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23 November 2009
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The Blue Planet - Deep Trouble

Scientists believe many species that are eaten every day are now seriously threatened. Most people have no idea where the fish they buy come from let alone how endangered they might be.

Specialists give their views
Producer Jo Sarsby gives her top five contacts to help you help the ocean You can download RealPlayer for free here.

As fish stocks dry up, supermarkets are now offering new and strange species from the deep sea. Bizarre-looking creatures are being dragged up in vast fishing nets from depths of 1,000 metres or more. The methods used to catch them are horrifying. As the nets drag along the sea bed they rip up 100-year-old corals and sponges, destroying the habitat. So even these new species may not be available for long.

With 100 million sharks caught annually, mostly by accident, and 30 million metric tons of fish being thrown over the side of fishing boats

every year, dead or dying, it looks as though the oceans are in an impossible mess.

Do you have a solution to save the seas? Tell us about it.

Dr Callum Roberts of York University may have a solution which could save the seas. He believes that if different marine habitats were protected from all forms of fishing, the fish stocks would grow bigger and older and stocks would recover.

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