Overfishing is emptying our oceans

Despite some progress in US and EU regulations and recommendations by international conventions and scientists, the global devastation of our marine life and resources through large-scale commercial fishing continues. There is no escaping for marine life as millions of tons of fish and seafood are being taken by thousands of longline and purse-seine vessels, bottom trawlers, and factory ships. Even when species are not targeted, unintentional catch, also called accidental Bycatch, happens at such a high rate that in some fisheries, more catch is thrown away than kept. It wreaks havoc on turtles, sharks, sea birds, dolphins, and many other animals. The sad truth is that commercial interests keep overriding any attempts to truly protect our marine life.

Accidental catch (Bycatch) of sharks is something that needs urgent attention. All of these issues are interwoven, and most of them are driven by greed because the industry takes advantage of fisheries issues being complex, intersecting many jurisdictions, nationally and internationally. Overfishing will continue as long as we are unwilling to make some hard choices now.