Killing Our Oceans: Dealing with the Mass Extinction of Marine Life

257 Pages·2006·1.1 MB·English

by  John Charles Kunich

Killing Our Oceans:
Dealing with the Mass
Extinction of Marine Life
John Charles Kunich
PRAEGER
KILLING OUR
OCEANS
Dealing with the
Mass Extinction
of Marine Life
JOHN CHARLES KUNICH
Library ofCongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
Kunich,JohnC.,1953–
Killing ouroceans : dealingwiththe massextinction ofmarine life /
JohnCharlesKunich.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical referencesandindex.
ISBN0–275–98878–3 (alk. paper)
1. Marine biological diversityconservation—Law andlegislation. I. Title.
K3488.K86 2006
346.04'695616—dc22 2006004355
BritishLibrary Cataloguing inPublication Data isavailable.
Copyright#2006 byJohnCharlesKunich
Allrights reserved.No portionofthis bookmaybe
reproduced, byanyprocess ortechnique, withoutthe
express writtenconsent ofthe publisher.
Library ofCongress Catalog CardNumber: 2006004355
ISBN:0–275–98878–3
Firstpublished in2006
PraegerPublishers, 88PostRoad West,Westport,CT06881
An imprintofGreenwood Publishing Group,Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printedin theUnitedStates ofAmerica
Thepaper usedinthisbook complies with the
Permanent Paper Standardissuedbythe National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
One
Hotspots Under the Sea: Hotter Under the Water? 1
Two
Law of the Sea and in the Sea 47
Three
Finding or Losing Nemo, One Nation at a Time 95
Four
Choosing to Stop Killing Our Oceans 111
Five
The Greatest Unknown 155
vi CONTENTS
Notes 171
Suggested Readings 229
Index 233
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
‘‘Wehaveitinourpowertobegintheworldoveragain.’’1Thosewere
thewordsofThomasPaine,oneofthefoundersoftheUnitedStatesof
America,in1776.Hewasreferringtotheworldinthepoliticalsense,
andthepossibilitythatagroupofbrave,determined,visionarypeople
could break free from the injustices that bound them, and together
create a new environment based on liberty and human rights. Events
provedPaine’sfamouswordstobeprophetic.Buttodayadifferentset
of wrongs demands bold and courageous action, and this time the
‘‘world’’ that requires a new beginning is the physical world itself.
Planet Earth, and countless living things on it, are threatened by the
shortsighted and misguided actions of people—including many in the
United States—and unless enough people soon resolve to set a new
course,theconsequenceswillbebothdevastatingandirreversible.We
often hear people say, ‘‘That means the world to me.’’ But what does
theworlditselfmeantous?Arewewillingtodowhatittakestosaveit?
Killing our oceans? The title of this book sounds like one more
overblown, alarmist attempt to scare people into doing something,
anything—such as buying the book. But the truth hurts, and in this
viii PREFACE
case it hurts a lot more than just people. A mass extinction now
threatens much of life on Earth, and marine life is particularly at risk.
Wearecurrentlyinthemidstofatleastthesixthmassextinctioninthis
planet’s history, one of the catastrophic death spasms in which vast
numbersofspeciesdisappearforeveratfargreaterthantheusualrate.2
In this book I will examine the appalling extent to which the Sixth
Extinctionhasreachedtheworld’soceans,andIwilldemonstratethat
stacks of international and domestic laws have done nothing more
aboutthisdevastationthanactasadangerousplacebo.Myconclusion
willprovideanantidotetothissyndromeoflawasthenewopiateofthe
masses which soothes us to sleep, secure in the delusion that life on
Earth is safely protected by legions of laws.
Our collective image of life in the seas is still shaped today by the
storiesandmemoriesfromonlyafewdecadesago.Somepeoplealive
in 2006 were witnesses to the teeming waters of not many years past,
watersburstingwithseeminglylimitlessschoolsofgreatfish.Visionsof
livingwavesofnumberlessmarineorganismsofallsizesandvarieties
attained near-mythic status in the minds of many people. These pic-
tures of oceans literally overflowing with infinite expanses of vibrant
life—swirling, silveryclouds of swimming swarms—remainlocked in
ourcommonassumptions,andservetofillthelargevoidsofhardfacts
aboutmarinebiodiversityasitreallyexistsnow.AsIwillshow,infar
too many cases these epic cascades of hyperliving seas are no longer
anythingbutafadingripple.Massextinctionhasleftemptinessinthe
once-crowded waters.
InthreepreviousarticlesandabookIhaveestablishedthedearthof
effective legal protection for the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity hot-
spotsandthenamelesshostsofspeciescrowdedinthem.Ondryland,
and in the internal fresh waters of the world’s nations, there is no
comprehensive, efficacious, enforceable legal mechanism in place—
not in terms of U.S. legislation3—nor in international law or the ag-
gregatelawsofthevariousnationsthatarehometothehotspots.4Even
thebestofinternationaltreatieshavefailedtomakeadiscernibledent
inthedreadfullossofkeyhabitats.5Thisisadisastrousstateofaffairs
becausethehotspotsarethesolerepositoriesofanimmenseshareofall
remaining life on Earth. If they are lost, countless species will vanish
with them.
Preface ix
InthisbookIwillmovethehotspotsfocustoaverydifferent,yetin
somewaysquitesimilar,aspectofourcontemporarymassextinction.
If there are titanic unknowns riddling the question of terrestrial
extinctions—and there are—the situation is even more extreme when
we move from our comfortable and familiar land-based environment
andventureintotheoceans.6There,amidstthevastnessanddarkness,
we know virtually nothing about the most vital and most ancient of
habitats.
I will set forth some essential background information as to what
littleweknowaboutmarinebiodiversity,howmanyspeciesexistinthe
world’soceans,wherethosespeciesareconcentrated,andwhatthreats
challenge their continued existence. Then I will examine the current
legalprotectionsthattheoreticallystandinoppositiontoamarinemass
extinction, yet have been powerless to prevent or arrest the wholesale
emptying of the waters. Finally, I will conclude with a paradigm-
shifting proposal for a more effective legal approach to safeguarding
Earth’s marine life. I will make every effort to stay away from fancy
jargon, difficult and painful as that is for someone who is a law pro-
fessorbyprofession.Mygoal,aboveall,inthisbookistoeducateand
to persuade people that something of incredible value is being ir-
retrievablylost,rightnow,rightbelowthewaves,andweneedtotake
swift action to prevent it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thankmy wife,MarciaKathleenVigil,and ourdaughters, Christina
LaurelKunichand JulieKateMarvaKunich,fortheirwonderfullove
and support, without which this book would not have been possible.
I also gratefully recognize the superb research contributions of John
Harrington and Deborah Niedfeldt to this book.