The Sea Around Us principal investigator, Dr. Daniel Pauly, has joined forces with the president of BLOOM Association, Claire Nouvian, and philosopher and professor Baptiste Morizot from Aix-Marseille University, to publish a new book that tests dichotomous points of view when it comes to the exploitation of marine resources.
Titled Reprendre la mer, after a French expression that refers to setting sail again after a stop, a storm, or a period of inactivity, the manifesto-style book presents a renewed approach to fisheries by defining the threshold beyond which the activity becomes its own self-eating monster and proposing ways to counteract that destructive force.
Since the 1950s, when their operations started, industrial fisheries have achieved what was once thought impossible: emptying the global ocean. As most of the world’s fish stocks are now fully exploited or declining, with many already overfished or collapsed, ports are closing, artisanal fleets are dying out, and fishers from the Global South are being crushed. The word “fishing” encompasses two opposed realities: one lives off the sea while allowing it to thrive, while the other devours it—and everything that depends on it.
Distinguishing between the two, Pauly, Nouvian and Morizot trace the roadmap to dismantle the destructive force that threatens marine ecosystems and the social and economic activities that depend on a healthy, productive ocean. Their approach, however, rejects the binary opposition between environmentalists and fishers, inviting seemingly conflicting teams to, instead, forge unexpected alliances.
Reprendre la mer, thus, opens up the possibility of an unprecedented ecological and social victory whose ultimate goal is reclaiming the sea.
To access the book, visit https://www.editionslesliensquiliberent.fr/livre-Reprendre_la_mer-9791020920706-1-1-0-1.html