“We have caught all of the big fish,
And now, we’re going after their food.”
Margot Stiles,
Marine Scientist
Music: Conquest of Paradise
A very sobering scientific report was recently issued by Oceana
‘Hungry Oceans: What Happens When All the Prey is Gone?’
We have overfished far too many of our valuable fish resources
This report concludes, that our oceans may be dead, before long
Today, in our human lust for more and more seafood products
We’re harvesting prey fish, that other life forms need, to survive
Seven of the top ten fisheries around the world, now harvest ‘prey’
Making it more difficult, for marine mammals and birds, to stay alive
Once again, mankind has been proven wrong, about its very egotistical beliefs
That Earth’s resources are infinite, and that we could never, ever deplete them
How many more species, will now soon suffer, from our never ending arrogance
How many more of our god-given earthly neighbors, will hideously meet their end
Scientists are now finding widespread evidence of severe malnutrition in our commercial and recreational fish, in Earth’s marine mammals, and in seabirds, because of our enormous global harvesting of the small prey fish they need to survive, according to Oceana's new report, ‘Hungry Oceans: What Happens When All the Prey is Gone?’ These prey fish are vital to oceanic food chains, and they are already being depleted at an alarming rate by our overfishing, by an ever increasing worldwide demand for seafood products, and by climate change.
"We have caught all the big fish, and now we are going after their food," says Margot Stiles, a marine scientist at Oceana. "Until recently, it has been widely believed that Earth’s prey fish were impossible to overexploit because their populations grew so quickly. We are now proving that untrue , as the demands of our commercial fisheries now outpace the ocean's ability to provide food for us, and even for itself."
This new report concludes that the dire impact of our fishing activity over the past several decades has been so great, that nearly all of Earth’s oceanic prey fisheries can no longer withstand this ever increasing fishing pressure. Changing ocean temperatures and currents caused by climate change are also making these prey fish populations far more vulnerable.
And the future appears extremely bleak, for both humans and animals.
Our invaluable commercial and recreational fisheries are now already on the brink of collapse by the loss of these prey fish, and this new report identifies Bluefin tuna, Striped bass, Pacific salmon, and Pacific halibut, as some of the key species which are very heavily dependent on them.
And Earth’s marine mammals and seabirds also depend on the availability of these small oceanic prey fish for their continued survival, including magnificent blue whales, humpback whales, penguins, and terns. Even species protected under national and international law are now experiencing severe food shortages, in and around our oceans.
"We're constantly making life more difficult for endangered species from seabirds to whales, and going hungry, is definitely not going to help them. Valuable fish like Bluefin tuna are also definitely now struggling, and we can't expect this fishery to recover, when we are now stealing their very food supply. By taking food away from the tuna, we could end up hungry ourselves."
This sad old world of ours just seems to be getting sadder, every day now. We haven’t conquered Paradise; we have very arrogantly, and very foolishly, destroyed it.
In 1950, there were 2.5 billion human beings on Earth; today, we are very rapidly approaching the 7 billion mark. In a decade or two, there may be 10 billion hungry human beings attempting to live on this once plentiful, paradise-like, planet.
And now, I very sadly wonder what they will be able to find to eat in Earth’s soon to be depleted oceans, and if any of Earth’s wondrous whales, dolphins, seals, or seabirds, will even still be alive.
©2009, Mr. Ed
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You are definitely no friend of the earth and our survival if people eat indiscriminately of seafood. I'd say that to many Americans but also Japenese and Asians. BOYCOTT is our last hope...
I use to pity the sea-birds and mammals NOW I pity my fish too. So much so I have only taken one on hook and line for food since last June...
Later, Mike
thing that I can think of is to support the petitions etc.
...and donate if we've the money. That's a tough thing
in this current economic mess we're in, another result
of arrogance and greed. Great message and that's another
way we can help and you do that. Thank You!
John
Be always safe,
Karen
Blessings and Love - Micke
Not only are our seas over-fished, but they're poisoned by such careless acts as dumping medical garbage into our Jersey waters.
-gene.
((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :( >tears! <
It's a shame what man does to other animals and even to each other. There are much too many to mention. You've described this tragedy well.
Mary
No one else is listening, you know a few hundred years ago they had the Hanseatic to stop piracy etc, it worked for a while to contain the lawless greed, they need one again, an effective one, on land and sea, only this time to stop the destruction of all there is, blast them off the oceans and land, but I guess that will never happen until it's too late will it? Bless You for trying!!!!!!!!!!!
Jasmin Horst
An excellent informative write...
Cynthia
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.
Today we are risking our lives eating anything coming from oceans rich in mercury, industrial and chemical toxics by the billions of tons, farmers have contributed with chemical fertilizers going with the rivers down to the oceans producing the larges attacks of poisonous algae know to man double in areal that entire countries, suffocating the coral and fish life.
Soon we are gone to envy that ancestors that didn't knew fire but didn't became sick eating their sushi.
Georg