When it comes to the fishing industry there are a lot of issues of sustainability. Whether it is in the catch size, techniques used, areas fished in, or bycatch. Bycatch is the accidental catching of the not target species. In most cases, these marine life forms are often killed before they can be released back into the ocean. Bycatch poses another major issue within the already difficult overfishing problem.
This graph is based on data from the FOA regarding catch sizes between the years 1950 and 2018. This graph shows the growth trend of the fishing industry and as more sustainable attitudes developed a slower decrease in catch size in the more recent years. The lowest catch was in 1950 with about 250,000, the highest being in 2002 with catch sizes around 850,000. The size eventually drops down to about 680,000 in 2018. Based on this larger drop in 2018 and information from the NOAA and FOA this number aims to be lowered even more. Protecting marine populations will increase the likelihood that these populations can survive and repopulate in order to sustain future generations.
Many people all over the world depend on fish as a resource and it is interesting to see these statistics because it’s definitely not something I think about or am informed on.
This was great, Thank you for sharing this. Protecting marine has been taken initiative for in many carribean areas. On my trip to the Bahamas we created a project called the hope spot and tried to enforce regulations with some being strict No Take Areas where fishing is prohibited, and others regulating the amount of fish and/or other natural resources taken.
I’m glad that you addressed the issues of the fishing industry and the many downsides that they have when it comes to sustainability. This was a really good graph to see the extent that which we are abusing the global fish as a resource.
This is such a large issue that isn’t really talked about! I know a lot of awareness was brought to this topic after Seaspiracy came out. I think another element that makes this issue so devastating is the fact that it is hard to enforce fishing laws