Publication - 5 January, 2004
The life of the oceans is being destroyed. Huge ecosystems, once thought to be resilient and inexhaustible, are collapsing. Populations of top predators, a key indication of ecosystem health are disappearing at a frightening rate, 90% of all large fish - both open ocean species such as tuna, swordfish and marlin and the large groundfish such as cod, halibut, skates and flounder - have been fished out since 1950. The depletion of these species can also cause massive shift in the entire ocean ecosystems where commercially valuable fish are replaced by simpler organisms feeding further down the food web. This century may even see bumper crops of jellyfish replacing cod. Such changes clearly jeopardise not only the structure and functioning of these ecosystems, but also the very future of those dependent on the oceans for their livelihoods.