I have not eaten fish for decades. I view the eating of fish as ecologically irresponsible and many years ago declared a self-imposed taboo on eating fish ~ Paul Watson – Environmental activist and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd says there is no such thing as sustainable seafood in a dying ocean. Learn more from an interview with Captain Paul Watson here.
The facts about modern fishing and the state of our oceans make for very sobering reading. Key facts are summarized below:
- United Nation’s report1 “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture“, says that around 136 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year1.
- Between 1 and 2.7 trillion fish are killed annually. View more details on fishcount.org,uk here.
- The United Nation’s report2 “General situation of world fish stocks“, says that 3/4 of the world’s fisheries are exploited or depleted.
- By-catch is a major problem. That is: for every 1 pound of fish caught, there is a large amount of unintended marine species that are caught and discarded as by-kill1. Often these are more vulnerable species than the intended catch and include sharks and dolphins1.
- In the last 55 years, humans have wiped out 90% of the oceans top predators (sharks, Bluefin tuna, swordfish, marlin, king mackerel). Read more on the depletion of the oceans here at onegreenplanet.
- In 2006 on the impacts of biodiverstity loss on the ocean ecosystem3 predicted at the current rate of depletion, complete collapse of fisheries is possible by 2048. It is also noted that many thousands of fisheries have already collapsed3. Read the full report here.
- According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) almost 80% of global fisheries are being fished close to, at, or beyond their capacity and more than 50% of fish stocks considered fully exploited1.
- The World Health Organisation estimates that farmed salmon has 10 times the organic pollutants than wild salmon. Learn more about farmed salmon pollutants here.
- According to World Wild Fund (WWF), 90% of the world’s large fish have already been fished out, and 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die each year after becoming entangled in fishing equipment. Read more about this in the Worldwatch report here.
- Aquaculture or fish farming does not solve the problem. Many require wild fish as food, (consuming more than their own weight). For example every kg of farmed salmon requires 6kg of wild fish. Also, aquaculture can be very destructive due to ecosystem destruction and huge amount of toxic waste dumped into the environment.
One of the reasons that I do not eat meat, aside from the considerable ethical and ecological considerations, is that some 40% of the fish taken from the sea is converted into fish meal to feed chickens and pigs and domestic salmon ~ Paul Watson – Environmental activist and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The UN report – “Assessing the Environmental impacts of Consumption and production“4 states that over exploitation and collapse of fish stocks is happening and that emissions from industrial fisheries are considered relatively high4. The report notes significant declines in game and fish populations have resulted from over harvesting and for many fish species, populations have dwindled and harvests have vanished.
A fish is more valuable to humanity swimming free in the sea than it is on someone’s plate.When the fish are no more, the sea will die and when the Ocean dies – we die!~ Paul Watson – Environmental activist and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Links & Resources
Meateaters guide: Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of food.
United Nations 2014 report on the state of Aquaculture and Fisheries
WWF report on fishing and bycatch
References
[1] Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. 2014. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/a-i3720e.pdf
[2] Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. 2004. General situation of world fish stocks. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/common/ecg/1000505/en/stocks.pdf
[3] Worm B, et al 2006. Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services. American Association for the Advancement of Science, [Online]. 314, 787-790. Available at: https://palumbi.stanford.edu/manuscripts/impacts%20of%20biodiversity%20loss%20on%20ocean%20ecosystem%20services.pdf
