Environmental group Oceana is calling for an increase in marine protected areas worldwide to avoid the collapse of fishery resources that some scientific studies are foreseeing for the middle of this century.
Oceana says ecological and economic riches are being squandered, which in turn stalls the protection of seabeds, endangering many species and compromising the subsistence of millions of people.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has only evaluated the conservation status of 2,100 species, and for one third of these species, it acknowledges that its data are insufficient. “The loss of marine biodiversity is hurtling at an unprecedented pace, and many species are disappearing before they can even be studied due to factors such as climate change, pollution, overfishing or destruction of their habitats,” said Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana Europe.
Read the complete story at Fish News EU.