'Only 50 years left' for sea fish - Richard Black., BBC

[Guest guest]

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

By Richard Black

Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Thursday, 2 November 2006,

 

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the

middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a

major scientific study.

 

Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the

rate of decline is accelerating.

 

Writing in the journal Science, the international team of

researchers says fisheries decline is closely tied to a broader loss

of marine biodiversity.

 

But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing

stocks.

 

" The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will

always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone

through the last one, " said research leader Boris Worm from

Dalhousie University in Canada.

 

" This century is the last century of wild seafood. "

Steve Palumbi

 

" What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we

have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the

rest, " he told the BBC News website.

 

Steve Palumbi from Stanford University in California, one of the

other scientists on the project, added: " Unless we fundamentally

change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working

ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood. "

 

Spanning the seas

 

This is a vast piece of research, incorporating scientists from many

institutions in Europe and the Americas, and drawing on four

distinctly different kinds of data.

 

In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse,

defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield.

 

Bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish

are not bringing the world's fleets bigger returns - in fact, the

global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003.

 

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6108414.stm

 

 

Growth tests Asian giants' strength

By Jill McGivering

BBC Asia analyst

 

India and China are obvious and formidable twins.

 

With a combined population of almost two-and-a-half billion people,

they are the emerging giants of the new century.

 

Both are seeing dramatic levels of economic growth.

 

Both are increasingly dynamic members of the international

community, increasingly conscious of their growing influence and

feted by Western governments.

 

The central governments in both countries have found a new

pragmatism in international affairs, eager to forge strategic

relationships based on fuelling their growing energy needs at home.

 

China has built an impressive new network of political relationships

with countries rich in resources - whether in Latin America and

Africa or closer to home.

 

India, chasing many of the same resources, is racing to keep up.

 

Finding a new place on the world stage, marrying pragmatism and self-

interest with the urging of countries like the United States to be

responsible and altruistic global citizens, is difficult enough.

 

Growth tests Asian giants' strength

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4993392.stm