Fish are in trouble. The cod population off Canada's East Coast collapsed in the 1990s, intense recreational and commercial fishing has decimated goliath grouper populations in South Florida, and most populations of tuna have plummeted by over 50%, with the Southern Atlantic bluefin on the verge of extinction. Those are just a couple of many examples. Overfishing is happening all over the world. How did this happen? When some people think of fishing, they imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day's catch. But modern industrial fishing, the kind that stocks our grocery shelves, looks more like warfare. In fact, the technologies they employ were developed for war. Radar, sonar, helicopters, and spotter planes are all used to guide factory ships towards dwindling schools of fish. Long lines with hundreds of hooks or huge nets round up massive amounts of fish, along with other species, like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins. And fish are hauled up onto giant boats, complete with onboard flash freezing and processing facilities. All of these technologies have enabled us to catch fish at greater depths and farther out at sea than ever before. And as the distance and depth of fishing have expanded, so has the variety of species we target. For example, the Patagonian toothfish neither sounds nor looks very appetizing. And fishermen ignored it until the late 1970s. Then it was rebranded and marketed to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass, despite the animal actually being a type of cod. Soon it was popping up in markets all over the world and is now a delicacy. Unfortunately, these deep water fish don't reproduce until they're at least ten years old, making them extremely vulnerable to overfishing when the young are caught before they've had the chance to spawn. Consumer taste and prices can also have harmful effects. For example, shark fin soup is considered such a delicacy in China and Vietnam that the fin has become the most profitable part of the shark. This leads many fishermen to fill their boats with fins leaving millions of dead sharks behind. The problems aren't unique to toothfish and sharks. Almost 31% of the world's fish populations are overfished, and another 58% are fished at the maximum sustainable level. Wild fish simply can't reproduce as fast as 7 billion people can eat them. Fishing also has impacts on broader ecosystems. Wild shrimp are typically caught by dragging nets the size of a football field along the ocean bottom, disrupting or destroying seafloor habitats. The catch is often as little as 5% shrimp. The rest is by-catch, unwanted animals that are thrown back dead. And coastal shrimp farming isn't much better. Mangroves are bulldozed to make room for shrimp farms, robbing coastal communities of storm protection and natural water filtration and depriving fish of key nursery habitats. So what does it look like to give fish a break and let them recover? Protection can take many forms. In national waters, governments can set limits about how, when, where, and how much fishing occurs, with restrictions on certain boats and equipment. Harmful practices, such as bottom trawling, can be banned altogether, and we can establish marine reserves closed to all fishing to help ecosystems restore themselves. There's also a role for consumer awareness and boycotts to reduce wasteful practices, like shark finning, and push fishing industries towards more sustainable practices. Past interventions have successfully helped depleted fish populations recover. There are many solutions. The best approach for each fishery must be considered based on science, respect for the local communities that rely on the ocean, and for fish as wild animals. And then the rules must be enforced. International collaboration is often needed, too, because fish don't care about our borders. We need to end overfishing. Ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures all depend on it.
魚兒的麻煩大了 加拿大東海岸的鱈魚數量 在 90 年代大幅縮減 密集的休閒與商業捕魚 重挫南佛羅里達州的大型石斑數量 鮪魚數量也大幅減少超過 50% 南大西洋的黑鮪更面臨絕種 這都只是冰山一角 過度捕撈全球比比皆是 為何會發生這種情況? 有些人想到釣魚 總想像輕鬆地坐在船上 耐心等待一天的漁獲 但現今供給超市架上 魚貨的商業捕撈 其實更像是打仗 商業捕撈使用的科技 是為了戰爭而發展 雷達 聲納 直升機 以及偵察機 這些用來引導巨型工業漁船 捕撈魚群,致使數量劇減 多鉤長線或大型漁網 一網打盡大量魚群和其他物種 像是海鳥、烏龜和海豚 捕獲的魚被拖撈至大船上 船上配有魚肉冷凍和處理設備 種種技術讓人類捕魚的範圍 比以前來得更深更遠 捕魚的範圍和深度擴大後 人類捕撈的物種也變多 小鱗犬牙南極魚 聽上去、看起來都不怎麼美味 直到 1970 年代後期 才受到漁民的重視 後來改名為智利海鱸 賣給美國境內的廚師 儘管這種海鱸其實是鱈魚的一種 沒多久風靡全球 現在是一道佳餚 不幸的是,這些深海魚 至少須長到十歲才會繁殖 過度捕撈使牠們變得十分脆弱 因在幼魚期就被捕撈 連繁殖的機會都沒有 饕客的口味和魚貨價格 也會帶來傷害 例如魚翅湯 在中國和越南被視為珍饈 魚翅是鯊魚身上最有賺頭的部份 許多漁民因此船上載滿魚翅 造成上百萬條鯊魚死亡 不僅是智利海鱸和鯊魚面臨危機 全球有將近 31% 的魚群 也遭到過度捕撈 另外有 58% 魚群的捕撈 達到永續捕撈的最上限 野生魚類的繁殖絕對 無法趕上 70 億人的食用速度 捕魚也會影響海洋生態系統 海蝦通常是用尺寸有 一個足球場大的拖曳網 沿著海床放網捕撈 這種方式阻礙或破壞海床棲息地 捕撈到的蝦通常只占 5% 其他一網打盡的海底動物 都被丟棄死亡 沿海養殖蝦田的情況 也好不到哪裡 挖土機剷掉紅樹林 以空出地方建立蝦田 這讓沿海生態缺少暴風雨的防護網 與天然的濾水系統 更奪取魚類主要的棲息地 該如何讓魚喘口氣並恢復生態? 有多種的保育方式 在國家海域裡政府能制定規範 限制何時何地可以捕撈 與捕魚的數量 對於特定的漁船與設備也設限 可完全禁止有害的捕魚方式 如海底拖網 也能建立禁止 任何捕撈行為的海洋保育區 以幫助生態系統自行恢復 消費者意識也需抬頭抵制 任意捕撈海洋資源的行為 像是魚翅 同時推動捕魚業實行 更永續的捕撈方式 過去的干涉行動成功 讓耗盡的魚群復育 有許多的解決方式 讓漁業實行的最佳辦法 必須以科學考量為依據 尊重需仰賴海洋維生的在地社區 同時也視魚類為野生動物 必須強制實施法令規定 通常也需要國際間的合作 因為魚沒有國界之分 人類需終結過度捕撈 生態系統 保障糧食供給 工作 經濟 及沿海文化全仰賴有節制的捕撈