Source: Sustainable Fish Buying Guide
The seafood industry is in trouble. While fish is a key part of the diet for billions of people—and while the industry itself remains integral to the economies of coastal nations across the globe—the stats are bleak. Inadequate fisheries laws, poor enforcement on the high seas, and complex, obscure supply chains for many seafood products have led an estimated one-third of the world’s annual catch to be illegally fished. These factors all contribute to overfishing and mean that today, only 66 percent of wild marine fish stock are considered to exist at biologically sustainable levels. Over the last 50 years, fishing has been the major cause of marine biodiversity loss in the ocean, contributing to the global biodiversity crisis.
Climate change is also affecting fisheries: As our ocean warms rapidly, fish populations off our coasts are moving into cooler waters, dwindling in productivity, and facing more frequent marine heat waves and other environmental challenges. Ocean acidification, which is intensifying as the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, is a direct threat to the survival of shellfish and degrades the coral reefs that provide essential habitat. Separately, the impacts of the plastic waste crisis are also taking a toll on marine life.
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