Seafood Supply Could Disappear in 42 Years

Nov. 2, 2006 — -- The world's supply of seafood -- the major protein source for nearly one in six people -- could be gone by 2048 if current trends continue, according to a new study published in the journal Science.

The U.S. seafood industry disputes the study's findings, however, and said it is already taking action to ensure that popular choices like swordfish are available to consumers well into the future.

The study found that ocean fish, seafood and plant species that had already "collapsed" had reached 29 percent in 2003, up from about 13 percent in 1980.

"This trend projects that there will be 100 percent of species collapse by the year 2048," said Boris Worm, a biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax and lead author of the study.

Stresses on the ocean, such as overfishing, destruction of habitat, pollution and even global warming reduce the ability of marine animals to survive, say experts.

"Fisheries in many parts of the world are in bad shape," said Joshua Reichert, director of the environment division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, an environmental advocacy organization.

"Each year it's estimated that human beings remove approximately 150 million tons of life from the sea. And what's clear is that the global marine environment cannot sustain that kind of loss," said Reichert, who was not connected with the study.

Much of the blame, said experts, lies with the unregulated use of massive bottom trawling nets in 67 million square miles of ocean -- an area larger than all seven continents combined.

The heavy, football field-size nets are dragged along the bottom of the ocean, often destroying corals and seamounts while capturing unwanted fish that will simply be thrown away.

"Close to 25 percent of all the fish in the world that are caught are discarded," according to Reichert, who said the United Nations is currently considering issuing a moratorium on deep-sea bottom trawling.

The National Fisheries Institute, which represents the seafood industry in the United States, sought to play down the impact of the report Thursday, saying it focused only on a worst-case, business-as-usual scenario.