Environmental situationAt the end of last yearAn authoritative group of scientists published very disappointing assessments of the state of world fish stocks in the pages of Science magazine. According to their data, almost 30% of the world's once fish-rich basins are on the verge of complete depletion: they yield no more than 10% of the previous catch volumes, that is, fish stocks have decreased by almost a third, – reports utro.ru. However, another sad trend is also observed - a decrease in the species diversity of harvested seafood. Having caught all the good fish, fishermen switch to less valuable varieties. For example, thirty years ago the same was considered a non-commercial fish, and now it is widely used in cooking. And here is the most recent fact of this kind: the largest British producer of fish sticks - the company Birds Eye - switches from cod to pollock. The reason for this step, according to the company's head Martin Glenn, is the depletion of available cod stocks in the North Sea. The world's population is growing, and according to the UN, half of the world's migratory and transboundary fish stocks are exploited to the limit of their reproductive capacity. From 1976 to 2004, the trade in ocean fish increased 14-fold. And the greatest threat to marine flora and fauna is illegal fishing, which is carried out by crews on high-speed vessels under the control of international companies. "We use the oceans as if we had other living creatures that could always replace completely exterminated species," scientist Boris Worm told the BBC in 2013. "We want to emphasize that fish stocks are limited, we have already used up a third of them, and we may well reach the end." "If we do not fundamentally reconsider our approach to the management of ocean resources, living ecosystems, then this century will be the last time we will be able to taste fresh sea fish," Steve Palumbi supported his colleague in 2013. If the situation does not change, then in the very near future the cost of fish will increase significantly. It will become a real delicacy, available only to the elite, but even this may not save it from complete extinction."
