ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the notion of biological deserts in the ocean and assesses the limitations of the sea as a biological resource. It outlines the evidence for ocean deserts and ocean oases and discusses the physical mechanisms responsible for their existence. The chapter explores the connection between coastal deserts and certain productive coastal fisheries. It presents some evidence for biological deserts and oases in the oceans. The large-scale atmospheric circulation favorable for biological productivity in the ocean during coastal upwelling also tends to produce the terrestrial coastal deserts evident off South America, and northwest and southwest Africa. The coastal upwelling region off northwest Africa also adjoins a dry western littoral. Pollution has contributed to ocean desertification, as well as desertification of inland waters. Coastal urbanization, the filling of marshlands, and the plodding development of adequate waste disposal methods have already threatened some coastal areas with serious loss of biological and economic productivity.
