Nature is calling. Will you answer?
The fishing industry is harming the earth in more ways than one. Similar to the rhino horn and elephant tusk trade, marine animal parts sell for thousands of dollars on black markets all over the world due to the false beliefs that they hold healing properties. The high demand for a fished called the Totoaba is driving surrounding animals into extinction. Weighing in at just 95 pounds, the smallest marine mammal in the world is the vaquita porpoise. The vaquita and the totoaba are only found in the northern part of the Gulf of California in Mexico. In 2015, there were an estimated 300 vaquitas in Mexico's Gulf of California. By the end of 2018, there were roughly 30 of them left.
|
Global bycatch may amount to 40 percent of the world’s total catch, weighing in at about 63 billion pounds per year. What is bycatch? Bycatch is when marine animals that are not the target catch get pulled into nets, they are then discarded and the majority die as a result.
|