Overfishing Changes the Balance

Ecosystems are fragile. They depend on very intricate foodwebs (rather than the foodchains described in older biology books) that thrive on balance. Unfortunately, people can have very real, and unintentional, impacts on the environment around us. Today, we are starting to see the impacts on the world’s oceans when we overfish and don’t harvest fish sustainably.

In a new study released by scientists at the University of British Columbia, fish populations are spinning out of whack. As we remove popular eating fish like tuna, cod and grouper, smaller foraging fish populations increase. While these smaller fish, like sardines and anchovies, are useful in fishmeal and fish oil, we might be facing a future without fish filets and tuna sandwiches.

The good news is there’s still time. Read more about UBC’s research, and how you can help put an end to overfishing at seaweb.org.