Q:What problems do you think our Oceans, and the creatures that live in them are facing?Q:Why is it important that we look after our Oceans? |
Sustainable fishing is not an easy job! The world’s population is growing and fish is becoming more and more popular as food. So people are wanting more and more to eat. Demand keeps increasing, but supply cannot always keep up. In some places this is because we try to fish too much, taking fish out of the water faster than they can replace themselves through natural reproduction.
In other places this is because we pollute the environment, which fish and other aquatic wildlife need to live. There are many other reasons why the supply of fish cannot match demand for fish. Some have to do with the way fishing takes place, and others have to do with other human activities that cause damage to aquatic ecosystems and fish habitat.
Fish farming or aquaculture has become a very important source of fish and other aquatic products in recent times partly because supplies from wild capture fisheries are no longer increasing. While the aquaculture industry is growing very rapidly around the world, there are questions about whether it can always continue to substitute for declines in capture fisheries supplies and whether some of the environmental and other problems it brings can be solved. These problems include pollution and outbreaks of disease associated with fish farming activities. Other serious problems with aquaculture have been seen as well.