It is reckoned that if we continue to fish the seas at current rates of extraction, there will be none left by 2050.
It can take many decades for a decimated fishery to recover. The number of fish allowed to be caught exceeds the capacity of the seas and the remaining stock to recover. It’s unsustainable. You actually need to ensure you don’t catch young fish, let them grow, so that stocks will recover and you can have a fishing industry in the future. European fishing stocks are 75% overfished. The current European Union Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) only gets reviewed every 10 years and scientific evidence tends to get ignored in attempts to keep the existing fishing industry going.
Fishermen themselves however, are aware of the dangers faced and want to fish more sustainably. They recognise they need to do this if the industry is to have a long-term future.
But, the main driver of overfishing is you, and me and everyone else that wants to eat fish. Fishermen only go out to supply demand. If we demand less or demand to eat fish from sustainable, well managed sources, there will be a future. Current decimated stocks would then get a chance to recover.
So, the choice is yours, do you want to eat fish (at a resonable cost to your purse) in 20/30 years time? If so, check more carefully where your fish comes from next time you buy and ensure its from a sustainable, managed stock.
We are the cause of overfishing
It is reckoned that if we continue to fish the seas at current rates of extraction, there will be none left by 2050.
It can take many decades for a decimated fishery to recover. The number of fish allowed to be caught exceeds the capacity of the seas and the remaining stock to recover. It’s unsustainable. You actually need to ensure you don’t catch young fish, let them grow, so that stocks will recover and you can have a fishing industry in the future. European fishing stocks are 75% overfished. The current European Union Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) only gets reviewed every 10 years and scientific evidence tends to get ignored in attempts to keep the existing fishing industry going.
Fishermen themselves however, are aware of the dangers faced and want to fish more sustainably. They recognise they need to do this if the industry is to have a long-term future.
But, the main driver of overfishing is you, and me and everyone else that wants to eat fish. Fishermen only go out to supply demand. If we demand less or demand to eat fish from sustainable, well managed sources, there will be a future. Current decimated stocks would then get a chance to recover.
So, the choice is yours, do you want to eat fish (at a resonable cost to your purse) in 20/30 years time? If so, check more carefully where your fish comes from next time you buy and ensure its from a sustainable, managed stock.