An interview by Maureen Nandini Mitra with Andrew Sharpless, CEO, Oceana
MAY 11, 2012 – Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless estimates that if we managed the world’s oceans better, wild seafood could potentially be a major protein source for our world’s ever-growing population. He says, “a fully productive ocean could provide the entire animal protein diet for a billion people, or 13 to 15 percent of the animal protein produced on the entire planet,” by 2050. His claim has been questioned by some fisheries economists, who say the numbers are way inflated, and by environmentalists opposed to the idea of promoting fish consumption at a time when the most of the world’s marine life is in peril. But the head of the largest international organization working to protect the world’s oceans, believes his theory makes practical sense, since one can’t effectively ban the eating of meat, fish, and animal protein. I spoke with Sharpless about his “Save the Oceans and Feed the World” idea and other threats to oceans when he was in San Francisco last month. An excerpt from our conversation
Read the complete opinion piece at Earth Island Journal