No Pristine Oceans Left, New Map Shows

[hunter]

No Pristine Oceans Left, New Map Shows

Mason Inman
for National Geographic News
February 14, 2008

No areas of the world's oceans remain completely untouched by humanity's influence, according to a new study.

Every area of the oceans is feeling the effects of fishing, pollution, or human-caused global warming, the study says, and some regions are being affected by all of these factors and more.

A team led by Ben Halpern of the University of California, Santa Barbara, created the first global map that shows the various kinds of damage being done to marine ecosystems.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080214-oceans.html

There is no untouched wilderness left, only wilderness that has suffered less damage. We can protect a single place, or a single species, but unless we can also keep the biosphere intact, that protection is ultimately futile.

How will the whales survive if great areas of the oceans are dead and they have no food?

[bbinacan]

1. Should we stop fishing? n/t

[Nihil]

2. Yes. Next question? (n/t)

:-)

[Systematic Chaos]

3. I'm in favor of leaving the oceans COMPLETELY alone for a few decades.

We can eat plenty of farm-raised fish if we want it that badly.

[jpak]

4. Unfortunately, farm raised fish are part of the problem

Pollution from excreta and fish farm feed

Genetic diversity issues: GMO fish and loss of pure wild type salmon due to farm escapees.

Parasites: sea lice from BC salmon farms are killing large numbers of wild salmon.

Marine Sanctuaries, fishing fleet buy-outs with very limited fishery entries, banning bottom trawls and reducing particulate and nutrient runoff would revive most coastal zones rather quickly (except, of course, the Newfoundland cod fishery, which will be dead as a doorknob for the next 50 years).

[GliderGuider]

5. What do we think they feed farmed fish?

Other fish, of course. About 3 lb of feed-fish for every pound of farmed fish.

[Systematic Chaos]

6. Ehm... well this is a bunch of stuff I didn't consider.

If that's the case then I guess the whole farmed fish thing is out the window too.

Fuck me, if it ain't a great time to be alive.... :(

[phantom power]

7. maybe we should change our motto from "faster than expected" to "checkmate!"

[hunter]

9. Tilapia will eat anything -- a vegetarian diet included.

Of course tilapia farming can also be as destructive to the natural environment as other sorts of aquaculture. They can be an invasive exotic species.

But of all the ways of producing meat, tilapia has some potential for being one of the better ones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilapia_in_aquaculture

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Here's the map its own self ... courtesy of BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7241428.stm