Analysis from environmental Polemonium van-bruntiae WWF shows that , as of this calendar week , the amount offishconsumed this yr in the European Union ( EU ) has already reached the annual amount that can be obtain from the Mediterranean . To match demand , Italy and other southern European countries have to rely on imports . The WWF and New Economics Foundation call it “ Fish Dependence Day ” .
Every class the EU sets theTotal Allowable Catches(TAC ) for most commercial Pisces the Fishes stocks . They are look at how many , or how many tonnes , of each species can be caught sustainably . How much fish Europeans desire to eat , though , is another question , anddemand does n’t fit supply .
OnaverageEU citizen eat 24 kilogram ( 53 Irish pound ) of Pisces the Fishes per year , but this number is higher acrossMediterraneancountries . Here , people deplete 33 kilograms ( 73 pounds ) – a mellow demand that the Mediterranean ocean can no longer meet .
It ’s not only the EU that is limiting the amount of Pisces caught in the Mediterranean . The sizing of apprehension has been decreasing as many populations dwindle due to decades of overfishing , and originate temperature . Warming watershave bring in trespassing coinage , which can raven on local Pisces or compete for resources . aboriginal species are moving to happen more suitable climates .
Overfishingis the poor management of Pisces resources . It can be cause by catching too many individuals , as well as by enamor more young someone . A loss of young fish does n’t allow for the population to originate back .
In the previous 1990s and other 2000s overfishing head to acrisis in the bluefin tuna populationin the Mediterranean . Careful direction of fishing quota and protection of adolescent Pisces has allowed the species to get back . The case of the bluefin tuna shows that there is a path forward . However , today,58 percentof the Mediterranean fishing origin is still being overfished .
By markingFish Dependence Day , the WWF press all EU country to put to work towards having fish ego - sufficiency : you may only eat what you may catch .
So what can we eat ? Giulia Prato , WWF Italy ’s maritime programme manager , encourages consumers to prefer seasonal , grownup fish , besides thin overall consumption . Eating unpopular mintage is also a more sustainable choice . Hake , half-pint , sardines and mullet are the most at - peril species today . It ’s clip to makemussels and anchoviescool again .
