Will There Be Fish In 2050?

Overfishing has been a big issue for many years now, and it continues to threaten our marine life. It is wiping out fish populations and marine habitats too rapidly for them to recover.

Will there be fish in 2050? With the way the fishing industry is progressing, the future looks very bleak. Authorities are not tightening their grips on fishing laws and regulations. Even with some regulations implemented, fishing businesses bypass them time and time again.

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In this article, I will talk about some of the scientific evidence that points to the extinction of fish. By the time 2050 comes around, there may very well be many extinct fish species.

Evidence Of Fish Extinction

Scientists have been expressing concerns about overfishing for quite some time now. There is substantial research on how this will affect the environment. Evidence shows that fish are going extinct as we speak.

However, authorities have been slow to take action to prevent this.

These are a few:

Extinction Rates

According to scientists, 1 million species will become extinct within the next decade. Both freshwater and saltwater fish are in grave danger right now. In North American waters alone, some 82 species are already endangered.

IUCN or The International Union for Conservation of Nature predicted that over 1,800 fish species worldwide would be lost. What is especially alarming about this statistic is that it does not cover all species of fish.

Also, this was first predicted in 2010, and not much has been done to halt extinction. The number could potentially be a lot higher now.

Garbage Islands

There is an infamous garbage island in the Pacific Ocean called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” or “Pacific trash vortex.” It is a giant pile of trash and debris that formed in the middle of the Pacific.

This garbage patch is the largest one in the world and has approximately 1.8 trillion plastic pieces in it. All of the garbage combined weighs an estimated 80,000 tonnes.

Aside from the Pacific garbage patch, another one was found in the Atlantic Ocean as well. It is located a few hundred miles from the North American coast and is as large as Texas.

While a lot of people are already familiar with the one in the Pacific ocean, fewer people know about this garbage island. These ocean garbage patches are highly problematic as the plastics can spread to other bodies of water.

More Plastic Than Fish

Plastic production has not slowed down even though we are well-aware of the negative impacts of plastic. It is usually dumped into oceans, lakes, and rivers because there is nowhere else to put them.

To make matters worse, plastic takes years to break down and release toxins in the process. If no actions are taken to implement greener production, the situation will only worsen. Scientists say that there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans in 2050.

There is sufficient scientific evidence that shows marine life is in danger. In the next decade, seafood might become extremely rare or nonexistent. For that reason, we must pressure the appropriate authorities to solve this problem while we still can.