Decades of abuse taking toll on our oceans...

[ramapo]

Or Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

Here's another grim look at the state of our oceans and the species that live in them from todays NY Times' Science section. There's also an article on some of the changes being made by commercial fishing to lessen environmental damage.

From the article...

"Most of the earth's surface is covered by oceans, and their vastness and biological bounty were long thought to be immune to human influence. But no more. Scientists and marine experts say decades of industrial-scale assaults are taking a heavy toll."

"More than 70 percent of commercial fish stocks are now considered fully exploited, overfished or collapsed. Sea birds and mammals are endangered. And a growing number of marine species are reaching the precariously low levels where extinction is considered a real possibility."

"It's an incipient disaster," said Richard Ellis, author of "The Empty Ocean." ...

Read the rest ...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/29/science/29OCEA.html>