The Threats
Unprecedented. Increasing. Existential.
The State of the Ocean
The negative impact of commercial overfishing and its especially harmful offshoot, Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing cannot be overstated. Here is a quick look at our current stewardship of the ocean:
- Record year-over-year warming (due to climate change).
- Record year-over-year acidification (due to excess carbon dioxide absorption).
- Record number and total area of dead zones (deoxygenation).
- Record accumulated plastic pollution (11 million tons per year; 20% is lost or discarded commercial fishing gear).
- 50% of coral reefs lost since the 1950s (home to 25% of all ocean wildlife).
- Significant, net loss in phytoplankton populations since 1950 (up to 40%).
- IUU Fishing accounts for an estimated 30% of global fish catch.
- 2 Trillion+ ocean animals are killed each year; Hundreds of Billions Poached!
Commercial Fishing/Overfishing:
All the damage outlined above has occurred simultaneously with decades of overfishing which has left the ocean in a state where nearly 90% of fish stocks are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted.
- There are more than 4 Million fishing vessels extracting wildlife from the ocean, 150,000 of which are considered large, commercial vessels. This massive amount of equipment has resulted in the following alarming and unsustainable realities:
- 90% of large, predatory fish wiped out since 1970.
- 71% decline in oceanic shark and ray populations since 1970; 77% threatened with an elevated risk of extinction.
- 67% reduction in the biomass of predatory fish, mostly since 1970.
- At least 720,000 seabirds, 345,000 seals and sea lions, 300,000 cetaceans, 250,000 sea turtles, and tens of millions of sharks are killed around the world each year as commercial fishing bycatch.
- Having overexploited their own territorial waters, many countries are sending their fishing fleets around the world to areas with more ocean wildlife and less protections.
- Making the unsustainable extraction of ocean wildlife even worse, many countries are providing billions of dollars in subsidies to their fishing industries.
“We don’t believe that anybody has a right to destroy the future for all humanity for the sake of a few dollars today. All these people are motivated by is greed. They have no concern for the future of humanity and no concern for the survival of the oceans. And that’s the battle that we’re fighting out here!”
CO-FOUNDER, GREENPEACE | FOUNDER, SEA SHEPHERD
CO-FOUNDER, THE CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON FOUNDATION
Poaching
Transnational Criminal Organizations and Networks, corrupt Government Agencies/Officials, and morally bankrupt Commercial Fishing Companies are waging a poaching and trafficking war on ocean wildlife.
- Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for an estimated 30% of global fish catch.
- Some estimates are as high as $50 Billion annually generated from the illegal and ecologically destructive poaching of ocean wildlife.
- 2 Trillion+ ocean animals are killed each year which equates to more than 600 Billion ocean animals poached annually!
- Increasingly, poachers and traffickers are targeting designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that are inadequately protected.
Wildlife Trafficking:
Some ocean wildlife is targeted by the same corrupt, profit-driven forces behind commercialized poaching. The trafficking of animals or their body parts is driving many species to the brink of extinction and destroying the delicate balance of ocean ecosystems.
- There are four primary drivers behind the trafficking of ocean wildlife: Luxury/Exotic Foods, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Decorative Objects/Jewelry, and the Pet/Aquarium Trade.
- Some of the most trafficked animals/body parts include: abalone, corals, fish swim bladders, ornamental fish, giant clams, manta ray gill plates, sea cucumbers, sea turtles, and shark fins.
- The Transnational Criminal Organizations and Networks involved with ocean wildlife trafficking are oftentimes engaged in bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering, forced labor, and drug and human trafficking.
- A scorched ocean approach: traffickers use destructive methods to capture and kill ocean wildlife which directly contributes to the overexploitation of targeted species and can severely damage and even destroy ecosystems.