The L.A. Times ran a detailed series of the condition of our oceans, enitled “A Primeval Tide of Toxins”.  Fishing records show that 90% of the big fish are gone, forcing fleets to “fish down the food-chain.”  Jellyfish are now in plentiful supply in what used to be bountiful shrimp waters. 



These links were listed at the end of an L.A. Times article, but they are worth listing here separately:

• http://scripps.ucsd.edu/
• http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/
• http://www.hboi.edu/
• http://www.initrogen.org/
• http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx
• http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/guidance/
• http://www.seaaroundus.org/

An article in the 22 November 2007 Los Angeles Times, page A14:
Huge jellyfish swarm wipes out fish farm. The salmon at an Irish fish farm were all killed by a tide of jellyfish 35 feet deep. “Until the last decade, the mauve stinger had rarely been spotted so far north in British or Irish waters, and scientists cite its presence as evidence of global warming.”

The larger issue here is the condition of our oceans. The L.A. Times ran a series July 30, 2006 entitled.
A Primeval Tide of Toxins. It detailed the ‘rise of slime,’ as one scientist calls it, and how it is killing larger species and sickening people. As the oceans become more polluted, they become more similar to their primordial state thousands of years ago, and the life in them follows suit: the simpler life forms (e.g. jellyfish) thrive, while the more advanced species become extinct. This is an important issue because so many other species depend on ocean life for food (human beings included). One fisheries scientist made predicts that future generations will tell their children: “Eat your jellyfish.”