Today is my very great pleasure to welcome Dr.

Tristan, the famous underwater explorer. His views

on man's treatment of the ocean are well

known. Dr. Tristan, you have expressed very

strong views about the way man treats the ocean.

Let us begin with this - What do you mean?

Simply that man still has the same approach to

fishing as he had to hunting in early times. For

example, man has indiscriminately slaughtered

whales and certain other species. We need to ask

ourselves, is man killing more fish than he needs?

Surely you don't expect us to treat the sea as we

treat the land?

I certainly do. We must use the sea, too, as

farmers instead of hunters. We must plant the sea and herd its animals.

Why is this so important? I'd always believed that

the ocean had endless resources, that it held

unlimited reserves of food which could last until

the end of the world.

Tristan:

That is a false concept which unfortunately,

many people share. The truth is that it is only in

the upper zone that the seas are productive of

life. This zone is very limited. We are rapidly

digging into a food reserve that is limited and

vulnerable, despite what most people think.

But even in the upper zone there must still be

several billions of fish in the open sea?

That's what you think. The fact is that the annual

tonnage of fishing has decreased by a great deal

in the past five years. However, I am not as

concerned about fishing in the open seas as about

fishing on the spawning grounds. Take, for

example, salmon. We catch these when they

gather for breeding. We do the same thing with

tuna and mullets, catching them near the shore

during mating season.

I suppose we're in danger of seriously depleting

our supply of food from the ocean?

The risk in our food supply is not the only

problem. The depleting of our resources from the

ocean is not merely a matter of fishing, you know.

Don't forget oil pollution. Ships frequently spill oil

along our coasts, wiping out millions of fish and

destroying plant life.

I am sure that there is a great deal more that you

can say on this topic, and I hope we will be able

to continue another time. Thank you very much for

coming. Good-bye.