Human activities are exacting a "terrible toll" on the world's oceans and seas, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon warned on Monday in a message marking the first United Nations World Oceans Day.

"Vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land- based sources," Ban said in his message.

Ban added that "increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change pose a further threat to marine life, coastal and island communities and national economies."

Although World Oceans Day has been celebrated by many countries since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the General Assembly just decided last year to make it an officially recognized UN annual observance on June 8.

The Day provides the world body with an opportunity to raise global awareness of the threats to the oceans which cover about two-thirds of the Earth's surface, generating most of its oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, providing food and nutrients, regulating climate, and supplying fishing and other marine resources for income.

The theme of World Oceans Day this year --"Our oceans, our responsibility" -- underscores "our individual and collective duty to protect the marine environment and carefully manage its resources," said Ban.

To commemorate the observance, the Empire State building in New York City will be lit in the color blue on Monday.

In his message, Ban noted that oceans are also affected by criminal activity, as piracy and armed robbery against ships threaten the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping, which transports 90 percent of the world's goods.

"Smuggling of illegal drugs and the trafficking of persons by sea are further examples of how criminal activities threaten lives and the peace and security of the oceans," he said.

Ban noted that the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea provided a legal framework for international cooperation, urging member states to do more to implement the Convention and uphold the rule of law.

Despite several international and regional efforts to reverse marine pollution, alarming quantities of rubbish thrown out to sea continue to endanger people's safety and health, entrap wildlife, damage nautical equipment and deface coastal areas around the world, according to a report released on Monday by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and Ocean Conservancy.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner called for a worldwide ban on thin-film plastic bags, saying they are harming beaches and oceans.

"Some of the litter, like thin-film single-use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased out rapidly everywhere," Steiner said. "There is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere."

Plastic, especially plastic bottles and PET bottles, is the most pervasive type of marine litter around the world, accounting for 80 percent of all rubbish collected. Global plastic production is now estimated at 225 million tons per year, according to the report.

A five-year survey of fulmars found in the North Sea region found that 95 percent of the seabirds contained plastic in their stomachs, said the report, which added that plastics are often mistaken as food by numerous animals.

The report also noted that smoking-related activities, such as cigarette filters, tobacco packets and cigar tips, account for 40 percent of all marine litter in the Mediterranean, while in Ecuador smoking related rubbish accounted for over half of the total coastal litter in 2005.

"This report is a reminder that carelessness and indifference is proving deadly for our oceans and its inhabitants," said Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International and an Ocean Conservancy board member, in a message to mark the launch of the report. "There are solutions that everyone, everywhere in the world can adopt to make a positive difference for our water planet. "

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2009)