The over fishing has several causes. Not enough good land for livestock in some areas. Wasteful fishing practices that result in massive by-catch. Climate change and pollution that disrupt reproduction and the food chain, but the biggest problem is we have too many god-damned people on the planet. We need to reduce the world's population in the next 50 years by as much as it has increased in the last 50. Birth control is not enough. We're going to have to let a lot of people die whose lives we could save. We took the power of god into our hands to save lives now we have to reverse the process or have nature do it for us. The worst part is, if we destroy ourselves with overpopulation we risk taking much of the planet with us and that's not right.

I don't want this topic to get diverted into an issue of personal diet.

But my observation is that when people have no personal stake in using ecosystems, they ignore them. At best, they turn into picture postcard backgrounds. At worst, they become toxic dumping grounds.

Furthermore, as someone who was diagnosed with a problematic tendency toward high cholesterol several years ago, I've been able to bring it down substantially by cutting poultry out of my diet, and relying more on fish as a concentrated protein source. I seriously question any study that switching to fish doesn't help bring down LDL cholesterol levels. I've managed to drop my LDL and bring my HDL levels up, and I'm not in the unhealthy zone for cholesterol any more.

I pay attention to the species that have dangerously low populations, and i won't eat them. But I eat fish that are low on the food chain, like sardines and herring, along with some species of tuna and wild-caught salmon. And I'll continue to increase the role of vegetarian options in my diet.

But as far as I'm concerned, refraining from eating fish and thereby collapsing the commerical fishing industry does not constitute an answer to the problems facing marine ecosystems. The ultimate effect is to continue to distance people further from the problems, and from putting energy into solving the challenges.

Build spherical, submersible cages that start off the coast of Brazil with a load of baby fish and arrive in Tokyo where full grown Tuna are harvested.

Each self-contained biosphere has equipment for automatic feeding, diagnostics, GPS, and data communication for remote control. The oceans' natural currents act as a conveyor belt helping move the farm from port to port, while taking care of waste dispersal, and providing a a more natural habitat for the fishes.

If fully realized, we could feed the planet for less than it costs to hunt fish today, with minimal impact on the natural ecosystem. What's the problem?

Example: http://www.oceanfarmtech.com/

I just looked at your website link. It appears intriguing, although there's certainly no way anyone is going to be raising bluefin tuna in one of those pod habitats.

As long as the pollution problems are minimal, the feed used isn't leading to unhealthy accumulations of toxins in the farmed fish, and the energy expenditures are low, I don't have any particular problem with the tech. The mobility of the pens seems to be a real plus, as far as avoiding concentrations of fish waste being dumped over a small area of sea floor.

It's no substitute for habitat conservation and restoration, particularly in the littoral zones of the world. But to the extent that it can help sustainable fisheries, it's a good idea.

As always, thank you for your thoughtful and informative letters.

the description of a cancer cell .....while normal cells cooperate with and have a symbiotic relationship with other cells in the body for the common good of survival and flourishing, a cancer cell is totally "selfish" and eventually destroys the body upon which it is dependent and thus itself.

In that sense humans are cancer cells upon the body of the thin layer of life than composing the outermost shell of the earth.

Life any irrational life form, it will destroy itself and perish.

Its just too bad that other species must pay the price of the behavior of the homo sapien monkey.

I attended a local "eco-festival" this past weekend and heard Solartopia author Harvey Wasserman speak. I was shocked to hear him say that a human world population of 6 to 9 billion people was "sustainable". I guess perhaps it is, if you don't care about all the other life forms on the planet being pushed to extinction by over-exploitation and habitat destruction. This needs to be recognized immediately and a new reproductive ethic to replace "be fruitful and multiply" needs to be adopted.

I suggest that any person who deliberately becomes the biological parent of more than two offspring has committed an aggressive act against the rest of humanity and against life on the planet. Reproduction beyond replacement is claiming more than your fair share of the world's limited resources for the support of your genetic line. As long as populations continue to grow, we will keep witnessing the decline in biological diversity and an increase in violent conflicts over remaining resources.

Oh, my wife and I have two offspring, both now grown.

How the Rich are Destroying the Planet

Why, when the situation is so clear and alarming, does it remain so stubbornly intractable to change? It's because those who have power in the world want it to be this way.

http://www.truthout.org/article/how-rich-are-destroying-planet

"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Humans beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet..."

- Agent Smith

"We're not going to make it, are we? People, I mean."

"It is in your nature to destroy yourselves," said The Machine.

The plunder will stop
when the fish are gone.

This message was brought to you by the Committee to Save the Humans.