Prediction: the world will run out of seafood by 2048!

The cold, hard facts:

• Nearly 80% of fisheries worldwide are now being fished near or beyond their capacity.
• Many marine ecologists think that the biggest single threat to marine ecosystems today is overfishing.
• Our appetite for fish is exceeding the oceans' ecological limits with devastating impacts. There’s now estimated to be 4 times more global fishing capacity than there are actual fish left to catch.
• Approximately 74% of all commercially exploited species are still being fished without any management measures.
• 1.3 Million tons of marine fish are wasted, discarded and dumped overboard by fishermen in Europe alone.

Learn more:

• Watch the movie – The End of the Line. This premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and is the world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing.

• Check out Greenpeace’s short clip on the emptying of our seas.

What can you do?

• Sign up: there are loads of great campaign websites globally where you can write directly to policy makers to let them know the unnecessary and unethical discarding of perfectly good fish must stop. Like at the well-known Fish Fight site or petition with our Contiki partner - Oceana.

• Eat lesser-known species of local fish that are currently being discarded as trash. For example, in some parts of the world, cod, salmon and tuna account for more than 50% of the fish consumed. And tasty, nutritious fish such as flounder, dab, coley and pouting are thrown away.
• Look for certification: which unfortunately varies totally country by country?
• Spread the word: use Facebook, Twitter, talk to your friends, subscribe to a campaign site and circulate! Talk about the issues so everyone can learn.