Back in 1997, a pioneering paper by Robert Costanza and his colleagues put the overall value of marine ecosystem services at $21 trillion. Others have estimated that illegal fishing costs the global economy $10-23.5 billion per year, and poor management of fisheries $50 billion per year.
首批任务之一是对海洋环境恶化带来的经济损失做出定量分析。1997年，克斯坦扎（Robert Costanza）及其同事所撰写的开创性论文推算海洋生态系统功能的总价值为21万亿美元。其他人估算每年非法捕捞给全球经济造成100—235亿美元损失；渔场管理不善每年造成500亿美元损失。但这些都是十年前的数字，全球海洋委员会将对这些数字进行更新，使它们更加准确。