What's on the menu of the future? It may not be fish.
If the twin threats of over-fishing and pollution continue, populations of all seafood face collapse by 2048, the journal Science reported last week. This includes fish and shellfish, both in the world's oceans and its lakes.
The study looked at a database of all fish stocks from 1950 to 2003 and at archeological data going back 1,000 years. The study shows that 29 percent of all fish and seafood species have declined by 90 percent.
Although the forecast is grim, the scientists behind the study said that the situation can still be turned around with new marine reserves, better management to prevent over-fishing and tighter controls on pollution. The study noted that in areas worldwide that have been protected to boost marine diversity, species have recovered "dramatically."
Photo by iStockphoto.com/ © Malcolm Romain
