Commercial fishing has wiped out 90 percent of large predatory fish in the past 50 years, say researchers funded by the Pew Institute for Ocean Science and the Census of Marine Life. This study encompasses twice as many studies and ecosystems previously assessed, such as the equatorial Pacific and several coral reefs.

"Industrial fisheries have changed marine ecosystems in fundamental ways," wrote Ransom A. Myers, a professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. "Current fishing mortalities projected into the future could lead to the extinction of certain sensitive species of sharks and other large predators at the top of the food web."

Myers and Boris Worm, another Dalhousie University professor, conclude that "today's management decisions will determine whether we will enjoy biologically diverse, economically profitable fish communities 20 or 50 years from now, or whether we will have to look back on a history of collapse and extinction that was not reversed in time.”

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