He thought it was a conceit of humans to treat oceans as though they are endless and that we can keep turning to them as an unending source of food and anything else we wanted.
This parallels the Tragedy of the Commons, as the sea is a common pool resource and so everybody is free to consume it. Each individual has economic incentive to, so they keep consuming its resources. As humans are selfish and self-seeking, nobody would want to restrain their consumption as this would mean that they lose out and another benefits in place of them. Cousteau believes that it is this very human behaviour that results in environmental destruction of the oceans and marine life.
While not religious, Cousteau agreed with the major religions’ teachings about the environment and man’s relationship with it. This is because they parallel his belief that “people protect what they love”. He feels that those who do not respect nature do not respect God, as it was His beautiful creation.
Similar to Stewardship Ethics, he states that Genesis 1:28* does not give us divine permission to exploit the world but instead its command to “replenish earth” tells us to care for God’s work and use its resources sustainably.
* “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (NKJV)