Applying both methods to worldwide data, the scientists say industrial fishing over the past decades has not simply worked its way downwards from the top of the food chain -- it has gone upwards, too.

The arguments appear finely balanced: the investigation has gone on for more than a year and the SEC's top brass was divided over whether to proceed.

And over the firm objections of his top advisers, he insisted on using the occasion to issue a remarkable threat: that he would Sue all of the women who had gone public with the accusations.