The negative impact of overfishing cannot be ignored

The results of a series of related studies published recently show that decades of overfishing have caused the food industry to lose billions of dollars each year, and have also deprived many poor countries of their ability to feed and feed.

Researchers from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom who participated in the study indicated that the government’s wrong way of subsidy is one of the main reasons for overfishing, which should have been used to protect the size of fish schools.

The four papers recently published in the Journal of Biological Economics point out that fisheries generate between 225 billion and 240 billion U.S. dollars for the world economy each year, but if the fishing and hunting industry can be used more sustainably, this figure will increase by 36 billion U.S. dollars. The researchers believe that these data reflect the fact that sustainable development and the protection of marine life are not only biological but also more economical.

“Using and maintaining healthy and good fishing and hunting methods are conducive to healthy economic development. It is clear that overfishing is not a good practice.” As the principal person in charge of this study, Vancouver UBC economist Rashid Sumaila (Rashid Sumaila) Said.

According to estimates of the researchers, between 1950 and 2004, 36-53% of the world's oceans and more economically exclusive areas were overfished. So far, nearly 10 million tons of fish have been lost. At the same time, they found that many government authorities underestimated the economic impact of overfishing, such as the impact on fisheries-related industries, so the government also lacked the incentive to protect fish stocks.

Overfishing has the greatest negative impact on poor people in developing countries because they cannot supplement the lost nutrition by importing food to make up for lost aquatic products. Without overfishing, fish food can feed nearly 20 million people below the subsistence level in poor countries.

The researchers cited international ocean fish data for analysis, but did not include data on aquaculture and freshwater fish farming, but they stated that they would incorporate this data information in future further studies.

At present, the global government provides subsidies of up to US$27 billion per year to the fishing and hunting industry, but about 60% of them are finally used to fund unsustainable fishing methods. “The taxpayer’s money directly leads to a decline in the number of fish populations in the world.” Sumera believes this is ironic.

Researchers believe that because the country did not vigorously promote other alternative uses of fisheries, many opportunities for economic development have been missed. For instance, watching whales or other marine recreational activities are good alternative economic development methods.