Sustainable fishing – Can we avoid a deserted sea?

Sustainability is the key to preserve ever flowing goods to the present and future generations. As biodiversity concerns rise, the fishing industry techniques were found to induce collateral damage to other non targeted types of fish, and induce destruction to ecosystems due to usage of gigantic fishing nets. In a bid to protect marine life, the idea of sustainable fishing was born.

In its core, sustainable fishing means catching what you need and letting the rest reproduce, leaving the population of fish unharmed. A lot of laws have been passed protecting fish, and regulating the practices, from setting protected areas, regulating the nets opening and supervising the fish species on deck. In some areas, this has lead to an increase in fish population, and showed success in undermining whaling for oil.

The deeper a boat goes, the harder it becomes to apply regulations, as briberies for auditors and shady actions become more common, making the total regulation of the fishing activities a very hard task.

In addition, the problem is aggravated by still legal actions. Large boats, using immense depth nets that ravage the bottom of the oceans in search for a scarcer catch, are destroying the sealife habitats. Such activities are destroying oceanic areas the size of entire countries, and are indirectly killing the fish population. The disposed plastic fishing nets end up in the sea, the beaches and on the bodies of unfortunate marine life, further aggravating the problem.

Protecting the marine life should be an absolute priority to sustain life on earth, since the oceanic ecosystems play the biggest role in balancing the planet’s CO2 levels, balancing temperatures and creating oxygen. Marine life has helped us survive for thousands of years, and by protecting it, it shall help us for thousands more.