MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

… “‘Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world’s ocean, we saw the same picture emerging. In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems,’ said the lead author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ‘I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are; beyond anything we suspected.’

The study focused on oceans, but lakes, rivers and other freshwaters were also analyzed over the four-year study. The team looked at 32 controlled experiments, 48 studies of marine protected areas, and global catch data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s 1950 to 2003 worldwide fish and invertebrates database. They also studied archives, fishery records, sediment cores and archaeological data for 12 coastal regions, making up a 1,000-year time series.

‘At this point, 29 percent of fish and seafood species have collapsed. That is, their catch has declined by 90 percent. It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating,’ Worm said. ‘It looks grim and the projection of the trend into the future looks even grimmer, but it’s not too late to turn this around. It can be done, but it must be done soon. We need a shift from single species management to ecosystem management. It just requires a big chunk of political will to do it.'”  Read more.