From Envio magazine via Mirada Global:
Towards the end of the 20th century there was a transition in the seas equivalent to that of the Neolithic with the development of aquaculture. How did we get this far? Where are the captured species most endangered? And who benefits —and benefit— mainly with this madness? Something of the sort had never happened in the 200 thousand years that the Homo Sapiens inhabits the earth eating fish and shellfish in its rivers and coasts, and never in the thousands of years he has been crossing the oceans and feeding on them. All of this happened in the second half of the 20th century and only in 50 years, although the feast —for some— is still going on.
Moreover, the increasing fishing rates in the inferior trophic levels can cause a sudden and irreparable fracture of the marine ecosystems. The next generation might be the last one that will be able to eat fish in wild state. And perhaps only very few of them will be able to do it, because offer will be very limited, and those who want and can will be forced to eat “cultivated” fish, a form of consumption which has grown constantly since the ‘80s decade of the 20th century. At this point half of the fish eaten in the world comes from fish farming.
The main reason for this is the unprecedented intensification of catching caused by industrialized fishing, especially promoted during the second half of the 20th century. The reason: new predatory techniques (trawling, which kills other undesirable species) and the increasingly larger ships used, especially in open sea, once the fishing resources of the coastal areas have been exhausted.
Also available in Spanish.
Tim Reidy
