The Empty Ocean: Plundering the World's Marine Life

This is a truly frightening book. Most people are really unaware of what's going on today out in the world's oceans. Giant long lines nets and factory fishing ships are creating unprecendented damage to the world's fisheries. The odds are that things are sadly even worse than this book states. A few years ago it was revealed that the total world fish catch figures had been inflated as a result of cheating by China, the world's number one fishing nation. This made it look like things were better than they were. The only reason they got caught was that they forgot to rig the local catch figures as well. Think about it. China is a totalitarian state. Do you trust them to tell you the truth about what their fishing fleets are doing right now in the middle of the Pacific and all over the world? We need greater monitoring of what is going on by the UN or some other international body.

Richard Ellis' "The Empty ocean" reads like an encycleopedic obituary for marine life. It's an on going casualty list of oceanic life forms complete with well researched statistics designed to give the reader plenty of "shock and awe." The book focuses on two age old problems; an infinite population versus a finite food source, and man's greedy Draconian methods used to enhance his own pocket book. Long line fishing boats with 60 to 100 miles of fishing line strung out across the waves dangling thousands of baited hooks is bound to catch "something!" This book is truly a cornucopia of resource material injected with the author's personal caustic innuendos that serve to highlight his zealous crusade against the onslaught and waste by big corporations and sea food distributors. A good read, but perhaps an even better source of historical statistics and research for tomorrow's promising marine biologists. Ellis has put a great deal of effort into his topic. His realism and propensity to "tell it like it is" will slice into your heart and soul, better than any harpoon ... every thrown by Captain Ahab!

Where Empty Ocean wins above a dozen other books is how it takes a bottom line approach, species by species and gives you the facts. Facts verifiable by the ever-handy Redlist(provided online by the IUCN). Ellis goes quite a bit further though, giving a historical account of each species. It is nice to know, for instance, why it is that the Sea Otter has ended up in the predicament it has; never mind that a friend of mine (oh my) was quite unaware that the Dodo was eaten out of existance. Ellis makes each animal a story--and a worthwhile story at that. I recall sharing 'Wounded Knee' with a friend of mine who gave up after a few chapters saying he 'got the point', and while it works for literary criticism, it doesn't for historical or scientific criticism. I doubt that Ellis's book is in anyway comprehensive, but while most readers will grasp the levity of things very quickly, it deserves to be read in its entirity. I think the various species mentioned here (many in trouble, many already extinct) deserve that much. Best yet, while Ellis does little to disguise his deep affinity for all those things that would make the sea their home, his arguments rest not at all upon this sentimentality, but rather on the instability of our marine-based economies as populations crash. At least a dozen eighteenth century extinctions would read like this epitaph "Like the sea cow, it was ridiculously easy to kill and tasted good...", but Ellis exposes how modern methods are far more effective in decimating extant species than any whalers ever could have managed. Possibly one of the most essential reads for an easy overview of the state of sea-going species, though readers with a greater interest will no doubt want to dig farther into the literature and on-line resources.

As a scientist I thought the book provided an excellent edifying view of our global marine ecosystem. The book builds an extremely strong case of the devastation caused by man to the marine environment. More politicians should read this book, especially the Bush Admininstration with their imbecilic view of global warming. The power of this book can harnessed in the classroom, by planting a seed in future generations for the importance of the biodiversity of life. Great book!!!

Richard Ellis has presented in "The Empty Ocean" a bleak tale of the overexploitation of a common resource- fish and other sealife. Unfortunately Ellis has not exaggerated the problem, which will eventually cause all of us difficulties. From the collapse of the North Atlantic fisheries to coral bleaching to the destruction of turtle populations, man has caused havoc in a supposedly inexhaustible habitat.How did this happen? Ellis points out that the reason that fisheries are collapsing worldwide is because of the super efficiency of modern fishing techniques. In essence they can catch everything, or nearly everything, in the area fished. Radar, huge nets, long many-hook lines and huge fleets of ships are used to feed the ever-increasing demand for seafood, sushi, aquarium fish, coral and rare shells. Since the resource is often less than the demand, especially for high-ticket items like tuna, the profit is high and the "commons" are overexploited for current gain. Not only this, but the number of non-target organisms that die in the process is truly staggering.What can we do to slow down the destruction? We can try to back sound science-based fishing regulations and at least lower our demand for products from the sea, especially for those known to be overexploited. The tragedy is that, despite our efforts, the oceans of the world will probably never be quite the same again. However, if humans do not limit themselves they will soon (as Ellis notes on the last page) know for whom the bell tolls.Read this book- it may make you think twice about current consumptive practices, especially if you value your children's future.