The Unnatural History of the Sea: The Past and Future of Humanity and Fishing (Gaia Thinking) - Softcover

CALLUM ROBERTS

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1856752941 ISBN 13: 9781856752947

Publisher: GAIA BOOKS LTD, 2007

Synopsis

Professor Callum Roberts Unnatural History of the Sea (Paperback 2007) There is a crisis evolving because of over-fishing. Some predict that at current levels, all major fish stocks will have collapsed by 2050.

About this title

About the Author

Callum M. Roberts is professor of marine conservation at the University of York in England. He is a prolific author and researcher, and has advised the U.S., British, and Caribbean governments on the creation of marine reserves.

Review

As Roberts makes plain, the history of fishing -- commercial fishing primarily and most flagrantly, but many instances of sport fishing as well -- is one of human selfishness persistently outracing attempts to bring it under control, to mandate restraint. And yet, though the evidence of exploitation and destruction is damning, this book is not "a requiem for the sea." A marine biologist at the University of York in England, Roberts is an optimist about the future, so long as that future includes national and international networks of protected areas and simple fishing reforms. Unfortunately, though, the very history that Roberts recounts suggests that attitudes will be difficult if not impossible to change.
That history begins in the 11th century with a revolution in England and Europe. Fishers turned to the sea, [which] was quickly seized upon as a principal source of food and its exploitation began at once. As methods for preserving and transporting fish steadily improved -- and as coastal fishing grounds were rapidly decimated [they] moved ever farther away from home
"There is a common theme in European expansion and exploitation of the sea. First, the explorers ... set sail for God, country, fame, and wealth... [A] second wave financed by merchant adventurers in pursuit of profit. ...As well as the animals slaughtered for commercial ends, sailors and travelers had major impacts on the fauna of islands and the sea, butchering millions of animals for provisions."
Against this gloomy backdrop, Roberts finds more than faint cause for hope. Progress has been made in reducing pollution of the coasts and oceans. Marine reserves -- "places that are protected from all fishing" -- have had notable success in giving endangered species breathing room, but only .006 percent of the ocean is thus protected... I am haunted by this passage:
"Perhaps geologists feel saddened by the loss of some remarkable gypsum formation rendered to dust for plasterboard. I don't know. But I certainly feel anguish on seeing coral glades leveled. It hurts to know we are losing species whose forms have never been described and perhaps have never been seen by people. They have shared our planet for countless millennia, living undisturbed lives deep in the sea. Extinction, the irrevocable loss of a species, causes pain that can never find relief. It is an ache that will pass from generation to generation for the rest of human history."
It is also nothing less than a global catastrophe, about which Callum Roberts has issued a powerful, galvanizing call to arms. --Washington Post

Edition details

• Publisher: GAIA BOOKS LTD
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1856752941
• ISBN 13: 9781856752947
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 392