WWF: Global Oceanic Populations Slashed in Half in 40 Years
Jakarta. Many of the world's marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish in a single generation have become threatened with extinction, a new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says.
A special edition of the biannually published WWF's Living Blue Planet Report revealed overfishing, increasing pollution and climate change had wiped out 49 percent of commercial marine vertebrate populations between 1970 and 2012.
The report, based on the Living Planet Index, a database maintained by researchers at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), even said the tuna and mackerel fish families had declined by 74 percent during the 40-year period, noting that species essential to the global food supply were indicated to be the hardest hit.
It also warns of staggering declines in other vital species for marine wildlife such as coral reefs, mangrove swamps and seagrasses.
The analysis, which tracked 5,829 populations of 1,234 species, predicted coral reefs from most areas will be gone by 2050 under the current rates of use, while currently one third of fish tracked for the study rely on coral reefs and 850 million people across the globe depend on them for their livelihoods.
"In the space of a single generation, human activity has severely damaged the ocean by catching fish faster than they can reproduce while also destroying their nurseries," Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said in a statement distributed in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"Profound changes are needed to ensure abundant ocean life for future generations," he said.
Indonesia, as one of the six countries that comprise the Earth's marine natural capital, the Coral Triangle, is facing major threats such as illegal fishing and irresponsible marine tourism, WWF Indonesia said in the statement.
Data from the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry in 2014 showed that Indonesia recorded an average Rp 101 trillion ($7 billion) in state losses every year from illegal fishing. The number itself is some 25 percent of the total potential from Indonesia's fisheries sector, at 1.6 million ton per annum.
"The most essential change is how we change our lifestyle as according to the ocean's capacity so that it can guarantee food sustainability as our source of life; support economic growth, and maintain global ecosystem balance," said Efransjah, chief executive officer of WWF Indonesia.
Efransjah called on all main stakeholders in the country to implement best management practices in producing and consuming fish to help slow down the globally threatening trend in the marine populations.
Lambertini also said that the ocean could recover from the ongoing situation if solutions were found immediately and vital species were conserved.
"The ocean has another great advantage. It is a dynamic, interconnected global ecosystem that can bounce back relatively quickly if the pressures are dealt with effectively," he wrote in the introduction to the report.
Tags: Keywords: