Last week we celebrated Earth Day, the 32nd year for this annual environmental awareness day. Because it's called "Earth" Day, I've always thought that the oceans were a little short-changed in terms of publicity. After all, they cover more than 70 percent of the planet's surface.

When we talk about environmental concerns facing the oceans, the focus is usually on what we're putting into them - that is, pollution. The EPA recently reported that between 40 and 50 percent of coastal waters are so damaged that they can't fully support aquatic life or human activities. But what's often overlooked is what we're taking out of the oceans.

Each year, about 175 billion pounds of fish are caught world-wide. And there's growing evidence that overfishing is affecting many ocean habitats as fish are not allowed enough time to reproduce. In fact, according to the United Nations, about 75 percent of the major marine fisheries of the world are either fully exploited, over exploited or depleted, compared to just five percent 40 years ago.