A ONCE thriving fishing industry off the coast of New York lies ruined, after
the mysterious death of 95 per cent of the local lobster population. The prime
suspects are pesticides—which have been sprayed over the surrounding area
in a desperate attempt to prevent another outbreak of West Nile virus.
In several eastern coastal states, the use of insecticide skyrocketed last
year after an outbreak in New York of the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes
(Â鶹´«Ã½, 2 October 1999, p 13).
A month after the spraying began, hundreds of fishermen returned from Long
Island Sound—a 190-kilometre…
