But this is not a local or regional problem. Oceans everywhere are a shell of the past. From the top of Greenland to the abyssal bottom of Antarctica we are seining our seas empty of fish. During the last 50 years populations of most commercially important species have declined by at least 50 %. Fifty percent of everything we eat from the sea is now farmed, adding insult to an already injured ocean. And there's little relief in sight.

To list a few of the problems: 1)A hi-tech armada vacuums up shrimp wherever they are found; 2)Pristine reefs off Indonesia are poisoned by cyanide and blasted by dynamite to supply colorful hors d'oeuvres to China's burgeoning middle class; 3)The Grand Banks of Newfoundland, once the world's most prolific fishery, are now barren. Fished that way by massive factory trawlers that destroyed spawning grounds in the process. So there's little hope of recovery any time soon, if ever. There's been no fishing for 20 years. 4)The giant bluefin tuna, king of the deep, prince of Japanese sushi, is in trouble, as world fisheries collapse; 5)And then there are the longlines, whose miles and miles of baited hooks drown sea turtles and birds, and billions of pounds of "bycatch," a catchy word for unwanted fish, killed and tossed overboard as garbage. Greedy and ignorant seem a harsh indictment of the once noble fishing profession, but what else is there in light of the facts?

Is this dismal picture inevitable in a world bloated with hungry people? Perhaps not. There are well managed fisheries in Alaska, Iceland, and most notably in New Zealand. This progressive little nation did the obvious to restore their overfished coasts. They set aside huge areas as reserves. No fishing! And wonder of wonders, their waters surged back to life.