'Overfishing,' Pollution Killing Fishing Industry

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Overfishing, pollution from land-based farming and industry, and the destruction of habitat, including coral reefs and mangroves, are depleting fish stocks, a United Nations report bared.

Experts at the launch of the “Green Economy in a Blue World,” a UN Environment Program report, said this was directly affecting the 540 million people around the world who are dependent on the fishing industry.

The same UN report said worldwide fishing industry could benefit from a $50 billion boost annually if stocks were allowed time to recover.

Already 32 percent of the world’s fish stocks have been depleted by years of overfishing and poor coastal management, according to the UN report released in Manila.

“The potential economic gain from reducing fishing capacity to an optimal and restoring fish stocks is in the order of $50 billion per annum,” a summary of the UN report said, without giving details on how the figure was reached.

Cutting pollution would help fish stocks and fishermen’s catches to rebound, Amina Mohammed, deputy executive director of the UN program, said.

“Many ocean industries and businesses stand to benefit directly from cleaner, more ecologically robust marine ecosystems,” she said.

While overfishing reduces fish stocks, pollution from the overuse of fertilizer in farming is also a major problem, she said.

The fertilizer washes into the sea, resulting in runaway growth of algae which sucks up all the oxygen in the waters and causes fish to “drown”.