By John Hocevar / Source: HuffPost

Bering Sea

Healthy oceans are the life support system for our planet, providing 97% of the Earth’s livable habitat and a home to more than 700,000 species. The oceans are inseparably linked to our health as well, providing half the oxygen we breathe, relaxation and enjoyment, jobs, and food to billions of people.

Unfortunately, the oceans are in trouble. Seas we once thought too vast to be permanently/significantly altered by humans now face mass extinctions. Globally, the effects of industrialization are threatening the oceans’ ability to continue sustaining the ecosystems we depend upon. Climate change and ocean acidification, both the result of our reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil, are impacting the ocean to an extent not experienced in hundreds of millions of years. Scientists tell us we are on a trajectory toward ecological disaster in many ocean areas and the collapse of major fisheries across the globe.

Fish are more than seafood. Fish are wildlife first, and they are critical components of complex marine ecosystems and food webs. Understanding the life-support that society receives from healthy oceans, and the tremendous impact that commercial fishing has on the ocean – we know that some of the ocean must remain unfished.

Despite overwhelming science and support for the idea that we should leave some of our seascape untouched, we have not seen the ambition and progress needed from policymakers. In some of our most valuable marine ecosystems such as the Bering Sea, the decisions on how we manage ocean resources are being made by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, made up primarily of representatives of the fishing industry, and they are influenced by a powerful lobby that seeks to maintain the status quo.

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