All Fish to Go Extinct by 2048

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently warned that global fish populations may completely collapse by 2048. According to the organization, the demand for fish worldwide is two to three times higher than oceans can support. WWF explained that 53% of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited—including most of the top ten fisheries in the world—and an additional 32% of fisheries are heading toward depletion. According to WWF, the causes of overfishing include massive bycatch, irresponsible fisheries, destructive practices, subsidies that keep too many boats in the water, and pirate fishers—or those who do not follow fishing laws. The WWF recommends consumers only purchase sea animals labeled as “sustainable,” despite a recent investigation by ocean-conservation organization Oceana which uncovered that one in five fish sample—out of the 25,000 they tested—was fraudulently mislabeled.