More than 17,000 marine species worldwide remain largely unprotected, a new study reveals.

Published in the international journal Scientific Reports, the study looked at various species of marine life including whales, sharks, rays and fish. The researchers found that 97.4 per cent of species have less than 10 per cent of their range represented in marine protected areas or MPAs.

The US, Canada and Brazil are among the countries with the largest number of “gap species” or species whose range lie entirely outside of protected areas, according to researchers at the University of Queensland.

In Australia, there are 1,846 species that are very poorly represented in MPAs, the study reports.

“There is an opportunity for Australia to make a substantial contribution to improving the status of marine biodiversity protection globally by systematically placing new MPAs,” noted the study’s lead author, Dr Carissa Klein of the UQ School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management.

Their study could offer strategic guidance on where MPAs, could be placed to better protect marine biodiversity, the team says. Establishing MPAs is important as it impact livelihood, Klein said.

“It is essential that new MPAs protect biodiversity while minimising negative social and economic impacts,” she said. Millions of people depend on marine biodiversity for important and valuable services, the authors pointed out.

Klein cautioned that MPAs are not a cure-all for conserving marine biodiversity. Some species, she said, may be conserved using other approaches including fisheries regulations and land-use management such as what is being done in the Great Barrier Reef.

The authors said their findings highlight opportunities to achieve goals set by the Convention on Biological Diversity. In October 2010 in Japan, governments have committed to protect 10 per cent of marine biodiversity by 2020.

In an October 2015 study, scientists at the University of Adelaide revealed that the food chains found in the world’s oceans are most likely to collapse as a result of the expected acidification and warming of the seas. The team said there is an imminent reduction in diversity and numbers of various key species that strengthen the marine ecosystem.

In their study that appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers claim that simplification of oceans will have profound consequences for our current way of life, particularly for coastal populations and those that rely on oceans for food and trade.

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