By Lucy Comack
Humanity's mismanagement of the ocean (click here) has led to the loss of almost half the world's marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish in a single generation, a World Wide Fund for Nature report says.
The emergency edition of WWF's Living Blue Planet Report revealed a 49 per cent decline in marine vertebrate populations between 1970 and 2012. For some fish this figure was almost 75 per cent....
Okay, we have the numbers, but, what is causing it. Poaching isn't the entire picture. Over fishing is probably a larger part of it.
..."Overfishing, destruction of marine habitats and climate change have dire consequences for the entire human population, with the poorest communities that rely on the sea getting hit fastest and hardest," said Dermot O'Gorman, CEO of WWF Australia.
He said the private sector had to carry the responsibility of ensuring sustainable practices and operations, noting Australian salmon company Tassal and retailer Coles for their commitment towards sustainability.
The supermarket giant's 2015 sustainable sourcing policy for home brand canned tuna states it will "not source yellowfin, southern bluefin or bigeye tuna, all of which are overfished, or are in danger of being overfished," however in late August the retailer was caught breaching the policy....
