Oceans in Crisis

Can the loss of ocean biodiversity be halted?

  • By:Colin Woodard
  • Content Type: Report
  • Publisher: CQ Press
    • Publication year: 2007
    • Online pub date:
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/cqrglobal20071000

Introduction

The world's oceans are in a dire state. Large predatory species are being decimated — including sharks, whales, tuna, grouper, cod, halibut, swordfish and marlin — and replaced by species with less commercial and nutritive value. In fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that the world's marine ecosystems have been altered so dramatically they are undergoing evolution in reverse, returning to a time when algae and jellyfish dominated the seas. The crisis is having an increasingly profound effect on humans. Fishing cultures from Newfoundland to West Africa are vanishing, and toxic algal blooms have closed beaches and recreational areas from Florida to the Black Sea. The damage is being caused by overfishing, climate change and destruction of habitat due to coastal development and pollution. ...

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