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What is overfishing?
The catching of too many fish for the ecosystem to support; this leads to the overall degradation of the entire system. Standard fishing is a non-sustainable use of the oceans and wreaks havoc on the rest of the ocean population. The cause of this problem: worldwide fisheries are catching two to three times the necessary amount of fish to sustain the population.
Why is this a problem?
First, we will look at some figures published by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. This shows the key issues and trends although it may be a few years behind what is happening today.
* 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited
* 20% are moderately exploited
* 17% are overexploited
* 7% are depleting
* 1% is recovering from depletion
Over 25% of all the world's fish stocks are overexploited or depleted plus another 52% is completely exploited and they are in eminent danger of becoming overexploited. Almost 80% of the world's fisheries are on the verge of collapse. We are losing species at a very fast rate and with them entire ecosystems are collapsing.
* 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited
* 20% are moderately exploited
* 17% are overexploited
* 7% are depleting
* 1% is recovering from depletion
Over 25% of all the world's fish stocks are overexploited or depleted plus another 52% is completely exploited and they are in eminent danger of becoming overexploited. Almost 80% of the world's fisheries are on the verge of collapse. We are losing species at a very fast rate and with them entire ecosystems are collapsing.