According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, in 2011, tourism accounted for 13 per cent of total regional employment, 14 per cent of the Caribbean’s GDP and 17 per cent to total export earnings;  •  The Caribbean Sea is one of the principal waterways in the world, harboring in excess of 80,000 ship calls per year, and is classified as having one of the most intensive maritime traffic in the world; and  •  The sea floor of the Caribbean Sea may yield many important minerals available for extraction, including silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc.
Technology is emerging to commercially tap new sources of marine-based renewable energy from the Caribbean Sea as well medicines that can improve many millions of lives. Notwithstanding its importance, in common with ocean regions across the world, the Caribbean Sea has seen overexploitation and degradation of its marine resources over the past three to four decades.