Eco Report – March 22, 2024

1. The stocks of the most desirable species, for example, codfish and halibut, are less than one percent what they were in 1600. There are no virgin areas left in the oceans. Most areas now have less than ten percent of the fish they had at 1600.
2. The fish in the northern hemisphere are the most depleted because the majority of the human population lives in the northern hemisphere.
3. There are pluses and minuses in selecting either wild-caught or farm-raised seafood. The bottom line is that there are not enough wild species left in the ocean to satisfy the demand. Approximately two billion people get their only animal proteinfrom seafood. Most of this population lives in poor countries where fishing is done by canoe or small boats. They fish in territorial waters.
4. Farm-raised fish are more readily available and less expensive than wild-caught fish, and they face some of the same problems as large-scale farms on land. Pollution of natural habitats is also a concern with fish grown in open-net cages. A unique problem with farmed fish is that those raised in nets can introduce diseases and pests to wild populations. A few years ago in Norway, farmed salmon infected the country’s wild salmon with sea lice, significantly decreasing the population of wild salmon. Farmed salmon will also sometimes escape their enclosures, mating with and overtaking wild salmon species. Farm-raised fish tend to have higher fat content, since wild fish get more exercise, and because farmed fish are typically given feed high in fat from sources such as fish oil. That includes healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids, as well as saturated fat. Wild-caught fish may contain more trace minerals, while farmed fish may contain more sodium. Nutritional differences between farmed and wild-caught shellfish, however, are minimal.
5. The least expensive way to protect wild species is to form preserves. These are areas that cannot be fished. Fishermen arealways happy to set side areas where there are no fish, but they oppose setting aside areas with abundant numbers. Enforcement requires that a government vessel must go out to the preserve and visually see that the intruder is fishing. This requirement effectively means that poor countries cannot defend their territorial waters. Fishermen have successfully prevented following all boats from shore. We have the technology to locate where every boat is. What is needed is acceptance of monitoring from shore, plus the power to seize a boat if it enters a preserve area.
6. Preserves need to be established in the Arctic Ocean, and off Antarctica. Given that the rest of the oceans will be too warm for species such as cod, the polar waters will become the last refuge of cold-water fish. As the Arctic ocean warms, the number of days it will be ice-free will increase, bringing increased pressure from nations to fish. The Arctic ocean will be ice-free long before the Antarctic Ice Cap melts completely.
7. As the glaciers melt, the oceans will rise, which will bring new areas into the possibility of fishing. For example, if the oceans increase by 50 feet, much of the Florida Peninsula will be under water. Thus, will the buildings of Miami be occupied by creatures of the sea?

The trend of consuming more and more farm-raised fish will continue. As the water temperatures rise, many of the original stocks may leave, replaced by completely different species.