AR-News: (UK) 'Last chance' for Southern Ocean

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Scientists in Australia have warned that fish piracy is damaging the Southern 
Ocean to such an extent that time is running out to save it. Illegal 
fishermen, primarily on the hunt for the prized Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus 
eleginoides), are wiping out both fish stocks and bird species that live in the 
ocean. 
Species numbers are said to have dropped so acutely that Australia has called 
for global help to tackle the pirates. 
"It is probably the last chance for us to get it right," Dr Adel Pile, of 
Sydney University, told BBC World Service's One Planet programme. 
"The Southern ocean, this continuous mass of water, is really important, and 
[is] regulating globally things like our climate - El Nino starts in the 
Southern Ocean. 
"If we mess around with the ecosystem enough that we can throw it out of 
balance, it's not just going to be limited to those of us who live in the Southern 
Hemisphere - it's going to have global ramifications." 
Intergovernmental support 
Scientists say they know more about the surface of Mars than they do about 
the Southern Ocean. 
Australia recently deployed an armed surveillance ship to protect fish 
stocks, but campaigners already fear the Patagonian toothfish has been hunted to 
near extinction. 



full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3421313.stm



"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein

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