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In fact, according to Dr Asyura Salleh, the co-founder of the Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA) Foundation, fish stocks have been continuously depleting by 70% to 95% since the 1950s.
This is mainly due to illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which usually consists of wrongful activities such as overfishing, bycatching, and fish bombing conducted by not only local fishermen, but also foreign fishing boats.
Watch the video below to find out more:
1. Fishermen are unintentionally catching fishes that are endangered and protected
Ho Kooi Chee “So, the sad thing is when we scan through the images taken by the cameras on the trawlers, we see a very rare species, for example, giant guitarfish.”
2. The usage of fish bombs that instantly kill marine life and destroy coral reefs
Brenda: “Explosive devices such as these damage our coral reefs, which in the long run, could wipe out our marine life. And ultimately, leave many of us without food and jobs. In short, no reefs, no fish.”
3. Overfishing, which leads to a huge decline in fish population
Dr Asyura Salleh: “In the 1950s, we could catch 25 tonnes of fish across 1,000km. Now, we can only catch seven tonnes. The reason why the rate at which we’re catching the fish has declined is because there just isn’t enough fish out there anymore.”
Dr Asyura Salleh: “That assures us that the seafood has been sustainably fished. And no damage to the environment has taken place.”
Ho Kooi Chee: “Whenever they visit the market, they can actually ask where the fishes are from and how they were caught. We can actually gather our voices to push for more species to be protected in Malaysia as well.”
Additionally, we can also do our part by always cleaning up after ourselves, donating to NGOs, using fewer plastic products, and making safe and sustainable seafood choices.