The Empty Sea

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The “Blue Economy” encompasses all economic activities related to the sea, focusing on sustainability. It includes traditional sectors like fisheries, undersea mining, tourism, and scientific research, alongside the remarkable growth of aquaculture in recent years. This expanding frontier has spurred optimistic, perhaps overly enthusiastic, views on the sea's potential to feed the world, provide affordable energy, and yield new mineral sources. The book explores these trends by tracing our ancestors' gradual discovery of the sea and its resources, discussing the “fisherman’s curse” that explains why fishermen have historically struggled, and evaluating realistic expectations for resource extraction. While the sea is not as overexploited as land, our demands on its ecosystem services already exceed sustainable limits. New concepts, like “fishing down” for resources such as plankton, pose risks of collapsing marine ecosystems. The narrative includes fascinating anecdotes, such as how Neanderthals navigated the sea, the story of five men hunting a whale, the oil used by virgins in the Gospel, Vito Volterra's “equations of fishing,” the rise in jellyfish stings, and a board game simulating resource overexploitation. This engaging exploration reveals the complex and evolving relationship between humanity and the sea.