What rising temperatures in the Gulf of Maine mean for wildlife

Over the centuries, the rise of sophisticated commercial fishing fleets has led to a steep decline in marine wildlife. Atlantic cod, its supply once believed to be inexhaustible, is now at one percent of colonial levels. So within just a couple hundred years, we have removed 99 percent of this species from the region. In the past four decades spent exploring these waters, I have witnessed how such declines have made the ecosystem weaker and more vulnerable in ways I never imagined.