The oceans have enormous potential to sustain us, provided that we practice good stewardship. Kelp, invertebrates, and fish are important food sources. The blue blood of the horseshoe crab is a medical wonder used to test the purity of medicines. More essentially, marine life makes terrestrial life possible. Marine algae provide over two-thirds of the oxygen we breathe.
Mostly we have been poor stewards. Consider this: Salmon used to spawn so thickly in the Pacific Northwest that you could walk across a stream on their backs. New England fisherman once had trouble navigating their boats among the huge schools of cod in the North Atlantic. Sardines supported the economy of the Monterey bay. Many species of salmon are now endangered; the cod are depleted; and Cannery Row collapsed when the sardines disappeared.
Historically, when one resource has been depleted we have simply turned to another. After overfishing decimated the cod population, for instance, Atlantic fishermen turned to swordfish. When the swordfish became scarce, we lowered our standards, taking smaller fish and hastening their demise by harvesting the fish before they reached sexual maturity. Orange roughy may take 23-30 years to reach sexual maturity, and then (as is typical for animals with long lifespans) their rate of reproduction is slow. Market-sized fish could be as old as 80.
Or we became more efficient, launching more boats and equipping them with more lethal means. Unfortunately, more efficient does not mean more discriminate. Long-lines stretching up to 80 miles often catch sea birds and sharks on their baited hooks. Purse seine nets were notorious for drowning dolphins, and gillnets trap and kill everything in their wake. Worldwide, it is estimated that 25% of commercial take is "bycatch," a euphemism meaning "wasted". Often the bycatch is truly outrageous: cod boats throw back dead halibut; halibut boats throw back cod. Add to this the number of marine mammals, birds, and turtles senselessly slaughtered and it's easy to see the terrible ecological impact commercial fishing can have if not stringently managed.
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