Posted May 24th, 2012 in Aquaculture
The World Wildlife Fund has recently released a map that contrasts the most intensively fished areas of the world’s oceans between 1950 and 2006. The resulting graphic clearly illustrates the startling growth in fishing, and helps to demonstrate the potential for severely depleted fish populations worldwide.
From The Washington Post:
“Between 1950 and 2006, the WWF report notes, the world’s annual fishing haul more than quadrupled, from 19 million tons to 87 million tons. New technology — from deep-sea trawling to long-lining — has helped the fishing industry harvest areas that were once inaccessible. But the growth of intensive fishing also means that larger and larger swaths of the ocean are in danger of being depleted.”
The article includes a number of links that provide additional information, including a link to the complete report from World Wildlife Fund in PDF form.