Today I am going to write about the fishing industry. Nowadays about 20% of the animal protein we consume proceeds from fish.
Until the 1950 the fishing industry fished about 20 million tones /year, and in the present it is over 100 million tones/year. A considerable increase. And with that increase the environmental impacts have also increased. Some of the most important of them I would like to comment here:
Overfishing: There are about 40 species of marine animals we consume. As we fish over 100 million tones of them a year, there is an enormous pressure on them and their ecosystems. It is almost impossible that the fish populations stay constant, so the result is the disappearance of a very important food supply for millions of people. According to the journal Science, by 2048 there will be no more in the wild caught fish
Effects on habit: Some fishing techniques also may cause habitat destruction. Dynamite fishing and cyanide fishing, which are illegal in many places, harm surrounding habitat. Bottom trawling, the practice of pulling a fishing net along the sea bottom behind trawlers, removes around 5 to 25% of an area's seabed life on a single run. Also the practice of aquaculture has its effects: contamination of water (by antibiotics, chemical substances, and organic residues), loss of biodiversity, deforestation.
By-catch: not only fish and crustaceans are caught in the nets or traps, also enormous numbers of dolphins, whales, sharks, seabirds, sea turtles and other animals find their deaths in the nets every year.
Ecological disruption of the food chain: All animals and plants are linked to each other by the food chain. The plants get eaten by the herbivores, the herbivores by the carnivores, and they by the decomposers. Take away one level and the entire food chain will collapse. This is exactly what is happening, as we are fishing mainly the 2º level; the fish who eat plankton and are supposed to be eaten by other fish
The environmental impacts of fishing are disastrous. But what is there to do against it? Eat less fish. It is still recommended to eat fish twice a week, but I wouldn’t pass that recommendation. Also for your own health: more and more fish get contaminated with all the chemical substances we throw in sea, and have heavy metals in their flesh which are poisonous for us.
Here I have a map from the FAD, with the consumption of fish per year and per capita. It’s not surprising to see that those countries which also over consume meat, do the same with fish
And here I leave a link to the national geographic website, were you can see with many sorts of seafood their toxic levels, omega 3 levels, food chain level and sustainability ranking. It’s very interesting to investigate it a bit and become conscious of your choice what seafood to eat!
Greetings, and have a lovely day!
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