The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released an 80-page ocean strategy document, Safeguarding our Seas: A Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of our Marine Environment, on May 1, 2002, a first for the British Government. For Great Britain, being an island country, the sea is a matter of great significance. Prime Minister Blair's speech in March 2001 committed Great Britain to launch measures to improve marine conservation at home and abroad, of which the publication of this document marks the onset.