranging marine species, according to a statement signed by nearly 250 scientists and 
released by Global Ocean Legacy, a project of the Pew Environment Group. What is needed, the statement says, are “ocean-scale” reserves — so-called national parks at sea — where “ecological processes and functions can operate much as they have for milennia.” While oceans cover more than 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, less than 0.4 percent of the world’s oceans are fully protected. The group is looking to identify and protect large marine ecosystems that have not been overfished, and which are under political jurisdiction of nations that could monitor and enforce restrictions.
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