Stop Overfishing

Sadly, over fishing has left fewer than 100 adult Cod in the North Sea. Major European ports surveyed, haven’t caught a single fish over 13 years old; for fish that have a life span of 25 years and an average length of six feet it is quit alarming to the environmental community. In the 1970’s brought in an average of 360,000 tons of Cod a year, compare that to the sad number of this years quota- 32,000.

Since there are fewer Cod, the number of scampi are doubling if not tripling, while over inhabiting the coastal areas and disrupting self sufficient ecosystems.

SHARKS: NOT OKAY TO EAT 

Far out on the high seas, on any given day, hundreds of fishing vessels drag huge nets, big enough to snag a 747 jumbo jet, across the ocean bottom, vacuuming up 150-year-old fish, flattening ancient reefs and destroying everything else in their paths.

(WWF)  Near-threatened species

Albacore Tuna

Albacore is one of the smaller tuna species, reaching sizes between skipjack and yellowfin. They are bullet-shaped with a dark blue back and lighter blue-gray sides and belly. Albacore tuna also have very long pectoral fins and live for around 12 years. They tend to travel in single species schools, without the level of mixing as seen in other species and migrate throughout all ocean waters and the Mediterranean. (…)

These fish are important commercially, as they are one of the two main canned tuna species (along with skipjack), and labeled as ‘solid white’ tuna. Although tuna do provide food and livelihoods for people, they are more than just seafood. Tuna are a top predator in the marine food chain, maintaining a balance in the ocean environment.

aMore than a hundred of the young marine mammals have washed up along Netherlands northern coastline following recent storms, according to the Agence France-Presse news service.

The incident is an extreme example among a recent increase in pup strandings, experts say. Overfishing has reduced the seals’ available prey, and the polluted fish the animals do catch often make them sick.

“In the last two or three years we have seen more and more seals wash up too weak to look after themselves,” Lenie ‘t Hart, director of the Zeehondencrèche seal nursery, told AFP.

Photographs by Peter Dejong