Ocean Ecosystems Collapsing, Running Out of Fish
As incredible as it may sound, the world's oceans are running out of fish [ark]. Terribly wasteful and unsustainable industrial harvest of natural, wild fisheries [search] has led to much of humanity's swollen population eating ever smaller fish from inexorably shrinking populations. "Ninety years of industrial-scale exploitation of fish has... led to 'ecological meltdown'. Whole biological food chains have been destroyed."
Remaining high quality fish stocks are being stolen by rich nations from developing countries, and neither politicians nor consumers have invested much in developing a sustainable wild fish industry. Solutions including marine reserves [search] and greatly diminished harvests, including bans on some species as they recover, are possible and needed immediately. If not pursued much of the world will have to turn elsewhere for protein, and the future is toxic farmed fish [search]. Ecological Internet is pleased to offer Ocean Conserve to inform and bring action re: collapsing oceans and fisheries.
Oceans in Crisis
I remember being told by a friend only fifteen years ago that oceans were so massive that humans could never significantly alter or damage them. As with every formerly massive ecosystem, the oceans are now succumbing to the human disease. The scale of the human enterprise has simply become too huge to be accomodated any longer by the Earth. We shall learn to live within ecological limits or we will die in huge numbers as ecosystems begin their inevitable and deadly collapse.
New Historical Data on the Seas Spells Alarm
New historical data reveal that the world's oceans are in crisis, largely due to overfishing -- and they may not recover. The records indicate that the existing model for commercial fishing will exhaust fisheries in a decade or two.
Ocean Food Chain May Be Collapsing
There are indications that the Ocean's food chain is collapsing. Marine biologists are raising the alarm about rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations, which are the basis for oceanic life. If this proves to be the case, it may well prove catestrophic, and could well undermine sustainability of the entire global ecological system. Other surging threats to oceans include acidification also caused by climate change, and huge dead zones that have resulted from run-off from poorly managed lands. Oceans have long been thought to be too large to be impacted by human beings, but as the human reach encompasses all of nature, it has become clear that even oceans are not impervious to the human stench.
Scientists Raise Alarm About Ocean Health
SEATTLE — With a record number of dead seabirds washing up on West Coast beaches from Central California to British Columbia, marine biologists are raising the alarm about rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations. "Something big is going on out there," said Julia Parrish, an associate professor in the School of Aquatic Fisheries and Sciences at the University of Washington. "I'm left with no obvious smoking gun, but birds are a good signal because they feed high up on the food chain." Coastal ocean temperatures are 2 to 5 degrees above normal, which may be related to a lack of updwelling, in which cold, nutrient-rich water is brought to the surface.
Ocean Red Tides Portend Ecosystem Collapse
One with a bit of ecological intuition can see signs of global ecosystem collapse all around. The red tides hitting North Eastern United States are the direct result of poor land and ocean management for centuries, which exacerbate normal ocean cycles. The region's clams are the canaries in the coal mine. Oceans are in poor shape - particulary coastal zones - as they have been treated as waste dumps and a resource to be mined indiscrimately. The critical zone where land meets sea has been devasted just about everywhere. What happens when ocean dead zones encompass the globe?
Red tide puts strain on Northeast
New England is facing its largest red tide in decades. The naturally occurring algae, called Alexandrium, contaminates clams, oysters, and other mollusks that filter seawater for nutrients and can cause illness in humans who consume the shellfish.
New Australian Reefs Discovered
It never fails to amaze me just how little we know about the Earth. A new (actually, it probably knew it existed) 100 km long coral reef was just discovered off the North coast of Australia. How can you sustain something you do not know? How can you love something you do not know exists? There is so much discovery yet to occur on the Earth, before and to prevent it from being lost forever.
New Australian reefs discovered
Australian scientists have reported the discovery of coral reefs stretching 100km (62.5 miles) in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the north coast. They were located near Mornington Island, where deep murky water obscured them from the view of satellites. Researchers have called it a major discovery that showed how little was known about Australia's continental shelf. The newly discovered reefs could be at least 100,000 years old.
Coastlines Under Threat
Rising sea levels as a result of global warming, excessive coastal land development, over-population and loss of mangroves and coral reefs are all conspiring to make the recent tragic loss of life in Asia more likely, and more deadly.
Global Warming, Pollution Add to Coastal Threats
A creeping rise in sea levels tied to global warming, pollution and damage to coral reefs may make coastlines even more vulnerable to disasters like tsunamis or storms in future, experts said Monday.
Call to Ban Fishing in 1/3 of UK Waters
As humanity exceeds the carrying capacity of the Earth, tough decisions will need to be made. That that respond swiftly to overshoot will be the societies that survive. Those that dither, protecting economic interests that are already past their time, will crash catastrophically. From this point out, sustainability is that simple.
Guardian Unlimited | Call to ban fishing in a third of UK waters
Fishing should be banned in almost a third of all UK territorial waters and marine reserves created to replenish vanishing stocks, a royal commission urged yesterday. The radical proposal - which would lead to the compulsory decommissioning of more trawlers - recommends that permits should only be granted where it can be shown that fishing would be sustainable and not harm the sea bed.
Great Barrier Reef Granted Increased Protections
Marine protected areas will be a critical component of efforts to achieve global ecological sustainability. For so long the oceans were thought to be so massive that they were impervious to humans. Ocean dead zones, crashing fish populations and other indications have shown this to not be true. The best hope for the oceans is much as with land - allowing a substantial portion to remain in a relatively wild and protected condition in order to provide breeding grounds for species of life and continued ecosystem services. It is also likely that as with land, ocean protected zones will need to be large, connected and comprise the surrounding matrix to managed areas.
Largest No-Fishing Zone Declared in Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living organism on the planet, a colossal colony of limestone-secreting coral polyps stretching 1,430 miles (2,300 kilometers) off Australia's east coast... The reef is home to thousands of species of fish; a breeding ground for whales, seabirds, and turtles; and a favorite romping ground for dolphins. As of July 1, 2004, monumental new legislation will ban all types of extraction in one-third of the park, making it the largest fully protected stretch of ocean in the world.
Oceans in Crisis
Is President Bush capable of leading on any environmental issue? Is there any issue that does not have an industry lobby that has financed the Bush oligarchy? Surely, even a conservative Republican can grasp that dead oceans are bad for the economy.
MSNBC - Oceans in crisis,will Bush step up?
President Bush's oceans advisory panel is about to issue a report calling for a completely new approach to protecting marine life, but already the feeling among some experts is that the president won't have much of an appetite for heeding the advice.
Ocean Life Depends Upon 'Conveyor Belt'
Almost all marine life on the planet depends upon a single ocean circulation pattern in the Southern Hemisphere to pumps nutrient-rich water from the deep and spread it across the seas. What happens when climate change modifies of destroys this ecological cycle? Look for the global ecological system to be battered as fundamental ecosystem patterns and processes rapidly change to another state. Humanity is approaching the limits of the Earth's resiliency - something has to give, soon.
Telegraph | Connected | Food 'conveyor belt' in southern ocean
Whale Nursery Discovered in Chile
It is sad how little we know about the Earth and other life forms...
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Whale nursery discovered in Chile
"Scientists have made the extraordinary discovery in Chile of a hidden nursery where blue whales go in large numbers to rear their young and to feed."
World's Oceans Profoundly Impacted
Mankind has profoundly damaged the World's oceans. Perhaps due to their immensity and seemingly undisturbed surfaces, it is easy to conclude oceans will never become lifeless wastelands like to many terrestrial ecosystems. This is clearly not the case.
Planet Ark : Whales reveal man's damaging impact on oceans
Diminishing phytoplankton
The precipitious decline in the ocean's phytoplankton may indicate
imminent collapse of the global food chain. This is a huge story,
and indicative of the precarious state of global ecological
sustainability and the myriad of risks posed by global climate
change.