The ocean has been linked to human activity throughout history. These activities serve a wide variety of purposes, including navigation and exploration, naval warfare, travel, shipping and trade, food production (e.g., fishing, whaling, seaweed farming, aquaculture), leisure (cruising, sailing, recreational boat fishing, scuba diving), power generation (see marine energy and offshore wind power), extractive industries (offshore drilling and deep-sea mining), freshwater production via desalination.
Many of the world's goods are moved by ship between the world's seaports. Large quantities of goods are transported across the ocean, especially across the Atlantic and around the Pacific Rim. A lot of cargo, such as manufactured goods, is usually transported within standard sized, lockable containers, loaded on purpose-built container ships at dedicated terminals. Containerization greatly increased the efficiency and decreased the cost of moving goods by sea and was a major factor leading to the rise of globalization and exponential increases in international trade in the mid-to-late 20th century. Oceans are also the major supply source for the fishing industry. Some of the major harvests are shrimp, fish, crabs, and lobster. The biggest commercial fishery globally is for anchovies, Alaska pollock and tuna.
A report by FAO in 2020 stated that "in 2017, 34 percent of the fish stocks of the world’s marine fisheries were classified as overfished". 54 Fish and other fishery products from both wild fisheries and aquaculture are among the most widely consumed sources of protein and other essential nutrients. Data in 2017 showed that "fish consumption accounted for 17 percent of the global population’s intake of animal proteins". In order to fulfill this need, coastal countries have exploited marine resources in their exclusive economic zone, although fishing vessels are increasingly venturing further afield to exploit stocks in international waters.
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