Over-fishing of our oceans could spell doom for the future of seafood.
If you fancy a good fish dinner or rely on our gilled-friends as a main dietary staple, you may have to rethink your protein sources in the very near future. According to the Census of Marine Life, 90 percent of the large fish in the food market (salmon, tuna, Atlantic cod, swordfish, halibut) are disappearing from our oceans due to overfishing. In addition, scientists are warning that if we continue to ignore this problem, by 2050 the oceans will be depleted.
Sound scary? You’re not alone. Seafood is critical to over 3 billion people on the planet for a regular protein source. And not only that, the results of over-fishing are becoming more apparent. One yachtman by the name of, Ivan Macfadyen, noticed the difference when he voyaged from Melbourne to Osaka in 2013 (the exact trip he made in 2003). The ocean may have appeared to be the same, but what struck him the most was the deafening silence… “…what was missing,” he said, “were the cries of the seabirds, which, on all previous similar voyages, had surrounded the boat. The birds were missing because the fish were missing.”
So what’s the solution? It may seem simple – farm fishing. By continuing to set up large bodies of water and growing our own fish we can eliminate the problem…right? Seeming this would take care of the fish-crisis; however, this could be opening a whole new “can of worms.” As with the beef industry we may find these farmed-fish full of antibiotics and living in contaminated conditions; not ideal for human consumption. And whether you know it or not, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture presently provides about 63.6 million tonnes of fish per year, so for the most part, we are probably already eating these farmed fish.
The world is becoming more populated and with this brings more mouths to feed which is only going to put more pressure on the fishing industry. So unless we are prepared to stop eating fish altogether and allow our oceans to replenish, our only other choice is to eat farm-raised fish and hope for the best.
CitizensReport
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