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Page added on June 2, 2014
Series On Overpopulation In America—fishing our oceans to death
Oceanographer Callum Roberts said, “The oceans of today are filled with ghost habitats, stripped of their larger inhabitants. Our dismantling of marine ecosystems is having destructive and unpredictable consequences. With species loss and food web collapse comes dangerous instability. The seas are undergoing ecological meltdown.
“Fishing is undermining itself by purging the oceans of species on which it depends. The wholesale removal of marine life and obliteration of their habitats is stripping resilience from ocean ecosystems.
“Moreover, it is undermining the ability of the oceans to support human needs. Overfishing is destabilizing the marine environment, contributing to the spread of anoxic dead zones and the increasing prevalence of toxic algal blooms. Nature’s power to bounce back after catastrophes or absorb the battery of stresses humanity is subjecting it to is being eroded, collapsed fishery after collapsed fishery, species by species, place by place.
“It is easy to point fingers and say this is the fault of greedy corporations with their factory ships, or faint-hearted politicians overeager to please the fishing industry, or the great masses of poor people reduced to bombing and poisoning their seas to extract the last few fish.” —Callum Roberts in The Unnatural History of the Sea
(At 90 million tons of fish annually, the oceans cannot withstand humanity’s onslaught. At some point, like the extinct Carrier Pigeon, untold species of marine life face extinction.) Photo by Greenpeace
As the human onslaught of the planet accelerates by an added 80,000,000 (million) people, net gain, annually and one billion every 12 years—the natural world staggers back on its heels.
Fully 80 percent of all life on this planet thrives beneath the surface of our oceans. This enormous body of water pulses with life-energy, which drives natural forces that sustain life on this planet. But in the 21st century the “Mob of Humanity” wreaks havoc on the foundation of life on Earth. It hooks, pollutes, skims, nets and daggers untold billions of creatures to death annually.
While Roberts brings his powerful research to the table, most of humankind remains oblivious to catastrophic onslaught raging beneath the waves. As a 50 year scuba diver, I watched it progress from the Gulf of Mexico into all of our oceans.
With America’s 319 million people devouring ocean marine life such as squid, crabs, shrimp, tuna, salmon, flounder, swordfish and so many other species—take a look at what 7.2 billion humans devour worldwide:
Giant ships, using state-of-the-art equipment throw out 50-mile long drift nets that capture 90 million tons of marine life annually. These industrial fishing fleets exceed the ocean’s ecological limits. As larger fish dwindle in numbers, the next smaller fish species are targeted and so on. A Canadian fisheries expert Dr. Daniel Pauly warns that if this continues, “Our children will be eating jellyfish.”
(Factory fishing ships with 50 mile long drift nets encircle hapless marine life, killing billions of creatures as “bycatch” while they scoop up endless fish for consumption by 7.2 billion humans) Photo by www.AndrewWillner.com
For the past 35 years, humans continue their annihilation of all species of sharks by killing them at a rate of 100 million sharks annually. You must wonder, “How much longer can this kind of a killing spree continue before the sharks and all ocean life reach a point of no return?” (Source: Life Magazine August 1991; Julia Whitty, OneEarth Magazine)
(Thousands of miles of cut-loose drift nets kill millions of marine creatures unfortunate enough to swim into their deadly grasp.) Photo by ksj.mit.edu
The latest threat grows beyond solving with “carbon footprint” waste from fossil fuel burning at 84,000,000 (million) barrels of oil daily and billions of tons of coal and natural gas annually—to overload our seas with carbon that acidifies the oceans to a point whereby marine life can no longer exist in the toxic ocean water. It would be like you taking a bath in carbonic acid water.
Another aspect of humanity’s “deadly treatment” of our oceans deals with the phenomenon of “dead zones” at the mouths of all our major rivers worldwide. For instance, the Ganges and Yangtze rivers exhaust their toxic sewage waters into the world’s oceans 24/7 to create 20,000 square mile dead zones. The water grows so toxic that higher marine life cannot exist in those zones. In America, the Mississippi River spews chemical waste, petroleum waste and endless sewage waste to create a 10,000 mile square dead zone at its mouth in New Orleans.
WWII major war powers dumped their mustard gas, oil and other chemicals along with radioactive waste into the oceans of the world. Humanity’s 80,000 chemicals always end up in the oceans as their final toilet destination.
Over time, those toxic rivers exhausting out of Europe, Asia, South America, Russia and North America cannot help but toxically contaminate the oceans of the world. That means all the fish in them bear the chemicals they breathe and eat in their daily existence. With the latest Fukushima radioactive waste spill of trillions of gallons of toxic liquids, our oceans cannot help but stagger to keep their “Ph” balance. Fukushima spreading:
http://www.conspiracy-watch.org/fukushima-radiation-is-in-america/
When you include the 100 million ton, the size of Texas, (and growing by 2.5 million plastic pieces per hour), “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, which constitutes a floating plastic island and hangs 1,000 miles off San Francisco—you cannot help but understand that we humans desecrate our nest at blinding speed. Soberingly, researchers tell us that 46,000 pieces of plastic float on every square mile of our oceans. Those constitute pretty sickening statistics.
(Is it little wonder that marine life cannot survive the plastic onslaught of their environment? Ocean beaches around the world feature this plastic filth. I’ve stood in knee deep plastic on some beaches.) Photo by www.inhabitat.com
Plastic killing zone at Midway Island:
Do the oceans stand a chance when we remain on course to add another three billion of our species within 36 years by 2050? Answer: not a snowball’s chance in hell!
So when you read a sobering series like this that reports on the underpinnings of humanity’s dilemma, what do you think? What do you do? How do you do it? When do you start?
It’s my contention that environmental leaders and demographic experts rattle the bars, scream at the media and make some noise in every country around the world. Silence won’t cut it fellow humans. You need to engage your courage, your guts, your true grit and your creative energy to move the discussion to the highest levels in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and beyond. If the Western world doesn’t address this, no one else will touch it!
Finally, your kids won’t be eating jellyfish; they will choke on seaweed.
Post Script:
Exactly 10 years before, when Newcastle yachtsman Ivan Macfadyen sailed the same course from Melbourne to Osaka, all he’d had to do to catch a fish from the ocean between Brisbane and Japan was throw out a baited line.
“There was not one of the 28 days on that portion of the trip when we didn’t catch a good-sized fish to cook up and eat with some rice,” Macfadyen recalled.
But this time, on that whole long leg of sea journey, the total catch was two. No fish. No birds. Hardly a sign of life at all.
“In years gone by, I’d gotten used to all the birds and their noises,” he said.
“They’d be following the boat, sometimes resting on the mast before taking off again. You’d see flocks of them wheeling over the surface of the sea in the distance, feeding on pilchards.”
But in March and April this year (2013), only silence and desolation surrounded his boat, Funnel Web, as it sped across the surface of a haunted ocean.
25 Comments on "Series On Overpopulation In America—fishing our oceans to death"
sunweb on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 11:35 am
Give people a fish and you feed them for a day and maybe make them dependent. Teach people to fish and they will deplete the ocean. Now it may take time to do it but with modern technology it will happen in the blink of a species eye. Just add in high-tech ships with all kinds of electronics, powerful engines, and the accoutrements that make technology a weapon. From the Curmudgeon Vignettes, read more at:
http://sunweber.blogspot.com/2011/07/curmudgeon-vignettes.html
J-Gav on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 1:18 pm
I remember reading/watching this one back in February …
Another reminder on how we’re trashing (‘dismantling’ is the gentler term used here) the life-sustaining biodiverse system nature gave us for free. And we still seem bent on turning it into even higher piles of garbage surrounded by our asphalted ‘paradise.’
For a deeper look into the issue, view this if you have the time (it’s a full-length, 1h20″ doc) :
http://vimeo.com/93314718
noobtube on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 1:24 pm
The only ones trashing the Earth are the Europeans, Americans, and their wannabes.
The worst thing to happen to this planet came out of Europe, aborted itself and turned into the United States.
PrestonSturges on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 1:46 pm
Give a man religion and he starves praying for fish.
Roman on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 2:32 pm
I find it interesting that the ocean can support billions of sharks and other predators. Yet the genius Homo s. can’t feed himself without destroying everything. The problem is people have no sense of priority. Living a pampered life is more important than food.
J-Gav on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 3:14 pm
Well, Noob, you’ve obviously never been to Asia or Latin America – otherwise you’d realize that there’s a good deal of ‘trashing’ going on there too.
Granted, Europe and North America are in a different league, but you may want to identify the “wannabes” you refer to before making such sweeping generalizations. Might they include to some extent Latin Americans, Asians, or even some Africans?
You seem obsessed with some sort of over-arching, world-wide ‘purity’ which you perceive to have existed before Europe came on the scene. Read up, think about it; that’s sheer dreamland.
Indigenous cultures around the globe have shown remarkable adaptability, respect for the environment that sustains them and common sense in their use of resources – but that has not always and everywhere been the case (slash and burn was never going to be a long-term winner in the long-term, as practiced by many traditional cultures, for ex). Abstract idealization of ‘traditional cultures’ would have to be backed up by some facts in order to be convincing. A few more examples perhaps? – A traditional tribunal of elders in South Sudan recently condemned a little girl to death for switching religions; traditional Chinese rural societies have long ‘suppressed’ female offspring much as many in the West drown unwanted kittens; the list goes on …
That said, it is ‘Western culture,’ as long as you’re willing to reduce that term to mean massive financial fraud, mindless consumerism and such like, which has presently put humanity up against a wall (with the assistance of its numerous wannabes from elsewhere, of course).
But ‘Western culture’ is far from being the exclusive domain of white males strutting on Wall Street. Blacks, Hispanics and many others also contribute today to that culture, which may be broader and more capable of change than you think – hopefully devoid of the primitive, half-assed, superstitious, religious crap that has fouled the debate for many centuries.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers but I do spend some time trying to ask the right questions – and, frankly, you don’t seem to be doing that yet.
noobtube on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 4:08 pm
Why is it Americans have the need to blame everyone else, when the Americans are the ones who caused this mess (with a lot of help from the Europeans)?
Americans have this pathological need to AVOID ALL responsibility for all the evil and destruction they have caused in this world.
How do Americans blame black people? Or, Hispanics (made up word), or anyone else?
Is the world under a black reserve currency? Is the world suffering under a Hispanic military?
Well, if not, why are they in the discussion?
Because Americans are degenerate scum who REFUSE to take any responsibility for all the hell they have spread throughout the Earth.
All the abundance and plenty that the United States had at its disposal. And, what did the Americans do with it?
They spent the entire 20th century terrorizing the planet. And, they spent the 19th century terrorizing the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere, Africans, the slaves, the Chinese, and the Indians.
What history is there that the Americans and Europeans have ever been a constructive force on this planet?
I’m not talking about other long-forgotten cultures? I am specifically pointing the finger at Americans and Europeans. What good have they done for this planet?
I am sick of the criminal’s defense… everyone does it, so you can’t blame me.
Northwest Resident on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 4:28 pm
noobtube — Blaming the USA for everything, all the time, every day, non-stop pure unadulterated liquefied cow manure spewing from noobtube daily — now wondering why Americans “blame everyone else” (which, they don’t, except in noobtube’s puny demented brain).
Davy, Hermann, MO on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 4:50 pm
N/R, NOOBSTER needs MEDS or a whoopin. Maybe his parental unit will catch him in the act of being an idiot and discipline him.
noobtube on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 5:38 pm
When the young look back at the United States and Americans…
they will be amazed at how arrogant, pretentious, condescending, pompous, presumptuous, and full of cow manure they were.
Just turn on the TV any day of the week, or watch any Hollywood movie, or listen to any politician, or any car-driving drone.
These Americans sound (and act) like they have lost all touch with reality.
HARM on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 6:07 pm
Yes, the U.S. and Europe are to blame for everything wrong in the world today. If “western civilization” ceased to exist, the rest of the world would quickly depopulate, de-industrialize and spontaneously develop an ecological utopia.
Clearly all governments and rich powerful people from Asia, Africa and Latin America are all angels who embrace de-growth, democracy, ecology, human rights and egalitarianism. Why all you have to do is study history to see how well they govern without those horrible Europeans interfering!
Gilles Fecteau on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 6:43 pm
The solution is to stop eating animals. A vegan diet is just a delicious and far more sustainable.
Yeti on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 6:57 pm
Ah just ignore the fool. He’s probably a North Korean working towards his PhD in D.A.D.(Die America Die).
As to the article, this seems to be the most in your face example of there being a population problem. The destruction of a great renewable food resource with the cherry on top of fucking with the phytoplankton, creators of half our oxygen. Is there an App for that?
Kevin on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 7:43 pm
There is no need to respond to noobtube, or to play the “blame game” at all. noobtube is really a pointless distraction. Human beings are much more concerned with their social status than with the environment. Greed, enabled by technology and social hierarchy, is a sufficient explanation. Fish do not vote, complain, or retaliate. Neither do birds, insects, or plants. Exploiting the environment is seen as a free shot. China, India, and Indonesia together have destroyed more of the environment than Europeans, and seem to care nothing about it. I suggest our best approach is to shame those who destroy the environment and admire those who protect and nurture it (and don’t buy any seafood).
Makati1 on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 8:22 pm
As I keep saying, I hope the whole global financial system collapses soon. While there is still some ecology left for the humans who survive the bottleneck. Stop the oil pumping that feeds those ships and makes our over consumption possible. We are addicted to more, more, more. Only a forced withdrawal will stop us.
No, our kids won’t eat jelly fish. There will be no kids if we don’t stop wasting our planet now.
Northwest Resident on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 9:08 pm
Makati1 — I kind of feel the same way you do. Not that I’m looking forward to any kind of collapse — things are going just fine for me right now. But my social conscience tells me that the sooner we stop the wasteful polluting destroyer referred to as “BAU”, the better for planet earth and for future mankind. If I knew that by jumping off a tall building now I could guarantee my son and millions of others a better life in the future, I’d do it. Same philosophy, more or less.
Northwest Resident on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 9:14 pm
noobtube said: “These Americans sound (and act) like they have lost all touch with reality.”
Actually, noobtube, it is you who have lost all touch with reality. You’re projecting your sorry state of mind onto others in all the accusations you make. With each rant and rave you post, you reveal a little more of just how rotted your mind is.
If you would qualify your lunatic rantings with “some” — as in “some” Americans — or perhaps “many” Americans — then I could agree with some of what you say. But when you try to pretend that each American is the same as all others and they all share the despicable traits that you claim, then it is clear that it is YOU who are insane, not those you accuse of being so.
Perk Earl on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 10:18 pm
“As I keep saying, I hope the whole global financial system collapses soon. While there is still some ecology left for the humans who survive the bottleneck.”
I absolutely concur! I’m so sick and tired of reading about the myriad ways in which our species is decimating this planet, I say shut it down! I stopped going to the website desdomona despair because the news was just too much to take anymore. A hunting team using GPS to track down a famous bull elephant for its ability to have previously avoided hunters, so they made a game out of it and raged in celebration after killing it. What the heck are humans anyway – hyena’s on PCP?
The increasing speed with which negative impact stories are coming in now is very worrisome for the biosphere. Either BAU gets shut down or we’ll end up with dust bowl land with just a handful of super hearty species like raccoons and rats and completely dead seas. Stop the madness!
GregT on Mon, 2nd Jun 2014 10:38 pm
Even if BAU does get shut down, we are already facing a very dire future. I highly suspect that well within a 20 year time frame, our lives will change drastically.
If we don’t shut down BAU, we are likely to cause human extinction. Either way, there is going to be a die off of our populations. Those that can’t grow their own food, will be at the greatest risk of not making it through the bottleneck.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 5:03 am
Greg/Perk, I share your pain for Mother Nature. I live and work in the outdoors with an abundance of wildlife and fauna. I husband these resources and marvel as they grow and prosper. Reality of course could give a shit about us humans. If you look objectively and scientifically humans are an extinction species. We are playing a role in evolution by keeping the cycle in flux. This is necessary and part of the grand game none of us can comprehend. On the human level in self-consciousness and the guilt that comes with duality we ask ourselves why this should be. We humans as environmental shapers believe we can make this right. In the end this is a self-organizing phenomenon following known laws of nature and unknown laws. If there is a higher power than this is part of the plan. We cannot know bliss without knowing pain. The greatest human event since the last bottleneck is soon to transpire and all of us here will participate. There is nothing to compare to in recent Human history. WWII will be a butt pimple. There will be ugly, there will be pain, there will be die off. Yet, I believe at the bottom where man belongs in his traditional tribal and small community there is the potential for the highest levels of the human spirit. This is something that has been lost on a vast scale with modern man. There are trade-offs and that is one for modern man, spiritual death. We are locked in a mechanization of “evil” for a lack of a better word. Our humanity has been compromised. This die off will purge humans of this evil and open up and awakening and a rebirth. This has always been so and will be going forward because this is life itself. If we humans are gone does that really matter? Life is resilient and the whole process will start anew.
ffkling on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:01 am
Watch Dr. Jeremy Jackson presentation on the Ocean Apocalypse at the US Naval Academy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zMN3dTvrwY
ffkling on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:28 am
Great doc. J-Gav. Thank you for posting.
ffkling on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:33 am
Well done, Davey.
noob- the hypocrisy spewing forth from your pie hole is sickening.
Davy, Hermann, MO on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:55 am
FF, excellent lecture!
GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 10:28 am
Yes, thanks J-Gav and ff for the links. Everyone should take the time to watch both of them.
The fact that most won’t, is exactly why our entire species is in for a very ugly awakening.