In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean (State of the World's Oceans Series)

Recent decades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependent communities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.

In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean presents the first empirical assessment of the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as "fishing down the food web." The book:

• provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its present status
• presents a rigorous scientific assessment based on the key criteria of fisheries catches, biomass, and trophic level
• considers the factors that have led to the current situation
• describes the policy options available for halting the decline
• offers recommendations for restoring the North Atlantic

An original and powerful series of maps and charts illustrate where the effects of overfishing are the most pronounced and highlight the interactions among various factors contributing to the overall decline of the North Atlantic's ecosystems.

This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled "The State of the World's Oceans." In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean is a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessment of the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry.

Dr. Daniel Pauly is a French citizen who completed his high school and university studies in Germany; his doctorate (1979) and habilitation (1985) are in Fisheries Biology, from the University of Kiel.

After many years at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), in Manila, Philippines, Pauly became in 1994 Professor at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (formerly Fisheries Centre) of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, of which he was the Director for five years (Nov. '03-Oct. '08). Since 1999, he is also Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us research initiative (see www.seaaroundus.org), funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and devoted to studying, documenting, and promoting policies to mitigate the impact of fisheries on the world's marine ecosystems.

Pauly has supervised a large number of Master and PhD students in the Philippines, Germany, and British Columbia.

The concepts, methods, and software which Pauly (co-)developed, documented in over 500 scientific and general-interest publications, are used throughout the world, not least as a result of his teaching a multitude of courses, and supervising students in four languages on five continents. This applies especially to the Ecopath modeling approach and software (www.ecopath.org) and FishBase, the online encyclopedia of fishes (www.fishbase.org), the latter recently complemented by SeaLifeBase (www.sealifebase.org).

This work is recognized in various profiles, notably Science (Apr. '02); Nature (Jan. '03); New York Times (Jan. '03), in developing countries, and by numerous awards, among them honorary doctorates from four universities, being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science; '03); and receiving the Award of Excellence of the American Fisheries Society ('04); the International Cosmos Prize, Japan ('05), the Volvo Environmental Prize, Sweden ('06), the Excellence in Ecology Prize, Germany ('07), and the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, Spain ('08).

Pauly has authored or co-authored over 500 scientific articles, book chapters, and shorter contributions, and authored, or (co-)edited about 30 books and reports. His books include Five Easy Pieces: The Impact of Fisheries on Marine Ecosystems, and with coauthor with Jay Maclean, In a Perfect Ocean: The State Of Fisheries And Ecosystems In The North Atlantic Ocean.

Jay Maclean is an independent writer and marine biologist based in the Philippines.