Food and Water

David Attenborough’s worried about this ocean threat - and it’s not plastic

A fisherman works on his fishing net on the banks of the Oiapoque river in Oiapoque city, northern Brazil, April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Overfishing puts the entire ocean ecosystem at risk. Image: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Emma Charlton
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
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Future of the Environment

If the ocean was an economy, it would be the seventh largest in the world.

But instead of fostering it as a resource, humans are jeopardising its future – using it as a garbage dump and fishing it dry.

Naturalist Sir David Attenborough delivers a speech as he receives a Crystal Award, during an opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Attenborough at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2019 Image: REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann - RC1F15AF94E0

Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned our waters are facing the biggest threat in their history, with industrial overfishing putting the entire ecosystem at risk. Seafood is a key source of protein for people around the world, but nearly 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted, according to Friends of Ocean Action, a group of more than 50 global leaders, convened by the World Economic Forum and World Resources Institute.

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The impact of overfishing is wide-ranging. It’s a cause of degraded ecosystems, according to the WWF, and affects the size of the fish left behind, as well as how they reproduce and the speed at which they mature. When too many fish are removed from one particular spot, the resulting imbalances can kill off other marine life, including sea turtles and corals.

There’s also an economic aspect, with many businesses and jobs reliant on the fish industry. When fish are under threat, the coastal economies that depend on them are also put at risk.

Image: UN FAO

Adding another layer of complexity are the illegal and unregulated practices that are difficult to track. One in three fish captured never makes it to the plate, according to Friends of Ocean Action, and it’s tricky for consumers to know whether the fish they’re eating have been caught legally.

The good news is that the plight of the ocean is rising up the international policy agenda.

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What's the World Economic Forum doing about the ocean?

Working with Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions, Friends of Ocean Action is making efforts on three fronts: getting better data to help detect and eliminate illegal fishing, increasing traceability and transparency across supply chains, and encouraging international cooperation to prevent vessels from landing illegal catch.

Have you read?

Sweden is the worst offender for overfishing in the northeast Atlantic, according to a report from the New Economics Foundation that ranked countries exceeding the total allowable catch (TAC) for commercial fish stocks. In 2019, Sweden exceeded its TAC by more than 50%. The UK and Ireland were second and third.

 Overfishing is a grave threat to our ocean.
Overfishing is a grave threat to our ocean. Image: Statista

Technology could help in this area, enabling better monitoring and measurement. Data scientists from the National Geographic Pristine Seas project have used satellites to track marine vessels from space, following industrial fishing vessels. They found more than 55% of ocean surface is exploited for industrial fishing, more than four times the land area covered by agriculture.

In less than a year, world leaders will meet at the UN Ocean Conference with the aim of agreeing how to scale up ocean action. Plastic, overfishing and toxicity - just some of the threats to our waters - means they’ll have a packed agenda.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Food and WaterNature and Biodiversity
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