Overfishing is an issue that is continuously becoming more prevalent in our world today. The world’s demand for seafood products continues to rise and these animals are used in more ways than just being put directly on plates in front of us. Other sources of meat consumed regularly such as chickens, cows, and pigs, have been developed into a commercial farming system where there are farms dedicated to breeding these animals specifically for human consumption. When it comes to seafood, this is not always the case. Much of the fish obtained for human use is captured from the wild; there is no breeding process for certain types of seafood and therefore once we deplete what the ocean naturally creates, it will be gone for good.
Overfishing, defined as “taking fish and other sea creatures from the ocean faster than they can reproduce,” is causing major changes to the earth’s oceans. Factory farming allows the land animals we consume to be reproduced at a rate equal to the demand for them. As stated before, this is not the common case for sea animals. Fish farming is much more difficult than factory farming for land animals. This fish farming technique, also known as Aquaculture, has the potential to help the overfishing issue by not forcing humans to consume so much seafood from the wild. Despite this, aquaculture still presents many issues. One of these issues is risking the depletion of the species needed to feed the fish is seafood farms. Another is that aquaculture often involves genetically engineered fish in order to create larger fish that reproduce at faster rates. This creates problems with the Food & Drug Administration and with the public who do not want to consume GMOs. Another issue is that these aqua-farms are difficult to control because the fish can more easily escape. This threatens wild species that come in contact with escaped fish by exposing the native species to diseases and other mutant things the farmed fish may carry out with them.
This problem has led to many organizations forming to attempt to prevent overfishing and to spread awareness about a problem many do not know about. One of the major organizations taking a stand on this matter is the Blue Ocean Institute. They state, “Increased consumer understanding can drive demand for sustainable seafood.” Their main stance is that we as consumers should make a conscious effort to consume seafood that is not being overfished and allow the species that are being overfished to recover. On their website, they provide an easy-to-use, color-coded list to help consumers recognize where the seafood they consume stands in terms of abundance, habitat issues, and catch methods. Their list contains only wild-caught, not farmed seafood and contains over 120 species.
Find out more about Sustainable Seafood Choices on Blue Ocean’s website:
http://blueocean.org/issues/fish-as-food/sustainable-seafood-choices/
Image is from Blue Ocean’s website showing what an area of aquaculture looks like