Source: The Conversation
Author: J. Murray Roberts
Some years ago New Yorker magazine printed a cartoon showing a group of high society ladies enjoying an afternoon cup of tea. One lady turns to her neighbour and says, “I don’t know why I don’t care about the bottom of the ocean, but I don’t.”
Deep sea fishing off Rockall is causing trouble down below. Irish Defence Forces, CC BY-SAIt’s often argued that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean, and the New York society ladies perfectly reflect the issue – what’s out of sight is out of mind. Does it matter that we know so little about the largest areas on our planet? Does the deep sea do anything for society? Is it important?
An eclectic group of scientists, fishing representatives and government policy makers is meeting today in Edinburgh to discuss the future of Scotland’s deep seas. Here in the UK the vast majority of deep-sea territory is to the west of Scotland beneath the Atlantic waters that stretch out to Rockall.
For more, go to: theconversation.com/if-the-damage-being-done-to-deep-seas-happened-on-land-there-would-be-uproar-25950