Overfishing Hurts Economy, Public Health, and Ocean Ecosystems

Overfishing obviously impacts, well, fish. In fact, the practice is so rampant that the expression "There are plenty of fish in the sea" no longer rings true. But what's largely gone unnoticed is the fact that overfishing negatively affects the global economy and spawns malnutrition.

A series of four studies that looked at the economic and health impacts of overfishing were published yesterday in the Journal of Bioeconomics. The research, led by University of British Columbia economist Rashid Sumaila, paints a sad picture of just how much better off the world would be if its seas were, in fact, teeming with fish. "Maintaining healthy fisheries makes good economic sense, while overfishing is clearly bad business," Sumaila told Reuters.

Just how bad that business is becomes clear when you look at how much income the world misses out on every year. Global fisheries provide about $225 billion to $240 billion each year. However, if fishermen worldwide implemented more sustainable fishing practices, we'd be able to add $36 billion to that yearly profit — in other words, global income could increase by about 16 percent. According to researchers, between 1950 and 2004, the planet's lost out on about 10 million tons of fish catch. Sales of those fish could've been filling our wallets, while the swimmers themselves could've been filling our bellies.

Which brings me to my next point: Overfishing also creates global malnutrition. The world's poor are the hardest hit by depleting ocean resources because they rely on seafood as a source of nutrition and revenue — when you live off the sea in a poverty-stricken region, replacing fish with imported food is virtually impossible. According to the recently released studies, if the seas weren't overfished, nearly 20 million people a year would not have to suffer from malnutrition.

What's worse is that taxpayers are actually funding the problem rather than solving it. Global governments spend about $27 billion a year on subsidies to the fishing industry, 60 percent of which goes towards unsustainable fishing operations.

And let's not forget the environmental implications of reeling in too many fish. Overfishing has pushed 75 percent of global fisheries beyond the point of sustainability, while nine out of ten of the seas’ large fish species have disappeared entirely. Ripping these swimmers from the water hurts not only fish populations themselves, but threatens to throw entire ocean ecosystems out of whack.

Once one takes a look at the host of ramifications overfishing causes, its clear that the practice's problems are as murky and complex as the briny deep itself. But there's one major way to help turn the seas around — take seafood distributors to task for offering up unsustainable fish.

Whole Foods, for example, just started including a sustainability ranking system on the seafood it sells. However, the grocer continues to stock species of fish that are seriously overfished or caught through environmentally degrading methods. Sign our petition asking Whole Foods to immediately stop selling overfished species and start practicing the environmental stewardship philosophies that the store claims to embrace.

Photo credit: Sam Beebe/Ecotrust via Flickr