UK's Prince William Calls for Urgent Action to Protect Oceans

Britain's Prince William on Sunday called on world leaders and businesses to take urgent action to protect the planet's oceans, saying it was a challenge "like none we have faced before."

Speaking ahead of the U.N. Ocean Conference, which begins in France on Monday, William said rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution and overfishing were putting pressure on fragile ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

"What once seemed an abundant resource is diminishing before our eyes," William, heir to the British throne, told the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco.

"Put simply: the ocean is under enormous threat, but it can revive itself. But, only if together, we act now," he told the meeting of investors and policymakers.

This week's U.N. conference aims to get more countries to ratify a treaty on protecting ocean biodiversity which currently lacks sufficient signatories to come into force.

William addressed Sunday's gathering in his role as founder of the Earthshot Prize, launched by the prince in 2020 with the aim of making huge strides to tackle environmental problems within a decade.

On Saturday, William's office released a video of him talking to David Attenborough, one of the world's best-known nature broadcasters, about his latest documentary "Ocean" which examines the plight of the seas.

"The thing which I am appalled by, when I first saw the shots that were taken for this film are what we have done to the deep ocean floor," Attenborough told him. "If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms."

UK seeks to extend ban on bottom trawling fishing in English seas

The British government said on Monday it planned to extend a ban on bottom trawling to protect marine life amid calls from acclaimed naturalist David Attenborough and Prince William for urgent measures to protect the world's oceans.

The plan, which will be subject to a consultation with those in the marine and fisheries sector, would see bottom trawling - dragging large nets along the sea floor - banned across about 30,000 square km (11,600 square miles) of English seas covering 41 Marine Protected Areas, the government said.

It said the move would protect vital marine habitats and support species such as lobster, clams, soft corals and langoustines. Currently there is a ban covering about 18,000 square km of English seabeds.

"Bottom trawling is damaging our precious marine wildlife and habitats," Environment Minister Steve Reed said in a statement. "Without urgent action, our oceans will be irreversibly destroyed."

The United Nations Ocean Conference in France is seeking to get agreement for a treaty to protect the world's oceans and seabeds from overfishing and other human activities.

(Reuters - Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Helen Popper and Alexandra Hudson)