What a catch!
The oceans form vast and diverse ecosystems that all play a vital role in making the planet we live on hospitable.
Since man has developed and evolved, we have treated the oceans like our personal pantry, battlefield and garbage bin without any reverence for its importance in our lives outside of our summer holidays and highly processed dinners.
Although once believed to be a limitless source of sustenance and money-making possibility, our reality shows us that all seafaring wildlife (and farmed seafood) currently surveyed has been infested by mankind’s pollution in some way or another. Yet we are still willingly ruining a damn good source of protection for ourselves
Birds, turtles and other sea creatures are being found either dead due to ingested plastic and chemicals, or their species are directly on rapid decline due to other human-induced environmental stressors.
The smaller fish, and even some bigger ones, who are yet to meet their demise through manmade environmental pollution, have to battle against aggressive industrial fishing techniques that are obliterating the equilibrium of our valuable marine ecosystem even further.
Active fishing gear is obviously a death trap, and the entire fishing industry is inherently wasteful in their exploitation of this vital resource – which actually doesn’t belong to them in the first place. These are issues in themselves, but did you know that one of the most ridiculous parts of it all is the #ghostfishing .
Ghost fishing is what happens when fishing gear is lost, forgotten or carelessly discarded by individuals or industry. They are the tools once used by mankind to keep us fed, that continue killing endlessly to feed nobody.
No being is safe, all types of marine life from fish, turtles to dolphins, and even humans can get stuck in #ghostgear . Sadly, many of our animal friends don’t get away and they die needlessly.
Most fishing gear is made of some type of plastic, it is obviously made to last and withstand incredible force. After having served the fishing market and killing millions more out of service, it will likely break up into #microplastics. Whatever happens, it will find its way into our food chain eventually.
You can take a stand by learning more about the industries you support, ask more questions about their practices, become curious about how that food got on your plate and figure out whether the impact on our future generations is worth your participation after all.
