World Without Fish: Chapters 9-11

by Mark Kurlansky
In this book, Mark Kurlansky explores threats to the world's oceans and fish populations and describes ways that young people can support sustainable fishing.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Introduction and Chapter 1, Chapters 2-4, Chapters 5-8, Chapters 9-11
15 words 324 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    The face of Nature may be compared to a yielding surface, with ten thousand sharp wedges packed close together and driven inwards by incessant blows, sometimes one wedge being struck, and then another with greater force.
  2. pristine
    completely free from dirt or contamination
    In 1989, a tanker called the Exxon Valdez broke up in Prince William Sound, Alaska, which had been a pristine subarctic paradise for a wide range of fish, shellfish, mammals, and birds.
  3. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    BP has paid a twelve-million-dollar federal criminal fine, four million dollars in criminal restitution to the state, and four million dollars for Arctic research.
  4. subsidiary
    a company that is completely controlled by another company
    BP's local subsidiary, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., was placed on probation for three years.
  5. renewable
    capable of being replaced
    Unless the world reduces its use of oil and turns to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, there are certain to be more disasters like this in the oceans.
  6. profound
    far-reaching and thoroughgoing in effect
    But these poisons also seem to have a profound effect on fish populations and, although there has not been enough research on this, one of the side effects appears to be a reduced ability to reproduce.
  7. temperate
    mild or free from extremes
    Subtropical fish are moving toward more temperate zones.
  8. correlate
    bear a reciprocal or mutual relation
    Some research indicates that excessive carbon may slow down the growth rate in fish, and because growth correlates with egg production and the ability of fish populations to reproduce, this, too, bodes very badly for these deepwater fish populations.
  9. optimum
    most desirable possible under a restriction
    Even so, the Eastern Spinner Dolphin is now considered a "depleted" species: Its population stock is below optimum sustainable population.
  10. conscientious
    guided by or in accordance with a sense of right and wrong
    The MSC program is important because it gives the conscientious consumer a way to fish, and it gives conscientious fishermen a way to be commercially rewarded for their efforts.
  11. patronize
    do one's shopping at
    A group of kids in front of a store or restaurant with signs saying "Do not patronize this store. They are selling endangered species," could be extremely effective.
  12. strident
    conspicuously and offensively loud
    In polite and not strident language tell your age, grade, where you go to school, and why you are worried about fish and the oceans and what you would like him or her to do about it.
  13. diplomacy
    negotiation between nations
    The only way to effect this is through diplomacy, so write your representatives and the president and tell them that you want this to be a priority in international relations.
  14. abolish
    do away with
    This was true of the movements to abolish slavery in several countries, the movements to gain basic rights for workers, the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement...
  15. irreversible
    incapable of being turned around
    But they also generally agree that there is a point when the damage will be irreversible and that we do not have many years, perhaps only a generation, to reach that point.
Created on Thu Nov 16 10:06:04 EST 2017 (updated Fri Jun 20 16:32:50 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.