The World Bank announced the Global Partnership for Oceans last Friday, gathering governments, scientists, advocacy organizations, the private sector and international public institutions to confront the increasingly urgent issues of over-fishing, marine degradation, and habitat loss.

Healthy corals attract fish and dive tourists to Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea lapping Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. [File photo]?

"Oceans are the lifeblood of our world," said World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick, announcing the new partnership in a keynote speech at "The Economist" magazine's World Oceans Summit in Singapore.

"They flow over more than 70 percent of our planet, and hold about 97 percent of its water. They absorb heat and carbon dioxide, generate oxygen, and shape the world's weather patterns. They provide about 15 percent of the animal protein for the world's population, the air that we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat," Zoellick said. "Whether we live inland or on coastlines, each one of us relies on healthy oceans."

"About 85 percent of the world's fish stocks are either seriously depleted or well on their way. We have over 400 dead zones where life has stopped - an area about the size of New Zealand."

"So for us as a development institution, it's also a core issue because about a billion people in the world depend on fish as their primary source of protein. It's a key source of jobs, whether for tourism or fisheries. There's hundreds of millions of jobs depending on this."

All entities involved in the partnership are already engaged in ocean protection activities. They agree that the key now is to mobilize around a set of shared goals to help coordinate activities and mobilize new financial support.

The global conservation organization WWF is working with the World Bank and others to protect and restore habitats and species and manage risks to ocean health from land-based pollution and offshore extractive industries.