by Elliott Norse

About the author: Elliott Norse, a marine biologist who has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ecological Society of America, and the Center for Marine Conservation, founded the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in 1996 to promote research in marine conservation biology.

The sea is so vast that it seems invulnerable, a boundless cornucopia of resources for our appetites and a convenient toilet for our wastes. But humankind is more powerful than we realize, and the living sea is in real trouble. By applying scientific understanding about marine biodiversity and how humans affect it, we can make better decisions. Knowledge does not guarantee that we will do the right thing, but we will make better decisions with it than without it.

There is just one ocean, the world ocean system. The Black...