Over-seafooding

“Every fish, plant, insect, bird and animal that disappears is a part of me dying. I know all their names, and I touch them with my spirit.” - Okanagan elder Jeanette Armstrong [as quoted in From Naked Ape to Superspecies].

Fortunately, I’m nowhere near a TV when Today Tonight is on. Unfortunately, I was subjected to an advert for this evening’s episode. Yet another weight loss scheme, and [adopting overly dramatic voiceover] “The unthinkable is happening, the ocean is running out of seafood.” From the 10 second blurb, it seems that illegal (and usually foreign) fisherman are depleting our, err, “seafood” stocks.

Blaming collapsing fish populations on illegal/foreign fisherman is conveniently comfortable for TT viewers I'm sure. But could the fact that Australia exports some $1.5 billion worth of seafood and aquaculture products (and is actively trying to create larger export markets) be indicative of “taking more than our fair share”?

And calling it “seafood” instead of say “fish” or “marine life” is telling. Just like trees, birds and other animals, fish are seen as nothing but machines useful for economic production - a resource to be exploited.

A slightly more sensible news piece on the same topic can be found here: The fished-out planet.