Recent decades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependent communities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean presents the first empirical assessment of the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as ""fishing down the food web."" The book:provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its present statuspresents a rigorous scientific assessment based on the key criteria of fisheries catches, biomass, and trophic levelconsiders the factors that have led to the current situationdescribes the policy options available for halting the declineoffers recommendations for restoring the North AtlanticAn original and powerful series of maps and charts illustrate where the effects of overfishing are the most pronounced and highlight the interactions among various factors contributing to the overall decline of the North Atlantic's ecosystems.This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled ""The State of the World's Oceans."" In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean is a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessment of the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry.
List of Figures and Maps Preface Acknowledgments Introduction
Chapter 1. A Brief History of the North Atlantic and Its Resources -Past Abundance in the North Atlantic -Development of the North Atlantic Fisheries -Northeast Atlantic Fisheries -Northwest Atlantic Fisheries -Effects of Technology -The Importance of Understanding the Past
Chapter 2. The Decline of North Atlantic Fisheries -How Much Fish Is Being Caught? -Reported Catches -Discards, Illegal, and Unreported Catches -Fishing Effort and Related Indices -Fishing Intensity -Economic Efficiency -Energy Efficiency -Impacts on Biomass and Ecosystems -Biomass Declines -Fishing Down Marine Food Webs -Squashed Pyramids and Shorter Food Chains -Competition with Marine Mammals -Report Card for an Impoverished Ocean
Chapter 3. How Did We Get Here? -A Conceptual Failure -Distorted Economics -Small-scale vs. Large-scale Fisheries -Present vs. Future Generations -Ineffective Governance -Local and National Governance -International Arrangements -Fisheries Compliance with International -Instruments -Institutions and Equity
Chapter 4. What to Do? -Reducing Fishing Effort -Quotas -Vessel Buyback and Destruction -Marine Reserves -Fishery Benefits -Using the Precautionary Approach -Transforming the Market -Reducing Subsidies -Energy and/or Carbon Taxes -Educating Consumers -Nonconsumptive Use of the Oceans -Accounting for Future Generations -Transforming Governance -Dealing with Illegal Catches -Reducing the Scale of Fishing Fleets -Recommendations: Leaning on the Firewall Between -Science and Advocacy
