Recent studies on the health of our oceans offer irrefutable evidence that something very disturbing is taking place and that the threat to marine life has never been graver. The evidence has never been more compelling that many fish stocks are rapidly being depleted. According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization 33% of global stocks are overfished — compared with 10% in 1974. In some regions, the picture is even more dire, with 60% of stocks overfished in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Southeast Pacific, and the Southwest Atlantic. A UN report issued last month says that the pace of species extinction is accelerating and that roughly 1 million animal and plant species face extinction within decades. About a third of reef-forming corals, sharks, and marine mammals are threatened with extinction.

Azevêdo, R. (2019, June 13). Cutting fisheries subsidies crucial for oceans and for development. BusinessWorld, p. S1/6.