The oceans are in a dire state . A new reportreleased today by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London ( ZSL ) has concluded that many marine species , including those vital to human solid food security , are in “ potentially catastrophic declination ” unless dramatic military action is take to stop overfishing and other major threats .
“ In the place of a single generation , human activity has severely damage the sea by catch fish faster than they can reproduce while also destroying their greenhouse . Profound change are postulate to ensure abundant sea lifespan for future generation , " said Marco Lambertini , director general of WWF International . " Overfishing , destruction of nautical habitats and climate change have dire consequence for the entire human population , with the poorest community of interests that rely on the ocean getting hit fastest and hardest . ”
Global taking into custody of sharks , such as this porbeagle shark , have increased by 300 % . naturepl.com/Doug Perrine / WWF
The paper track over 1,200 metal money of maritime mammals , birds , reptilian and fish , and estimate their universe vogue over the last 45 years . The consequence are not dear . The general trend is an overall decline in marine populations by 49 % , but some mintage rely upon for food are faring even worse than that . tunny and mackerel populations , for example , have dropped by a staggering 74 % , while sea cucumber numbers havecrashed by 98%around the Galapagos Islands and 94 % in the Red Sea .
The reasons are numerous and wide-ranging . Overfishing take a major portion of the blame , with an estimated 61 % of global Pisces the Fishes blood line being to the full exploited and 29 % overexploited , driven by a double in ball-shaped fish consumption per head since the sixties . defilement and habitat debasement in the shape of the wipeout of mangroves , seagrass meadows and coral reefs are further drive for business concern . If all that was n’t enough , the oceans are also being hammered by global warming , force modification more rapidly than at any other point in millions of twelvemonth .
If thing carry on as common , half of all coral reefs will be decolorise by 2050 . Juergen Freund / WWF
“ The ocean lick intemperately in the desktop to keep us alive , generating one-half of the world ’s O and absorbing almost a third of the atomic number 6 dioxide produced from burn dodo fuel , ” enjoin Professor Ken Norris , director of science at ZSL . “ It also feeds billions of people around the Earth , some of whom rely exclusively on the oceans to make it . These annihilating public figure bring out how quick human beings are changing the wildlife in our oceans and are a stark warning of the problems we might face as a result . ”
There are action that can be taken , but the decisions have to be made quickly . Governments need to bring overfishing under controller and curb its unsustainability . net of well - managed marine Rosa Parks , a proven fashion of allowing wildlife and habitats to regain , can also be created and protected . last , and probably most importantly , countries ask to take impregnable cooperative natural process on clime change .
