Image Credit: Wikimedia
40 years is a lot of time.
Unfortunately, it’s also enough time to catastrophically impact the tuna and mackerel populations.
WWF and the Zoological Society of London found that numbers of the scombridae family of fish, which also includes bonito, fell by 75 percent between 1970 and 2012.
So why are tuna and mackerel getting lonely?
To put it simply, overfishing is one of the biggest culprits.
The conservation charity warned that we may lose species critical to human food security if we don’t stop overfishing and other threats to marine life.
Louise Heaps, chief adviser on marine policy at WWF UK, said, “This is catastrophic. We are destroying vital food sources, and the ecology of our oceans.”
You may be aware that the bluefin tuna, which is now almost extinct, has other close relatives like yellowcore tuna and albacore that are also becoming increasingly scarce.
Overfishing isn’t the only thing contributing to the massive losses. Pollution, loss of key habitats and climate change (the oceans becoming more acidic) are also taking their tolls.
If we’re not careful, tuna may be a distant memory for future generations.
However, all is not lost.
Overfishing can be managed with better governing laws and regulations and sustainable development goals can also help. Only eat fish that is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).