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UN: Fish consumption at record high, stocks low |
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ROME - January 31, 2011 - Fish is becoming a larger part of people's diets thanks to the booming fish farm industry, but ocean stocks continue to dwindle despite increasing international efforts to regulate catches and stop overfishing. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report released Monday that there had been no improvement in the level of global fish stocks and that the overall percentage of overfished, depleted or recovering stocks is expected to be slightly higher than in 2006. While expressing concern at the trend, FAO suggested that the financial and nutritional plusses of increasing fish production and consumption should not be brushed off. Overall, fisheries and acquaculture support the livelihoods of some 540 million people -- eight percent of the world's population, FAO said in its State of the World's Fisheries and Acquaculture report. In addition, in 2007 fish accounted for 15.7 percent of the world's intake of animal protein. Much of that is due to fish farms, or acquaculture, which is set to overtake capture fisheries as the main source of fish as food, FAO said. In the early 1950s, acquaculture production was less than 1 million tons per year; in 2008 it was 52.5 million tons worth $98.4 billion. But in the open seas, fish stocks are dwindling due to overfishing and unregulated, illegal hauls which bring in an estimated $10 billion to $23.5 billion annually, FAO said. Read the complete story by the Associated Press at The Boston Globe.
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HASTINGS: Time to improve the Endangered Species Act
May 18, 2012 - When the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, he spoke about the importance of preserving “the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” I believe that goal is as important today as it was back then. However, after nearly 40 years, it’s time to take a fresh, honest look at the law and consider whether there are ways it could be improved to do a better job of protecting and recovering species.
