Smells Fishy!
In the mid-20th century, international efforts to increase the availability and affordability of protein-rich foods led to concerted government efforts to increase fishing capacity. Favorable policies, loans, and subsidies spawned a rapid rise of big industrial fishing operations, which quickly supplanted local boatmen as the world's source of seafood. [3]
The past decade saw a steady-state of global fish landings but experienced a more recent downward trend. Fish landings refers to the quantities (i.e. weight in tonnes) of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals, which were brought to a port, regardless of the state in which is landed (i.e. whole, gutted, filleted, etc.).
Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show a significant decrease in the past two years. Other studies found similar trends primarily among developed countries. Developing countries exhibited increased landings. [6] There are two contributing factors to this - 1) natural disasters and the effects of climate change on fishing activity and 2) government regulations.
The demand is continuing to increase along with the world's population. But the ocean is not able to replenish at the same rate. Put simply, the ocean is being "over fished". [3]
Every species lost causes a faster unraveling of the overall ecosystem. [2] This progressive biodiversity loss not only impairs the ability of the ocean to feed a growing human population but also sabotages the stability of marine environments. Conversely, Every species recovered adds significantly to the ecosystem's overall productivity and ability to withstand stresses.
We will now take a closer look at some of the data for the top 25 Countries by each of the following factors to get a closer look at some of the emerging trends.
Funding a saturated market.
Feeding a growing world.
Taking more than we need.
Growing the fleet of hunters.
The 20th century saw the biggest growth in the world’s population in human history. This increase in population required a similar increase for food production. In the past 50 years, humans consumed more resources than the entire human history before us. This unexamined consumption of goods and resources is just a part of our daily lives - promoted not only by advertisers but also by governments wanting to continually grow their economy. [4]
In the past 50 years, humans consumed more resources than the entire human history before us.
Consumers soon grew accustomed to having access to a wide selection of fish species at affordable prices. To support this large, profit-seeking commercial fleets were extremely aggressive, scouring the world's oceans and developing ever more sophisticated methods and technologies for finding, extracting, and processing their target species. [3]
Ocean-faring nations spent $22 billion on harmful subsidies in 2018. This amounts to 63 percent of the total amount expended to support the global fishing industry. [1]
Five countries that issue the most subsidies represent 50% of total global handouts. [1]
Based on current global trends, it is 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 of the species' baseline abundance. [2]
This is where we stand today, if the trend continues we will see a collapse by 2050.
Today’s worldwide fishing fleet is estimated to be up to two-and-a-half times the capacity needed to catch what we actually need.[5]
Illegal fishing and unsustainable harvesting still plagues the industry. Efforts are further complicated by an apathetic public who grew accustomed to abundant seafood supplies. However, many scientists say most fish populations could be restored with:
Aquaculture is the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of aquatic organisms, mostly those that live in the ocean. [7] Aquaculture output had a 5.8 percent annual growth rate during the period 2001–2016, showing promising growth compared to other food sources. For the first time aquaculture provides 53 percent of fish for human consumption.[8] There is still hope in many regions. Examination of protected areas worldwide showed that restoration of biodiversity greatly increased productivity and made ecosystems 21 percent less susceptible to environmental and human-caused fluctuations. [2]
We won't see complete recovery in one year, but in many cases species come back more quickly than people anticipate. And where this has been done we see immediate economic benefits. [2] As a consumer, being more informed about the source of your fish is a great first step.
Note: some data was incomplete for several of the countries included in the visualizations and therefore were excluded where appropriate.