Investing in oceans can be profitable, says WWF study. - The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has just published the first-ever report on the economic value of the oceans and ocean activities. According to this report, every dollar invested to create protected marine areas brings in three times as much in profit, through the creation of direct jobs, coastal protection and fishing. According to the figures of the Boston Consulting Group, which worked on the report “Reviving the ocean economy: the case for action - 2015”, the economic value of all of the oceans on the planet (such as the value of the accumulated biomass and trade and transport activities) is $24,000 billion. Furthermore, the 'gross maritime income' (GMI), calculated using the same criteria as for 'gross national income' (GNI), would make all of the oceans put together the world's seventh-largest economic power, at a total of $2,500 billion. The report, which is based on research by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, also puts figures on the net profit from extending protected marine areas: this profit could be somewhere between $490 and $920 billion, depending on each of the six scenarios studied, assuming between 10% and 30% of protected marine areas. At the same time, anywhere between 150,000 and 180,000 jobs could be created by 2050. In order to do this, the WWF recommends extending marine areas under full fishing bans to 10% of total ocean surface by 2020 and to 30% by 2030, compared to less than 4% now. The report also states that none of the oceans on the planet is entirely free from human activity, and that 41% of ocean surface area is “greatly affected”. (Isabelle Lamberty)