The Consumption of Marine Resources by Tourists

Abstract

Most of this book to up to now has focused upon tourists and tourism harming our oceans by putting undesirable things into the sea, whether that be plastics, fuel spilled from boats or even nasty chemicals from sunscreen lotions. However, in this chapter we will focus on the harm which tourists and the tourism industry do when they remove things from the sea and the ocean fringe. We will see that the consumption of marine resources by tourists and the tourism industry is adding to the problems faced by our oceans. I recognise that most of the damage being done to the marine environment from the consumption of resources in the sea and under the seabed is not due to tourism. The majority of it is due to over-fishing to meet the everyday needs and desires of the populations of towns and cities, and the exploitation of natural resources including, oil, natural gas and minerals. However, tourist consumption contributes to the problems faced by the oceans and most of this consumption is for pleasure rather than necessity. Furthermore, most of the consumption of marine resources by tourists occurs in specific locations and this concentrates its impact on particular areas of the marine environment, around coastal destinations.