This method of fishing kills huge numbers of sharks and other sea animals.
VOA: special.2009.04.03
Metagenomics, as the new technique is known, has vastly extended knowledge of what bugs live in the sea and in many other places, from hot springs to animals' guts.
They act as grazers on the ocean floor (manatees are the only otheranimals that do this), helping keep a balance under the sea for other creatures to live and breed.
Organizations like Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, The International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society and -- yes -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals all campaign in various ways to stop the decimation of whales and other intelligent creatures of the sea.