The Treasures of the Oceans

Due to overfishing and severe pollution, our oceans and waterways are far from as bottomlessly regenerating as we once thought. About one-third of fish species the world over are now threatened with extinction, according to the World Conservation Union. In the first half of this year, we read in the news that:
-- Low concentrations of sea scallops in the mid-Atlantic have prompted the closing of fishing areas in Virginia and New Jersey.
-- Coho salmon from British Columbia are on the verge of vanishing due to disease and interbreeding with farmed salmon.
-- Sharks could soon be commercially extinct if governments don't agree to new limits on shark fishing.
-- Hundreds of chefs have taken North Atlantic swordfish, possibly that ocean's fastest declining creature, off their menus.
-- Shrimp farms continue to pollute local waters and shrimping boat nets continue to endanger nearly-extinct sea turtles.
-- Orange roughy, which take at least 20 years to reach spawning age, are indiscriminantly harvested by the clear-cutting of coral trees.
-- Coral reefs are being poisoned and destroyed by nutrient overloads, warming seas, and the use of cyanide and dynamite by fishers.
-- There were 3,685 beach closings and advisories in 1996, often due to bacterial pollution. (For current beach conditions, see www.epa.gov/OST/beaches/.)

There are small bits of good news for water life. Thanks to pollution checks and hunting bans, the St. Lawrence River in Québec is now home to nearly 1,000 beluga whales, up from 300 in the 1970s. And the wild salmon of Alaska and Canada are relatively abundant. Further, there's now a great tool with which to carefully shop for 21 types of popular fish: The Audubon Guide to Seafood. To order, call 800/274-4201.

All agree that we need better fisheries management immediately, and globally. That's in the hands of grownups. Here are four beautiful new picture books-with-a-conscience to educate and delight kids.

Like emptying a beachcomber's pockets, Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier (Harcourt Brace, 1998, $16) combines panoramic ocean photos and collages of found objects, from horseshoe crab egg sacs to sea turtle skulls, with a glossary about the different species in a Florida beach ecosystem.

One Less Fish by Kim Toft and Allan Sheather (Charlesbridge, 1998, $6.95) counts backwards in rhyme, listing the ways that fish on a coral reef -- electrically colored angelfish, wrasses in all their varied splendor -- are destroyed by pollution and fishing. It finishes with the happier alternative of the protected Great Barrier Reef

Nicola Davies' Big Blue Whale (Candlewick, 1997, $15.99), with finely etched, lightwashed drawings by Nick Maland, chronicles the migration of a mother and baby, how they feed and communicate and, despite their vast size, how vulnerable - and lonely - they are (only 10,000 blue whales remain).

Both a gripping story and scientific case study, Celia Godkin's wonderful Sea Otter Inlet (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1997, $13.50) shows how the hunting of these captivatingly drawn, playful creatures resulted in an entire watery ecosystem's going out of whack, as the spiny purple urchins they used to eat destroy the kelp forest and all the fish it nurtured. Happily for biodiversity in this inlet, the otters come back.