A new report by the influential Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) has backed our call for a network of large-scale marine reserves - essentially national parks, but at sea.
The report 'Turning the Tide, Addressing the Impact of Fisheries on the Marine Environment' highlights the urgent need to take action and defend our oceans.
Oil extraction, waste dumping and chemical pollution have all taken their toll, while commercial fishing has pushed some fish stocks - such as cod - to the brink of collapse.
The RCEP report calls for the creation of large-scale marine reserves within five years and to restrict destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling, which ploughs up the ocean floor with heavy weighted nets that smash everything in their way.
We're urging the government to include the key recommendations from the report in their forthcoming Marine Bill.
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Oliver Knowles said: "The continuous trashing the North Sea has taken for years is a perfect example of just how badly wrong the government has got marine management. What was once one of the world's most productive seas is today one of the most degraded.
"This authoritative investigation by the Royal Commission has provided all the information needed to act. What is now required is the political will from government not to cave in to business lobbying. If this means substantial public support for a fishing industry in transition, the money must be found."
In 2004 our ship, the MY Esperanza, carried out an expedition of the North Sea, highlighting our call for large-scale marine reserves.
In October Esperanza toured the north east Atlantic to investigate the destruction of unique undersea habitats known as 'seamounts' by bottom trawling.
