According to many ocean scientists, the world ocean is a huge storehouse of various natural resources, which are quite comparable with the resources of the Earth's land.
- First of all, it is the seawater itself that is one of these riches. It covers 1,370 million km3 , or 96.5 percent of the total hydrosphere. For every inhabitant of the Earth, there are approximately 270 million m3 of seawater. This volume is equal to seven reservoirs, such as the Mozhaiskoye reservoir on the Moscow River. In addition, seawater contains 75 chemical elements: table salt, magnesium, potassium, bromine, uranium, and gold. Seawater also serves as a source of iodine production.
- Secondly, the world ocean is rich in mineral resources, which are extracted from its bottom. The most important is oil and gas, which are extracted from the continental shelf. They account for 90 percent of all resources extracted from the seabed today at a cost. Marine oil production is approximately 1/3 of the total. It is expected that by the year 2000, half of all oil produced on the Earth will be of marine origin. Significant oil production is now taking place in the Persian Gulf, in the North Sea, in the Venezuelan Gulf. Much experience in the development of subsea oil and gas fields has been accumulated in Azerbaijan (Caspian Sea), USA (Gulf of Mexico and California coast).
The main wealth of the deep ocean bed is ferromanganese nodules containing up to 30 different metals. They were discovered at the bottom of the World Ocean in the 70s of the XIX century by the English research vessel "Challenger". The Pacific Ocean has the largest volume of ferromanganese nodules (16 million km). The first nodule mining experience was undertaken by the United States of America in the Hawaiian region.
- Third, the potential for ocean energy resources is enormous. The greatest progress has been made in the use of tidal energy. It has been established that there are better opportunities for the establishment of large tidal stations at 25 locations on Earth. The following countries have large tidal energy resources: France, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Argentina, USA, Russia. The best opportunities for these countries are explained by the fact that the tide height here reaches 10-15 m. Russia is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of potential tidal energy reserves. They are especially large on the coasts of the White, Barents and Okhotsk Seas. Their total energy exceeds the energy generated by the country's hydroelectric power plants today. In some countries of the world, projects for the use of wave and current energy are being developed.
- Fourth, one should not forget about the biological resources of the World Ocean: plants (algae) and animals (fish, mammals, shellfish). The total biomass of the ocean is 35 billion tonnes, of which 0.5 billion tonnes are fish. As on land, there are more and less productive areas in the world's oceans. They cover the shelf area and the outer ocean. The most productive seas in the world are the Norwegian Sea, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. The oceanic areas, which are characterized by low productivity, occupy almost 2/3 of the ocean area.
More than 85% of the biomass used by humans is fish. Algae account for a negligible share. Fish, shellfish and crustaceans caught in the world's oceans provide 20 percent of the human population with animal proteins. Ocean biomass is also used to produce high-calorie animal feed meals.
In recent years, some species have been increasingly cultivated in artificially created marine plantations. These fisheries are called mariculture. Mariculture development takes place in Japan (pearl oysters), China (pearl oysters), the USA (oysters and mussels), France (oysters), Australia (oysters), the Netherlands (oysters, mussels) and the Mediterranean countries of Europe (mussels). In Russia, in the Far East seas, seaweed (kelp) and scallops are grown.
Rapid development of equipment and technology has led to the involvement of ocean resources in the economic turnover, and its problems have become global in nature. These problems are quite numerous. They are related to the pollution of the ocean, reduction of its biological productivity, development of mineral and energy resources. The use of the ocean has especially increased in recent years, which has dramatically increased the pressure on it. Intensive economic activity has led to growing water pollution. Accidents of oil-loading vessels and drilling platforms, as well as the discharge of oil-contaminated water from ships, are particularly damaging to the environment in the world's oceans. Particularly polluted are the marginal seas: the Northern, Baltic, Mediterranean and Persian Gulfs.