The cod population of Canada's East Coast collapsed in the 1990s, intense recreational and commercial fishing has decimated goliath grouper populations in South Florida.

1990 年代加拿大東岸的鱈魚數量減少了很多，為了娛樂及貿易而過度捕魚，讓南佛羅里達石斑魚群的數量大幅削減。

And most populations of tuna have plummeted by over 50%, with the Southern Atlantic bluefin on the verge of extinction.

多數的鮪魚群數量也直接掉到了 50% 以下，連南方藍鰭魚都要瀕臨絕種了。

Those are just a couple of many examples.

這些都只是其中一部分而已。

Overfishing is happening all over the world.

過度捕魚在全世界都正在發生。

How did this happen?

是如何發生的呢?

When some people think of fishing, they imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day's catch.

有些人想到捕魚時，就會想像很放鬆地待在船上有耐心地等著這一天的收穫。

But modern industrial fishing, the kind that stocks our grocery shelves, looks more like warfare.

但是現今那種為我們備貨雜貨架上物品的水產業，反而像是在打仗。

In fact, the technologies they employ were developed for war.

其實，他們所使用的科技都是為了打仗而發展出來的。

Radar, sonar, helicopters, and spotter planesare all used to guide factory ships towards dwindling schools of fish.

雷達、聲納、直升機還有偵察機都是用來引導加工漁船去追捕魚群。

Long lines with hundreds of hooks or huge nets round up massive amounts of fish, along with other species, like seabirds, turtles, and dolphins.

長長的繩子上面有著數以百計的鉤子或者有很大的網子，圍捕著龐大的魚群，連其他的生物也遭殃，像是海鳥、海龜還有海豚。

And fish are hauled up onto giant boats, complete with onboard flash freezing and processing facilities.

接著就把這些魚拖到大型的船隻上面，而船上配有急速冷凍及加工的設備。

All of these technologies have enabled us to catch fish at greater depths, and farther out at sea than ever before.

這些科技讓我們能夠抓到更深海的魚類，到達比以前還要更深海的地方。

And as the distance and depth of fishing have expanded, so has the variety of species we target.

隨著捕魚距離及深度的拓展，有更多的魚類變成了我們的目標。

For example, the Patagonian toothfish neither sounds nor looks very appetizing.

例如，小鱗犬牙南極魚，聽起來既不好聽看起來也不可口。

And fishermen ignored it until the late 1970s.

漁夫都沒注意到牠，直到 1970 年代後期。

Then it was rebranded and marketed to chefs in the U.S. as Chilean sea bass, despite the animal actually being a type of cod.

那時候推銷給美國的廚師也重新取名為智利海鱸魚，儘管算是鱈魚的一種種類。

Soon it was popping up in markets all over the world and is now a delicacy.

不久就出現在世界各地的市場上了，現在變成是一道佳餚。

Unfortunately, these deep water fish don't reproduce until they're at least ten years old, making them extremely vulnerable to overfishing when the young are caught before they've had the chance to spawn.

不幸的是這些深海魚類要等到至少十歲才會繁殖下一代，這使得牠們很容易受到過度捕撈的傷害，尤其是小魚還沒有機會產卵時就被抓到。

Consumer taste and prices can also have harmful effects.

消費者的口味及其價格也有影響上的傷害。

For example, shark fin soup is considered such a delicacy in China and Vietnam that the fin has become the most profitable part of the shark.

例如，魚翅湯在中國和越南都算是一道佳餚，魚翅就變成鯊魚身上最有價值的一個部位。

This leads many fishermen to fill their boats with fins leaving millions of dead sharks behind.

這讓許多漁夫把整艘船載滿了魚翅而丟下了百萬條鯊魚的屍體。

The problems aren't unique to toothfish and sharks.

這些問題不僅在於犬牙魚和鯊魚。

Almost 31% of the world's fish populations are overfished, and another 58% are fished at the maximum sustainable level.

世界上所有的魚類幾乎有 31% 都過度捕撈，而另外的 58% 則是在可捕撈程度的最大極限了。

Wild fish simply can't reproduce as fast as 7 billion people can eat them.

野生魚類繁殖的速度無法像 70 億人口吃掉牠們那樣快。

Fishing also has impacts on broader ecosystems.

捕魚同時也會影響到廣大的生態系統。

Wild shrimp are typically caught by dragging nets the size of a football field along the ocean bottom, disrupting or destroying seafloor habitats.

一般都會用足球場大小的網子把野生蝦子沿著整個海洋的底部拖運，這破壞了整個海底的棲息地。

The catch is often as little as 5% shrimp.

這樣一撈常常就只有 5% 那麼少的蝦子。

The rest is by-catch, unwanted animals that are thrown back dead.

剩下捕抓到的生物，不要的都直接丟回海中。

And coastal shrimp farming isn't much better.

沿岸養殖蝦類也沒有比較好。

Mangroves are bulldozed to make room for shrimp farms, robbing coastal communities of storm protection and natural water filtration and depriving fish of key nursery habitats.

紅樹林都被剷平作為養殖蝦類的空間，剝奪了這個作為沿岸的保護地及天然的水源過濾器，也讓魚群失去了最關鍵的哺育棲息地。

So what does it look like to give fish a break and let them recover?

那給魚群一條生路讓他們復原看起來會是怎麼樣子呢？

Protection can take many forms.

可以有很多方式來做保護。

In national waters, governments can set limits about how, when, where, and how much fishing occurs, with restrictions on certain boats and equipment.

政府可以訂定一些水利的限制，要如何、何時、何地，還有捕多少的魚，禁止特定的船隻和裝備。

Harmful practices, such as bottom trawling, can be banned altogether, and we can establish marine reserves closed to all fishing to help ecosystems restore themselves.

危險的一些做法，像是底部拖網，通通都要禁止，而我們可以在捕魚這方面建立海洋保育，藉此來幫助生態系統重建。

There's also a role for consumer awareness and boycotts to reduce wasteful practices, like shark finning, and push fishing industries towards more sustainable practices.

消費者能夠自覺然後聯合去抵制也能扮演減少浪費的角色，就魚翅這個例子來說，這樣也能讓水產業朝向更永續的方向行動。

Past interventions have successfully helped depleted fish populations recover.

過去有一些介入行動成功的讓魚群減少的數量復原了。

There are many solutions.

有很多解決的方法。

The best approach for each fishery must be considered based on science, respect for the local communities that rely on the ocean, and for fish as wild animals.

最好的方法就是各個漁產業要依據科學來做考量，要考慮到當地靠海維生的人，還有把魚類當作野生動物看待。

And then the rules must be enforced.

然後這些規定一定要加強執行。

International collaboration is often needed, too, because fish don't care about our borders.

國際間彼此合作也是非常需要的，畢竟魚類隨處都可去。

We need to end overfishing.

我們必須停止過度捕撈。

Ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures all depend on it.

生態系統、糧食安全、工作、經濟，以及沿海的文化通通都需要依靠這些。