Subject: [Oversea] Imagine a world without fish [Print This Page] Author: HKBWS WY Time: 9/06/2009 13:14 Subject: Imagine a world without fish
News from BirdLife International
08-06-2009
Imagine a world without fish
Today, on world Oceans Day, a powerful new film - The End of the Line - highlights the problems of over-fishing, and predicts that many important stocks will be in a state of collapse by 2050. However, 17 Pacific island nations recently set a global precedent by ensuring that over 50 million square kms of ocean will be closed to tuna purse-seine fishing.
World Oceans Day is an opportunity for hundreds of communities around the globe to learn about our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea, to raise awareness about the crucial role the ocean plays in our lives, and the important ways people can help to protect our shared world ocean. This year’s theme is ‘one ocean, one climate, one future’.
Launched today, The End of the Line asks people to imagine an ocean without fish, and meals without seafood. "We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment”, said, Charles Clover author of the book which led to the movie.
The End of the Line was filmed over two years across the world, and features top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials. It examines the imminent extinction of Bluefin Tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine lif e resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world without fish.
Overfishing was recognised as one of the world's greatest and most immediate environmental problems in 2002, when it was first demonstrated that global catches of wild fish had peaked around 1989 and have since been in decline.
Globally, some 75 % of wild marine fish are now said to be either fully-exploited or overfished, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO). That means these species require conservation and management in order to survive in their present numbers - which they rarely receive. "We must act now to protect the sea from rampant overfishing so that there will be fish in the sea for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren", warned Charles Clover
