Fishing worldwide is growing so quickly that it has surpassed the regulating capacity of institutions, making it urgent to adopt new conservation measures, says a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Presented Jun. 16 in New York, “Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas” states that more than 60 percent of the marine world and its diversity, located outside national jurisdictions, are being subjected to ever-increasing pressures.

“Commercial activities at sea are rapidly expanding and are reaching increasingly considerable depths, where there are resources that have been little studied and are potentially vulnerable,” says Kristina M. Gjerde, an adviser with the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the non-governmental organization that co-authored the UNEP study.

The report recommends defining preventive systems for protected marine areas and conducting urgent evaluations of the impacts of human activities.