Oceans Without Fish by 2048, Extinction Happening Now

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated “More than 30 percent of the world’s fish populations have been pushed beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them. Several important commercial fish populations (such as Atlantic bluefin tuna) have declined to the point where their survival as a species is threatened.” If humans keep fishing at the current pace, there will be oceans without fish by 2048.

A 2006 study by Boris Worm, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, — with colleagues in the U.K., U.S., Sweden, and Panama says that If humans keep fishing at the current pace, there will be no more fish left in the oceans by 2048. “I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are — beyond anything we suspected,” Worm said in a news release.

“This isn’t predicted to happen. This is happening now,” study researcher Nicola Beaumont, PhD, of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, U.K., said in a news release.

Stephen Palumbi and Stanford colleague Fiorenza Micheli, assistant professor of biological sciences at Hopkins, are two of 14 co-authors of the 2006 Science study, the first major analysis of all existing datasets—historical, experimental, fisheries and observational—on ocean species and ecosystems. Based on current global trends, the authors predicted that every species of wild-caught seafood—from tuna to sardines—will collapse by the year 2050. “Collapse” was defined as a 90 percent depletion.

The existing world fishing fleet is two to three times larger than the oceans can support and 85 percent of the world’s fish populations are either nearly extinct, on the way to extinction or brought to an unsustainable population size.

Dr Callum Roberts – professor of marine conservation at the University of York
Katie Powell – animal rights activist
Andrew Knight – Professor of animal welfare & Ethics at the University of Winchester
Keegan Kuhn – Co-created Cowspiracy
Dr Mark William – Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester

“2.7 trillion animals are dragged out of the ocean every year
We could see a fishless ocean by 2048
If the oceans die, we certainly will. Yet we kill more fish per year than all humans who have lived on Earth, ever.
75% of the world’s fish populations have been exploited or depleted
As many as 40% of fish caught globally every year are discarded (dead)
Many of the fish that we catch are simply thrown over the side because they are over quota, the wrong species, not quite big enough
And that is having a domino effect on every single food chain in the ocean
The impact that we are having on the other animals is devastating
The leading cause of water pollution around the world is animal agriculture
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of ocean dead zones and water pollution
Animals produce a tremendous amount of waste and that waste ends up in the waterways
That water is washed out to sea and creates zones so polluted with nitrogen that it is devoid of all life because there is not oxygen left in the water
Up to 50 million sharks are killed in fishing lines and nets every year
We can’t take as much as we like, we are overfishing the oceans
We are causing a decline in marine life
We can’t wait until 2048 when it’s dead and it’s happened
We have to do something now
The industries are worth hundreds of millions of dollars
What is needed though is a political leadership which says this is a real problem
It’s not too late to save the oceans but we just have to change our behaviours
If the consumer doesn’t demand specific foods, they won’ be there
We shouldn’t’ apportion blame, this is were we are at, this is what we have developed
If we act decisively we can bring them back from the brink”

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To read other articles on the threats to oceans and forests click here.