The Bright Spots

The world’s oceans are under siege, and California waters are no exception. Veteran divers know it, and hard science confirms the facts. Scientific studies tell us that without any significant change in commercial fishing regulations, the total tonnage of finfish and invertebrates, with the exception of other than squid, taken commercially in California waters decreased by more than an astonishing 68 percent in the period from 1976 to 1998. By 2000, fishermen were catching less than half of what they were catching in 1990, and the fish they were catching were 45 percent smaller. By 2002, the population of seven species of popularly fished rockfishes was less than 10 percent of what it was at historical levels of abundance.