Why The World Is Running Out Of Fish

In March this year, Netflix released Ali Tabrizi’s thought-provoking ‘Seaspiracy’, which explores the environmental impact of fishing. The Netflix original was a hit, gaining a massive following and 5-star reviews all over the world. However, experts say the film contains misleading claims and erroneous statistics. 

Group of fish in the ocean. Source: Unsplash

Overfishing is catching too many fish at once, which results in the breeding population being too depleted to recover. Many commercial fisheries act wastefully by hauling in massive amounts of unwanted fish, to later be discarded. Overfishing generally occurs due to poor fishing management – many fisheries around the world don’t have any rules to abide by.

The demand for global seafood production is three-fold the amount in 1970. It’s estimated there’s around 4.6m boats fishing around the planet in 2021. According to Robert Howes, Chief Executive for Marine Stewardship Council; “A third of fish stocks are overfished globally and, while progress is being made in the Global North, the situation is worsening in the Global South, where most of the world’s seafood is caught. Add to that climate change, ocean acidification and illegal fishing and we have a real crisis on our hands.

“As a result of widespread overfishing, nearly a third of the world’s assessed fisheries are in trouble, though this number may be larger since many fisheries remain unstudied.”

Overfishing is important because not only does it endanger biodiversity, around 3 billion people around the globe depend on seafood as a protein source. If this continues to go unmanaged, fisheries will face a collapse and we will face a food crisis.

A report written by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that the percentage of global fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels have dropped. Within the report, it is stated that 90% of stocks were sustainable in 1990. In contrast to this, only 65% were deemed sustainable in 2017, a drop of roughly 32%. The report also states that 59.9% of global fish stocks are fully fished and just 7% are underfished.

Tamara Arenovich, Communications Coordinator for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said: “The problem with overfishing is that marine life can’t keep up to the rapidly changing oceans. It means that the food web becomes unbalanced. Most importantly, we will lose species like vulnerable corals and sea turtles, for example.

“There are many ways overfishing can be beaten. Many people have made the change to become vegan or vegetarian which helps. Another way is choosing certified sustainable seafood. The MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) lists and labels seafood that is sustainable on their website.”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is one of many international non-profit organisations that runs campaigns yearly to protect and conserve our oceans from environmental destruction, and illegal exploitation. Donating to one of these organisations is the easiest way to begin the battle against overfishing. TSSCS also invites the public to get involved with their missions, whether that’s onshore volunteering or crewing at sea. This can be done through their website.