This week’s SCIENCE has an interesting review on the
loss of oceanic fauna (1). The review points out that the loss of terrestrial
fauna over the last 50,000 years or so has been far greater than loss of marine
fauna. However, it also notes that humans have only had the technology to
seriously impact the oceans for a couple of hundred years. The review ends on a
somewhat upbeat note saying that we can learn from past experience on land and
devise ways to protect the oceans. However, I can’t help but being more
pessimistic in light of the ever-growing human population that will result in greater
demands on fisheries and increasing pollution of marine environments both locally
and globally.
While marine sanctuaries and
controls on fishing may be helpful as the article suggests, it is often not
possible reverse the effects of extreme over-fishing; witness the failure of
cod stocks to return to the Grand Banks after twenty years of protection.
Perhaps more importantly increasing human populations and increased economic
development are leading to widespread degradation of the marine environment
just as they do on land. Agricultural run-off, destruction of coastal marshes
for housing and fish-farms, release of plastics and other chemicals into the
sea, as well as the global warming created by our carbon based economy will all
accelerate as the human population increases. Poor fish!
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