PRESERVINGOUR WORLD
Sea: in the Northwest Atlantic, for example, the catch of ‘long-range” fshing vessels from Europe dropped from over two million tonnes in 1974 to about a quarter-million tonnes in 1983. In the same period, the United States and Canada increased their “take” from these fisheries to over ninety percent of the total catch, from a level of less than fifty percent. At the same time, however, the “industrial-strength” longrange, Japanese and European fisheries fleets continue to take some five million tonnes of fish off the shores of developing MtiOIlS which are less able either to harvest their own resources, or enforce their protection. This century’s “privateers” are huge fishing trawlers. Off West Africa, by way of example, over half the annual catch is still captured by these sophisticated, long-range convoys of modern trawlers. Third World countries are thus losing their national treasure through lack of maritime resources, and of processing and marketing facilities and skills, as well as their absolute inability to control the activities of marauding, foreign fishing fleets. Small, Third World, island nations are the greatest potential victims of this modem version of exploitation. An early future scenario involving political instability is far from improbable within such poor nations deprived of the income and food they need for bare survival. The industrial fishing states, in effect, have begun colonizing the seas in addition to land resources. Even the current moratorium on whaling may be too little, and is clearly on the cusp of being too late. As for “too little”: Conservation groups believe, with considerable logic, the Treaty caveat permitting the catch of whales “for scientific purposes” provides a loophole for whaling nations. If the International Whaling Commission fails to more stringently supervise permissions for %cientif? whaling, it will soon lose any credibility As for “too late? Even a cessation of whaling leaves the world with the prospect we will see no substantial increases in the population of endangered groups of the whale species for at
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