Take action to save the ocean
With a surge in overfishing in the last five years, research done by a Canadian university shows that if we keep on fishing and polluting the ocean at the rate we are now, we will run out of seafood for consumption by 2048. This would not only massively affect the economy but also drastically change the natural world as we know it.
Given that fisheries are a big contributor to the U.S gross domestic products, eliminating them as a whole to preserve our oceans is out of the picture. With that, the question still remains: how can we help our ocean thrive with more sustainable fishing practices, while preserving the fishing industry as a whole?
Research by the Aquatic Life Institute shows that if oceans were managed sustainably, they could provide six times more food than what we are getting out of them today. Running our oceans sustainably would mean 12 million more people could be employed.
In reality, the biggest problem the ocean is facing isn’t the alarming amount of pollution mostly made up of all the poorly discarded fishing nets and lines but also plastic and other kinds of trash that are constantly being dumped into the ocean, but the overfishing and collateral damage it creates, known as bycatch.
In the fishing industry, bycatch is the unwanted fish or marine animals caught while fishing for a specific animal or size. These marine animals are thrown back into the ocean, most hitting the water injured with little chance of survival or in many cases dead.
“If we don’t hold people accountable for those kinds of things [littering], to help our environment specially, then we are failing right now,” said Assemblyman Juan Alanis.
During a visit to the state capitol in Sacramento, I brought this up with a state senator, assembly member and other officials. Though the ocean is critical to the survival of our planet, most sources showed little awareness of the subject of sustainable fishing. We must not only hold people accountable for the physical actions they are taking against our oceans, but also hold them accountable for educating themselves on such an important issue.
If we want to save our oceans we must take rapid action, hope is high with the next U.N. ocean conference happening in 2025.
I think from overfishing to plastic pollution, and that sustainable solutions are possible if we take rapid and meaningful steps to protect this vital global resource.
I agree, i think if we don’t do something about the Bycatch that’s going on, or the pollution thats happening in our oceans. A lot of people are going to regret not taking action while we had the chance. I think more people should try and do something to help out and save our oceans.