Human overpopulation – fishing our oceans to death

Oceanographer Callum Roberts said, “The oceans of today are filled with ghost habitats, stripped of their larger inhabitants. Our dismantling of marine ecosystems is having destructive and unpredictable consequences. With species loss and food web collapse come dangerous instability. The seas are undergoing ecological meltdown.”

As the human onslaught of the planet accelerates by an added 80 million people, net gain, annually and one billion every 12 years – the natural world staggers back on its heels.

Fully 80 percent of all life on this planet thrives beneath the surface of our oceans. This enormous body of water pulses with life-energy, which drives natural forces that sustain existence on this planet. But in the 21^st century, the “Mob of Humanity” wreaks havoc on the foundation of life on Earth. It hooks, pollutes, skims, nets and daggers untold billions of creatures to death annually.

While Roberts brings his powerful research to the table, most of humankind remains oblivious to catastrophic onslaught raging beneath the waves.

America’s 319 million people devour a variety of ocean marine life, such as squid, crab, shrimp, tuna, salmon, flounder, swordfish and so many other species. Take a look at what 7.2 billion humans devour worldwide:

Giant ships, using state-of-the-art equipment, throw out 50-mile long drift nets that capture 90 million tons of marine life annually. These industrial fishing fleets exceed the ocean’s ecological limits. As larger fish dwindle in numbers, the next smaller fish species are targeted. A Canadian fisheries expert, Dr. Daniel Pauly, warns that if this continues, “Our children will be eating jellyfish.”

For the past 35 years, humans have continued their annihilation of all species of sharks by killing them at a rate of 100 million sharks annually. You must wonder, “How much longer can this kind of a killing spree continue before the sharks and all ocean life reach a point of no return?” (Source: Life Magazine, August 1991; Julia Whitty, OneEarth Magazine)

Over time, toxic rivers exhausting out of Europe, Asia, South America, Russia and North America cannot help but contaminate the oceans of the world. That means all the fish in them bear the chemicals they breathe and eat in their daily existence. With the latest Fukushima radioactive waste spill of trillions of gallons of toxic liquids, our oceans cannot help but stagger to keep their “Ph” balance.

When you include the 100-million ton, “size-of-Texas” Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which constitutes a floating plastic island and hangs 1,000 miles off San Francisco, you cannot help but understand that we humans desecrate our nest at blinding speed.

So when you read this report on the underpinnings of humanity’s dilemma, what do you think? What do you do?

It’s my contention that environmental leaders and demographic experts rattle the bars, scream at the media and make some noise in every country around the world. Silence won’t cut it, fellow humans.

You need to engage your courage, your guts, your true grit and your creative energy to move the discussion to the highest levels in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and beyond. If the Western world doesn’t address this, no one else will touch it!

Finally, your kids won’t be eating jellyfish; they will choke on seaweed.