“This century is the last century of wild seafood,�? says Steve Palumbi of Stanford University, California. “Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood.”
A new major scientific report he has co-authored proves there will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue. Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity.
Catch records from the open sea show declining fish stocks. In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse - defined as a decline to less than 10%