Plastic in World’s Oceans Soon to Outweigh World’s Fish Stocks
IndustryTap has written about “Fish Passage Systems” which help salmon make it back to spawning grounds. This project is proof that humans can get things right if only they have common sense and political will. If fish are not able to reproduce fast enough to exceed the numbers harvested, then the stocks of fish will plummet. Could anything be simpler?
A Model of Species Preservation in Alaska
A model of fish species preservation is the icy clean waters off Alaska’s coast. For more than a century, Alaska has operated a state-of-the-art fishery management system with fishing fleets self-monitoring their activity to ensure fish stocks remain healthy.
Other examples include the comeback of the Gulf Red Snapper, which was on the verge of extinction, and the launch of a global fisheries transparency initiative in Mauritania.
Organizations including the Marine Conservation Institute and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are taking a number of steps to protect ocean fisheries:
- Promoting marine protected area designations. With protected marine areas, certain species that are under threat will have a chance to survive and thrive.
- Securing protection for important ecosystems in the world’s oceans. When critical ecosystems have been identified, it is essential that they are protected. Once an ecosystem is destroyed, it affects others, and a domino effect occurs.
- Developing new technological tools and advanced scientific understanding to better understand the world’s oceans and ecosystems.
- Tracking and communicating conservation progress using MPAtlas.org.
- Mapping vulnerable marine ecosystems.
- Promoting sustainable tourism.
- Ensuring effective government policies for healthy marine life.
The following video, “The World is Running Out of Fish,” explains how fish stocks cannot be saved due to overfishing.
