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Fish are in trouble.
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The cod population off Canada's east coast
collapsed in the 1990s,
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intense recreational
and commercial fishing
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has decimated goliath grouper populations
in south Florida,
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and most populations of tuna
have plummeted by over 50%,
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with the Southern Atlantic bluefin
on the verge of extinction.
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Those are just a couple of many examples.
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Overfishing is happening
all over the world.
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How did this happen?
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When most people think of fishing,
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we imagine relaxing in a boat
and patiently reeling in the day's catch.
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But modern industrial fishing,
the kind that stocks our grocery shelves,
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looks more like warfare.
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In fact, the technologies they employ
were developed for war.
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Radar,
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sonar,
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helicopters,
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and spotter planes
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are all used to guide factory ships
towards dwindling schools of fish.
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Long lines with hundreds
of hooks or huge nets
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round up massive amounts of fish,
along with other species,
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like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins.
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And fish are hauled up onto giant boats,
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complete with onboard flash freezing
and processing facilities.
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All of these technologies have enabled
us to catch fish at greater depths
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and farther out at sea than ever before.
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And as the distance and depth
of fishing have expanded,
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so has the variety of species we target.
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For example, the Patagonian toothfish
neither sounds nor looks very appetizing.
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And fisherman ignored it until
the late 1970s.
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Then it was rebranded and marketed
to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean seabass,
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despite the animal actually
being a type of cod.
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Soon it was popping up in markets
all over the world
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and is now a delicacy.
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Unfortunately, these deep water fish
don't reproduce
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until they're at least ten years old,
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making them extremely vulnerable
to overfishing
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when the young are caught before they've
had the chance to spawn.
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Consumer taste and prices can
also have harmful effects.
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For example, shark fin soup is considered
such a delicacy in China and Vietnam
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that the fin has become
the most profitable part of the shark.
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This leads many fishermen to fill
their boats with fins
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leaving millions of dead sharks behind.
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The problems aren't unique
to toothfish and sharks.
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Almost 31% of the world's fish populations
are overfished
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and another 58% are fished
at the maximum sustainable level.
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Wild fish simply can't reproduce
as fast as 7 billion people can eat them.
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Fishing also has impacts
on broader ecosystems.
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Wild shrimp are typically caught by
dragging nets the size of a football field
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along the ocean bottom,
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disrupting or destroying
seafloor habitats.
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The catch is often as little as 5% shrimp.
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The rest is by-catch, unwanted
animals that are thrown back dead.
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And coastal shrimp farming isn't
much better.
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Mangroves are bulldozed to make room
for shrimp farms,
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robbing coastal communities of storm
protection and natural water filtration
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and depriving fish of key
nursery habitats.
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So what does it look like to give
fish a break and let them recover?
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Protection can take many forms.
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In national waters,
governments can set limits
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about how, when, where,
and how much fishing occurs,
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with restrictions on certain
boats and equipment.
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Harmful practices, such as bottom
trawling, can be banned altogether,
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and we can establish marine reserves
closed to all fishing
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to help ecosystems restore themselves.
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There's also a role for consumer awareness
and boycotts to reduce wasteful practices,
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like shark finning,
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and push fishing industries towards
more sustainable practices.
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Past interventions have successfully
helped depleted fish populations recover.
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There are many solutions.
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The best approach for each fishery
must be considered based on science,
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respect for the local communities
that rely on the ocean,
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and for fish as wild animals.
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And then the rules must be enforced.
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International collaboration is often
needed, too,
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because fish don't care about our borders.
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We need to end overfishing.
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Ecosystems,
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food security,
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jobs,
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economies,
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and coastal cultures all depend on it.