Save the oceans before it is too late
The majority of our planet is covered by seas and oceans. It is obvious that the oceans are not only beautiful but essential to our survival.
The oceans are home to countless species of marine life, providing us with food. They also play a huge role in regulating the global climate - including, very importantly, temperatures.
But, unfortunately, we are destroying the oceans and all the life in them. We fish the oceans so heavily that many species of fish are becoming endangered. What is more, many fishing methods are destroying coral reefs and marine life we don't even eat. Meanwhile, waste from factories and cites flow into the oceans, seriously polluting them.
Our oceans are hugely important to us. They are unique in the solar system. We should do everything we can to protect and treasure them.
Gabriella Wong Yuet-ching, Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College
From the Editor
Thanks for your letter, Gabriella. Our oceans have never been as vulnerable as they are today. Overfishing is just one aspect of this problem, but indeed it is a huge one. Just this year, scientists were saying that if the hunt for blue fin tuna - the type valued for as sashimi - is not stopped, the fish will become extinct.
As nations industrialise and people expect better food availability, so fishing fleets are extending their reach around the world to find more fish. Now The International Union for Conservation of Nature is saying that one third of all sharks in the world are threatened with extinction because they are caught as by-catch in the tuna and sword-fish industries.
The sea provides us with a bountiful harvest of food. But we make the mistake of thinking that, because the resource is renewable, it means we do not have to look after it.
No, we should not overfish.
Susan, Editor
